It’s been an interesting start to 2022 for Carvana and a new ruling in Illinois only serves to make its future more difficult. After some 90 complaints were filed with the state over title and registration issues Carvana has now been blocked from selling any more vehicles in Illinois until it solves these problems.
The Illinois state police department actually started an investigation over title and registration issues back in February of this year, reports Crain’s Chicago Business. It’s through that investigation that the signed complaints were verified and then used as grounds for the suspension. The state says that it’s found some Carvana customers who have waited for four to six months for proof of ownership.
Buyers who have already purchased a vehicle through Carvana in Illinois can still pick it up but no new sales will be authorized until further notice. For its part, Carvana has already responded to the suspension.
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“Carvana has compliantly operated as a licensed dealer and good corporate citizen in the State of Illinois for several years, and we strongly disagree with the State’s characterization of both the facts and the law leading to this action,” a Carvana spokesperson said in a statement.
“We are actively working with the State to resolve this issue, and they have agreed that we will continue delivering already purchased vehicles. We look forward to resolving this issue with minimal disruption to customers,” they continued.
Of course, that isn’t incredibly helpful to those who have already been ticketed in Illinois for expired registrations. Illinois Police Department spokesman Henry Haupt told Autonews that those affected should pay those fines and that the Secretary of State would work with Carvana to reimburse them.
He added that there was no specific date or timeline for when the suspension will be lifted. The used-car sales business will need to “resolve the issues at hand” before that. This is just the latest in somewhat negative press for Carvana.
In Florida, Carvana barely avoided a suspension after it resolved the vast majority of nearly 400 unfiled title applications during the month of February. It also reported a $506 million loss over the first quarter of 2022. Now we’ll have to see how this latest blow affects its long term success.