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Hate car dealerships? Try Carvana’s 8-story tall car vending machine

Carvana launches fourth car vending machine, third in Texas

Andrew Hard
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Carvana Austin
Image used with permission by copyright holder
They say everything is bigger in Texas, but did you know that applies to vending machines?

Online auto retailer Carvana has launched yet another Car Vending Machine in the United States, with the latest example touching down in San Antonio, Texas. Standing eight stories tall, the sleek glass structure holds 30 cars and features four attached delivery bays, making it nearly identical to the previous installment in Houston. In total, the company has four locations across the nation, with the first opening in Nashville, Tennessee in late 2015 and the second touching down in Austin, Texas about a year later. The point of the service is so customers won’t need to hassle with salespeople, but Carvana reps are available on-site to help with the process (as there’s a good chance many people will be first-time car-vending buyers).

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“We’ve been offering our free delivery services in the San Antonio market for almost a year and a half now, and reception to the Carvana car buying experience has been great,” said Ernie Garcia, founder and CEO of Carvana. “We are always looking for the next city to offer our Car Vending Machine pickup experience to and with the high adoption rate of the new way to buy a car in San Antonio, it made sense to offer the unique pickup experience here next. We can’t wait to deepen our ties within the San Antonio community through this launch and make customers’ experiences even more memorable.”

Like the previous locations, the San Antonio Car Vending Machine works by linking to Carvana’s website. Customers can search for, purchase, finance, and even trade in a car online, then they choose between home delivery or a unique Car Vending Machine experience. If they select the latter (and why wouldn’t they?), buyers head to the site where they receive an oversized Carvana coin to drop in the custom slot. Then, just like a mid-day snack break, the car automatically moves from its perch down to the delivery bay for the customer to enjoy. We don’t recommend shaking the machine.

If you live in the area, Carvana’s latest Car Vending Machine is located at 5435 North Loop 1604 W, San Antonio, TX 78257. The service is free to use for all Carvana patrons, and if you happen to live outside the local delivery zone, the brand will subsidize $200 for airfare and arrange white glove transportation (of you) from the San Antonio airport.

Updated on 02-07-2017 by Miles Branman: Added info about Carvana’s new Austin, TX vehicle vending machine. 

Updated on 3-15-2017 by Andrew Hard: Added info about Carvana’s latest vending machine in San Antonio, TX.

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Andrew Hard
Andrew Hard
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Andrew first started writing in middle school and hasn't put the pen down since. Whether it's technology, music, sports, or…
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