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Used Car Purchased Online From Vroom Goes Horribly Wrong

You won't believe this story about a used car online order that went horribly wrong. How can something like this even happen?
BMW i8 Image by John Goreham

Online car buying is all the rage in 2021. With the events of the past year meaning more at-home shopping, more and more car buyers want to find a car they can own by shopping online. However, a car is not like a toaster or a pair of flip-flops. Returning one is a massive undertaking and if you have problems with the car, you won't be dealing with the company that sold it to you, but a dealer with who you don't have a relationship with. One name we have been hearing more and more is Vroom. We looked into reviews of Vroom and here is what we found.

Related Story: Buying or Ordering a New Car Online - Here Are the Negative Reviews And Gripes

Supercar With Super Problem
The first unhappy buyer we found is Roman Mica from TFL Autos. Roman is a reviewer and Youtube personality that hosts a Youtube series with his son. We enjoy their content because they are not afraid to tell the truth. Just for the sake of disclosure, prior to the publication of this story, this author has never met or communicated with Roman in any way.

Roman recently decided to purchase his dream car, a BMW i8, and turned to Vroom to do so. You can view the long series of ridiculous problems and bad customer service he experienced from Vroom in the video linked above. In a nutshell, Vroom accepted a $63,000 cashier's check from Roman and then did not deliver the vehicle. Why? Because Vroom misplaced the payment. You may be asking, "Why is that Roman's problem?" well, it turns out it is the buyer's problem, and if Roman is to be believed, Vroom did little to help the situation.

Story Update (February 23): Vroom reached out to Torque News following the publication of this story and wished to add the following comment, which we feel helps the story have more context. Note that the check that Roman Mica sent went to Houston Texas, and according to his timeline was signed for on Wednesday the 10th of February. One day before the massive storm struck Texas.

Here is Vroom's statement:
"We regret the issues that Roman had in transacting with Vroom, which were exacerbated by the recent storms in Texas, as many of our customer service team members are based in Houston. We did not provide the customer experience that we strive to deliver but have been in close touch with him over the past several days, resolved the payment delivery issues and were on track to begin delivery. We had hoped to have the opportunity to make things right, but we understand Roman’s decision to cancel the transaction and we have issued a full refund. We’re continuing to make process improvements a top priority and our customer service teams are responding to customers across channels, including on sites like Yelp and the BBB, to ensure that our customers are satisfied."

No BBB Accreditation
Vroom has been in business for eight years but isn't accredited with the Better Business Bureau. In fact, the BBB stamps the accreditation for Vroom "Revoked." In addition, the BBB has received 477 complaints about Vroom in the past 12 months. One BBB complaint reads, "With no exaggeration, this was the worst customer experience of my life. Please do not do business with them. For handling what is typically a person's second-largest asset, a car, Vroom could scarcely be less competent." Another says, "Bought a car on 1/4/2021. They have all my money, including funds from opening a loan. They were definitely not doing any paperwork and the delivery is still pending. I am now trying to back out of this as it’s been a month and no sign of a car. I have an open loan, less in my savings, and no car. The fact they haven’t been shutdown is terrible."

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Yelp Reviews of Vroom
We also checked out Vroom on Yelp. Here, the online car-buying service receives a 2/5 star ranking. One Yelper who offered a 1-star review compared his experience with conventional car-buying. He wrote, "Brutal waste of time. After putting a hold deposit on a car I wanted I received an email that the contract signing would take up to another 5 days and this did not even include when delivery would be scheduled. The whole point of click and buy is to get the product ASAP. I ended up just going to a dealer and getting what I wanted in an hour." Another Yelper writes, "There have been issues on their end on every step of the way for the past month. Issues like sending me the wrong documents so I can purchase a car and then selling the car to someone else after they wouldn't return calls or emails. I would have never had thought I would be begging for a dealer to take my money and do their job so I can purchase a car."

The idea that one can seamlessly and easily find, select, and buy a vehicle online is very attractive. However, be sure you check out the reviews of any company you opt to try out when shopping for a used car online. If you have had a good or bad experience with Vroom, please feel free to post a comment in the space below this story.

John Goreham is a long-time New England Motor Press Association member and recovering engineer. Following his engineering program, John also completed a marketing program at Northeastern University and worked with automotive component manufacturers. In addition to Torque News, John's work has appeared in print in dozens of American newspapers and he provides reviews to many vehicle shopping sites. You can follow John on Twitter, and view his credentials at Linkedin

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Comments

Amy (not verified)    February 14, 2022 - 8:28AM

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The woman at vroom that finally helped me was Maria Salas a supervisor in titles direct phone number was 832-916-2741. She helped getting a rental until I got my permanent plates. Vroom ended up paying almost $5000 for a rental. Hope this helps. I had to be tenacious to get everything done. Not everyone has over 500 hours to be on hold. I made it a priority but we now have our plates and are done with vroom.

