Looking to get back into a S550 *Update*

[ay1820]

On a side note… I wished companies like Carvana and Vroom were worth a damn.. it would make life easier to have more possible options.. they’re both quite a shit show from the reviews I’ve read on both…. Great idea but handled terribly. I wonder if Carmax is any better. I have my own financing already so I won’t have to go through their hoops on that end..

A good experience with any of them seems to be few and far between

Yeah there are bad reviews out there, but I bought a 2020 CA Special Convertible from Carvana in March and it was actually quite painless. I won't deny that it was a little stressful since you have to trust in the process without ever having the opportunity to look someone in the eye, but it does work just as described.

I probably would have been more skeptical myself, but a good friend of mine went through the buying process about 4 weeks ahead of me, so I could see how it worked. Yes, there are bad reviews, but we both had great experiences with no surprises or problems of any sort.

p.s.; One problem with on line reviews is that people with bad experiences tend to post far more frequently than people with good experiences, creating a distorted view. Case in point is neither I nor my friend posted a positive review about Carvana, but I know I would have posted a bad review had my experience been sour.

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[SlowWhite]

Yeah there are bad reviews out there, but I bought a 2020 CA Special Convertible from Carvana in March and it was actually quite painless. I won't deny that it was a little stressful since you have to trust in the process without ever having the opportunity to look someone in the eye, but it does work just as described.

I probably would have been more skeptical myself, but a good friend of mine went through the buying process about 4 weeks ahead of me, so I could see how it worked. Yes, there are bad reviews, but we both had great experiences with no surprises or problems of any sort.

p.s.; One problem with on line reviews is that people with bad experiences tend to post far more frequently than people with good experiences, creating a distorted view. Case in point is neither I nor my friend posted a positive review about Carvana, but I know I would have posted a bad review had my experience been sour.

absolutely… you won’t hear about the 10,000 people with a good experience., you’ll hear about the 100 people who have a bad experience. I believe the gubment banned carvana in a few states due to their poor title/registration handling practices…also, they bought a lot of junk site unseen from the public when the boom for that really hit.

but I did manage to find a much better deal than the black CS model posted earlier. Funny thing is, it’s been about 15 mins away the whole time I’ve been looking.. and it’s just what I’m looking for.. 21 GT premium, 10spd, 401a, active exhaust, and with only about 1800 miles on it.. for $42k. It was a late late 21 build according to the carfax.. original dealer took delivery last November. It’s Magnetic grey color.. only thing it really needs is a nicer set of wheels.. that’s usually a must anyhow…

I saw the car listed over the last month that I’ve been looking but that dealer has several locations and they all had a listing for it.. but no photos, no price, and it was mislabeled as a 6spd stick car. Last night I looked at a different car site than the ones I’ve been looking through. It was listed on Edmunds.. it had a price and photos..piss poor photos I might add but I know what I’m looking at anyhow.

 

[ay1820]

I believe the gubment banned carvana in a few states due to their poor title/registration handling practices

That's their big opportunity area. In many cases, they outsource that to local agencies, but they don't seem to have them under good control. They need to establish dealer presence in more locations so they can do the registration themselves, like CarMax does.

The other big problem is that many state DMVs were operating under capacity due to the pandemic and all the 3rd party stuff like Carvana's got shoved to the bottom of the pile.

but I did manage to find a much better deal than the black CS model posted earlier. Funny thing is, it’s been about 15 mins away the whole time I’ve been looking.. and it’s just what I’m looking for.. 21 GT premium, 10spd, 401a, active exhaust, and with only about 1800 miles on it.. for $42k. It was a late late 21 build according to the carfax.. original dealer took delivery last November. It’s Magnetic grey color.. only thing it really needs is a nicer set of wheels.. that’s usually a must anyhow…

Sounds great!

I actually found a deal like that when I was looking too. The dealer had zero interest in doing a cash deal though. They wanted me to either finance or have a trade-in. They told me that I could do a finance and pay off early, but I had to agree to hold the paper for 90 days ... I said no thank you.

A couple days later, a black CS showed up on Carvana and it was a better deal. Both cars were clean CarFax one owners and had under 1,000 miles. They were equipped differently, but the Carvana one was at a much better discount relative to the original sticker price than the dealer one, so I took the Carvana plunge. I might have been a bit more hesitant, but my buddy just bought a 6 series BMW from them and was happy with how it all went down.

 

[SlowWhite]

That's their big opportunity area. In many cases, they outsource that to local agencies, but they don't seem to have them under good control. They need to establish dealer presence in more locations so they can do the registration themselves, like CarMax does.

The other big problem is that many state DMVs were operating under capacity due to the pandemic and all the 3rd party stuff like Carvana's got shoved to the bottom of the pile.



Sounds great!

I actually found a deal like that when I was looking too. The dealer had zero interest in doing a cash deal though. They wanted me to either finance or have a trade-in. They told me that I could do a finance and pay off early, but I had to agree to hold the paper for 90 days ... I said no thank you.

A couple days later, a black CS showed up on Carvana and it was a better deal. Both cars were clean CarFax one owners and had under 1,000 miles. They were equipped differently, but the Carvana one was at a much better discount relative to the original sticker price than the dealer one, so I took the Carvana plunge. I might have been a bit more hesitant, but my buddy just bought a 6 series BMW from them and was happy with how it all went down.

I thought it was magnetic but for 2021 they went to carbonized grey… oops.. I’m sure it’s quite similar to magnetic

 

[stars_fan]

On a side note… I wished companies like Carvana and Vroom were worth a damn.. it would make life easier to have more possible options.. they’re both quite a shit show from the reviews I’ve read on both…. Great idea but handled terribly. I wonder if Carmax is any better. I have my own financing already so I won’t have to go through their hoops on that end..

A good experience with any of them seems to be few and far between

I would sell to them again in a heartbeat but never buy something from them.

They gave me 49,031 for my 2.5 year old Tesla that I paid 50,400 for new.

 

[SlowWhite]

Welp, out with the S197 and back to a S550

this was on my drive home from the dealer this evening.

had to take a couple of quick shots

 

[Prymetime1]

Welp, out with the S197 and back to a S550

this was on my drive home from the dealer this evening.

had to take a couple of quick shots

Glad u waited and found this bad boy, looks great! Good luck with it!

 

[SlowWhite]

Glad u waited and found this bad boy, looks great! Good luck with it!

yeah I’m real happy with it.. In the photos the dealer had for it, it appeared that it had tinted tails but they’re in fact tail light covers.. didn’t think those were still a thing. Hopefully they aren’t too much of a pain to remove without destroying the original taillight. Not super crazy about the side louvers.. they don’t look bad but I may pull them and sell them. I like the cleaner look of it without. Just minor details at this point.. also the wheels have to go… I may keep two of them to put some DRs in them later.. we’ll see…

I like the LMR PP2 replica wheels a lot but I’m not sure what route Ill go. I would like a wheel that has a bit of a lip on them and staggered possibly. The PP2 wheels would be a sure thing for looks.. maybe in black. I have time though.. till the stock tires are wore down at least

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