Well I can finally announce the addition to the fleet for Lexi our 2019 Lexus UX 250h F Sport! And what a journey it was to get her here in Central Oregon which is why this post is 2 weeks late.
My journey started off in the Carvana App where I was searching for a new vehicle to add to my Turo Fleet, we looked at a lot of different types and models of cars and SUVs. Being in Central Oregon we knew we had to take advantage of both the Winter tourism season as well as the Summer. With how well Mitsu has performed for us this winter (She pretty much lived at Mt. Bachelor since December) we knew an AWD vehicle was in the picture. We looked at some older Tesla’s but the price just wasn’t quite right, we looked at another Ford Escape Hybrid, but they were just too hard to get, and prices were higher than we wanted them to be, I tried really hard to get a Kia Sorento Hybrid, but finding an AWD one within 1000 miles was difficult, and when I did, the dealership was hard to work with online. I didn’t want to put another Subaru on the road in Bend, there’s already enough of them. Then we saw Lexi, and we knew, she would be ours, and I just can’t turn down an Orange car!
I went through the process through the app, and I have to say it really was as easy as they say it is, the last part was a $699 delivery fee but I knew they had those Car Vending Machines so I I explored that option. The vending machine this car would be delivered to was in Lehi Utah so I checked plate tickets and gas prices and I could fly out to Salt Lake City and drive back for less than half of what the delivery was, total no brainer. I set up the pick up date and had to wait until the end of March for my appointment date.
The night before pickup I was sent a text to upload a selfie holding my license, a copy of my insurance card, and sign the digital paperwork, so I sent that off and went to bed. We woke up and I got dropped off at the airport and I quickly got through TSA, go a cup of coffee and a muffin, and sat down to listen to a podcast while I waited for boarding. And then… it happened.
Ring Ring went my phone, it was Turo, an hour before take off something was wrong with Lexi, her headlights didn’t turn on. I was stuck, do I get on the plane and risk it? Do I stay home? I can’t waste this plane ticket, I have to push on. So I did.
I landed in SLC, great Airport, awesome Art.
Took the Train to the train station. The App worked really good to get me to the next hub, then it stopped working, and I missed the connecting train. Unbelievable, 30 minutes to the next train, so I called a Lyft to get me to the AirBNB.
Got to say, had a great AirBNB stay, if you are ever in the Salt Lake City area, check it out.
I woke up the next day and headed to Carvana to see what was going on, was it just the bulbs (Which Carvana didn’t have the tools to fix), or was it the electrical? But first, I needed to charge my devices, and myself which I did at Beans and Brews Coffee House. Decent Coffee, fast chargers.
Back to the car. I get there and explain to Carrie at the front desk what was going on, she said she’d get Ash who was assisting me to come talk to me. I got to say, this Ash guy came at me super sideways from the start, saying that they took it to a dealership, but they haven’t had a chance to look at it, and I shouldn’t have flown out here, and they won’t pay for me to stay in a hotel while they diagnose it, and it could be weeks for the to happen, and I shouldn’t have flow here and I should have got delivery.
I was absolutely aghast at how poor his customer service skills were, but remained calm and listened to what he had to say before he said he’d go back and check on if there was an update.
Carrie IMMEDIATELY apologized to me for his tone and behavior, saying to pretty much ignore everything he said, I could tell why she was the face of this Carvana as soon as he left. She called whoever was in charge there and let him know what was going on, and how Ash treated me and told him she was going to call the dealership and find out what was going on. The dealership pretty much told her they’d get to it when they got to it, but that wasn’t going to be any time soon. She called a Lexus dealership close by, explained to them the situation, and got them to agree to do a diagnosis within the hour of delivery. UNBELIEVABLE CUSTOMER SERVICE! Carrie got her co-worker to drive her to the dealership, picked up Lexi and took her to the Lexus dealership for the diagnostic. Kinda awkward sitting there with the dude waiting on Carrie to get back.
Bad news, it was the electrical housing. Good news, Carrie’s boss put me up in a hotel for 2 days while Lexus got the parts and fixed the headlights. Whew, what an experience. Here’s a good look out my hotel window at the Utah Mountains.
They also had a social so i got to check out some of the local beers.
Well, they re-set my appointment up for 3:30 & checkout was at 12, so thankfully the hotel let me chill in one of their lounges and I listened to some podcasts while I waited to walk down to Carvana and then it came. The text, it’s ready, it’s working, I can go home! I started my walk down to Carvana.
And I arrived.
Signed the paperwork and now it’s time to drop my giant Carvana Quarter into the vending machine and GET MY CAR!
Big shoutout to Carrie and team for making this happen!
Time to get some Culver’s and drive home!
This post has taken too long to upload, so I’m ending it now. Book Lexi here! Do it now!!!!
Rideshare Rex 