Business Organization - Narrative (Details) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands			5 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	May 03, 2017 USD ($) vote $ / shares shares	May 02, 2017 shares	Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Sep. 30, 2017 $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2016 $ / shares shares
Subsidiary, Sale of Stock [Line Items]
Issuance of Class A common stock sold in initial public offering, net of underwriters' discounts and commissions and offering expenses | $			$ 205,925
Preferred stock, shares authorized (in shares)	50,000,000		50,000,000	50,000,000	50,000,000
Preferred stock, par value (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	$ 0.01		$ 0.01	$ 0.01	$ 0.01
Conversion ratio	0.8			1.25
Class A
Subsidiary, Sale of Stock [Line Items]
Common stock, shares authorized (in shares)	500,000,000		500,000,000	500,000,000	500,000,000
Common stock, par value (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	$ 0.001		$ 0.001	$ 0.001	$ 0.001
Number of votes | vote	1
Class A | IPO
Subsidiary, Sale of Stock [Line Items]
Sale of stock, number of shares issued in transaction (in shares)	15,000,000
Sale of stock, price per share (USD per share) | $ / shares	$ 15.00
Issuance of Class A common stock sold in initial public offering, net of underwriters' discounts and commissions and offering expenses | $	$ 205,900
Class B
Subsidiary, Sale of Stock [Line Items]
Common stock, shares authorized (in shares)	125,000,000		125,000,000	125,000,000	125,000,000
Common stock, par value (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	$ 0.001		$ 0.001	$ 0.001	$ 0.001
Number of votes | vote	1
Common stock, shares issued (in shares)	117,200,000	117,200,000
Conversion ratio	0.8
Carvana Group | Class A Common Units
Subsidiary, Sale of Stock [Line Items]
Investment owned, balance (in shares)	18,800,000
LLC price per unit, multiple on initial public offering price less underwriting discounts and commissions (USD per share)	0.8
Garcia Parties | Class B
Subsidiary, Sale of Stock [Line Items]
Number of votes | vote	10
Ernest Garcia, II | Class A Common Units
Subsidiary, Sale of Stock [Line Items]
Investment owned, balance (in shares)	200,000
Interest acquired	0.10%
Carvana Group | Class A Common Units
Subsidiary, Sale of Stock [Line Items]
Convertible preferred stock, shares issued upon conversion (in shares)	43,100,000