Lorenzo

Does anyone know anything about these 2 places (Carvana and OFF Lease Only). They seem to have quite a few benzs for sale on autotrader,,Thanks

thefisch

From looking a while back, I got the sense that about half of the Off Lease Only cars had an accident in their history. They have videos on their site about how not to overreact to an accident or other issue on carfax. I didn't find their prices so low that I could overlook the carfax issues. Never visited their lot or checked out any of the cars personally, but when I called about one car they seemed too busy to talk to me.

aquinob

I would never commit to anything that I could not personally look, touch and drive in person before any money changed hands. Too much that can be hidden or overlooked otherwise. Since you are down in FL, you can travel to one of their dealerships to evaluate the vehicles. If I was going to do that, I would line up several vehicles to see to make the trip worthwhile. YMMV

Lorenzo

Yea i may take a trip to one of their dealerships after the holidays. It seems like their prices are lower than most dealerships but im not sure why. I know this for sure ill be checking carfaxes and records of whatever car i buy. I dont want a car that been hit. If someone cant show me crafax or records then ill keep looking

MBNUT1

Like theFisch said more often than not Off Lease vehicles have been in accidents. Lately I have noticed that some aren't though. Carvana is a little more interesting. Motorweek did a review of them. I think that they have a money back guarantee but as always the devils in the details. I think they try to disincentivice people from just "borrowing" the car by charging a delivery fee.
https://www.highya.com/carvana-reviews

PaulFM

So, I been to Off Lease Only twice. They post low prices and there isn't any dealer fee. But make sure to see the car in person.

The first time I went there was back in 2011-ish when they only had one location over in Palm Beach. The sales people were nice, friendly, and easy going. Not pushy at all. The vehicle I saw online was a one owner, minor accident car. After inspecting it, only the left fender was repainted. I ended up buying. It was a smooth transaction and I saved quite a bit since the accident showed up in the Carfax.

But when I was casually looking at the other vehicles, I noticed some of them weren't like the one I bought. One vehicle I saw was lowly priced, and when checking the Carfax, it said there was frame damage, and while I looked at the car, there in fact was a dent in the frame. Another vehicle was also listed as having a previous accident, but whoever did the repairs didn't do an excellent job and the imperfections couldn't be seen unless you looked at it in person.

The second time I went there, I came in for one car I saw advertised online and it said it was in a previous accident. When I came to look at it, I felt the edges of the panels on the car and noticed many of them were repainted. I was debating whether to purchase it or not. At the end I chose not to, justifying that the price they advertised wasn't fair enough for a car with multiple repainted panels. Ended up getting the same model for a similar price from a private seller who had leftover manufacturer warranty on the car.

So yeah, you can get some good deals at Off Lease. I kept the car I bought from them for about 5 years without any issues. But I really stress that you go in and take a look at the car.

Lorenzo

Paul, thanks for that great info. I think they have a place up in orlando so if i dont find anything closer to me ill take a ride up there and check that plase out,,

thefisch

Not sure I could easily spot paint work or frame damage myself. I wonder how they would accommodate customers who would want to get a car inspected.

Lorenzo

Frame damage would be hard to see due to it being hard to get to. Sure you can put it in the rack but thats it. I can spot paint work

cetialpha5

I guess it depends how far you want to go to check out a car. Not only is there carfax, but there's also autocheck which finds some accidents that don't show up on Carfax. Then you can get an OBDII scanner and check for error codes and see the readiness status, not ready means that they cleared the codes recently. You can also get a paint meter, but those prices vary from $20-$600 and up.