should i sell my car at carmax? any suggestions? (Houston: fit in, sales)

[Jacob11]

i went to carmax and had it appraised. i think it is at least $2000 underpriced.
any recommendation where in houston can i sell my car for $1000 more than carmax appraisal.

i prefer dealers who would pay me in cash or check for the whole amount
instead of private individuals that i dont know.

thanks,

[lhafer]

Is it underpriced $2,000 based on Kelly Blue Book or what you want to get for it? Private parties tend to get more $$, but may take longer to sale.

I detailed my car inside and out before I took it to carmaxx, and they cut me a check for the full amount then and there. It was super easy, and they gave me more than I expected they would.

Have you triedthe dealer where you would purchase a new one (if that's what you are doing)?

[travelguy_73]

A dealer will typically match Carmax, and then you get sales tax savings on the net purchase if you buy a new car from them. However, expecting that Carmax to give you more than the trade-in value is asking a lot. They auction off many of the cars they buy and so they pay close attention to what is going on it the used car market at the time of appraisal. It's big business for them, and they are good at what they do.

If you want more, you will need to sell it yourself, and deal with the hassles that come along with that process.

[Malvie]

Originally Posted by Jacob11

i went to carmax and had it appraised. i think it is at least $2000 underpriced.
any recommendation where in houston can i sell my car for $1000 more than carmax appraisal.

i prefer dealers who would pay me in cash or check for the whole amount
instead of private individuals that i dont know.

thanks,

Check Craigslist Houston, AutoTrader, and Cars.com for the same make/model as yours; that'll give you an idea of what people are asking for it (though not what they're "getting" for it).

I had the same experience at Carmax; they were about $2,000 off the apparent going price.

The "sell it yourself" option is daunting, I'll admit. I put all kinds of disclaimers in the ad: "NO CREDIT" "CASH ONLY" and still got all the calls, "Can you take payments?" um, no... One woman called and offered me 1/4 of my asking price; when I told her no, she started screaming and cursing at me; I hung up and she sent me hate emails for a week (hint: if you do Craigslist, get yourself a "special" free email account--yahoo, msn--- and use that, rather than your "real" email account. The guy I finally sold the car to, I made clear it was a used car, that I knew of nothing wrong with it (true), but that it was an old used car and that it could break down as he drove off with it; I made it clear that when he signed the papers, I signed the title, and he gave me the cash, that was -it-. He agreed. Three months later the car needed a/c work (middle of August) and he called me wanting me to pay for it.

Still, if I had a car to sell, I'd do it again. It's the only way to get top dollar. Otherwise, drive down to Carmax and take their money.

[desertsun41]

People seem to think they can command full retail price when they are selling to a dealer. Did it ever occur to you that they need to make a profit in the end? They have to spend a great deal of money cleaning and detailing it before they can even consider putting it on the front line with shoe polish on the windshield. And that car still may sit there and rot on the lot for months all the while incurring carrying costs.

Learn the difference between retail and wholesale. If you want retail then you have to sell it out of your driveway.....trusting all kinds of koo koos from Craigslist to come to your home. It's scary. For that safety factor you are paying for it by selling to a dealer by taking less money and assuming less risk and having it over and done with that very day

$2000 under what you feel is the true value is a good offer and even if you find a better offer it will be only by a hundred or 2 and if some one gives you a better price it might be because they are desperate for quality inventory. But in these depression times, the used car dealers are bulging at the seams with inventory so they are paying less for cars....if they are even buying.

On a side note: Carmax is generally well known among smart consumers as selling for above average retail price suggested by any one of the rating books. In other words they are damn expensive, way over priced. That being said, it might be thought that they should also be able to buy from private individuals for more money....meaning more money in your pocket. Nope!

[kreeyax]

Carmax has a LOT of overhead though. Huge parking lots, office space, garage space, sales people, mechanics, utilities, etc.. And they don't have a parts and service department to rely on for revenue like a dealer has. They have to make all their money off buying your car cheap and selling it for a lot. I can understand why they are so high.

I won't take a car to sell there again though. Last time I did they broke one of my spark plug wires during their inspection, and of course didn't want to take any responsibility for it. They just pushed the wire back in the boot so it was still getting some juice. But of course my service engine light came on a few days later, then I found the broken wire.

[Jacob11]

my car is a toyota coralla S 2007 with sunroof 29,500 mileage.. they priced it $9000..

i saw the same car they are selling online with 45k mileage and they are selling it for $13,900
same car without sunroof they are selling $12900

should i accept the offer?

[tdhg566]

When you sell a car to Carmax, YOU get the WHOLESALE price, not the RETAIL price. $9k is probably a reasonable WHOLESALE price for your car, and you already know the retail prices. You can see other retail prices at kbb.com.

If you want to receive the RETAIL price, you're going to have to do the same job CARMAX does when they sell your car. You're going to have to deal with the public (ugh!), wade through difficult buyers who want to buy at the wholesale price, worry about security matters (where will you meet, etc), cash/check concerns, etc etc etc.

So you can certainly get more for your car than CARMAX will give you, but you're going to have to earn it.

[lane_change]

I was offered $1000 more at Texas Direct Auto for my truck compared to Carmax and I was offered $3000 more at a Chevy dealership then what I was offered at Carmax. Obviously a dealer is going to try and make some money on the "sale" deal for a trade-in since they do not buy cars from customers. Texas Direct does purchase cars though, so you may want to try there.

[Jacob11]

Originally Posted by lane_change

I was offered $1000 more at Texas Direct Auto for my truck compared to Carmax and I was offered $3000 more at a Chevy dealership then what I was offered at Carmax. Obviously a dealer is going to try and make some money on the "sale" deal for a trade-in since they do not buy cars from customers. Texas Direct does purchase cars though, so you may want to try there.

can i just sell my car at texas direct auto without buying?
i just want to sell this car and am not interested with trade-in or buying another car.