Carvana Mis-Listed my i3 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[eNate]

Well dang... as many of you read I sold my car to Carvana last week, but only after some interior parts swaps.

I filled out Carvana's checklist carefully to note the seats were cloth, not leather, the wheels were 20", not 19", and the dash trim was not wood. They offered me a lower price because of it. As part of the purchase, an employee stopped by and inspected the car before handing me the check. They didn't pick it up blind.

Didn't matter. It looks like they pulled the Monroney and listed the leather and 19"s, though for some reason they did delete the wood. They also apparently managed to lose one of my keys. And listed the car as black, not gray.

Although the car appears to have been listed today, it already has a buyer, sale pending anyway, despite no photos being available and the "150 point inspection" having not yet been completed.

I'm curious how this is going to play out. Some poor guy is going to have a Carvana truck pull up in front of his house only to immediately realize this car doesn't match the description. Part of me feels like contacting them and notifying them of the error, the other part shouts "stay away" it's not my problem.

 

[3pete]

It looks like they pulled the Monroney and listed the leather and 19"s, though for some reason they did delete the wood.

Are you suggesting a used-car dealer is being less than forthright about one of the cars they're selling??? Let me get my fainting couch!!! :lol:

Seriously though, I can't say I'm surprised. Have you ever tried to tell someone their computer system is wrong? Maybe for all the fear of Skynet and computers taking over, this is what we actually got: computers refusing to believe that the i3 with that vin has 20" wheels instead of 19.

"Hey carvana, I swapped the wheels, please note this car has 19inch rims."



"I'm sorry eNate, I'm afraid I can't do that."

 

[eNate]

Lol, yeah, it's like that.

Today they fixed the color and key quantity. They also added photos. But they're still calling the seats leather. Oh well, at least now the buyer can see what they're getting.

If they can get this car moved to an out of state buyer I should be able to get my registration fees refunded. My reg expires on the 8th but I'm not sure if the car needs to be sold by then, or if it's enough that it was in the hands of a car dealer before the deadline. I'm hoping none of this holds up the sale, but it's probably too late in the game to make a difference. Let that be a lesson: Never pay your registration early, boys and girls!

 

[eNate]

Here's the update:

Over the Labor Day weekend, on the Facebook i3 USA group, somebody posted that a member of the i3 Worldwide group shared Carvana's pictures of the definitely-not-leather seats and asked WTF?

I got in touch with the Worldwide group member and I was able to chat with him, but by that time the collective wisdom had figured everything out with a good percentage of members labeling me as a thief, a cannibalizing sleazeball, or a fraudster. To be fair, an equally good sized segment of the members relayed my posts from here and the USA group and identified this as legit and as Carvana's error. Folks are entitled to their opinions, but I'm maintaining that I acted responsibly and it's not my duty nor obligation to preserve i3s to their original spec.

The buyer, who at that point backed out of the deal (he specifically wanted leather), confirmed that he spoke with Carvana, they admitted to their error, but that they had priced the vehicle based on the equipment I specified (cloth not leather; plastic not wood), just neglected to list it correctly.

I contacted Carvana to help them get make their listing accurate, but got their chatbot who scolded me "there may be errors in our listings but buyers can look at pictures and figure things out." Yet, a day or two later, the listing was corrected to "Dk. Brown Interior Color" which is a far cry from accurate, but at least it doesn't say "leather." They still describe the wrong wheels.

Speaking of wheels, Carvana noted on their 150 point inspection they "fixed or replaced" "Wheel lug nuts (all present and properly torqued)." I used a torque wrench at the completion of my wheel swap, so this caught my attention. I got the torque wrench back out and checked my car, and sure enough, I found one undertorqued lug bolt! So Carvana's inspection earned a legitimacy point.

Meanwhile, on the USA group, I posted a full history of the car with a link to Carvana's sales page, and views spiked from 66 to about 350, with a little "flame" icon to show it's getting a lot of attention. From what I can determine, two subsequent sales have fallen through, and a fourth attempt is in process.

If anybody wants to check it out for themselves, here's a link to my former Frankenstein i3: https://www.carvana.com/vehicle/1986022

 

[3pete]

I see they also fixed your "Passenger side (front/rear)". That's good. I hate it when my car's Passenger side (front/rear) is broken.

Seriously though, I can't take any of those "# point inspections" seriously. I'm sure some are implemented as described, but I also know people who have been the one checking the boxes on the list and let's just say I also know that they are not always implemented as described.

I also can't stand that type of disclaimer: "Here's all the info to make a major purchase decision. Oh, and some of it might be wrong, LOL. Not our fault if that's the case!"

Ever gone to a car shop to get wiper blades and they ask you for the year, make, model and what engine/ transmission is in the car? At least your changes won't impact that, but it would be "funny" if the future owner of the car tries to buy one wheel/tire from a BMW dealer who just orders it based on the VIN.

 

[eNate]

I've been chatting with the new buyer and he's looking for 19s. He seems really up to speed on this car and reached out to me from Facebook, so I think it's getting a good home.

He also mentioned the blue ring around the BMW logo on the steering wheel is missing paint. Hot damn! Carvana must be wiping the interior with gasoline. I showed him a photo I took of the car at pickup with the paint in perfect condition.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/FgDwHbbQYnv4vPrcA

Oh, and speaking of wiper blades, Carvana indicates they may have replaced them. Ya think they got the correct length?