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Smart Shopper Carmax - What's Your Experience?
763 messages, Last post on Nov 14, 2009 at 11:37 AM
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WOW... never heard of these guys before1 I just did a quick scan of prices and AD seems to be waaay below Autotrader.com- by about 4-5k in most cases for same mileage car. I would assume these guys are Carmax's direct competitor. I also noticed Auction Direct using Manheim Simulcast auction setup- didn tknow thy could do that lol..
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Replying to: blkbr0tha (Jan 31, 2008 9:11 am) Of course, the same hold true with Carmax vs other dealers, the Carmax price is what it is, the dealer's price reflects a lot of negotiation room. Dennis |
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Well- that is just the thing. Who wants to haggle?? Especially when they (dealers) clearly have the upper hand in the knowledge of car buying and selling.... Car buying can be a stressful situation as well- next to a home it is probably one of the biggest invstments a person makes in their life. I know for one- I do not like the haggle.. I like the quick and easy! lol (That would probably say a lot about my ex-gf selection too-lol... ).. but anyways... I see a need to keep my eyes open to other potential buyers/ seller services out there. The days of traditional car sales/ trades are over!!! yipppie!! 
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Replying to: blkbr0tha (Jan 31, 2008 9:38 am) Carmax and Saturn dealers exist for for suckers, I mean buyers, like you  . Seriously, most folks greatly over pay on EVERY car purchase. I know otherwise intelligent folks who do it all the time. Just too much trouble or they don't understand, or whatever. I even offer to do the work for them - find the car and get them a nice price, and they still would rather just wander in to some dealership and get ripped off. There are deal brokers that you can pay to do the work, useless to someone like me, but it might be worth looking into for others. One was spamming the forums here recently, but there are other more legit brokers around. Some specialize in one make (BMW) or even one model ('vette) and others will track down whatever you want. There are also deals to be had via Sam's Club or Costco or other membership service - some of those are quite nice (others not so nice) and all involve no haggle. The same is true for buying via carsdirect.com . So no NEED to pay way too much just because haggling is too hard. Of course, I depend on these folks paying too much - so the dealers can afford to sell me a car for little profit  . Dennis
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Replying to: dwynne (Jan 31, 2008 10:25 am)  Now imma sucker and unintelligent - wow lol.... Oh well... now im fired up! There is no time like the present. Maybe I will start to do some extra research BEFORE buying my next car- (just means alittle more time) but anything to keep some more $$$ in my pockets. After all I can't expect that G-dubya's stimulus check to buy anything significant! Ugh...
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Replying to: blkbr0tha (Jan 31, 2008 11:26 am) . No offense meant, there a tons of folks that just want an easy deal. My deals are always easy and I never sit in a dealer's office for very long at all - and I think I get very good deals. Use the Internet, e-mail, phone, and fax to sort the wheat from the chaff, be willing to travel to get a good deal. and don't argue/haggle with the dealer once you get there - if things are not right just walk. The key to finding a good deal is finding a good dealer. When I wanted a new S2000, I found a Honda dealer that would price it to me for under invoice. All the local Honda stores would not know a good deal if it bit them. When I wanted an RX-8 I went to a couple of local places to test drive, but their price were not good - so I again went out of town and saved thousands. Heck, my local Infiniti dealer has a $500 doc fee, but I found that 2 1/2 hours down the road the Infiniti dealer has $0 doc fee. Guess which dealership I used for my G37? I saved $1,100 on my wife's Pilot by getting a deal well into the hold back at a dealer about 3 1/2 miles from home. Dealers here COULD do deals at these prices but I know they do not, so why waste much time haggling with them? Most folks seem to think the dealerships are like McDonalds - all the same. They may LOOK the same but they all deal different. Trying to get a great deal from a bad dealer is like pounding a square peg in a round hole - just a waste of time and gets you mad. Use the forums here and elsewhere and Internet tools to find the dealers who will deal, and most of your work is done. You get everything worked out before you step foot in the dealer's store - heck I once got a new 'vette from a dealer in WI sight-unseen, we did ALL the dealing via e-mail and overnight letter. Get all the numbers worked out, then just show up, inspect the car, test drive it, then sign the papers and drive away in the new car. Just as easy as paying full price, but a lot cheaper . Dennis |
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Hey have you seen this website yet- not a bad concept. www.automobids.com Check it out... NO hassle- no haggles lol... Kind of same process you spoke of , but ONLINE. Saves gas and time! |
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I didn't end up buying or selling a car through carmax, but I really liked my experience with carmax. It was a welcome change from the aggressive salesmen at other dealerships. The sales guy was a nice guy and didn't put any sort of pressure on me. I also found the carmax website to be a lot easier to navigate than other dealer's sites. It wasn't perfect, but I felt like the photos and the descriptions gave me a good enough idea of what I would be seeing in person before making the trip out to the lot. I had my current car valued for a trade-in and was disappointed in the quoted figure. However, the price they gave me provided something for me to use as a reference when I had my trade valued at other dealerships. I always knew that if I found the right car at a dealership, but wasn't happy with the trade-in offer, I could take the car to carmax during the 7 day window and get cash. Next time I'm in the market, I'm definitely going to check out their inventory. Haggling over the price just isn't worth my time.
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Replying to: todd80 (Jan 31, 2008 9:55 pm) Lil birdy told me to tell you to hold on to your bootstraps. There is going to be a new wave of changes happening in the marketplace in terms of how consumers buy and SELL their cars in the future! Stay tuned- itll blow ya socks off! |
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Replying to: blkbr0tha (Jan 31, 2008 9:38 am) bobst, "Stories from the Sales Frontlines" #10354, 3 Apr 2007 5:43 pm is one post to look at. BOBST pretty much researchs to determine what he thinks would be the best low ball offer to make that might be accepted for a certain vehicle. He goes in and makes the offer, out the door offer including all fees, tax, etc. If the offer is accepted, buy the car. If it is not, then he leaves...only way to make sure the offer if refused is to leave... Next go to another dealer and up the offer slightly, repeat until a dealer says yes. If you get too many refusals from Dealer, then you may need to rethink how you determined the low price you came up with would be in a doable range. Pretty simple Research Make offer for out the door price Yes or no? Either you bought it or go to the next dealer. Repeat until done. DO NOT HAGGLE...just OFFER. |
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