Carvana Deploys Worlds First Coin-Operated Automobile Dispenser

NASHVILLE -- Online auto retailer Carvana unveiled what it's calling the world's first fully automated, coin-operated car vending machine in Nashville, TN. Carvana customers can now purchase a car online and choose to receive it through an automated pick-up experience, similar to how a can of soda is dispensed from a traditional vending machine.

Carvana's car vending machine in Nashville is a glass building that contains a welcome center, a five story glass tower storing up to 20 cars, three customer delivery bays and an automated delivery system that moves a customer's vehicle from the tower and into each bay.

At time of pickup, a customer selects his or her name from a kiosk inside the "vending machine" and inserts a Carvana-branded coin into the custom coin slot, which initiates the vending process. The customer's car is automatically retrieved from the tower and is moved through the machine until it reaches a delivery bay, where the customer takes possession and begins their seven-day test ownership period. Carvana also supplies each customer with a personalized video of their vending machine experience that they can then share on social media.

Vehicle pickup at the Nashville vending machine is free for all Carvana customers. For those customers who live outside of Tennessee but want to pick up their car at the machine, Carvana will subsidize $200 in airfare and arrange "white glove" transportation from the Nashville airport.

"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," said Carvana founder and chief executive Ernie Garcia.

Carvana has expanded into several new markets this year, including Birmingham, AL; Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio, TX; and Raleigh, NC. Fueled by more than $300 million in funding to date, Carvana said it plans to continue its rapid geographic expansion, including vending machine rollouts.

"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," Garcia said.