Advice Please: Carvana: Take the money or apply toward new?

[icebiker]

So our Subaru Crosstrek has bitten the dust. Looking to get a new car. Normally, I'd sell it to Carvana or Carmax outright (instead of trading in at dealer), then head to a dealer to negotiate on the new car. I got a decent offer from Carvana, and i can either take it outright and follow my game plan, or apply it toward a new car via Carvana. I have not bought through Carvana before however. I usually go to the dealer and negotiate directly (and have been very successful in the past with every car I've bought...something about dealing with someone in person seems to work out well). So my question is, have any of you applied the Carvana offer toward a new car via Carvana, and if so did you feel it was a better experience than going to a dealer directly. And, by "better experience" I mean:
1) better price
2) get the exact car you wanted

Any insight appreciated.

 

[Bike N Gear]

No idea about Carvana in general, but there are tax savings if you trade and buy from the same place.

 

[icebiker]

Showed the Carvana offer to my local dealer and they honored it toward my purchase. Easy peasy. Bought a Mazda CX-50 Turbo Premium Plus. The only vehicle in its class and price range I find remotely attractive plus capable of stashing an XL 29’er inside.

What is up with all the overstyling these days (CRV, RAV4, Crosstrek/Outback, etc.)? Enough already with the odd angles, fussy grilles, weird D pillars, ugly body cladding (Pontiac Aztec, anyone?), etc

Ended getting a CPO 2023 with only 3000 miles and 7/100 warranty.

 

[iman29]

Showed the Carvana offer to my local dealer and they honored it toward my purchase. Easy peasy. Bought a Mazda CX-50 Turbo Premium Plus. The only vehicle in its class and price range I find remotely attractive plus capable of stashing an XL 29’er inside.

What is up with all the overstyling these days (CRV, RAV4, Crosstrek/Outback, etc.)? Enough already with the odd angles, fussy grilles, weird D pillars, ugly body cladding (Pontiac Aztec, anyone?), etc

Ended getting a CPO 2023 with only 3000 miles and 7/100 warranty.

sweet congrats. Agree the CX-50 is a good midsize SUV in terms of style and options - the Turbo premium plus especially. I like my Santa Fe Turbo but the newer ones are just so fugly design wise especially the 2024.

Back in the fall my oldest son found a CPO 2021 Mazda3 Hatchback Turbo Premium plus with only 6000 miles and he likes it a lot. I tried to convince him to get the CX-30 for a little bit more SUV-ish setup but he didnt like the thick black cladding around the wheels compared to the Mazda3

 

[GSTim]

So our Subaru Crosstrek has bitten the dust. Looking to get a new car. Normally, I'd sell it to Carvana or Carmax outright (instead of trading in at dealer), then head to a dealer to negotiate on the new car. I got a decent offer from Carvana, and i can either take it outright and follow my game plan, or apply it toward a new car via Carvana. I have not bought through Carvana before however. I usually go to the dealer and negotiate directly (and have been very successful in the past with every car I've bought...something about dealing with someone in person seems to work out well). So my question is, have any of you applied the Carvana offer toward a new car via Carvana, and if so did you feel it was a better experience than going to a dealer directly. And, by "better experience" I mean:
1) better price
2) get the exact car you wanted

Any insight appreciated.

Just curious what went wrong with your Crosstrek? What year? I have two in the family so want to know what to watch for.

 

[icebiker]

Just curious what went wrong with your Crosstrek? What year? I have two in the family so want to know what to watch for.

It was a 2014. The valve body on the CVT transmission went bad. A number of years ago Subaru had extended the CVT warranty from 60k to 100k miles but the car had 112k. Cost to repair would have run ~$1500 and would not have guaranteed that the tranny itself wouldn’t go down the road. And that would have run several thousand more and closely overtaken the value of the car. The car was otherwise very reliable.