Carvana Adds Indiana to Its Same-Day Delivery Roster

Online used-car platform Carvana says it has added same-day delivery to a second state.

First rolled out in Arizona, the service is now also available for customers in Indiana, the company announced Wednesday (Aug. 23), letting them receive their new vehicle the same day they order it.

“Dozens of customers in the greater Indianapolis area have already gotten to enjoy the ease and convenience of same day delivery,” Matt Dundas, the company’s senior director of finance, said in a news release. “And, with thousands of vehicles in the area, local residents can potentially have a vehicle in their driveway before their next Amazon order arrives.”

According to the release, Carvana plans to add the service to new markets around the country in the coming months. It’s made possible, the company said, by its nationwide network of inspection and reconditioning centers and logistics fleet.

The rollout comes as car buyers are facing increasing pressure to find affordable vehicles, as noted here earlier this week.

Data from Cox Automotive shows that the average American now needs 42 weeks of income to pay off a new vehicle versus 33 weeks before the pandemic. The same figures show the average used vehicle price at $27,000, up a 30% increase over pre-pandemic figures, while interest rates for vehicles were approaching 14%.

These numbers could be why rates for auto loan delinquencies are at their highest in 17 years despite a strong labor market, according to a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report.

“Usually you get the default spikes when unemployment spikes — it’s the biggest correlation in consumer credit,” Clayton Triick, a fund manager at Angel Oak Capital Advisors, told WSJ. “To see them go up that much while unemployment is still low is not typical.”

Carvana last month forecast improved pricing and inventory conditions after seeing its sales plummet during the post-pandemic period.

Speaking on an earnings call, Carvana founder and CEO Ernie Garcia noted that the company had been “positioned aggressively for growth” 18 months earlier.

“We were then hit with a combination of macroeconomic, industry, operational, and capital markets impacts that, when combined, put us under considerable pressure and demanded a reprioritization of our efforts,” he added. “So that’s what we did.”