It what seems like something right of fiction, there is now a vending machine for cars. No, not the kind where your back seat will spit out candy bars or soda – an actual machine that dispenses cars. That you then drive away. Craziness.
Earlier today, Carvana, a used car website, opened the world’s first coin-operated, fully-automated car vending machine in Nashville, Tennessee. Consumers who purchase a car online now have the opportunity to pick it up at – you got it – a vending machine.
Ernie Garcia, founder and CEO of Carvana, based in Phoenix, said in a statement that, “We are delighted to launch the world’s first robotic Vending Machine for cars.”
Garcia further added that, “Carvana created the original car Vending Machine concept in Atlanta in 2013, and we’ve spent the last two years taking this experience to a whole new level. Our new Vending Machine is a state-of-the-art, multi-story structure that delivers our customers’ cars by merely inserting a custom coin.”
The vending machine can store up to 20 cars at any given time and is encased in a five-story glass tower. It features three delivery bays that spit out the cars. Also inside the glass structure is a welcome center.
Once you insert the custom coin, your car is dispensed “through a proprietary and fully-automated pick-up experience, similar to how a can of soda is dispensed from a traditional vending machine.” Essentially, the “car is automatically retrieved from the Tower and is moved through the machine until it reaches a Delivery Bay, where [you] take possession and begin [your] seven-day test ownership period.”
For those Carvana customers who live in Tennessee, they can pick up their vehicles free of charge. For those who do not live in the area, Carvana has promised to “subsidize $200 in airfare and arrange white glove transportation from the Nashville airport.”
Garcia stated that, “Carvana’s mission is to create a better way to buy a car, and this new Vending Machine will be a one-of-a-kind experience that mirrors just how simple and easy we’ve made it to buy a car online.”
The company plans on building more vending machines throughout the country in the coming years.
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