Buying a car online? Sounds risky, right? That’s exactly what I thought when I decided to purchase my dream truck through Carvana. Turns out, I was right to be cautious—but not for the reasons I expected. In fact, I almost ended up with the wrong truck entirely.
Spoiler alert: I eventually found my perfect vehicle, but not before making some mistakes, dealing with stress, and learning some hard lessons along the way. Here’s what happened when I almost committed to the wrong truck, and the biggest lessons I learned in the process.
Buying a vehicle online is a weird experience. I had my doubts, but Carvana’s process seemed convenient and straightforward, and ultimately, I found my perfect truck. But before I drove off from the Carvana vending machine in my dream vehicle, I had a near-disaster with my first choice.
We’ll get to that in a minute. First, here’s what I learned about buying from Carvana.
There are one major upsides of buying from Carvana: The 7-Day Test Drive
One of Carvana’s biggest selling points is their seven-day test drive period. Basically, you have seven days from the date you pick up your vehicle to decide if you want to keep it. You can return it for any reason, whether it’s too big, too small, has uncomfortable seats, whatever.
But for me, the best reason to return a vehicle? If it’s a mechanical disaster. Which, unfortunately, is exactly what happened with my first truck.
My First Truck: A Costly Mistake Waiting to Happen
The first truck I bought from Carvana was a 2019 Toyota Tacoma access cab. It had 52,000 miles, had been in a minor wreck, had two prior owners, and was under a recall notice. But, it looked cool! It had a sweet storage rack on top and some aftermarket lights. I was excited!
This is the only photo I have of that truck. I’m more prominently featured because I was having a rare excellent hair day.
Then, my son Hunter took one look under it.
“Mom, this thing is rough.”
He wasn’t kidding.
The muffler was rusty, and parts of the exhaust system had been welded in multiple places—never a good sign. The skid plate up front was bent, and the tow hitch was warped, as if, in his words, “an idiot wrapped some chain through there and tried to pull out a stump.”
Yeah, that was not great.
I took it to a shop that I trusted and paid for a used vehicle inspection. When it was complete, they gave me the bad news:
The rack and pinion assembly was leaking, the catalytic converter needed to be replaced, there was a hole in the rear exhaust and it was rusted out, and the power steering was leaking and the pump needed to be replaced. On top of that, the front brakes where completely wasted and needed to be replaced ASAP.
The estimated about $5,000 in repairs.
Some of the most visible damage.
I hadn’t even owned the truck for 72 hours.
Thankfully, I was still within Carvana’s 7-day test drive period.
I returned it immediately.
After licking my wounds for a few days, I hesitantly got back on the Carvana app. This time, I was determined not to rush.
Another big advantage of Carvana (and similar online retailers like CarMax) is that they give you access to vehicles across the entire country. You’re not stuck with whatever the local used car dealership has to offer. But that also means you have to be patient and really know what you’re looking for.
I started searching daily, even multiple times a day. I refined my search criteria, set alerts, and kept researching. I knew I wanted a long-bed Toyota Tacoma; I was going to build a mini camper in the back, so my 5’10” self needed the space. Four wheel drive and a V6 engine were essential, too.
I also learned a few crucial red flags to avoid—but more on that in Part II.
Then, after weeks of searching, I finally found it. A 2022 Toyota Tacoma extended cab in a beautiful deep blue. It had low mileage, clean history, no wrecks, and no major mechanical issues. It checked every single box. I knew immediately: This was my truck.
Returning that first truck was a wake-up call. I knew I had to be smarter, more cautious, and way more meticulous in my next search. And after a lot of trial and error, I finally figured out the biggest red flags to avoid and the best green flags to look for when buying a vehicle online.
Want to avoid making the same mistakes I did? Check out Part II—where I break it all down for you.
Have you ever bought a vehicle online? What was your experience like? Did you run into any issues, or did it go smoothly? Let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Read Part II: The Most Important Red & Green Flags to Keep in Mind When Buying a Car Online
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