It's been a year or more since we discussed this, I think. I'm shopping for my recently-college graduated daughter. Not new, but less rusty/maintenance heavy than her 07' Mazda 3. She likes the Focus hatchback. Carvana has two with under 15K miles, $16.5 and $17.5.

I used to be the guy with the connections to people selling cars all the time, but no more. I hesitate to buy something I have never even seen or smelled, but they say seven day money back, 100 days fix anything warranty.

I know deni$ was on them for stock purposes, but have any of you got any car buying experience with carvana or vroom?

We recently helped one of our daughters purchase a vehicle. We looked into carvana. But found a few horror stories of people getting vehicles with damage and having to fight them to get it resolved. So we decided it was something that too good to be true on how they describe it.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Not sure about Carvana but I would avoid any Focus. Pay attention to any you see on the road on the frame under the front driver or passenger doors. I would guess that almost 75% of the ones I see have discoloration, rust or it is completely gone. Major design flaw.

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Mulli is Howard Stern in his prime compared to Haugh.

Any ford car. They stopped making them for a reason. Even their trucks are still prone to corrosion.

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the world will always the world. your entire existence is defined by your response.

Ive bought cars basically unseen... But only from local dealers that seem to have been around awhile. My current SUV was one test drive... I knew it had suspension problems but the motor sounded ok and the interior was nice. I ended up replacing all of the front suspension but other than that it is been great.

Carvana is for redditors who get anxiety every time another human talks to them

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the world will always the world. your entire existence is defined by your response.

In terms of the stock, I hated the company’s business model when they went public. Covid made the stock a winner. But they are still sucking up capital and recently sold billions in debt at over 10% interest rates. I remain convinced they will go bankrupt, and the founders will be considered fraudsters.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Thanks for the input, guys. I have never been a Ford guy, despite growing up with an F-100 on the farm. My 25 years in auto detailing showed me that the Ford line was slightly lower in build quality in my opinion, but they responded to the Asian import quality challenge with some nice design elements and improved fit and finish. Even now, lower levels of trim on Ford models have better standard features than most- I can find several 2014 Focus with heated seats, only the few Hondas or Toyotas with top trim packages will have that feature so important to every woman today.

I like Toyota and Honda, she is in a '07 Mazda 3 now, and it is rusting to beat the band, despite having only 100K miles. My 99 Civic is rotting to the point it will be scrapped when I'm done with it. But, my wife's Highlander looks brand new underneath! One of the many reasons i just cannot push myself to buy a used car sight unseen. She may actually be a candidate for a new car, just to save me the shopping responsibilities. Maybe I can figure out a way to make a lease write off for her or me. Shit, she's the CPA, let her find the loophole.

As to the business model of carvana, deni$ surely knows more than I. I would hazard a guess that several other shining stars of the current economy will supernova their way to bolivion sooner than later.

Maybe the market has changed recently, but when we were looking for a car for our daughter last year, the prices for used cars were so inflated that buying a new car with a low interest finance option was a better value.

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“How do you get to be president and you’re stupid?” Donald J Trump - 4/10/25
When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus. - Turkish Proverb

When i searched for Focus on Carfax, it returned a 2016 Focus RT. True, it was very low miles, but a soon-to-be-seven model years old vehicle like that should not be $49999!