Carvana Befuddles Me

Am I old and out-of-touch? I mean, yes, I am, I often write about that on this blog. That said, is the fact I am old and out-of-touch why something like Carvana befuddles me? People go and just buy a car online which is then delivered without a test drive or making sure you like the vehicle? Plus, there is an even stranger option to visit a, "Car vending machine," that visually resembles some twisted idea from H.R. Giger. What is the deal?

I mean, dealing with buying a car at a dealership can be a pain at times. Should you face high-pressure sales tactics or visit a disreputable location it is awful. That said, there are very professional and nice places where you can go and actually touch, sit-in, and drive the car you're going to drop a big stack of cash on/sign-up for a multi-year loan on.

I struggle to see the appeal of going to some hideous building where I use a magic representational coin so that I purchase a car as if it is a gumball. I'm buying a car, a big investment. I don't need a dog-and-pony show that turns this into some show-biz spectacular, "Experience," so much as I just want to know the car I'm purchasing is one I like and it is reliable. Clicking some buttons online and having a car dumped in my driveway with nary a test-drive is weird to me, and this car vending-machine idea is even more bizarre.

This isn't to say I'm always opposed to buying cars online. Should you be after something really old or rare then it makes sense to use eBay or special websites to buy these specialty cars. That's a certain kind of niche, however. I'm talking about buying your day-to-day vehicle--that is where these sites and their car vending-machines lose me. Hence, my asking, am I just being reasonable and see through the charade of making buying a car an animated and entertaining event or is this down to me being old and out-of-touch? It is honestly probably both, knowing me.