Quantcast

Has anyone bought a used car from Carmax??

MMcG

Ride till you puke!
Dec 10, 2002
15,457
12
Burlington, Connecticut
If what they advertise is true - fair trade in value and no haggle pricing, it seems like a good place to buy a used vehicle.

Do they really hold true to their claims with the no haggle pricing etc. etc.?

Has anyone bought a used vehicle from Carmax? If so, how was the experience?
 

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
If what they advertise is true - fair trade in value and no haggle pricing, it seems like a good place to buy a used vehicle.

Do they really hold true to their claims with the no haggle pricing etc. etc.?

Has anyone bought a used vehicle from Carmax? If so, how was the experience?
Don't they make lip balm too?
 

mrbigisbudgood

Strangely intrigued by Echo
Oct 30, 2001
1,380
3
Charlotte, NC
A friend of mine sold a truck to CarMax. It had been wrecked 4 times. They bought the truck as if it were mint, with a clean record. It still had glass on the floor from where the rear window shattered in the last accident. He got paid. CarMax is dumb.
 

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
A friend of mine sold a truck to CarMax. It had been wrecked 4 times. They bought the truck as if it were mint, with a clean record. It still had glass on the floor from where the rear window shattered in the last accident. He got paid. CarMax is dumb.
Nice sig!
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,225
20,003
Sleazattle
If your car is aesthetically challenged schedule the trade in assessment in the dark. I got paid well when trading my GTI in, it was in good mechanical shape but the exterior and interior were sub par, they paid me as if it was mint.
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
CarMax is dumb.
Not if they sold the truck for clean, retail value. Then they're just sleezy.

Sounds like if that's the kind of practices they're participating in, it might be a place to avoid...

http://www.ripoffreport.com/results.asp?q1=ALL&q4=&q6=&q3=&q2=&q7=&searchtype=0&submit2=Search!&q5=Carmax+

Take those with a grain of salt, though. As they say, a happy customer will tell two people.. an unhappy customer will tell two hundred. Or two million, on the intarweb.
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,225
20,003
Sleazattle
It never hurts to see what they will pay you, just don't get bullied by them into doing something you don't want to do. When it comes to car salesmen I've found that being the bully yourself is the best bet.
 

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
It never hurts to see what they will pay you, just don't get bullied by them into doing something you don't want to do. When it comes to car salesmen I've found that being the bully yourself is the best bet.
Ditto!
 
It never hurts to see what they will pay you, just don't get bullied by them into doing something you don't want to do. When it comes to car salesmen I've found that being the bully yourself is the best bet.
OR bring someone like me with you - they never suspect the young woman shopping with her dad will be the shark!

LOL!

I brought Nissan to their knees and my dad just sat there and laughed! It was great.
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,225
20,003
Sleazattle
OR bring someone like me with you - they never suspect the young woman shopping with her dad will be the shark!

LOL!

I brought Nissan to their knees and my dad just sat there and laughed! It was great.

My mother was also great with car dealers. She was always a very nice, polite and soft spoken person, but not in a car dealership. Be nice and polite until they pressure you or are jerks then lean into them and let them know who is boss.
 

JohnE

filthy rascist
May 13, 2005
13,430
1,949
Front Range, dude...
I used to work for Enterprise Car Rental, schlepping their cars around, and we used to sell alot to CarMaxx. Anyone who has raced in the rent-a-car 500 will know how well rental cars are cared for...
 

MMcG

Ride till you puke!
Dec 10, 2002
15,457
12
Burlington, Connecticut
A friend of mine sold a truck to CarMax. It had been wrecked 4 times. They bought the truck as if it were mint, with a clean record. It still had glass on the floor from where the rear window shattered in the last accident. He got paid. CarMax is dumb.
yeah but for me, having them pay me more for my trade in for what I'd get at a dealership would be a good thing. Who cares if they are dumb in that regard.
 

I Are Baboon

The Full Dopey
Aug 6, 2001
32,382
9,285
MTB New England
My mother was also great with car dealers. She was always a very nice, polite and soft spoken person, but not in a car dealership. Be nice and polite until they pressure you or are jerks then lean into them and let them know who is boss.
Shopping with MBC for my Subie was great.

"Screw it, let's leave."
"These guys are slimey, let's leave."
"We're getting screwed, let's go home."

