Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have sold three cars to Carmax. Never bought one there. They were clean, well maintained cars with low miles. Carmax always treated us with respect and offered fair market prices.
Before selling to Carmax or Autonation, you might at least try to see what kind of trade-in deal you can get by trading against the car you really want. Since you seem flexible to what your next car is, you might be able to get a decent deal. Overall, no car dealer will give you what a private-party might, but they will usually do it faster and with less hassle. If you are trading to the same dealer you are buying for, sometimes you can use their desire to close to your advantage, and leveraging both transactions (pushing for more trade-in value or more of a discount on the next car), whereas if you are doing the selling transaction at one place and the buying at another, if they are professional dealers then a profit must be made on both ends. The fact that you also are interested in leasing might get you a better trade-in value than one of the other places, because dealers love to lease (on average they make more on leases so they tend to prefer them). Be sure and know the lease terms backward and forward if you go that route. If you're flexible enough to take cars with lower profit margin, perhaps in colors that they already have on the lot that are less popular, you can save some money overall. Just don't get caught up in loading up with options and other things that add to their profit if your goal is to lighten your financial load.
I have sold three cars to Carmax. Never bought one there. They were clean, well maintained cars with low miles. Carmax always treated us with respect and offered fair market prices.
I've received quotes from Carmax on multiple occassions with desireable and excellent condition cars and was VERY disappointed with their offers---way, way way below market. Last year---2006 Corvette, low mileage, exceptionally clean, no accidents. Carmax offer---17k. Sold outright for 28K. They have an unusually big spread between what they offer and what the sell for.
I've received quotes from Carmax on multiple occassions with desireable and excellent condition cars and was VERY disappointed with their offers---way, way way below market. Last year---2006 Corvette, low mileage, exceptionally clean, no accidents. Carmax offer---17k. Sold outright for 28K. They have an unusually big spread between what they offer and what the sell for.
$17K was Carmax's way of letting you know they really didn't want your car. People don't go to Carmax looking for a Corvette-it's not their thing.
I took a 2011 Honda Cr-V there and they beat the dealer's offer by $1,000. They probably washed it and sold it the same afternoon.
$17K was Carmax's way of letting you know they really didn't want your car. People don't go to Carmax looking for a Corvette-it's not their thing.
I took a 2011 Honda Cr-V there and they beat the dealer's offer by $1,000. They probably washed it and sold it the same afternoon.
There are 88 Corvettes at CarMax right now! They sell quite a few of them including Z06 versions. I've also had them make offers on other nearly new cars-not in the ballpark (in my opinion) as I was always able to get substantially more.
I've received quotes from Carmax on multiple occassions with desireable and excellent condition cars and was VERY disappointed with their offers---way, way way below market. Last year---2006 Corvette, low mileage, exceptionally clean, no accidents. Carmax offer---17k. Sold outright for 28K. They have an unusually big spread between what they offer and what the sell for.
The numbers don't always work out at CarMax. I've left several of their offers on the table myself. I guess they didn't want them unless I was willing to give them away. I agree with Funky Chicken...CarMax wasn't interested in the Vet as nice as I'm sure it was.
The numbers don't always work out at CarMax. I've left several of their offers on the table myself. I guess they didn't want them unless I was willing to give them away. I agree with Funky Chicken...CarMax wasn't interested in the Vet as nice as I'm sure it was.
You never know what a dealer needs based on supply and demand for the particular car.
I once traded a 64 Vette for a used California Highway Patrol interceptor many years ago at a Chevy dealer in Los Angeles. The Vette had been a theft recovery and the interceptor had a 440 Ramcharger engine in a 66 Plymouth Belvedere I with 3 speed lock up Torqueflite tranny and was pristine.
That might have been part of the problem -- I have no knowledge of how CarMax sales folks make their deals, but I'm guessing they are required to base their deals on software they are forced to use, which has it's own algorithms that look at things like current inventory. Insurance companies/actuaries use similar tools, and sometimes they can result in weird numbers that err on the side of caution on behalf on the company (i.e. if current inventory of vettes is high and they don't seem to be selling, it calculates a days to sell and potential profit based on that).
At any car lot I'm guessing there's a possibility the sales rep is just shooting for the moon with a low ball offer, but I doubt a franchise outfit like Carmax would allow one sales rep to quote a offer that's $10k or so below the trade-in value of the vehicle for no reason at all, they have to have some level of consistency between sales reps.
That might have been part of the problem -- I have no knowledge of how CarMax sales folks make their deals, but I'm guessing they are required to base their deals on software they are forced to use, which has it's own algorithms that look at things like current inventory. Insurance companies/actuaries use similar tools, and sometimes they can result in weird numbers that err on the side of caution on behalf on the company (i.e. if current inventory of vettes is high and they don't seem to be selling, it calculates a days to sell and potential profit based on that).
At any car lot I'm guessing there's a possibility the sales rep is just shooting for the moon with a low ball offer, but I doubt a franchise outfit like Carmax would allow one sales rep to quote a offer that's $10k or so below the trade-in value of the vehicle for no reason at all, they have to have some level of consistency between sales reps.
Carmax does have some amazing proprietary software that can look at
Auction reports
All of the major guides (NADA, KBB, Edmunds, Black Book)
Their own national inventory
And most importantly, Their TURN RATE on a particular model.
Those 88 Corvettes they have right now could have (and likely have) been in inventory for 90 days or more, having sat thru an awful winter in many areas of the country (Corvettes are highly seasonal from a demand perspective). Those units could have been purchased at higher values than today based on the guides from 90 days ago (before the turn of a calendar year which always disproportionately affects values). They are paying interest on those cars which is raising their cost basis.
If they are turning a certain make or model quickly, and (this is KEY) profiting in the finance office (which is where Carmax makes their real money), they will overpay for that model when a civilian drives up in it. It's cheaper for them to do so than to fight with 20 other buyers at an auction where the cars are lesser quality anyway. If a car makes it to an auction in the current market you have to keep in mind that 3 or 4 parties that make their living selling cars PASSED on that particular car. The auction is like the Island of Misfit Toys-the cars there are not like the car Mrs. Johnson of Raleigh has driven and cared for.
People go to Carmax to avoid the experience they expect to receive at a conventional dealership. They pay a small premium to avoid negotiation and have a huge selection from all brands at their fingertips. Carmax makes their money by doing as little reconditioning as they can get away with and taking people's heads off in the finance office. They sell their own warranty coverage (essentially self-insuring) and other products.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
