Carvana Car Loans Review
Carvana is an automobile eCommerce company that primarily sells used vehicles online. It’s known for its intuitive technology, and it offers online auto financing loans. Carvana is a direct lender — it doesn’t send you to another lender to get your loan.
In our Carvana auto loan review, we’ll show you all the details so you can see if financing or refinancing your vehicle through the site is the right choice.
Carvana Loan Types and Terms
| Loan types | Auto purchase |
| Loan amount | $1,000 – 85000 |
| Repayment terms | 36, 48, 60, and 72 months |
| APR | 3.90%-27.90% |
| Minimum credit score | 300 |
| Lender type | Direct |
| Good for | Used vehicles, bad credit |
Carvana Pros
- Simple overall experience
- No minimum credit score, good for those with bad credit
- No application fees, origination fees, or prepayment penalties
- Prequalified terms last 45 days, giving you time to decide
- Allows for a co-signer
- 7-days money back guarantee if you are dissatisfied with the car you bought
Carvana Cons
- Only finances vehicles sold on Carvana
- High interest rates if you have bad credit
Application Process
Before you apply to get Carvana financing, you can prequalify with a few pieces of information to see your expected terms. These prequalified terms are good for 45 days, giving you time to shop around and weigh your options elsewhere. You’ll also create an account at this stage.
If you move forward with Carvana financing, the application process is pretty straightforward.
First, then select the vehicle you’d like to buy and schedule your pickup or delivery.
Carvana will perform a hard credit inquiry, which slightly damages your score for a little bit, to check your credit.
If you’re approved, you can accept the terms and finish your vehicle purchase.
Terms and Requirements
Carvana is known for making car ownership accessible for people in a wide range of financial situations. Let’s look at some of its specific requirements and terms. Every purchase made through Carvana comes with a 7-day money-back guarantee. You are welcome to contact them if you are dissatisfied with the car you purchased within the first seven days.
Car Loan Requirements
Here are Carvana’s requirements for getting an auto financing loan:
- Be a US citizen or permanent resident age 18 or older with a valid Social Security number
- Earn at least $833/month ($10,000/year)
- No current bankruptcies
- Can’t live in Alaska or Hawaii (you can have a vehicle delivered to these states, but Carvana doesn’t offer financing in these states)
As you can see, Carvana lacks a credit score requirement, and its income requirement is extremely low. Thus, even car buyers with tough financial and credit situations can get a vehicle if they need one. Regardless, you can prequalify ahead of time to see what kinds of terms Carvana will offer you before applying. Lastly, Carvana’s down payment requirement varies based on the vehicle’s price, your credit score, and your yearly income. You can add a trade-in to offset some or all of the down payment amount.
Car Loan Terms
Here are Carvana’s car loan terms:
- APR: 90% – 27.90%
- Loan amount: $1,000 – $85,000
- Types: Auto purchase
Carvana may not require a particular credit score, nor may its income requirements be that high, but improving in both areas will allow you to access larger loans at better rates. Once again, prequalifying can help you see what kinds of terms you might get. Lastly, Carvana does not offer auto refinancing loans. It only offers auto purchase loans.
Repayment Terms
Carvana offers loan terms for 36, 48, 60, and 72 months. Proceed with caution if you go with a 72-month loan, especially if you have bad credit — you’ll pay the most interest and be in debt the longest.
Privacy & Security
You must provide Carvana several pieces of sensitive information. Thus, Carvana uses several security and privacy measures in compliance with federal law, from various computer safeguards to secured buildings and files in its offices. The company has a financial privacy policy on its website explaining how it may use your information. It also has terms of use page with more information.
Customer Support
Carvana offers several ways to contact help, the main one being the phone. You can reach a phone agent 8 am – 10 pm EST Monday-Friday at 1-800-333-4554.
Carvana also provides live chat throughout its web pages, accessible via a little popup in the bottom right corner. Aside from these options, Carvana provides a library of helpful articles on using its service and some general car buying and selling tips.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Carvana is a pretty good place to look for an array of people. However, it’ll best serve car customers who need financing but can’t get it elsewhere (or get affordable rates) due to poor credit or lower income. The application process is simple, there’s no minimum credit score, and it offers a wide range of loan amounts. That said, it’s restrictive. You can only use Carvana financing for Carvana vehicles. You still may not get great rates with poor credit, either — but at least there’s almost no chance you’ll be turned down.
Address
Headquarters:
1930 W Rio Salado Pkwy
Tempe, AZ 85281
