Did something new today…
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I ordered a car used car online from Carvana… This Sunday, Finley and I will be putting a coin into this monstrosity -
and will be driving away in
Frankly, I’ve been all over the dealer network trying different vehicles. I settled on an Infiniti and took it to my mechanic for a pre-purchase inspection. My mechanic found 4 codes on the transmission, an axle boot about to tear, a leaky valve gasket, and
All on a fine looking car that was slightly above Carfax fair value for a car of that age and mileage with no accident (he also found paint on a rim indicating the car was painted after some sort of damage. And this was at a fairly highly rated dealer. I’m afraid to say that it pissed me off.
So, under my mechanic’s recommendation, I ordered a 2016 Hyundai Genesis off of Carvana. It’s got the 3.6 6 cylinder (I can’t stomach a 4. They just feel wrong when I drive them), and it has the features that I was looking for. My mechanic has had good experiences with the Carvana 150 point inspection process, and they offered a good warranty for a very fair price. It doesn’t have the trade value that a Toyota or Honda would offer when I go for my X4 next year, but it looks like it will provide everything else that I’m looking for in the price range that I wanted to spend. Worse comes to worse, I have a 7 day return option. Wish me luck…
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Sweet vehicle! Does the car tower thing actually move?
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@89th said in Did something new today…:
Sweet vehicle! Does the car tower thing actually move?
Will see on Sunday. I’m actually thinking about moving the pickup time to after dark so it will be all lit up. I think Finley would enjoy that.
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@89th said in Did something new today…:
Link to videoSweet vehicle! Does the car tower thing actually move?
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So a few notes so far through the process:
The Good
It’s been very simple. Paperwork took 3 minutes.I was told that they are typically more expensive than a dealer, but less than Carmax. I tried looking up similar miles and aged Genesis within 100 miles. I only found two less expensive. One was a 90 minute drive away and was a coupe version for $200 less, and the other was one of those shady shops that buy at auction and repair. CarMax, on the other hand, was about $2K more for similar cars.
My mechanic told me this morning that while the inspection process isn’t full proof, he’s never seen a major issue, and the small stuff Carvana took care of easily…
The Bad -
I realized we had a commitment for my pickup time on Sunday, so I tried to shift it later in the afternoon. When I did that, all of the slots for the afternoon were already taken AND the system released my earlier reservation, making Monday my first option. I am trying to finagle a Sunday slot…While I’m not financing, I was surprised to see the rate offer. It was at 7.6. My credit score is top tier though it does have some usage issues with co-signing Luke’s loans. I read the bank they use is pretty high. I will definitely secure my own financing if buying something more expensive in the future.
It looks like their extended warranty coverage through SilverRock has mixed reviews. At $80 per month, I might forego that…
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So I picked up the car yesterday. Showed up, showed my driver’s license and proof of insurance. They gave me a coin to drop in a slot, but I had Finley do it instead. It was mildly entertaining watching the elevator come down with the car, then it comes forward to you at a window, it spins for you to see it and inspect it, then takes it to a bay for you to inspect it quickly and get it the hell out of there so they can get the next car offloaded. There was supposed to be a test drive and walking around the vehicle to truly inspect and note anything, but the “advocate” just wanted me the heck out of there, giving me the whole “you have 7 days to return it, so don’t worry…
Overall, the outside of the car looked nice, I found 1 issue that I would like addressed (they detailed small scratches in the clearcoat, but I did find one that went deeper. The car was cleaned on the inside, but I don’t think they detailed it, and it needs a wash on the outside. It’s not a big deal, but something that you would get from a dealer. The gas tank was only 1/4 full, too. Again, a small detail that would have been better at a dealer. Also, the interior smelled a little stagnant. Not musty or anything, more just like it’s sat for a good long time.
While the interior is not my color preference, buying used is limiting, and this is a short term car… It was overall in good shape with some nifty features. But on to the important stuff…
It drove great… The sport mode handles nimbly and is a fun drive, especially for a sedan. When I hit rush hour, I switched to eco mode, and the gas mileage was great. The car is super quiet, and Finley fell asleep in the back, so I used the rear window screen to keep him from being baked in the sun. Nice feature. The heated seats were nice and hot, as was the steering wheel heating… Everything about the performance of the car is superb. But..
I did get an AWD alert on my way to the mechanic. It wasn’t an urgent note, but the yellow alert stating it’s performing suboptimal… I already had an inspection scheduled so took it to my mechanic. They performed the inspection and found 4 transfer case codes. These codes are apparently common on Hyundais and are referred to as the codes of death because non-dealers cannot reprogram them. Hyundai keeps the info proprietary, and the transfer case can only be replaced and programmed at a dealer. Aside from that, they found a few issues with the airbags that need fixed, and evidently the undershield was missing and a bumper was replaced with an OEM. The tires on the vehicle are in good shape but cheap. According to the mechanics, getting the undershield replaced and upgrading the tires will reduce the road noise even more…
Except for those issues, everything else seems to be pretty decent and as expected for the age of the vehicle. So we are going through the warranty process now to see how many of these items will be taken care of. If all of the problems are resolved, great, otherwise, the car will be returned or exchanged. I did see a slightly newer and lower mileage Genesis coming available that I might try to exchange for. The exterior color is my second choice, but the interior color is a little better.
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Cool, or warm, I should say. When we got our van we also got the heated steering wheel which is as fantastic as everyone who has one says, at least if you live where it gets cold out.
@89th said in Did something new today…:
Cool, or warm, I should say. When we got our van we also got the heated steering wheel which is as fantastic as everyone who has one says, at least if you live where it gets cold out.
I just wish that feature and the heated seats had a remote start function…
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Dropped the car off at the Silver Rock approved car place yesterday. They had given me 4 different places to choose from. There were not highly regarded, but one is considered an above average shop, so I took it there. They need to keep the car for a few days but have started the claims process. Carvana approved extending my guaranteed return date by 3 days to match.
The guy at the shop said they’ve had decent success with Silver Rock approving the claims overall, and he only recalled one that he felt Silver Rock hadn’t treated the consumer well… So we will see.
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Finally got the car back this morning, the warranty provider approved the repair at the dealership. That’s impressive, as the repair will cost 40% of the purchase price of the vehicle. I honestly wouldn’t have expected they would do so.
So I took it to the dealership, and they are telling me it can take up to two weeks…Ugh, And that’s taking it past the guaranteed return date. So there’s a very real chance that I might be exchanging/returning the car.
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I was close to trading the car or returning, but I’ve had three different mechanics giving the car the thumbs up except for the 2 repairs, and considering the fact that They are covering the costs of the repairs (combined about half of the purchase price) and are covering my rental car? Okay, I’m good…
