“No One Really Knows Exactly Why Carvana Keeps Buying Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep & Ram Dealerships” was a Morning Dump headline back in March, and it’s safe to say we now know the answer. Carvana’s big move is not quite the upheaval Matt imagined in his “most paranoid delusion” at the time, where he saw “a future where someone like Carvana actually buys a car company,” but it is still a very big deal: Carvana is going into the new-car business, currently with seven dealerships, and is making the leap exclusively with Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, and Ram vehicles (CJDR for short).
Carvana isn’t merely adding new cars and trucks to its CJDR dealerships and calling it a day, however; it has designed a new in-person car-selection process from the ground up. And it involves an enormous cube with 10×10-foot interactive screens on each side. More on that in a bit.
[Full disclosure: I drove myself to Carvana’s Dallas Test Drive Center for a presentation where the team gave me a nice little notebook, a pen, and a T-shirt. There was also a food truck with free breakfast tacos on site, but I had already eaten a sausage biscuit on the drive up to Dallas, so I passed.]
As Carvana Special Projects President Tom Taira explained, the Stellantis products on offer are sourced directly from the manufacturers, with care given to the specific selection of models and configurations. “The selection of vehicles that we have is not like, ‘whatever we have in stock, let’s just throw it out there and figure it out.’ They’re highly curated. We’re able to find the right cars … and then we’re able to purchase them from the manufacturer directly.”
I’ve referenced Carvana “dealerships” so far in the story, and while the Dallas Test Drive Center (TDC) looks and feels very much like a dealership, the TDC is not deeply stocked with cars ready to take home. Customers can see, touch, and – you guessed it – test drive an example of the car and trim level they’re interested in. But when the deal is sealed via the Carvana site, the buyer will arrange to pick up their actual new car at the TDC, or have it delivered to their home, or to another TDC if they prefer. Depending on the selected car’s location and the time of purchase, the car may even be delivered the same day. Carvana TDCs also have service centers, in case you were wondering. (I was.)
About That Cube
It’s impossible to miss the 10×10-foot cube in the middle of the Dallas TDC’s showroom floor, but I did at first underestimate how essential it was to the car-selection process. I think we’ve all been trained to see big screens in retail spaces as mere hype generators, but the Carvana cube is actually a real tool for car shoppers.
Each side of the cube has a QR code that invites visitors to START HERE and “Build your custom vehicle tour.” Scanning the code takes you to a carvana.com page that also “powers” the TDC cube experience, which is displayed both on your phone and on the cube. From there, the cube/site guides you to a specific car by having you select Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, or Ram, then the model you’re interested in from that brand, and the trim level you prefer. The cube is not merely a mirror for your device, though – the two work together.
The cube and site show you the car’s features in a presentation you can swipe through at your own pace, with buttons for “Take a Test Drive” and “Help” throughout. At the end of the presentation, the cube will show you the location on the lot for an example of the model and trim you’ve just seen – though it’s not really a lot in the expected way, but is instead what Carvana calls “the playground.” It’s even got a recycled rubber surface as some playgrounds use.
On The Playground
Unless you request help from a “customer advocate” to bring you from the cube to the car’s spot on the playground, you’ll be left alone to check it out for yourself. Tom Taira explained, “This is not a showroom; we’re not trying to sell cars here, we’re trying to present cars. We’re helping you shop, we’re helping you experience those vehicles.”
You shouldn’t have any trouble finding your selected car, because there aren’t rows and rows of cars to navigate. Instead, there are clusters of vehicles arranged by brand, just enough to cover all the models and trims, and placed for easy side-by-side comparison. Some groupings get a fun twist; at the Dallas TDC, there’s a trio of Jeeps on an artificial ridge; Chrysler minivans are splayed in front of a soccer goal; and the Dodges are strung out on a section of “racetrack.”
The vehicle locations are very prominently numbered so they’re easy to find, and map signage shows where the clusters are and which brands are in them if you need extra help. All the cars are open so you can climb in and inspect as much as you like, and if you need a refresher on the features, scanning the QR code at the location number or one of the QR code decals on the car itself will pull up an “immersive digital tour.” And if you’re ready for a test drive, it’s a tap away.
If a customer pulls into the parking lot and doesn’t even make it inside for the cube experience because they’re bedazzled by, let’s say, a Hydro Blue Wrangler on the playground, they can still explore it as much as they like and learn all about it via the QR codes, request an advocate to come over to answer questions about the car, or jump right to a test drive – a cube visit isn’t required.
