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- A North Carolina man unknowingly purchased a stolen Maserati from Carvana, WTVD reported.
- He claims he discovered the Maserati was stolen while having it serviced months after the purchase.
- Carvana's stock soared during the pandemic, but its market value had fallen by 2022.
A North Carolina man said he spent nearly $70,000 on a car to give to his wife as a gift, only to find out later that the used Maserati was stolen.
Army veteran Jason Scott told WTVD that he'd purchased what he believed was a 2021 Maserati from Carvana as a birthday present for his wife in November, and "everything was fine," until he took the vehicle to be serviced at a Maserati dealership in February.
According to the report, a technician at the dealership discovered that parts of the car didn't match the year on the car's paperwork or the vehicle's identification number. The tech told Scott the car was actually a 2017 Maserati — and that it was stolen.
"When they check the VIN number on the chassis, that's when they saw that it was a stolen vehicle. VIN on the car on the window and the car door was different," Scott told WTVD.
Carvana's Communications Director Kristin Thwaites responded to Insider in a statement: "When Carvana acquired this vehicle, someone had taken sophisticated criminal steps to steal and alter the vehicle and we're taking all the necessary steps to make it right for our customer in this rare instance."
After the revelation, Scott said he had to prove to law enforcement that he'd purchased the car from the online used-car dealer. Scott also contacted the company, but said he wasn't given many options.
"She said, 'Well, we can't trade the vehicle back in until you bring the vehicle back.' I said, 'I can't bring the vehicle back.' I said, 'The police have the vehicle,'" Scott said he told the company, according to WTVD.
Scott said his attorney eventually sent a letter to Carvana demanding $1 million in compensation for financial and reputational losses, and a public apology.
Carvana sent Scott a letter saying it didn't know the car was stolen when the company purchased it. It offered Scott $1,000 in addition to a refund on the vehicle and an apology, per WTVD
"I know they say they have 150-point inspections. I want them to have 151. Check to see if the vehicle is stolen," Scott told WTVD. "The last thing I want anybody to do is to get caught late at night on some strange road in the backcountry and they can't verify it and they look at that person as a criminal."
It's unclear which model of Maserati Scott purchased, but the Italian brand advertises its vehicles as luxury cars, and prices can rise to six-figures for more recent models.
Carvana's stock once soared at the height of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, but by 2022 the company's market value had fallen by 98%. It reported disappointing sales as the demand for used cars slowed, Insider's Tim Levin reported in November.
"Nothing focuses us like difficulty," CEO Ernest Garcia told investors on a third-quarter earnings call in November, "and the last several quarters have undoubtedly been difficult."
The North Carolina Attorney General's office told local news it has received over 130 complaints against Carvana but is not aware of complaints about Carvana selling stolen cars.