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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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I told you people Carmax spies around forums/message boards........I would love to see the reaction if they saw some of my most recent posts on some Scion sites. LOL They tried selling my old '06 Scion xA with 35k for $15k when I bought it new FROM them for 14,500. Trade in value was $10k. No one was a sucker to buy it for that high. They sold it for $11,500. They should of let me own both Scions; they would of made a killing on service bills from me. ------- You guys remember what happened the last time Carmax service touched my car? I got into "not at fault" car accident; the next day. Talk about bad luck. I think someone upstairs was telling me to start going somewhere else. I think I'm going to cancel my service appointment on Thursday. Since they will overprice the service and tell me that my problem isn't "Wheel Bearings." When the symptoms are the wheel bearings! |
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I have been trying to sell my 2006 BMW 650I convertible on line for more than year. This is a car that has low mileage, is well maintained, in impeccable condition, well optioned, and still under BMW warranty and free maintenance. My pricing was also aggressive (low). While I did receive maybe 5 legitimate inquiries I also got bugged by all kinds of scammers. I will never, repeat never, try to sell a car privately. It just is not worth it. The aggravation and exposure to losers of all sorts is really discouraging and demeaning. So, I decided to give CARMAX a try. I didn't expect to get a full private party value but they did give me a fair wholesale (tradein) value. I probably could have gotten this also at the BMW dealer but I didn't want or need a new car with my car as a tradein. Selling to CARMAX fit my requirements. The whole process was very professional and I was treated very well. Also the CARMAX operation looked very well run. The employees all had great attitudes and seemed to genuinely enjoy working there. Most of my past experiences at other car dealers over the years have been mixed at best so this was pleasant surprise. If you do your homework and understand that you are going to receive a wholesale price, but painlessly and smoothly, then you shouldn't be disappointed. Manage your expectations. CARMAX is obviously (and rightfully) in business to make a profit. So don't expect to get "Kelley Blue Book Private Value" or even necessarily "KBB Trade-in Value". The KBB values typically do not accurately reflect the volatile wholesale market. CARMAX's offer to me was fair and substanitally above the so called "Black Book" that various dealers are now using. From my experience I would definitely recommend CARMAX if you are selling a vehicle and don't want the hassle. If you don't like the price they offer you then don't sell it to them. There is no pressure and no games. Much appreciated.
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Replying to: nkb (Aug 04, 2009 5:50 pm) I've got to believe that privately selling a high end model like that would not be easy or fun, as you've already experience. Most folks that could afford something like that would probably shy away from a private sale. |
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Replying to: nkb (Aug 04, 2009 5:50 pm) hmm, priced aggressive/low and didn't sell for more than a year? Sounds as if you had too much of an emotional attachment to the car, and priced too high. So, I decided to give CARMAX a try. I didn't expect to get a full private party value uhh, that would be a given. Sure would be nice though to take it to a wholesaler and be paid private party.  From my experience I would definitely recommend CARMAX if you are selling a vehicle and don't want the hassle. If you don't like the price they offer you then don't sell it to them. There is no pressure and no games LOL... your post sounds a lot like a commercial for CARMAX. 
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Re-reading my post - it does sound like a CARMAX commercial. I guess I was so relieved after a year of trying to sell my car I probably was a bit too exuberant. The problems selling my car were not caused by being emotionally attached to the car and thus pricing it too high. The biggest problems were: a. The economic meltdown. The market for these cars dried up, at the dealers as well. b. It was a relatively highly priced car, not great in this climate. Financing hard to come by. Deals offered by the dealers on new cars got pretty attractive which was also competition. People with cash became conservative and decided to hold on to their money. c. This car had a manual transmission (my choice on a performance car). Every serious buyer that contacted me wanted an automatic. This was a major factor. I am sure it would have sold otherwise.
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Replying to: nkb (Aug 05, 2009 10:51 am) |
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Replying to: superstevo415 (Sep 06, 2006 6:16 am)
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Replying to: jdalessio (Oct 02, 2009 7:37 pm) |
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my recent story is as follows. Looking for Lexus RX350 for my wife. Find one at a Carmax store about 90 miles away and they do transfer it for free to our local store for my wife and I to look at. We get to the store, we've never been to a Carmax, and while it's clean and bright it gave me the impression of a Best Buy with cars, not necessarily a compliment. In spite of intently studying the online pictures I find the car had been pinstriped, this just didn't show up on the pics. I probably would not have had them bring the car down had I known that. The car still reeked of cleaning chemicals they had use to unsuccessfully clean some stains off the floor and cargo mats. I had asked if there were any stains prior to having them transfer the car. These cars have a cover that that is used to cover the cargo area that was clearly present in the pictures of the car I had printed and brought with me. The sales person, a young lady who seemed more interested in texting than working with us, was perplexed and got the manager. The manager assured us if we bought the car he would order the part for us. Well this is a $500-700 part depending where you get it, while they can be found on Ebay for quite a bit less, I didn't see them doing that nor did I trust them to get it once the sale was completed. Carmax ads state all cars get a 125 point inspection two points of which are tires and dashlights. Well, we get in the car for a test drive and a dash board warning light is on for the tire pressure warning system. This is a car that's been at two Carmax stores and I have to assume driven a little bit at each. It goes without saying we left the store and probably won't be back to another. I will say however everyone was polite and pleasant through our visit. I do still wonder who our sales lady was texting so intently with....
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