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A picture of one of Carvana's car vending machines.

Can You Negotiate a Car’s Price at Carvana?

The art of negotiation isn’t just reserved for white-collar business folks looking to strike deals with their competitors, it’s also a crafty art if you’re into buying cars and “win one over” on the poor car salespeople. But what if you don’t like negotiating? Then you can always shop for a car at Carvana, a …

The art of negotiation isn’t just reserved for white-collar business folks looking to strike deals with their competitors, it’s also a crafty art if you’re into buying cars and “win one over” on the poor car salespeople. But what if you don’t like negotiating? Then you can always shop for a car at Carvana, a popular used car sales website. But can you negotiate the car prices with them if you wanted to?

Carvana wants to make your life easier

Used car dealers like Carmax and Carvana model their businesses around a “no haggle, no hassle” policy, which means that the price of the car that is advertised is what you pay – plus taxes and fees. Carvana does this because it wants to make “car buying as easy and as stress-free as possible by eliminating the pricing games you might find at a traditional dealership.” Essentially, Carvana wants to make your life, and your car buying process, as easy as shopping for clothes.

A picture of one of Carvana's car vending machines.
An eight story car vending machine, operated by the online used car dealer Carvana, that dispenses purchased cars to customers is seen in Huntington Beach, California on August 16, 2019. | MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images

Are the car prices negotiable?

According to the Carvana website, their vehicles are “priced as competitively as possible,” which means that there is no negotiating the car’s price at all. The upside to this model is that Carvana doesn’t charge any documentation fees or dealer fees that are typically associated with traditional car dealers, so you’ll save money there. And on top of that, they also have a 7-day return policy, in which you can return the car within seven days for a full refund if you don’t like it.

Am I getting a fair deal on the price of the car?

While Carvana does say that its prices are “competitive,” we wanted to put it to the test. We picked a 2017 Honda Civic LX with 30,683 miles on it from their inventory, which is priced at $14,990. Then we checked out a local Honda dealer’s inventory to see if there was a similar car to compare it to. Fortunately, we found a 2017 Honda Civic LX with 38,054 miles on it priced at $14,800.

Keep in mind that the Honda dealer that we picked is a “negotiation-free” store as well, so it looks like Carvana is pretty competitive with its pricing. However, this little comparison isn’t exactly 100-percent foolproof as prices for cars can vary depending on your location. There are some areas in the nation where the price of that Civic LX would be cheaper, which makes the argument for going with Carvana a little weaker.

2017 Honda Civic LX for sale on Carvana
2017 Honda Civic LX for sale on Carvana | Carvana

Can you find a lower price through a traditional car dealer?

Can you find a similar car from another traditional dealer and perhaps haggle the price lower? Yes, definitely. But if you don’t want to do that, you can rest assured knowing that you at least received a fair deal from Carvana.

Ray Shefska, from Your Auto Advocate, probably said it best, “If you have a strong urge to think that you have to beat the salesman up in order to get a good price, then go to an old-fashioned car dealership. But if you have the desire to feel like you’re walking into an Apple store and you’re about to overpay for an Apple product, and you’re OK with doing that, then go to a negotiation-free store.”

Can you negotiate with Carvana for anything else?

Carvana protection pricing
Carvana protection pricing | Carvana

According to Your Auto Advocate, you should be able to negotiate the interest rate on the auto loan that you receive through dealers like Carmax and Carvana, as well as on the prices of the extended warranties that each one offers. And while you might be able to do that with Carmax, it doesn’t look like that could be an option with Carvana as most of the car sales process is done on their website.

Related

CarMax or Carvana: Which Is Better for Buying a Used Car?