Yup, any car buying right now is going to cost extra - but even in that context Carvana overcharges (and offers laughable financing). IMO - I spent the past 3 months researching this topic for my own purchase, limited mostly to sedans and cross-overs.
Who are the used car buyers that are paying 20% more and getting bad financing terms? Are they selling a lot of cars to subprime buyers?
That's it - same old processes, but they have the UX to make it "nice."
And people are paying a premium for that.
Same model, year, trim and pretty close mileage are on Caravana, listed at $19k and $21k. So a 50% premium.
I, value 50% of the car's price and don't mind spending 3-6 hours to save $10,000~ but many people, simply have an old car, the mechanic says it needs a new engine, they have a shift working minimum wage-esque and go with the first option of visibility thinking it's a good deal.
Financially poor, financially ignorant and time poor.
The perfect American customer.
A. Lower interest rates than the local credit union or the banks, and
B. Better prices on the vehicle I wanted than anyone else in the area.