Working mom of 2 without car(BMW) for months following $15,000 in repairs Carvana wouldn?t cover

[BavarianPretzel]

Who is to blame here?

?When Haley Blackburn needed a new car, the busy, working mom of two says she knew where to go. ?When I found out about Carvana - everything is online, the car can be delivered to you - it sounds easy and painless,? Blackburn tells 11 Investigates. She found a 2017 BMW X1 within her family?s budget of $20,000. No pushy car salesmen, no hours of paperwork.?

[ctcarbonari]

Buyer Beware.

Feels like there's more to this story. She drove the car for ~27k miles.
I'd be curious as to what the mileage was at time of purchase.

Kudos to her though for being resourceful, having her voice heard, and reaching out to play the "struggling working Mom of 2" card.

[Car-Addicted]

Independent pre-purchase inspection and this most likely never happens.

[JeffinOregon]

She’s getting raped by the maintenance function, likely a BMW dealer. Car appears to have ~60k miles. She is likely getting CEL’s and maintenance reminders and duly having them addressed. $1500 for what was likely brake pads. $2600 for what could have been a low coolant warning that became a claimed thermostat replacement.

The TV “investigators”, being about as knowledgeable as the owner, go after Carvana, who then buys in to being the bad guy by helping to pay off the maintenance thieves.

[Phillies8008]

Carvana is stupid easy and convenient to buy from, but I'm not convinced they really do their homework in terms of checking the cars they're selling. If I recall correctly they give you a week to return the car, and I'd definitely get an inspection of the car done in that time since it isn't an option pre-purchase. After those seven days pass it's your problem, not Carvana's, so caveat emptor and all that.

The one caveat is that if you've traded in a car and end up returning the one you bought, you can't get your trade-in back. They treat it as a separate transaction so in reality you're not trading it in, you're selling it to them.

[Stamos]

Am i the only hard-ass here who thinks a "hard working Mom of two" should asses her finances well enough before purchasing a used "luxury" SUV?

Used BMW's are notorious maintenance/repair monsters for the 2nd and 3rd owners if they don't know how to do their own repairs/maint.

[zx10guy]

Never ceases to amaze me people that are financially strapped or are in less than ideal living situations seem to buy cars that are known to be expensive to own. She had other better options such as a Toyota Rav 4, Honda CR-V, or Mazda CX-5 that would provide the "safe" car she wanted. But ended up with a BMW X1.

[tcphoto]

Her budget was $20K and she neglected to think about maintenance or other potential problems. She relied on the 120? point inspection and spent every bit of her budget. Like many women, she thought that she could just fill it up with gas and maybe an oil change once a year. She also probably brought it to BMW for service and paid a premium. On the other hand, Carmax is notorious for just wanting to write loans and the cars are an afterthought.

[Rocket455]

Originally Posted by Stamos

Am i the only hard-ass here who thinks a "hard working Mom of two" should asses her finances well enough before purchasing a used "luxury" SUV?

Used BMW's are notorious maintenance/repair monsters for the 2nd and 3rd owners if they don't know how to do their own repairs/maint.

Nope, you are not alone. 100pct the same thoughts here. If finances were a concern, I wouldn't drive an older BMW/Benz/Audi even if it were gifted to me, that's how much they scare me!

[Leucosticte]

I had a buddy who sold his F10 with metal in the oil filter to Carvana, they put it in drive and reverse, went in a circle around a parking lot and that was the extent of their inspection.

To be fair it did go to auction afterwards, but still, I would never buy a car from Carvana.

Amazingly stupid move from the buyer of the car no doubt, when I drove the X1 of the same generation I wanted to get out of the car asap, you're not even getting much more than an equivalent Honda, Toyota, etc. She must've really wanted the badge I guess.

[Phillies8008]

Originally Posted by Leucosticte

I had a buddy who sold his F10 with metal in the oil filter to Carvana, they put it in drive and reverse, went in a circle around a parking lot and that was the extent of their inspection.

