TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Online dealer Carvana – under fire for breaking Florida law by failing to deliver titles to customers within 30 days of purchase – won’t have to worry about state officials yanking its dealer license. At least not right now.
Better Call Behnken obtained an email sent to Carvana by a director at the The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, in which the director says, “the department has determined not to proceed with administrative action with respect to Carvana’s dealer license at this point based on the significant progress Carvana has made to submit delinquent applications for title and the changes the company has made to their customer service and business practices.”
The email, written by Robert Kynoch, of FLHSMV, goes on to say that Carvana has reduced the number of title applications not filed within 30 days from almost 400 down to 29. Of the remaining 29 transactions, the email says, 11 customers have been given buy-out offers that include compensation for all of their payments made, plus 15 percent over the purchase price of the vehicle. According to the email, “the remaining 18 customers have been unresponsive or have failed to provide missing documents.”
Monday was the deadline the state had set for Carvana to fix outstanding title issues or face losing its license to sell vehicles in Florida.
Additionally, according to the email, Carvana has decided to stop selling vehicles until the vehicle’s title is in the dealer’s possession.
“While satisfied with the improvement Carvana has made to submit title applications in accordance with Florida law, the department’s administrative investigations into customer complaints are ongoing,” Kynoch said in the email. “Based on the nature and frequency of complaints, Carvana will remain in a regular review schedule from my office to ensure ongoing compliance, and the department may take administrative action as appropriate.”
Investigative Reporter Shannon Behnken asked Carvana for an update on whether it made its deadline in Florida, and a spokeswoman sent this statement:
“We regularly have proactive and constructive dialogue with FLHSMV officials who share our goal of making car buying and selling as easy and fun as possible for customers. As evidenced by our industry-leading customer experience ratings, we, and our many Florida teammates, remain committed to delivering even more exceptional car buying experiences to our Florida customers. In conclusion, we can confirm that we are in good standing.“
“Carvana has bought and sold well over a million cars with customers while achieving an industry-leading Net Promoter Score (NPS) and a 4.7 out of five star customer experience rating average, and will continue delivering best-in-class experiences for our customers. We also remain firmly committed to continuous improvement and will stay hard at work making the best car buying and shopping experience available even better.“