:D

:monkeydance:
 

JohnE

filthy rascist
May 13, 2005
13,430
1,949
Front Range, dude...
I would go about it like I would buying any used car, have a mechanic check it out, pull the CarFax report, compression check etc. Although I didnt do all of that with my latest used vehicle. Hmmm...
(Oh yeah, Go Blackhawks! Looking better these days!)
 

MMcG

Ride till you puke!
Dec 10, 2002
15,457
12
Burlington, Connecticut
I would go about it like I would buying any used car, have a mechanic check it out, pull the CarFax report, compression check etc. Although I didnt do all of that with my latest used vehicle. Hmmm...
(Oh yeah, Go Blackhawks! Looking better these days!)
Denis Savard behind the bench! Nice!:monkeydance:
 

greenchris

Turbo Monkey
Jun 24, 2005
1,381
0
DA BEARS.
i havent bought a used car from carmax but i recently bought a brandnew tacoma through carmax. the price was $3000 cheaper then any place i went and the whole no haggle was a breeze. im really happy i went through them.
BUT
with buying a used i dont know. they seem to do a lot of business and with such a high number of cars they sell there is going to have to be a few lemons. they do have some sort of no haggle return policy.
 

rooftest

Monkey
Jul 10, 2005
611
0
OC, CA
I found that their prices are a bit above what you can find in other places (private parties, other used car lots, etc.) It's the "no haggle" thing that offends me - they overprice their cars and refuse to budge, while I went to the Lexus dealer's used car lot and talked them down $4,000 from their "discounted" sticker price. ($6,000 less than carmax)

The margins on used cars are huge - to sell them with "no haggle" is just a rip off.
 

Jeremy R

<b>x</b>
Nov 15, 2001
9,698
1,053
behind you with a snap pop
I found that their prices are a bit above what you can find in other places (private parties, other used car lots, etc.) It's the "no haggle" thing that offends me - they overprice their cars and refuse to budge, while I went to the Lexus dealer's used car lot and talked them down $4,000 from their "discounted" sticker price. ($6,000 less than carmax)

The margins on used cars are huge - to sell them with "no haggle" is just a rip off.
That was my experience as well.
I was almost forced to sell them my car after I bought my Tacoma,
but I sold it quick through autotrader and made $3000 more than Carmax was gonna give me.
No haggle is good for people who do not like to deal with car salesmen.
I am the opposite.
 

berkshire_rider

Growler
Feb 5, 2003
2,552
10
The Blackstone Valley
No Haggle = No deal (for me)
I looked at a used Black '99 Honda Passport 4 years ago at a Honda dealer that was "No-Haggle". This thing was mint - every option known to man, not a scratch or blemish on it, and only had ~19,000 miles on a 4-year old vehicle. Took it for a test-drive and loved it.

They set the "No-Haggle" price about $3,000 above the Blue Book value, and would not budge a $1 - so I chose to walk away instead of paying what they wanted for it.
 

peter6061

Turbo Monkey
Nov 19, 2001
1,575
0
Kenmore, WA
Most of the dealers around here have gone to 'no haggle' pricing.

As for CarMax, they were great for buying our trade-in. We went to them first when we were ready to buy, and asked for a price quote on our car. When we went to trade it in at the dealer, they couldn't come remotely close to whar CarMax had agreed on. We bought the car outright and took the trade-in back to CarMax the next night. Took about an hour total to get a check.

Now, as for buying from them,... no experience but to say the equivilent cars being sold like ours were selling for 4000-6000 more then they gave us on trade. That's a bit when you consider they gave us 18000. But they do offer a convenient service.
 

Squeaver

Monkey
Mar 1, 2006
481
0
Sanford, NC
I am thinking about selling my car to them when I get my father-in-laws old truck. Just to get rid of my car (and payment) quick. I hope what you all are saying is true about them paying like it is mint. For those of you that sold/traded in your vehicles to them, were they modified? If so, did that effect the price they paid out?
 

MMcG

Ride till you puke!
Dec 10, 2002
15,457
12
Burlington, Connecticut
I've done some comparing and their no haggle prices are no bargain - at least on used cars.

Would I be nuts to consider an older model wagon from say Volvo or Audi etc. etc???

I need room for kids, hockey equipment, bikes, but I also need to get decent gas mileage from my next vehicle. Seems like a wagon might be the wise move here.