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Way overpriced. Carmax is good for those who know nothing about cars but just getting in and driving.
For example. I see a 2004 mazda 3 with 129k miles priced at $8900. About 2yrs ago I purchased a 2006 model (same exact car) with 68k miles for $7800.
Also unless I'm buying brand spanking new I don't buy from dealers. I prefer private party sales where the seller is just looking to sell and not make a profit unlike shady dealers.
Full disclosure I am a former employee of Carmax, also for full disclosure, I hated working there with a vengeance and I'm grateful for every day that passes where I'm not in that building.
Carmax is what you make of it, yes many of the dime a dozen cars are overpriced there, looking for a Carmy, Sonata, Honda etc etc etc, you can pay less elsewhere and get the same. Want certain BMW's and Mercs, Infinitis, Hyundai Genesis and Equus, Land/Range rovers and Subarus, and you can find very good deals, but be willing to ship it.
Essentially do your research and you may make a good deal, don't and you'll get screwed like anywhere else.
I have bought two cars there, one off the front lot, the price on that one was significantly (for me at least) lower than comparable vehicles in my local market (within 300 miles), or similar to vehicles with about 30k+ more miles on them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by USNRET04
Anybody have experience in selling a car to CarMax?
Sold one, got a ridiculous offer on another that I didn't accept.
They gave me $1750 on a Lincoln LS with a significant misfire (in 3 cylinders on one bank, 1 cylinder on the other), slipping transmission, leaking radiator and blown headgasket.
On a flipside they once misdiagnosed a Subaru I had with frame damage, which it didn't have, causing the offer to be much lower than
Quote:
Originally Posted by ramkobe
I tried to sell them a car but their offer was so ridiculously low that I laughed at them and left.
Couple years later I ended up getting 3 times what they offered from insurance.
3 times what they offered is less impressive when it's $1k vs. $3k, but to explain that, one is a current market value offer, which is intended to pay out enough to replace with a vehicle in similar condition.
The other is a trade in value on a car that will be re-sold at auction.
Way overpriced. Carmax is good for those who know nothing about cars but just getting in and driving.
For example. I see a 2004 mazda 3 with 129k miles priced at $8900. About 2yrs ago I purchased a 2006 model (same exact car) with 68k miles for $7800.
Also unless I'm buying brand spanking new I don't buy from dealers. I prefer private party sales where the seller is just looking to sell and not make a profit unlike shady dealers.
So you're comparing private party to a car store? You pointed it out in your own comment, one does it for profit one does it with the intent of minimizing a loss, of course the price will be different.
But I will wholeheartedly agree, it's not the place to buy cars under $15k, they'll have inflated prices because the profit expected is a higher % of the value of the car. (They generally look for $1,200-3,000 avg per unit.)
If a buyer is open to various models or looking for an oddball model, they can do well, at the store I worked out we would routinely sell Subarus at a loss for instance.
Anybody have experience in selling a car to CarMax?
Just doing that now. The car was a 2005 in excellent condition/low mileage and they gave me the Kelly excellent condition price. Not so elsewhere. very happy.
Updating my earlier post, I visited another local dealer yesterday and found exactly the car I wanted to buy. Armed with the Carmax purchase offer, I was able to get the dealer to match that price for my trade, up $4,300 from their first offer.
The salesman told me Carmax can make pretty high offers on models that will be in demand, buying them for prices that look great to Midwestern sellers and selling them for relatively higher prices that still look good to buyers on the West Coast. Kinda makes sense.
I kind of think CarMax is the subprime special source for used cars. I have an acquaintance who bought a 3 year old Challenger with 45K miles for 3K less than she could have bought a brand new one similarly equipped. The did hand over a 5 year loan at 14% to 'get her done' though. Bad news place IMO.
Oh yeah, it wasn't a mint example either...50% of the car was repainted for some reason.
My friend works there. They check the cars over as well as anybody else does and they have a large selection of used, low mileage vehicles. Previously wrecked cars tend to be sold at auction IIRC. However, they do charge a hefty premium. I looked at their inventory once and found a lot of cars selling for almost what a similarly equipped new car would sell for, but without the warranty.
+1. I wasn't impressed with Carmax either. I think people who are sold on them are sold on the name or concept and don't actually research what they are buying, rather like people who do all their online shopping on Amazon. My sister is like that. She only buys her used cars at Carmax, and rarely gets a good deal because you can't negotiate on their inflated prices and she never price compares with other dealerships.
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