You can get just about anything out of a vending machine these days.  Sandwiches, fruit, ice cream, snacks, and even electronics are placed inside of these autonomous retail boxes for enjoyment at the touch of a fingertip.  As the world progresses technologically new and inventive ideas are popping up all over creation,  The trend seems to be replacing humans with machines.  Granted this might sound a little like the beginning of a Terminator movie but studies show that humans would rather deal with machines than with other humans when it comes to making purchases.

Carvana is an online used car retailer that was founded in 2013 by Ernie Garcia Jr and Ryan Keeton as a start up company based in Phoenix, Arizona.  Their mission was to make the vehicle buying experience a positive one and with the help of technology they have achieved just that.  The Carvana experience is can be completely done online and the only time you have to see another human is when your car is delivered to your home or office.  Everything aspect can be completed online, even financing and paperwork.  As great as this sounds most new owners want to pick their vehicle up themselves and all it takes is a trip to a Carvana location.  This is where things get really cool.  Each Carvana location is like an oversized vending machine that is full of cars and trucks of varying makes and models.  When the customer arrives on location they are greeted and given a large token.  This token is then placed inside of a slot on the outside of the machine.  A scanner reads the token and the machine springs into action.  The appropriate vehicle is found and delivered to the customer by a fully robotic system.

Carvana’s Nashville, Tennessee location finished production on the world’s first multi-level vehicle vending machine.  The new structure stands tall and proud at 5 stories tall and is jam packed with all different kinds of vehicles.  The towering car moving machine features metal platforms that vehicles rest on.  When a selection is made the platforms are moved using a chain and cog design that raises and lowers vehicles until the correct model is at the delivery area.  All of this activity is governed by a fully robotic and autonomous system.

Carvana takes things to a whole other level of service.  They allow customers to return their vehicles for up to a week after purchase with no questions asked.  This “test-to-own” period is just an example of the lengths the Carvana team goes to make sure their customers are happy.  The days of the pushy used car salesman might be numbered…

The video below shows the car toting vending machine in action.  Pretty damn awesome!