Carmax - good or bad experience? (insurance, luxury car, vehicles, 2011)

[mag-nolia]

I like being able to browse cars on Carmax's website and knowing that only for $200 I can get it transferred to my local store if it's located far away....

But I don't know many people that have purchased from them. If you have, what have your experiences been?

I don't like that you can't haggle down the price at all, as I do find that sometimes their prices are a smidge high.

Are the cars really checked over well and anything that might need to have been fixed has been?

[lycos679]

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.

[ramkobe]

I would give them 1 out of 10.

Went there to buy a car and found one I liked with a non-negotiable price of $8900 which I thought was ridiculously high for an 8 year old car. Sure enough I found one just like it for less than half at another dealership. I would never buy a used car at PriceMax.

Also went there to have a car appraised and they made a ridiculous offer of $1k. Few years later got $3k when it was totaled in an accident.

[reed303]

FWIW, in 2011 I bought a 2008 Ford Fusion SE from Carmax. It only had 21500 miles on, and was in showroom condition. I paid $16,998, which was a bit high but good considering mileage and condition, and what was available at other dealers at the time (most had excessive mileage for their price). It came with the balance of Ford's warranty, and Carmax's own warranty (60 days in CT). Since then I have only had normal wear expenses (battery @ 6 yrs old, etc)

What I liked was the selection they had, and none of the usual used car dealer games.

[headingtoDenver]

From what I've seen, but never purchased, CarMax serves a niche in the used car market. They have a VERY large selection of vehicles and everything is no hassle. Yes you will pay more for this, but some people like this type of environment. I've had friends make purchased through CarMax and their cars are both aesthetically and mechanically in great condition. I could see it also being a great place to look at a plethora of used cars. This works if you are unsure as to what kind of car you want. Go to a Ford dealership, you will see mostly used Fords. Go hear and you will see all makes and models so it is easier to do a comparison. Of course, this comes at a premium which you will see in the price.

If you know exactly what car you are looking for, CarMax might not be for you. If you need a used car within a specific price range, then CarMax might work better for you.

[harhar]

Yeah my family, friends and I have bought a couple cars from them. I bought my first from there a couple of months ago.

They're a bit on the pricey side, but the cars they sell are in pretty good condition. They only offer decent trade-in values to cars that are newer, so don't expect 10k for your 96 Ford Probe. They tend to buy most cars, auction the really old ones, the bad ones or the ones with a lot of mechanical issues, and sell the low mileage error free ones.

If you include financing, Carmax makes a lot of money.

Of course if you want to save a couple thousand you can buy and sell privately. But you'd also have to deal with all that comes with that; be more vigilant with buyers, spend your weekends meeting people...and all of that.

This time I didn't want to hassle with all of that.

[iTsLiKeAnEgG]

CarMax isn't bad but I think their real value is in buying used high ends vehicles and taking advantage of the CarMax warranty. You can buy a low mileage used luxury car, get the warranty and know that you'll have three years of protection without major out of pocket expense. A writer on Jalopnik bought a 2006 Range Rover from CarMax along with the warranty and recouped his costs in under a year with all of the failures the cars are known for. You can do the same with high end AMG Mercedes, BMW's, Jaguars, Audis, etc.



Another CarMax Warranty Update: My Air Suspension Failed

[SoCalCpl2]

I have bought 3 cars from Camrax in the last 3 years and have been extremely satisfied.. The ease of the transaction compared to the Gestapo tactics of other dealerships was a dream come true.. As far as the price being more than other places.. 2 of the vehicles I bought never show up at tradional dealerships around here, so that was a no brainer as opposed to going to a fly by night or private.. I got an extended warranty, Gap insurance and 30 days to find any problems and have them fix it.. Try getting anything "fixed" or taken care of at other dealerships and they say sorry sold As Is..

And under the extended warranty in both of the same vehicles they replaced the entire stereo head unit... Not their fault, but they replaced anyway... Also if you have the extended warranty and take it to them to do the repairs they knock $50 off your deductible...

Also when I bought my car this year it had no owners manual.. They reimbursed me for the cost of buying one ($65) and no hassle about the price... What other dealership does that....

[nyc2020]

It's a good place if you want a no-nonsense experience in buying or selling a car. No major surprises, no strings.

But they charge a premium on both ends that may not be worth it for people comfortable negotiating and researching.

[LakeLifePA]

Buy low, sell high. That's their business model and not hard to understand. My dealings with them are that they tend to buy a little lower and sell a little higher than the average dealer.