Like many of us, Carvana is also trying to hide the Covid madness behind it. The online retailer grew massively during the pandemic, suffered a downturn as the used-car market cooled sharply and enjoyed a brief and bizarre rebound that one investment group called “a gift for the ages.” Now the company is getting more serious about adopting some of the characteristics of its competing traditional dealerships, while maintaining the benefits of a car shark-free experience for customers.
Carvana recently began test drives of the new cars at its Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-RAM store in Texas, one of two Stellantis dealerships it purchased in 2025 (the other is in Arizona). According to Carvana, the new Test Drive Center provides a hands-on experience to potential buyers without the intervention of salespeople or the pressure of negotiating a deal on the spot. The staff is there only to answer questions and move cars around.
Customers are greeted by a four-sided screen from which they can browse available vehicles (presumably anything from each brand’s current lineup), compare trim levels, and configure a vehicle. Display models are also available, each with a QR code that pulls up a virtual tour showing specifications and available configurations. Either way, the system finds the closest on-site match to the buyer’s ideal specification from the fleet of test vehicles, and employees bring it to the valet lane for a test drive.
The purchasing process is still done through Carvana’s website, and customers can log in to complete the purchase from the dealership or from home. As before, the company promises no-hassle pricing on the vehicles in its inventory.
Carvana weathered a wave of rising used car prices during Covid, but the rise came too quickly. The company ran into trouble in several US jurisdictions due to paperwork bottlenecks, when customer registrations began to expire before their title paperwork could be processed. CARVANA Lost my dealer license in Michigan As a result, more had to be done Settle a Lawsuit in Connecticut Due to delay in registration and payment to vendors. Car vending machines and sponsoring Jimmie Johnson’s IndyCar dream couldn’t make it happen.
The unpredictability of the used car market clearly hasn’t been good for Carvana, which may explain its decision to buy brick-and-mortar dealer franchises that sell new cars. This is also due to the continued pressure from the franchised-dealer lobby in some states against online sales. And whether the inventory is new or used, offering a test drive is a logical step to growing that business.
