A Carvana customer bought a 2022 Tesla Model 3 with a few scratches and an interior that needed cleaning. Unfortunately, the bigger problems weren’t visible until a mechanic got a look underneath the car.
The buyer posted a photo of the damage on Reddit after having the Tesla checked at another shop. Looking at it from the outside, they said nothing seemed especially wrong.
The inside needed some work. The buyer said that Carvana hadn’t done a full cleaning job but only had vacuumed the seats and floors, but they didn’t mind giving it a good clean.
The buyer also paid $150 to have a mechanic give the Tesla a general inspection. What the mechanic found was a lot harder to overlook than the scratches.
Mechanic Finds a Big Gash in Tesla’s Battery
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150 point inspection is a joke
by
u/ildisco in
CarvanaComplaints
The mechanic found a large gash in what the buyer identified as the Tesla’s battery pack. They shared a close-up photo showing the damage and questioned how Carvana could have missed something that big.
There was more bad news during the inspection. According to the buyer, the mechanic also found two completely torn control arms. The buyer said the Tesla reportedly had no accident or damage history. They even wondered whether Carvana had bothered putting the car on a lift to check underneath it.
In the Reddit post, they called Carvana’s advertised 150-point inspection a joke. They were especially bothered by the damage to the battery, considering how important it is to an electric vehicle.
Carvana Says Its Cars Go Through Multiple Inspections
Carvana published an explanation of its inspection process on October 15. The company said its technicians check brakes, tires, electrical equipment and other mechanical parts before putting cars up for sale.
According to Carvana, technicians repair or replace anything that fails its inspection. The cars then get another look from a quality-control team to check whether the work was done correctly.
There are more checks before delivery, including tire pressure, fluid levels and the battery. Carvana said employees also inspect vehicles every 14 days while they’re sitting in inventory waiting to be sold.
The buyer hasn’t shared anything indicating that the company has addressed the battery damage or the two control arms.
Buyer Couldn’t Find EV Battery Condition on Inspection List
One person in the Reddit comments asked whether Carvana’s checklist included the physical condition of an electric vehicle’s battery. The buyer looked for it but couldn’t find anything specifically mentioning that.
Other people shared their experiences with Carvana, including someone who sold the company a 2017 Toyota Sienna. They said the minivan had a transmission that was grinding and clunking, but Carvana still paid them for a vehicle in excellent condition.
Another commenter had better luck buying from Carvana. They’d purchased three cars without any problems, although they still took each one to their own mechanic before keeping it.
Carvana gives buyers seven days to return a vehicle and includes a limited warranty for 100 days or 4,189 miles. The Tesla buyer hasn’t said whether they plan to return the car or what they’ll do about the damage. They did have something to say about the independent inspection, though.
“Best $150 I’ve ever spent,” the buyer wrote.