By Bill Parry
A caravan of three flatbed trucks carrying strange looking cargo rolled through Jamaica, Forest Hills and Elmhurst on Sept. 20 as part of an online car-buying service’s rollout in the borough.
Carvana — a leading eCommerce platform which allows customers to buy a car online and have it delivered to their doorstep, just as if they ordered a pizza to be delivered — has expanded into New York City. Queens residents can browse more than 10,000 vehicles online, as well as buy, finance and sell their cars entirely online with no dealerships involved in as little as 10 minutes.
“That’s instead of spending four or five hours at a dealership,” Carvana co-founder Ryan Keeton said. “Now that we’re in the five boroughs, we thought it was time to launch our official rollout. We’re in 80 markets across the country but this is our biggest population by far.”
The white Carvana signature car hauling trucks “paraded” through the borough Sept. 20 with big white takeout bags with an actual car inside.
“People are really embracing the concept,” Keeton said.
Founded in Atlanta in 2012 and now based in Phoenix, Ariz., Carvana’s mission is to change the way people buy cars. By removing the traditional dealership infrastructure and replacing it with technology, Carvana offers consumers an intuitive and convenient online automotive platform.
With a fully transactional website, the entire car purchase can be completed online in as little as 10 minutes. Customers can then have their purchased car delivered directly to their door as soon as the next day. All Carvana vehicles come with a seven-day, money-back guarantee, giving customers the chance to see how the vehicle fits their life. If they aren’t satisfied, they can return the vehicle within seven days for a full refund.
“New York City is the largest market we’ve launched to date, so it’s fitting we give it our largest celebration,” Carvana CEO Ernie Garcia said. “New Yorkers are known for being mobile-first, so we’re proud to be the first to give them a fully start-to-finish mobile car buying experience; a service they’ve become accustomed to for much of their purchasing decisions.”
For more information, visit carva
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparr
