CarMax rocks!

[Parrotheader]

When we bought our last car (with the idea of trading-in or selling my truck) I went to them first to get a quote for what they'd give me, knowing full-well I wasn't going to buy a car from them. When the dealership we bought our new car from offered us $1,000 less than what Carmax offered, I simply pulled out my quote and showed them what Carmax had offered WITHOUT me buying a car from them. The dealership was forced to match that offer, but I still kept the truck and sold it on my own for $1,500 more than they both offered me.

Still, I appreciated the convenience and respectable offer. As long as you have a decent car and are willing to take the time though you can usually get more private party. I was able to sell my truck the day after I put it in the classifieds.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: jjsole
How are they to buy a car from?

Simple and easy, shouldn't be any harder than buying a few gallons of milk at WalMart. Well, maybe not that easy, but you get the point.

Will it cost you a little more? Probably.

Most people don't know what to get, these guys help you get through that fairly easily.

 

[purbeast0]

i was shocked i got 1100 for my jetta that was in terrible shape. i was planning on getting around 300 to 500.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: Conky
Carmax is just another car dealership. All car dealers want to buy your car for less than it's worth and turn around and sell it for more than it's worth. This is how selling cars works.

Isn't that pretty much how our economic system in general works?

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

I wish we had a Carmax here. My car has been very well maintained and driven, and is highly reliable, but has developed a weird dropoff in mileage that no mechanic is able to explain. I would like to buy a secondhand car to replace it, but don't really feel I can sell my car privately, because the buyer will inevitably be pissed about the mileage problem. I know these kinds of sales are on an as-is, buyer-beware basis, but realistically I don't want to deal with an angry buyer, and as an attorney don't want to risk them complaining to the state bar.

 

[flot]

I'm very surprised you guys are having so much luck with carmax.

I went in last year with an excellent condition 2001 vehicle that fit all of the guidelines for things they would buy. I am a car guy so I "touched up" things that I knew weren't perfect. No accidents, good tires, good miles, ran perfect. They drove it for 10 minutes and the guy came back smiling from ear to ear talking about how much he liked it and what good shape it was in, blah blah blah.

Then they offered me something absurd like $6500 for it. Blue book was closer to $10k, and they had a handful of nearly identical vehicles in their inventory across the country for $12,000-14,000.

I ended up putting an ad in autotrader for $9500 and sold 2 weeks later for $8000 or $8500 with no hassles - and even at that price I feel like the buyer got a great deal on it, if I wanted to hold out I think I could have gotten $9500.

Their $6500 offer was a kick in the groin.

 

[ponyo]

Originally posted by: flot
I'm very surprised you guys are having so much luck with carmax.

I went in last year with an excellent condition 2001 vehicle that fit all of the guidelines for things they would buy. I am a car guy so I "touched up" things that I knew weren't perfect. No accidents, good tires, good miles, ran perfect. They drove it for 10 minutes and the guy came back smiling from ear to ear talking about how much he liked it and what good shape it was in, blah blah blah.

Then they offered me something absurd like $6500 for it. Blue book was closer to $10k, and they had a handful of nearly identical vehicles in their inventory across the country for $12,000-14,000.

I ended up putting an ad in autotrader for $9500 and sold 2 weeks later for $8000 or $8500 with no hassles - and even at that price I feel like the buyer got a great deal on it, if I wanted to hold out I think I could have gotten $9500.

Their $6500 offer was a kick in the groin.

I had a similar experience when I took my Boxster to CarMax years back. They offered me $4500 less than what I ended up selling private party about 3 weeks later. Even at the private party price, it was the cheapest same year Boxster within 300 miles of my zipcode in Autotrader.

That said, CarMax is a great backup when you need to sell quick.

 

[ultimatebob]

Those Carmax bastards only offered $9,500 for my 2003 A4! The Edmund's, Blue Book, and NADA values all listed the trade-in value around $12,500 :|

Screw it... If that's all I'm going to get, I'll keep the damn thing!

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Naustica
I had a similar experience when I took my Boxster to CarMax years back. They offered me $4500 less than what I ended up selling private party about 3 weeks later. Even at the private party price, it was the cheapest same year Boxster within 300 miles of my zipcode in Autotrader.

That said, CarMax is a great backup when you need to sell quick.

I guess that is my main point. Could we have sold it for 1000 bucks more? Maybe, not likely.

Would it sell for 500 bucks more? Most likely.

Is that 500 bucks more worth the hastle and time? Nope.

This weekend we're going to go back to the f'in dealership that lowballed, drop in to say hello in the brand new car with a simple "made money on the end of lease, leased the same car you offered for 100 less per month using the incentives I told you to work with. Oh, and F you you slimy bastard your entire family must really hate you. Can I get their numbers just to confirm it?"

Same car, same "trade", same cap cost, same residual, same miles. Should be a fun weekend pulling up in a brand new car just to make that f'er eat it. I'm thinking about making signs telling people to avoid him.

 

[mb]

Originally posted by: flot
I'm very surprised you guys are having so much luck with carmax.

I went in last year with an excellent condition 2001 vehicle that fit all of the guidelines for things they would buy. I am a car guy so I "touched up" things that I knew weren't perfect. No accidents, good tires, good miles, ran perfect. They drove it for 10 minutes and the guy came back smiling from ear to ear talking about how much he liked it and what good shape it was in, blah blah blah.

Then they offered me something absurd like $6500 for it. Blue book was closer to $10k, and they had a handful of nearly identical vehicles in their inventory across the country for $12,000-14,000.

I ended up putting an ad in autotrader for $9500 and sold 2 weeks later for $8000 or $8500 with no hassles - and even at that price I feel like the buyer got a great deal on it, if I wanted to hold out I think I could have gotten $9500.

Their $6500 offer was a kick in the groin.

I'd imagine they use a wealth of data to determine how much they will pay you for a car other than just the condition of the car. Things such as how long that model sits on the lot, demand for that model, demand for similar models, the likelihood that it might have to be sold at auction for whatever they can get, etc etc... They make their profit from selling volume, so it's not worth their time to give you much for a car that will sit on the lot for a long time or will be sold at auction to the highest bidder.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: mb

Originally posted by: flot
I'm very surprised you guys are having so much luck with carmax.

I went in last year with an excellent condition 2001 vehicle that fit all of the guidelines for things they would buy. I am a car guy so I "touched up" things that I knew weren't perfect. No accidents, good tires, good miles, ran perfect. They drove it for 10 minutes and the guy came back smiling from ear to ear talking about how much he liked it and what good shape it was in, blah blah blah.

Then they offered me something absurd like $6500 for it. Blue book was closer to $10k, and they had a handful of nearly identical vehicles in their inventory across the country for $12,000-14,000.

I ended up putting an ad in autotrader for $9500 and sold 2 weeks later for $8000 or $8500 with no hassles - and even at that price I feel like the buyer got a great deal on it, if I wanted to hold out I think I could have gotten $9500.

Their $6500 offer was a kick in the groin.

I'd imagine they use a wealth of data to determine how much they will pay you for a car other than just the condition of the car. Things such as how long that model sits on the lot, demand for that model, demand for similar models, the likelihood that it might have to be sold at auction for whatever they can get, etc etc... They make their profit from selling volume, so it's not worth their time to give you much for a car that will sit on the lot for a long time or will be sold at auction to the highest bidder.

yep, the "handful of nearly identical vehicles" should tip it off.

Supply and demand. It kinda rules everything.

 

[TruePaige]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: mb

Originally posted by: flot
I'm very surprised you guys are having so much luck with carmax.

I went in last year with an excellent condition 2001 vehicle that fit all of the guidelines for things they would buy. I am a car guy so I "touched up" things that I knew weren't perfect. No accidents, good tires, good miles, ran perfect. They drove it for 10 minutes and the guy came back smiling from ear to ear talking about how much he liked it and what good shape it was in, blah blah blah.

Then they offered me something absurd like $6500 for it. Blue book was closer to $10k, and they had a handful of nearly identical vehicles in their inventory across the country for $12,000-14,000.

I ended up putting an ad in autotrader for $9500 and sold 2 weeks later for $8000 or $8500 with no hassles - and even at that price I feel like the buyer got a great deal on it, if I wanted to hold out I think I could have gotten $9500.

Their $6500 offer was a kick in the groin.

I'd imagine they use a wealth of data to determine how much they will pay you for a car other than just the condition of the car. Things such as how long that model sits on the lot, demand for that model, demand for similar models, the likelihood that it might have to be sold at auction for whatever they can get, etc etc... They make their profit from selling volume, so it's not worth their time to give you much for a car that will sit on the lot for a long time or will be sold at auction to the highest bidder.

yep, the "handful of nearly identical vehicles" should tip it off.

Supply and demand. It kinda rules everything.

Aye, not to mention if they had that many and still offered you a good amount for it, they are a pretty good place to deal.

 

[KaChow]

Originally posted by: Parrotheader
When we bought our last car (with the idea of trading-in or selling my truck) I went to them first to get a quote for what they'd give me, knowing full-well I wasn't going to buy a car from them. When the dealership we bought our new car from offered us $1,000 less than what Carmax offered, I simply pulled out my quote and showed them what Carmax had offered WITHOUT me buying a car from them. The dealership was forced to match that offer, but I still kept the truck and sold it on my own for $1,500 more than they both offered me.

Still, I appreciated the convenience and respectable offer. As long as you have a decent car and are willing to take the time though you can usually get more private party. I was able to sell my truck the day after I put it in the classifieds.

Your scenario is somewhat similar to mine from last year. I wanted to trade my truck and I went to CarMax to get a quote. I then went to the dealership, came to an agreement on a price for a new car then started talking trade. In my case, however, the dealership offered me $500 over CarMax without knowing that I went to CarMax. I told them I'd be happier if it was $500 more for the trade. After a few minutes of "negotiation", we compromised and I got +$750 over CarMax.

 

[Slickone]

I looked at a car at CM once that I was interested in buying. They were way over the KBB price. I couldn't believe how high it was. I ended up getting one about $4000 less from a dealer.

BTW, when they check your car out to give you an estimate, how well do they go over it? Would they notice everything mechanically wrong with it?

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Slickone
I looked at a car at CM once that I was interested in buying. They were way over the KBB price. I couldn't believe how high it was. I ended up getting one about $4000 less from a dealer.

BTW, when they check your car out to give you an estimate, how well do they go over it? Would they notice everything mechanically wrong with it?

I don't know. We were told they test drive it and generally look it over. Probably do the basics - compression test, check suspension/tires, steering/brakes. I was told the process would take about 30 minutes and that's all it took.

 

[JackBurton]

Does CarMax take anything off the sticker price? I'm just looking to buy another car, and want a place that will give me a good deal.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: JackBurton
Does CarMax take anything off the sticker price? I'm just looking to buy another car, and want a place that will give me a good deal.

I don't care what anybody says. Everything is negotiable. I got saturn to drop 800 bucks off their price.

Any purchase over 200 bucks or so is negotiable.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: dud
Interesting ... when I tried to sell them my Dad's car (he had passed away) they offered me $2,500 less than I ultimately sold it for myself.

To me they are just as much a stealership as all the others.

Ultimately they HAVE to sell it for more than they pay you. However; they are usually very close to private party on many cars and usually above anyone else.

The benefit is the car is sold and you don't have to work dealing with test drives and the time to meet with people.