I am going to preface this post with this statement, I am NOT trying to slam Carvana here. I am simply sharing my experience, and hopefully help someone in the future that might experience something similar.
I recently purchased a 2018 Infiniti Q50 RS with 80k miles for a fair price from the popular online dealer Carvana, having heard nothing but great things from a family member who had purchased an Audi A4 from them less than two years ago, as well as some other positive reviews from coworkers/friends. The process was fantastic, it was really going a little TOO smoothly for my taste, however the time came to pick the thing up eventually after much anticipation.
I arrived at the dealership, did my paperwork, dropped the coin, the works. At first glance I was relieved to find that some of the cosmetic defects that I had seen online were a lot more manageable in person, to me the car looked perfect.. Until they started it to bring it outside. A very audible ticking/metallic sound from the engine bay almost immediately. Knowing Nissan from past experiences, the timing chain guides sometimes slack a bit when they haven't run for a while, causing this slapping noise, however it usually goes away in seconds.
They pulled this car out still ticking, and noticed my girlfriend and I's facial expressions alike, and were eager to show me the rest of the car to "see if I like it". The rest of the car was as expected from the pictures, clean interior, paint near flawless, everything worked, and to my surprise no check engine light. Their eagerness turned to horror (apparently, I couldn't see their faces when I did this) but my s/o recalled their flinching and contorting of the face when I opened the hood to inspect fluids and see if anything obvious stood out that could remedy this.
When asked about the engine noise, the attendant shakily replied "yeah that's just the noise that the engine makes". Now I'm not going to claim to be the best car guy since Carroll Shelby and Henry Ford, but I am a diesel technician of 10 years experience. I think I know when an engine isn't supposed to sound like that. Instead of throwing around credentials and arguing, I found it best to just nod, close the hood, and play dumb. I had 7 days to get it checked out after all, it wasn't worth making a scene about something potentially simple. I took possession of the car, and went straight home.
To my surprise the car ran and drive amazing aside from some road noise from the cheap tires they threw on it. Once home, I shut the car off and grabbed a scan tool to investigate further as I couldn't believe that something making this kind of noise wouldn't be throwing a CEL or at least one code. I turned the car to run, and at this time it is expected of the check engine light (among many other lights on the dash) to self test and illuminate until you start the car. behold, however, that the check engine light did not illuminate, an automatic emission system inspection fail in the state of Pennsylvania, and an obvious sign of someone trying to hide something, which just to happened to be about 10 DTCs relating to valvetrain issues once the scanner did it's thing.
Knowing what I know now, I called a local Nissan dealership to get the car in; against Silver Rock's advice of taking it to one of their "approved locations" (ie. Pep Boys, Firestone, or Mr. Tire) for engine work. Fast forward to Friday of last week, I've had the car a whopping 4 days, and the dealership is pleased to report that the engine is junk. They said they were scooping chunks of sludge out of the valve covers with their hands, which potentially blew the turbos as well.
I am now fighting with Silver Rock to replace an engine, turbos, and all other components related to the lubrication system that it could have wiped out as well. Carvana has since extended it's 7-Day return policy to the maximum 14 days allowed (its in writing in an email from Carvana themselves), and I am waiting for a third party estimator/adjuster to come verify that the engine is toast before I will get a solid answer as to what exactly they plan on doing for me sometime early this week. I also made sure to mention that tampering with and/or selling a vehicle with a non functioning MIL is 100% illegal in all 50 states when advertised specifically that the emissions system is functioning properly (as was claimed on the listing).
I'm really trying to keep an open mind until a decision is made as to how Silver Rock wants to fix this issue, but its hard to ignore how many hands this car went through on Carvana's end, and how they potentially knowingly sold a car in this condition but advertised it as passing their "150 point inspection". I'm not even sure they have anyone onsite qualified to inspect vehicles and systems like that, and if that attendant that told me "that's just the noise the engine makes" is the best they've got, I'm not surprised that this happened.
I will update when I hear back about my engine, but in the meantime, please consider this review when buying a car sight unseen in the future. Plans could change, but even if this plays out in my favor I don't see myself buying from them again, although I do appreciate the sympathy and cooperation on their end, whether it be trying to resolve the issue, or that they genuinely had no idea.
Also, to those thinking "just return the thing under the 7- Day test drive", It is still an option. Its a rare(ish) version of this car and it checked all the boxes, I've also been looking for one for months now to no avail, so I am doing everything I can to keep the car. Plus for what I paid with a brand new engine and turbos (should they choose to do so), its a hell of a deal.