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Is self-service car vending the wave of the future?

July 25, 2014

Earnie Garcia took a different approach to the process of buying a car when he founded Carvana in 2013. 

Garcia started the self-service Atlanta-based company as a vehicle to finance and purchase automobiles online, according to Bloomberg. Cars can be obtained in two ways: The company will bring the the vehicle to the buyer's home, or the buyer can go to the vending garage, punch in a special code on the keypad and pick it up. Cars can be test-driven for seven days.

Carvana's merchandise comes from the usual places — auctions, rental companies, trade-ins and off-lease stock, but Garica said the self-service process saves buyers roughly $2,000. Customers tend to save about $1,500 on cost and another $500 cutting out the middle man — the dealer. 

Garcia said the process saves time too. Buyers have purchased cars in as little as 10 minutes, compared to the usual four to nine hours spent at dealerships, he said. 

Watch a Bloomberg interview with Garcia and a demonstration of the vending machine below: