Selling a leased car to Carvana

k6m3w

Hi
Friend of mine told me to check out Carvana before trading my car in next month when it matures. So I did and they are offering me $7k over the residual value. Seems too good to be true. Anyone have experience with selling a leased car to Carvana?
Thanks in advance

Michaell

@qbrozen, @stickguy, @breld - please come to the white courtesy telephone.

k6m3w

This sounds ominous... @qbrozen, @stickguy, @breld please do tell.

Michaell

These are regulars here on the forums who have all sold vehicles to Carvana.

explorerx4

Don't forget to get quotes from Vroom and Carmax.
A friend of mine just sold his wife's Q5 to Carmax, 2 to 3k higher than the others.
This car vary a lot depending on vehicle.

nyccarguy

k6m3w said:

Hi
Friend of mine told me to check out Carvana before trading my car in next month when it matures. So I did and they are offering me $7k over the residual value. Seems too good to be true. Anyone have experience with selling a leased car to Carvana?
Thanks in advance

What kind of car is this?

henryn

About 2 months ago I sold a 2016 Chrysler Town and Country to Carvana. Carmax and Vroom offered me $15.6, and Carvana came in at $16,696. The process was smooth and pleasant. My car was not leased, I had a clear title.

They offered to pick up the car (send a flat bed wrecker), or I could just bring it to them and they would give me a ride home (Uber). The money showed up in my bank account the next day. I have nothing but good things to say about Carvana, I'm not sure how they could have made it any easier.

k6m3w

Great to hear.
It's a 2018 VW Atlas ... Residual 22k, they offering $30K! Carmax was $28k. This market is bonkers.

breld

Carvana was unable to purchase my vehicle leased through Nissan, though that seemed to be specific to Nissan Financial.

For what it's worth, Carmax can often be a simpler process since you're at a physical location. Something to think about.

28firefighter

VW does allow third-party buyouts, but VW does not charge third party dealers your residual + remaining payments as buy out - they charge "market rate" which can be dramatically higher. Make sure they call and get a real payoff for your vehicle before you decide whether this makes sense for you.

stickguy

Good info on VW.

Carmax is easiest to do but I used Carvana twice and it’s simple. Just hit submit/accept and follow instructions. You need pictures of your license, the odometer and registration. And I think lease company contact and account info. Once uploaded, they process and come back with final numbers (they need to get payoff directly from lease company) of what you get and what buyout is.

If you are good with that, they give you a link to arrange pickup time. The truck shows up, driver does a quick look over, you sign a few forms and driver hands you a check.

stickguy

Also, even if VWC wants a higher buyout, you can purchase it yourself at residual value then flip it. Lose some $ though because you need to pay sales tax. And might delay the process a bit.

andres3

For me Carvana is way easier than the complicated and time-consuming Carmax process.

1. No driving to the "dealership" and not having a ride home (take 2 cars?).
2. No waiting for "finance" to write your check, they give it to you when they pick your car up (this saves a lot of time).
3. Minimal paperwork at Carvana while you have to sign the equivalent of a new mortgage worth of paperwork at Carmax.

If it was a tie on the price/offer, I'd easily choose Carvana.

stickguy

Carmax advantage is you get the offer pop up, and just have to print it off and take it to the location. No dealing with submitting documents pictures or scheduling times. Either way you leave with a check (well, Carmax is technically a bank draft).

Vroom I don’t like since you have to wait on them to send you payment after they have the car.

andres3

stickguy said:

Carmax advantage is you get the offer pop up, and just have to print it off and take it to the location. No dealing with submitting documents pictures or scheduling times. Either way you leave with a check (well, Carmax is technically a bank draft).

Vroom I don’t like since you have to wait on them to send you payment after they have the car.

I haven't done Carmax's new "instant quote" sale yet. Do they have the bank draft DRAFTED when you arrive, or do you have to wait in the waiting room for someone to print it?

stickguy

They print it once the car is inspected and paperwork complete. Did not take long when I did it.

Not sure what Carvana does if the driver shows up and finds damage you did not disclose. I assume has to leave and come back another time with a different check.

explorerx4

When I sold my truck to Vroom, they FedEx'd my check before the shipper picked it up.

stickguy

Pretty brave since they haven’t actually seen the car before you got the money. Or given them the keys.

explorerx4

@stickguy,
I did send them a key as part of the offer acceptance, but how would they know if it was the correct one?

andres3

Yes, VROOM requires 1 of 2 Key FOB's..... didn't like that part AT ALL!!!!! Basically commits you to not "back out" of the sale, but my worry is a $350 bill for a Key FOB I'm no longer in possession of!

andres3

stickguy said:

They print it once the car is inspected and paperwork complete. Did not take long when I did it.

Not sure what Carvana does if the driver shows up and finds damage you did not disclose. I assume has to leave and come back another time with a different check.

I asked the driver that and he said one main thing:

1. People were more honest than you'd think. It hasn't been a problem, and as long as the car starts and moves in first gear that's all he needs to know; literally a 20' test drive.

Personally, I'm sure Carvana includes a "BS" buffer in their offer so they "expect" things to be wrong that you didn't disclose.

explorerx4

Sending Vroom a key was a leap of faith but clearing 43.5K was worth the risk.

oldfarmer50

k6m3w said:

Great to hear.
It's a 2018 VW Atlas ... Residual 22k, they offering $30K! Carmax was $28k. This market is bonkers.

Carvana offered me just shy of what I paid for my car new 6 years ago. I urge you to jump on that offer as the chip shortage causing the insane used car market may be coming to an end.

Just be sure you can do without the car you’re selling as anything you buy will be similarly inflated.