Consumer Steers Through Mess Trying to Return Car Purchased Online

A man found himself stuck in a mess when he tried to return a car he bought online and get his old car back.

Carvana allows customers to purchase a used car online and either pick it up from one of the towering, automated car vending machines or get the car delivered right to their home.

“The benefit is that you don’t have to really deal with anyone,” William Bogard said. “You know exactly what you’re paying and it’s simple.”

But his experience didn't go as he expected.

“If I would have known that this would happen, obviously I would not have gone with Carvana,” he said.

A few months ago, Bogard traded in his Jeep Grand Cherokee for a 2021 truck. Carvana went to his home, dropped off the truck and took the Cherokee away.

But five days into owning the truck, it started leaking oil.

“I called Carvana and said, Listen, this is not going to work for me and let’s cancel the transaction,” Bogard said. 

He could do that because of Carvana’s “seven days to love it or return it” policy.

“They set up a time to come out where they were supposed to return the vehicle that I had sold to them as part of the transaction and pick up the vehicle that I had purchased from them,” Bogard said.

But when Carvana showed up, something was missing.

“I saw an empty flatbed, and it was not supposed to be an empty flatbed,” Bogard said. “There was supposed to be my Grand Cherokee on the back of it.”

“They made a few calls and told me that the vehicle was in New Jersey,” he said.

Carvana assured him they’d get his Jeep returned to him as soon as possible, he said, but days turned into weeks, and each time he called Carvana, the car was somewhere else.

“The vehicle was in Arizona,” Bogard said. “We're going the wrong way. It's supposed to be getting closer.”

After almost five weeks, Carvana returned his Jeep, but according to him, the custom work he did to the Jeep was gone and there was damage.

Bogard said Carvana admitted they removed some of the custom work but said they wouldn’t pay for any damage.

“All I have wanted was to be made whole for the damages that they caused directly, and they’ve just refused to take any kind of responsibility or be held accountable for what they have done,” Bogard said.

In a statement, Carvana told NBC4 Responds they are committed to “ensuring that in the rare cases where we don’t initially live up to our brand promise, we work to make it right.”

Bogard said he reached a settlement with Carvana and was made whole.

Here are a few things to do to make buying a car online easier:

• Arrange an inspection. Since there’s only a short window to return the car, have a mechanic lined up to inspect it.
• Take a pre-purchase test drive. Since you can’t actually test drive the used car being sold online, consider borrowing a friend’s car or find a similar car on a dealer’s lot to test drive and make sure you like it.
• And ask for a Carfax report before buying the used car. If the company won’t provide one, ask for the VIN and look it up.