Vending machine out of order: Carvana loses license to sell in Wake Co. until 2022

The settlement that the DMV and Carvana reached last month suspends Carvana's license to sell from its Wake County location until Jan. 29, 2022.

Posted 8:42 p.m. Aug 10, 2021 — Updated 10:01 p.m. Aug 11, 2021

Adam Owens

, WRAL reporter

RALEIGH, N.C. — The company known for car vending machines is banned from selling cars in Wake County until next year.

The North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles sued Carvana based on a consumer complaint and revoked Carvana’s dealer’s license for violating dealer licensing laws. In July, Carvana was the top seller of used cars in the state, titling 587 vehicles statewide during the month.

Specifically, the DMV claimed in the suit that Carvana failed to deliver titles to the DMV, sold cars without a state inspection and issued out-of-state temporary tags for a vehicle sold to a person in North Carolina.

The settlement that the DMV and Carvana reached last month suspends Carvana's license to sell from its Raleigh location on Navaho Drive until Jan. 29, 2022. The suspension will last 180 days and began on Aug. 2.

The settlement accuses the company of engaging in "an unfair method of competition or unfair deceptive act or practice for issuing an out of-state temporary tags/plates for a vehicle sold to a North Carolina resident." Another violation in the settlement adds that Carvana "offered a motor vehicle for sale without a North Carolina State Inspection."

The dealer license was revoked, and Carvana is ordered to pay a civil penalty of $500 in addition to a $200 administrative hearing fee. The inventory of vehicles at the Navaho Drive location must be clearly marked 'not for sale' during the suspension.

"Whatever they did, it must have been serious enough that they felt the need to take their license," said local automobile dealer John Hiester, a past chairman of the North Carolina Automotive Dealers Association.

The vending machine is viewable from I-440. On Wednesday, a sign on the door said the "vending machine is not operating at the moment."

Carvana also has locations in Charlotte, Concord and Greensboro. WRAL News has reached out to the state Attorney General's Office and Carvana representatives for comment and have not heard back.

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