Brandy Beck (not verified)    June 14, 2021 - 7:49AM

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Hey, my fiance' and I have a vehicle from.Vroom and out situation sounds just about like all these combined. I kept everything from our experience and after looking we have 4 different buy dates for this car. My fiance' also cannot get through to anyone, he just keeps getting transferred to another department. Also, Vroom keeps trying to get Chase bank and others to finance the car and give us the loan and whenever we called Chase they didn't know who my fiance' was! They also have taken our down payment but sent 500.00 back and want another down payment all the while hurting my fiance's credit with them trying to get us financed. We have had the car since January but have yet to make a payment and my fiance' signed one contract and it has been cancelled. So, we are unsure as of what to do at this point??!! We would be more than happy to get a lawsuit filed if that is possible. Oh and our car is currently at our local dealership right now as I type this and has been since last week because we have to have a torque converter replaced!!! There just seems to be no end to this mess!! Thank for your time.

Kendel (not verified)    September 28, 2021 - 10:14PM

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I am in the same boat. We traded in our car signed a contract on 8/3/21 for a Tahoe. Today is 9/28/21. We called capital one who we got financing through to make a payment and told vroom never sent info to get paid so they never funded the loan. They said our approval expired 30 days after getting it. So now we are in the processes of buying a home and can’t rerun our credit so vroom wants our truck back and doesn’t have our trade any longer. And it took over a month to get the truck. We feel so screwed and want to start a lawsuit. We all need to get together and start the lawsuit

Nicole Williams (not verified)    September 29, 2021 - 12:10AM

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They did say thing to new send captial one the title so my loan ended..but it cazy I think that was on purpose..a way that they can have u sign with them.. let me know I so totally down..they need to put out of business..screwing with people hard money.

K Bretz (not verified)    February 3, 2022 - 10:10PM

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I was thinking we were one of handful having the same problem. Purchase started March’21, temp tag expired in July ‘21 and it now Feb ‘22. Our state DOT has returned the paperwork twice for the same problem, mileage not matching on title and registration. I’ve been on hold for hours and the horrific piano music stops and nothing. No one is there. I’m no longer on hold. Please anyone, and ideas, lawsuits.

Danielle Bush (not verified)    September 25, 2021 - 9:39PM

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I’m in NY . Vroom sent me a car without any temp tags and they cannot guarantee when the DMV proceeds will take place . My finance company has gotten involved as well ! Are they any lawsuits happening in the NY/NJ area please reach out to me

josh (not verified)    October 12, 2021 - 11:34AM

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I am in the same boat but in NY. they said my car was financed and delivered it to me in April. They are now calling me telling me it was never financed and i have to reapply or give the car back. I got rid of my other car so I am stuck. If you can provide any information that would be great.

Herbert Higgins (not verified)    May 11, 2021 - 10:03AM

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Liars and cheats. Bait and switch. I have the Cadillac in the garage. Cannot drive it. Took my money for the tags. Money disappears paper tags expired. Chase Bank was the lien holder. Although Case doesn't know who I am. So I am paying insurance on a car that i don't know who it belongs too. Then cannot drive it because if Chase isnt. Then who is, I am not about to get into an accident and be responsible for the whole thing because who is the LIEN holder. Vroom, I dont have a clue. Also they have $13,000 of my money.

Herbert Higgins (not verified)    May 25, 2021 - 6:58PM

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This is what I did. All Vroom people. That got screwed. I filed a complain with the Texas Dept of Motor Vehicles. They assigned an investigator. When in two weeks Vroom couldn't move fast enough to get me and the Texas DMV off their backs. Also for the customers that have money claims I found out that all auto dealers are required to have a Security Bonding company. That information can be found in the licensing section of their business license bureau. File a verbal complaint with the bonding company. If the claim is valid the bonding company pays you and then sues Vroom for money back. Good luck Texas DMV worked it out for me in no time. Then Vroom paid 2 months worth of car payments to the bank because they took so long to finish the car loan transaction.

Patricia Watterson (not verified)    July 15, 2021 - 7:09PM

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We are in the process of Vroom buying back the car as it was misrepresented to us and we immediately filed a claim. The car has been picked up and we are waiting for our refund. You can imagine how that is going. I am curious if you are Texas residents and is that why you filed a complaint with the Texas DMV. Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

Jon (not verified)    October 11, 2021 - 9:37PM

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I live in California. I’m assuming they bought the truck in Montana and moved to their Texas facility. I did finally get my DocuSign docs nearly 9 days later. Now I’m still waiting for whatever comes next. I’d assume I’d get a copy of what I signed and a delivery date. It’s been a couple days so no idea.

Herbert Higgins (not verified)    May 25, 2021 - 6:59PM

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This is what I did. All Vroom people. That got screwed. I filed a complain with the Texas Dept of Motor Vehicles. They assigned an investigator. When in two weeks Vroom couldn't move fast enough to get me and the Texas DMV off their backs. Also for the customers that have money claims I found out that all auto dealers are required to have a Security Bonding company. That information can be found in the licensing section of their business license bureau. File a verbal complaint with the bonding company. If the claim is valid the bonding company pays you and then sues Vroom for money back. Good luck Texas DMV worked it out for me in no time. Then Vroom paid 2 months worth of car payments to the bank because they took so long to finish the car loan transaction.

