Driveway Review

Monday, December 5th

2022 Used Car Site Reviews

Driveway

• Over 25,000 used cars to choose from
• No-haggle pricing
• 7-day/400-mile return policy
• Some cars have a 60-day/3,000-mile guarantee
• $500 refundable deposit to secure a vehicle

Driveway is one of the newest buy-from-home used car sellers online today and is a division of Lithia Motors, Inc. Their inventory includes new, used, and Certified Pre-Owned vehicles, all with no-haggle pricing.

In-depth filters for searching

When you first land on the Used Cars page, you'll see a random assortment of the more than 25,000 vehicles in Driveway's inventory. You can easily search by make, model or keyword; otherwise, use the filters on the left side of the page to shop by payment type (cash or finance) and any budget parameters you have, plus apply filters to include your preferred body style/color, year and mileage, fuel type and MPG, and so on.

Excellent level of detail

You'll see plenty of information about the car that interests you. You'll usually find a dozen photos or more, a CARFAX report with the vehicle's history, and easy estimates for financing. Shipping costs are clearly displayed on this page too; just make sure that the Driveway site accurately detects your zip code where it says "delivery to" . Your taxes and fees will also only be an estimate until you get to the point of finalizing your purchase.

$500 refundable deposit

To reserve a car you find on Driveway, you'll have to pay a $500 deposit via credit card. The good news is that it will apply towards the purchase price, and it'll be refunded if the order is canceled or if you're approved for a $0 down vehicle loan. Also, be aware that Driveway doesn't guarantee availability of any used car prior to the purchase being finalized. It's possible for multiple people to put down a deposit on the same vehicle, but only one will get the car.

Not all cars come with guarantees

Can you count on your Driveway used car to meet your expectations? Maybe. All cars are inspected prior to being listed for sale, and every vehicle has a 7-day/400-mile return policy. But, they don't all have guarantees beyond that. If your used car has less than 80,000 miles on it at the time of purchase, it may come with a 60-day/3,000-mile guarantee. Check the details in the vehicle listing to see if it qualifies.

Lack of response

It's hard to get a clear picture of Driveway's reputation. They're so new on the market that there's not a ton of feedback. At the time of this evaluation, they had a concerning "F" rating from the Better Business Bureau, but that was because they'd been in business for such a short time and failed to respond to 8 complaints. That wouldn't ordinarily be a big deal in our book, but almost all of those complaints said the same thing: "we bought a car through Driveway four months ago and we still don't have the registration" .

Frustrated customers

That doesn't include the buyers who said that the vehicles they got were in much worse condition than promised. This includes customers who bought a car and found issues that only arose after a few weeks or months, but that were related to items that should have been taken care of (like regular servicing). It's definitely a challenge to find people with good things to say about their experience with Driveway.

Better choices for reliable used cars

Driveway has a few advantages over their similarly-structured "buy from home" used car rivals, but it's not enough to earn our recommendation. There's no reason car buyers should be waiting for months post-purchase to get the needed paperwork, and there's no excuse for failing to reply to customer complaints. Driveway doesn't get our absolute lowest ranking - but it's close.