Carvana customer buys stolen Maserati for $70,000

• A North Carolina man unknowingly purchased a stolen Maserati from Carvana, WTVD reported.
• He claims he discovered the Maserati had been stolen while being serviced months after purchase.
• Carvana’s stock soared during the pandemic, but its market value had plummeted by 2022.

A North Carolina man said he spent nearly $70,000 on a car to give to his wife, only to find out later that the used Maserati had been stolen.

Army veteran Jason Scott told WTVD that he bought a 2021 Maserati from Carvana in November as a birthday present for his wife, and “everything was fine,” until he took the vehicle in for service at a Maserati dealership in February.

According to the report, a technician at the dealer found parts on the car did not match the year on the car’s paperwork or the vehicle’s identification number. The tech told Scott that the car was actually a 2017 Maserati and that it had been stolen.

“When they checked the VIN number on the chassis, they saw it was a stolen vehicle. VIN on the car on the window and the car door was different,” Scott told WTVD.

Carvana’s communications director Kristin Thwaites responded to Insider in a statement: “When Carvana purchased this vehicle someone had taken advanced criminal steps to steal and modify the vehicle and we are taking all necessary steps to make amends to our customer in this rare example. .”

After the revelation, Scott said he had to prove to police that he bought the car from the online used car dealer. Scott also reached out to the company, but said he wasn’t given many options.

“She said, ‘Well, we can’t trade the vehicle in again until you return the vehicle.’ I said, “I can’t return the vehicle.” I said, ‘The police have the vehicle,’” Scott told the company, according to WTVD.

Scott said his attorney eventually sent a letter to Carvana demanding $1 million in compensation for financial and reputational damages, and a public apology.

Carvana sent Scott a letter saying she was unaware the car was stolen when the company bought it. It offered Scott $1,000 in addition to a vehicle refund and an apology, per WTVD

“I know they say they have 150 inspection points. I want them to have 151. Check if the vehicle is stolen,” Scott told WTVD. “The last thing I want anyone to do is get caught on some strange backcountry road late at night and they can’t verify it and consider that person a criminal.”

It’s unclear which model of Maserati Scott bought, but the Italian marque advertises its vehicles as luxury cars and prices can be as high as six figures for more recent models.

Carvana’s stock once soared at the peak of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, but by 2022 the company’s market value had fallen 98%. It reported disappointing sales as demand for used cars slowed, Insider’s Tim Levin reported in November.

“Nothing sets us up for trouble like that,” CEO Ernest Garcia told investors during a third-quarter earnings call in November, “and the last few quarters have undoubtedly been tough.”

The North Carolina Attorney General’s office told local news that it has received more than 130 complaints against Carvana but is not aware of any complaints about Carvana selling stolen cars.