Jack O (not verified)    June 21, 2021 - 8:01PM

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fortunately I've spent a week at the "never even got my Doscusign document" sent to me (well, I did get a horribly incorrect one). So, I won't have to go through the steps of filing lawsuits just to get my title.

This company is not functioning, period. They're grifters looking for start-up capital to spend on hookers and blow. I can't really figure out any other MO here?

Steve Stratton (not verified)    July 2, 2021 - 12:19PM

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Vroom customer service is a debacle. First they sent me the pricing sheet for the wrong car. Then they sent me the pricing sheet for the correct car but tried to bump the price by $1,000. Stupidly, I proceeded anyway buying the car for cash.
It took them milliseconds to process my deposit an dbank check but now no one can tell me when or if I am gong to get a car. It has been "in transit" for 2 weeks even though it is 6 hours away, There is no option for me to go and pick it up. Part of the issue is Vroom charges all of us $699 to deliver but then low balls independent carriers over which they have no control. My question is... is there any way to cancel a purchase for lack of delivery and get a full refund? Good luck to us all.

Jeff Baumann (not verified)    July 9, 2021 - 8:03PM

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If I could give Vroom zero stars, I would. I purchased a 2018 Ford F-150 from Vroom in May and owned it for 45 days. At that point, my truck suddenly shut down while I was driving it and numerous electrical issues occurred. I brought it to a Ford dealership the next day and found out that the truck I purchased had a bad seal and a faulty seam, and water had gotten into the truck and fried an electrical module. I called Vroom and they said since it was past the 7 days, they would not cover any of the $1400 in costs for repair. I even offered to pay half if they would cover the other half. They would not even consider it, and it is not something that is covered on their 90 day warranty. If you are looking for a dealership that supports its customers and the vehicles it sells, look somewhere else. Vroom is not that company.

Mike Gabler (not verified)    August 21, 2021 - 4:25PM

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Dude, your problems are not Vroom problems. you bought an American made truck. Vroom can't make your truck brand new. As with all used car dealers, they can't wave a magic wand and make your used truck brand new. part of the reason you didn't pay "NEW" price for your vehicle is because it is used and comes with a greater risk of mechanical issues. you and everyone else that buys used needs to keep that in mind. Vroom didn't manufacture your truck and should not be responsible for silly quality defects.

Todd (not verified)    July 28, 2021 - 11:19PM

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Here is my story…
I was approved to purchased a 2017 Chevy Silverado crew cab through vroom an online used vehicle buying store on May 23rd 2021. I traded my 2007 Chevy for the 2017 Chevy also through vroom. I received by delivery my new 2017 Chevy Silverado on or around June 4th. I gave them a 500.00 deposit and signed the contract showing that i did purchase the 2017 Chevy with a trade in of my 2007 Chevy. It was signed by a vroom official and myself to complete the transaction. On or around July 8th I get an email stating i was no longer approved for the loan and they started a buy back process to retrieve the 2017 Chevy. I can no longer get back my old truck the 2007 Chevy at this point. I contacted them several times to try to resolve this matter and left my phone number for a return call. I left messages and the response was automated saying someone will be in contact within 72 hours. I never received a phone call till July 20th from vroom by back. I told the i wasn't interested in returning the vehicle and was trying to work something out with my credit union and was told that it didn't matter. I called the approval bank Santander and the representative told me that the loan for the 2017 Chevy was returned to vroom on June 10th. The credit union received a payoff check for my trade in on June 17th. On June 25 i was sent a check from vroom to fix the 2017 Chevy for air conditioner, back up camera, steering assist module, and the tire pressure sensor. the check was for $1068.21 to pay for the defects. I have purchased floor mats, rain guards, bug deflectors and fixed a third brake light issue in that truck. My overall point is that I signed a contract and was approved for the 2017 Chevy and traded in my truck. Now I cannot get my 2007 Chevy back and now they want to take the truck back which to me is very unfair. I have a signed contract with vroom stating that indeed I purchased the 2017chevy truck. I believe I am not in the wrong and I don't want to be without a truck. I also told the buy back person that if you were to get the truck back I was have the money owed to me from my trade in and purchases I made for the tuck and my time to get all the defect fixed at $9,000.00. She responded that it doesn't work that way. So I am in need of some guidance on this matter. I have all correspondences from vroom from the start till now. If I was not approved on the loan why deliver the truck, send me a check 15 days after the loan was returned to vroom to have the 2017 truck fixed, have very little contact and then proceed to tell me that they are buying the truck back from me on the 9th of July a month and a half later? I am still in possession of a the 2017 Chevy today two months after purchase. I feel like this was all a set up since the beginning just to get my used truck. I just called a lawyer and he told me to keep my truck. I told him my registration ran out and he said to call vroom and get another. I have another plate on the way. This is crazy!!

Thank you for your help and guidance

Todd Hubbard

Sent from Mail for Windows 10