An Army veteran in North Carolina purchased a car for more than $68,000 only to learn months later, he was sold a stolen car. And that’s just the beginning of the drama surrounding the car.
This was a big purchase for Jason Scott. He bought a Maserati for more than $68,000 from Carvana in November as a birthday gift for his wife.
“It was exciting for it to be coming down the hill, waiting for it outside, everything was fine,” Scott said.
Everything was fine until Scott went to get the car serviced at the Maserati dealership in February.
“That’s when they found out that the vehicle was stolen,” Scott added.
On the paperwork from Carvana when Scott purchased it, it says the car is a 2021 model, but during service, the technician notes state that it was discovered the parts of the car did not match the year of the VIN. After further investigation, it was discovered the car is not a 2021 model, but instead a 2017 Maserati.
“When they check the VIN number on the chassis, that’s when they saw that it was a stolen vehicle. VIN on the car on the window and the car door was different,” Scott said.
Police were called and Scott said he was questioned. After he showed proof he bought the Maserati from Carvana, he was free to go but since the car is a stolen vehicle, police impounded it.
Scott promptly called Carvana.
“She said, ‘Well, we can’t trade the vehicle back in until you bring the vehicle back.’ I said, ‘I can’t bring the vehicle back.’ I said, ‘The police have the vehicle,’” Scott said he told the company.
He said he provided the police report to Carvana to show he couldn’t return the car. He also wanted his down payment, plus the two car payments returned.
“They wasn’t responding back to anything at all,” Scott said.
Carvana said that due to pending litigation, they can’t comment.
Scott does have an attorney who sent Carvana a letter with his demands, which were $1 million in compensation for losses, both financially and reputationally, and a public apology. Carvana did send a letter in response to Scott’s attorney, which said in part that Carvana denied any prior knowledge that the vehicle was stolen when they purchased it, and apologized for his experience. The letter states a customer advocate with Carvana told Scott they would refund the money he had already applied to the purchase or he could swap into another vehicle of his choice and also offered him $1,000 as a gesture of goodwill.
Besides wanting all of his money back, Scott is seeking $1 million in compensation for what he’s been through and said he wants Carvana to take steps to prevent this from happening to anyone else.
“I know they say they have 150-point inspections. I want them to have 151. Check to see if the vehicle is stolen. The last thing I want anybody to do is to get caught late at night on some strange road in the backcountry and they can’t verify it and they look at that person as a criminal,” Scott said.
The North Carolina Attorney General’s office said they are investigating Carvana as they have 130 complaints against the company, but are not aware of any complaints involving selling stolen cars.
