Buying a car online at 2 a.m. on a whim seems like a good idea in the moment. You think you’ve found a great deal and have the funds to get it, so why not?
But this woman realized her impulse purchase wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, and now she’s having regrets.
Carvana Shopping Gone Wrong
In a TikTok with more than 156,000 views, content creator Kristina Richie (@kristinarichie) walks through the series of events that followed an impulsive late-night Carvana purchase.
Richie explains that she was helping her godsister shop for a car when Carvana's algorithm surfaced a 2019 Mercedes E450 with just over 31,000 miles at what she felt was a great price.
"Two o'clock in the morning on an absolute whim, I bought myself a cute little Mercedes," she says. Her husband woke up to the news the next morning. His response? "Cool, happy birthday."
The car was fine for the first few days. Then she started smelling gas. In the car, out of the car, didn't matter.
"Probably not a good thing, right?" she says.
She tried contacting Carvana. Getting someone on the phone, she says, was nearly impossible, so she went through the chat. Their advice: "Oh, you should probably have that checked out."
Here's where the warranty situation comes in. Carvana's in-house warranty company covers repairs at in-network shops with a $100 deductible or $350 at out-of-network providers. But the nearest in-network shop was an hour and a half away. With a car actively leaking gasoline, she wasn't about to drive it that far. So, she took it to her trusted mechanic of ten years and paid $85 for a diagnostic.
The culprit was a broken cap on the fuel pump. Someone had apparently tried to replace something inside it, snapped off a small piece, and left a hole. Because of where the fuel pump sits in that particular car, the whole interior had been filling with gas fumes. The fix would cost about $400.
She says she called Carvana a day before her seven-day return period ended. She told them she liked the car, didn't want to send it back, but shouldn't have to cover a repair for something that was clearly wrong before she bought it. Carvana's offer: they'd pay $200 each way to tow it to an in-network shop, cover the repair with zero out-of-pocket, and handle everything as long as she sent the car to one of their approved locations.
"You're gonna pay $400 just in towing plus pay for the repair," she says.
She says she asked if they'd just pay her mechanic directly since he was already there and ready to fix it that day, but they said no.
The final offer on the table: pay everything upfront herself, then wait ten to fourteen days to be reimbursed by check. That meant potentially fronting over $1,000 (the diagnostic, the out-of-network deductible, the repair) on a car she'd owned for a week. Or she could be without a car for several days while it sat at an in-network shop. Or she could return it entirely.
"I don't know. What would you do?" she says.
What Is Carvana's 7-Day Return Policy?
Carvana markets its 7-Day Money Back Guarantee as a safety net for buyers who aren't sure about their purchase, but there are limits.
According to Carvana, the window starts the day you receive the vehicle, and you have to notify them before 8 p.m. EST on day seven to initiate a return or exchange. Buyers can drive up to 400 miles during that period; anything over that gets charged at $1 per mile.
The car also can't have been in an accident, altered from the condition it was sold in, or have any new liens on it. If you do return, shipping charges are nonrefundable, and any refund can take 10 to 15 business days to land back in your account. Every Carvana vehicle also comes with a complimentary 100-day or 4,189-mile limited warranty through SilverRock, whichever comes first, with a deductible depending on whether you use an in-network or out-of-network shop.
How Does The Return Process Actually Work?
Per Carvana, you call or chat with an Advocate during business hours to kick off the process, and the actual return appointment can be scheduled for a later date, so you don't have to physically hand the car back the same day.
Once a return is initiated, registration and financing are canceled. If you traded in a vehicle to buy your Carvana car, that trade-in is gone regardless of what you decide; Carvana keeps it either way.
Commenters React
“I’d take it as a sign and send it back,” a top comment read.
“I would just pay the $400 eat the cost,” a person shared.
“Return it. it's a used Mercedes.. thats just the beginning and probably why they sold it,” another wrote.
“Send the car back, if Carvana wants to make it difficult, so can you and by you not returning it your basically rolling over,” a commenter added.
Motor1 reached out to Kristina Richie via TikTok direct message for comment. We'll be sure to update this if she responds.
@kristinarichie Carvana nightmare. What would you do? @Carvana #mercedes #carvanaexperience #silverrock #review ♬ original sound - KristinaRichie
