Buying a Car from a Vending Machine

Although used-car shopping is something that we don’t ordinarily cover, this is a bit too, well, bizarre to overlook: The Carvana Car Vending Machine.

Yes, it is real. This one opened in San Antonio last week. It is eight stories tall and contains four delivery bays as well as up to 30 vehicles.

The way it works is this: The customer shops via the company’s website. Then within 10 minutes, the company says, can buy and finance the vehicle.

The customer, if within 100 miles of San Antonio, can opt for next-day delivery. Or they can choose to visit the vending machine.

Upon arrival at the vending machine, the customer is provided by a Carvana staff member with “an oversized coin,” which is used to activate the robotic vehicle delivery once it is dropped in a slot.

This is the third vending machine that the company has installed in Texas, with the other two being in Austin and Houston.

While many people are dissatisfied with the car-buying experience, clearly there is something to be said for the novelty of this approach.