Solo Test Drives
Scanning a car’s QR code and choosing Test Drive will get you behind the wheel of a car identical to the playground model. You’ll collect it at one of the Test Drive Lanes (you’ll be shown where to go on your device), and an advocate will drive the car to you. They’ll collect your name, email, phone number, and driver’s license info, and then you take off for your test drive – alone! That’s nice. There’s an information sheet in the car with a suggested (but not required) route selected to give you a good feel for how the car drives, and the nav system’s “home” setting is set to the dealership so it’s easy to find your way back.
Short of actually going for a test drive (though I was welcome to), I played through Carvana’s cube-to-playground-to-purchase experience and found it easy to use. I did manage to find a bug – a Charger’s map location wasn’t displayed correctly – which was dutifully noted by one of the software engineers on hand for the presentation. Otherwise, it was all seamless. I was just pretending, but actual customers moving ahead with a new car can tap a customer advocate for help completing their purchase at the Carvana site, arranging financing, or appraising a trade if needed.
We live in a device-oriented world, and I’ll be unsurprised if online and in-person car-buying become more and more integrated, if not in exactly the way Carvana is doing it. As someone who just can’t pull the trigger on a new car without thoroughly examining it right down to the spare-tire well and taking a proper test ride, I’m glad Carvana’s new-car gambit includes dealerships, no matter what they’re called.
All images: Carvana
I mean they bought CDJR dealers cause they were the cheapest available I’m sure, and the brand would be most open to someone trying new sales tactics cause they are desperate to move metal. But as for the new process, this is basically the model I’ve been saying dealers should start using for a while now, so I guess we’ll soon find out if I was right about it working or if I was full of it, haha!
mom said it’s my turn on the cube
Honestly, this seems like a good idea. I’m sure there will be some issues, but overall, it’s probably a net improvement over the existing dealership model.
Also, if it really is so easy to test drive a vehicle, I can see some people test driving a truck for a quick Home Depot run instead of renting the one from Home Depot.
I was pretty dead set on buying a Rivian R2, mostly because it seems awesome, but partly because I was excited to try buying a new car that completely bypassed the dealer experience. I’ve ultimately decided that I don’t want to spend that much on a new car, so I’m getting something else.
And I’m stuck in this quasi-unknown state because the dealer apparently can’t get updates from the manufacturer on where my car is. There’s no other car within a 4 hour radius in stock that meets the trim and color options I want (I’m not that specific, just give me top trim, without a white interior, and I don’t want matte paint). So I’m stuck dealing with a somewhat unresponsive dealership that is 2 hours away from my house, because the dealers closer were even worse.
Kinda making me wonder if it’s “worth” the extra money of getting the R2 if my reservation ticket comes up before I get my hands on my new car…
Sounds like a mashup of retail gimmicks from other industries past and present. . .
Like “Farm to Table” restaurants . . .
Like REI’s big stores with a climbing wall and a tiny, fake boulder course for you to try new hiking books on . . .
Merchandising 101 . . .
Back in the day you could grab an album or CD and go into a booth and/or put on headphones and listen in solitude before buying . . . ‘
I’d give it a try, but I don’t think my phone cord is long enough.
Here are your messages. “You have 30 minutes to move your car”, “you have 10 minutes to move your car”, “your car has been impounded”, “your car has been crushed into a cube”, “you have 30 minutes to move your cube”.
Of course the reality will be that if you want to test drive a loaded V8 Durango, they’ll send you over to the test drive lane to drive a base V6, because that’s all they have available.
Still, I’d be far more inclined to give some cars I’m not sure about a try if I didn’t have to deal with salespeople.
Dealerships often do the same thing with new cars.
At least it gets you a feel for the interior layout, and comfort.
This is a concept I wanted to hate but kinda plays out nicely. No uninformed salesperson attempting to redirect me from what I’m interested in or showing me the top-tier trim I don’t need or can’t afford. Too bad it’s CDJR product. But then again, with so few models they won’t need a lot of vehicles to cover all the trim levels.
Welcome to Carvana and the timecube, yeah, that’s the ticket. Me? I’m just a normal guy working at Carvana who’s married to Morgan Fairchild.
This is the perfect car buying experience for normies. If they can make this work, they will quickly become the next AutoNation/Penske/Hendrick.
As much as I (we!) all hate the dealerships, it is nice to see someone innovating the experience. This sort of thing would appeal a ton to my non car loving wife- Give me all the info about the trims without a dumb salesperson that may or may not know what they are talking about. Give me the freedom to explore with a digital guide. Sounds like a winning plan honestly.