To be fair it did go to auction afterwards, but still, I would never buy a car from Carvana.

Amazingly stupid move from the buyer of the car no doubt, when I drove the X1 of the same generation I wanted to get out of the car asap, you're not even getting much more than an equivalent Honda, Toyota, etc. She must've really wanted the badge I guess.

We bought one from them several years ago and it worked out fine, but I think their quality has worsened since then as they've gotten bigger. I do have to say that it was the easiest car buying experience that I've ever had – I bought the car while sitting on my couch on a Friday night and it appeared in the driveway Tuesday afternoon. If only every car could be that easy to buy...

I probably wouldn't buy another one from them at this point, but if I did I'd be very sure to get the car inspected immediately so that I could return within the 7-day window if needed.

[jkoral]

Bought a 2025 430i xDrive Gran Coupe last year with 14K miles from Carvana. I still got a post purchase inspection at my local BMW indy with the first 7 days so I could return it if needed.

Returning would be a pain since I also traded in my 2022 X3, but better than getting stuck with a used car that requires work.

I probably won't buy from Carvana again, but they do make the process super easy.

[Our03z4]

I bought a car from Carvana, love my experience. You get 7 days and 400 miles to make sure it's good. I had my local indy shop do a deep PPI and it came back perfect. I did need a repair for a leaking coolant thermostat o-ring and water pump ($2700) and Carvana immediately approved the work at the shop I wanted. They charge you $50 if you don't use their shop. I would 100% use them again, especially because it was the only way I could find the car that had the exact options I wanted.

[FrankL]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

Never ceases to amaze me people that are financially strapped or are in less than ideal living situations seem to buy cars that are known to be expensive to own. She had other better options such as a Toyota Rav 4, Honda CR-V, or Mazda CX-5 that would provide the "safe" car she wanted. But ended up with a BMW X1.

Absolutely. The Mazda would probably be her best bet because it is probably just if not more reliable w/o the Toyo & Honda premium. She could even get a CX-3.

As far as the X1, any opinions on them? They are front wheel drive on the Mini platform? The Mini's are not the most reliable. I would have bought an i8 and would still love to buy one except it has that 3 cylinder turbo mini motor that always has cooling issues. I still want a turbo S55 i8 with no hybrid or EV.

Are the X1's built in Germany or South Carolina??

[SYT_Shadow]

X1s work well. The 4 cylinder engine is the b46/48, a great engine.

We have one in the family with 100k on it. Do your maintenance and you'll be fine

[FrankL]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

X1s work well. The 4 cylinder engine is the b46/48, a great engine.

We have one in the family with 100k on it. Do your maintenance and you'll be fine

Absolutely, B46/48 is very good if you do the maintenance and use good synthetic and Mann/BMW filter.

[alex2364]

Why does it matter this person is a working mom of two? If this was a single man, does he not deserve as much attention and sympathy?

[TimmyTurbos]

She definitely did this to herself. The only sympathy I have here is for those 2 little ones. Moms doesn't sound bright.

[M3Sleeper]

Originally Posted by tcphoto

Her budget was $20K and she neglected to think about maintenance or other potential problems. She relied on the 120? point inspection and spent every bit of her budget. Like many women, she thought that she could just fill it up with gas and maybe an oil change once a year. She also probably brought it to BMW for service and paid a premium. On the other hand, Carmax is notorious for just wanting to write loans and the cars are an afterthought.

The common sense move would be a new Kia, Hyundai, or Honda CRV but no she wanted to flex on those moms in the carpool line.

[DavyNM]

Originally Posted by M3Sleeper

The common sense move would be a new Kia, Hyundai, or Honda CRV but no she wanted to flex on those moms in the carpool line.

friends don't let friends buy Kia/Hyundai cars or SUVs. I already have two friends and co-workers who faced thousands in out-of-pocket bills to repair 3 and 4-year-old Kia and Hyundai SUVs almost immediately after the factory warranty expired.