How Carvana restored my faith in online vehicle retailing

DETROIT — I don't love the current process of buying and selling vehicles. Many consumers feel the same way.

I find it time-consuming and, at times, deceitful in how some automakers and dealers advertise pricing with misleading incentives that a majority of people don't qualify for.

Then, there's the task of selling your old vehicle. You can either trade it into a dealer for thousands of dollars below its retail value or venture into the unknown and attempt to sell it independently online or by posting a sign on the car — hoping the right buyer sees it.

It's these reasons as well as general curiosity why I've wanted to try alternative methods when it comes to purchasing and selling vehicles.

I've sold a 1997 Mustang via Facebook Marketplace; participated in GM's lackluster Shop Click Drive program for new and used vehicles; attempted to take over leases; and, most recently, sold a car to online used-vehicle startup Carvana.

What I've learned, as many car salespeople will tell you, buying and selling cars isn't easy. But some dealers and emerging online retailers are making the process more transparent and an overall smoother experience.

One of the most standout examples that I've experienced thus far is Carvana, which recently debuted at No. 8 on Automotive News' list of the top 100 retailers based in the U.S. ranked by used-vehicle retail sales.

Nearly the entire process for me to sell a 2014 Chevrolet Volt was overall completed in 30 to 40 minutes, including an online appraisal estimate of the car, uploading of documents and a representative coming to my house to inspect and pick up the vehicle with a check already printed to hand over to me.

Carvana, showing its need to build inventory, also offered me upward of $2,000 more for the car than several Detroit-area dealers as a trade-in.

The only problem I did have was having to resubmit a 10-day sale letter from my financer because I was traveling and didn't have the title of the car to submit in that time period.

Carvana truly restored my faith in online vehicle retailing after several missteps with others.

Prior to leasing a new vehicle and selling the Volt to Carvana, I was interested in using Swapalease.com to find a cheap, short- to midterm lease with no down payment and straightforward pricing.

I've had friends and colleagues have success with the site; however, I struck out for several months on a handful of vehicles. The owners either didn't respond; were already in discussions with someone else and didn't change the status of the vehicle; or, in one case, the car needed significant body work, which the photos did not show.

The startup website was more Craigslist/Facebook Marketplace than Amazon/eBay. What I expected for an $89 membership ($99 without a discount) was a simple operation where I would agree to take over a vehicle and have Swapalease.com facilitate the transaction. Instead, all I got was access to contact information for the lessee.

That's it. Contact information. Nothing else. It was disappointing and led to wasted time calling, emailing and meeting up with strangers. I will say the site's customer service was very helpful and attentive.

Traditional retailers could learn a lot from emerging online retailers such as Carvana and Swapalease.com and vice versa.

Many dealers across the country, as detailed weekly in Automotive News, have or are in the process of changing operations to better implement new technologies or address emerging customer demands.

They include family-owned operations such as Cincinnati-based McCluskey Chevrolet — which is among the most innovative I've seen or ever heard of with sales and servicing — to larger operations such as North Carolina-based Flow Automotive, which is experimenting with subscription services.

No one specifically knows how vehicle retailing will evolve; however, one thing is certain: Amazon and others have changed expectations for all retailers. That includes dealers as well as online startups.