Buying a car from Carmax- Yay? Nay?

[rammstein]

Anyone have positive or negative feedback on this? I'd much prefer to buy from a private seller, but right now there's a car I am considering and it happens to be at Carmax. What say ye?

[Porsche-O-Phile]

They're great - I bought my Mercedes there. Very positive experience, no pressure, no bull.

The only advice I'd give is to get your own financing set up ahead of time - don't use their in-house financing. The rates kinda' bite. In my case I just bought the car with their financing to get the car home (there's a 5-day no-questions-asked return policy, so no risk there) and went to my credit union the next day, got a rate less than half of what CarMax gave me. They cut me a check on the spot, I took it down and paid off the CarMax loan. You can probably do that too, although given how f*ked up lending is these days, it might be smart to get the financing done ahead of time so you don't get stuck having to return the car after 5 days because you can't get a better rate if you don't want to keep theirs.

Other than that, CM is great. I'd definitely buy there again. There's no sales B.S. - it's very straightforward and the prices are competitive. Best of luck.

[jtfreels]

+1. We bought a car from Carmax back last summer. It was a very good experience. The car was for my son, we went to Carmax first, basically found what he wanted a Kia Rondo , but he wanted to "shop" around, so we went to a dealer. In about 15 minutes he experienced all the worst of car sales, we basically ran back to Carmax.

Jay

[Rick Lee]

You guys think Carmax has good prices? The few times I've gone there for appraisals and walked around the lot to kill time, I thought the prices sucked.

[jtfreels]

We were very focused on a particular price range and did end up with the best deal at Carmax, lowest price and least miles.

Jay

[porsche4life]

Originally Posted by jtfreels

+1. We bought a car from Carmax back last summer. It was a very good experience. The car was for my son, we went to Carmax first, basically found what he wanted a Kia Rondo , but he wanted to "shop" around, so we went to a dealer. In about 15 minutes he experienced all the worst of car sales, we basically ran back to Carmax.

Jay

You look at that post Rick and have the biggest problem with the price. It was a Kia they are all overpriced.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

You may be able to find better prices elsewhere, but I think all facts considered, they're well worth the money. They stand behind their vehicles and don't do a lot of the B.S. that other used car joints might (e.g. scrubbing titles, etc.) They've got a very solid reputation and don't sell crap. I've never heard of anyone getting a problem car or "lemon" from there. Maybe someone has, but I haven't heard of it. Possibly a reason you can find a similar car for a few hundred bucks less somewhere else (?)

I thought their prices were pretty competitive (they match up to KBB pretty closely, at least that's what I found). Maybe not the absolute best in town, but I don't mind paying a slight bit more for their reputation behind it and to not have to deal with a-hole sales guys. That's worth something right there.

No affiliation, just a customer who was pleasantly surprised at my experience there.

[gassy]

Bought a Jeep Cherokee there and the Check Engine light kept going on...6-7 trips back. Never figured it out. They did a lot of work to it to try and fix it--new trans, etc. Spent a lot of time picking up and dropping the car off, on the phone, dealing with levels of mechanics and management... Over all not a good experience but I seem to be in the minority.

[rammstein]

The car in question:
http://www.carmax.com/enUS/view-car/default.html?AVi=2&id=5650553&AS=AAAEAA

My buying parameters changed again, and this is looking like the hot ticket. Nationally competitive in H-Stock, and with a hatch, it can hold my 2 dogs. Yes, 2. We got a second dog. I need to start a whole new thread on that at some point. But the Mazda 3 seems to fit the bill quite nicely. I am just suprised that used versions held value so well.

This one in particular interests me, as it is the most stripped version, and has no sunroof (good for autocross weight, and good for less junk I don't need breaking). The plan would be to buy it, put on some Konis (allowed in Stock), get a second set of wheels with some nice R-Comps, and have some freakin fun for a change. Wife has signed off on this, so now its a matter of finding a good one.

[BlueSideUp]

We bought our Mini Cooper at Carmax and found it to be a good experience overall. Any car that holds it's value well is going to be a good deal at Carmax. Those that can be had at way less than book value won't be such a steal.

The 3 is a great car and fun to drive. We sold it to my brother's fiance and she still has the car. I really liked it, never drove one with a stick but it should be fun for autox.

[aigel]

Looks like car loan territory, if I remember your earlier spending limit. That's a lot of money for a econobox, IMHO. Would buy a hell of a Mustang. Or half that would buy a decent Mustang.

George

[schamp]

I heard their inspection program was a load of crap. Might want to check it out real good. PPI.

[rammstein]

Originally Posted by aigel

Looks like car loan territory, if I remember your earlier spending limit. That's a lot of money for a econobox, IMHO. Would buy a hell of a Mustang. Or half that would buy a decent Mustang.

I was damn close to buying a 2000 Camaro, but then we decided to get dog #2. That meant a 5-door would really simplify life. Yes, it is certainly car-loan territory. The tentative plan would be to finance, and then probably pay the sucker off once one of the two of us hits a bonus. I certainly would not want to run the 5 years of financing to fruition. We COULD buy this car outright, but with our jobs constantly in the balance, I would rather keep our savings account filled in the event of disaster. One bonus would make me comfortable paying the loan off, and I have to believe that in the nect 12 months ONE of us can manage to get paid some actual money.

This car would be our main car (our only for quite awhile), and I would like to drive it until it implodes. Someday, if we have the scratch, and a 2nd place to park, it would become the wife's car, and I could get something silly.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by rammstein

The car in question:
http://www.carmax.com/enUS/view-car/default.html?AVi=2&id=5650553&AS=AAAEAA

That's a pretty good price. I helped my sister-in-law look at those, there were several with 30k-ish miles in the $12k range. I think they were 2004 or 2005.

Locally, our Carmax is always overpriced. Plus, for a company that touts it's reconditioning process as being so thorough, many of the cars are dirty with obvious broken pieces. Stupid stuff like pop stains in the cupholder and some cubby hanging by one hinge. Personally I don't think their cars are really any better, they just have good PR. I always prefer to buy from a private owner, because even an honest dealer is just guessing in regards to the car's past.

[911Freak]

Originally Posted by rammstein

The car in question:
http://www.carmax.com/enUS/view-car/default.html?AVi=2&id=5650553&AS=AAAEAA

My buying parameters changed again, and this is looking like the hot ticket. Nationally competitive in H-Stock, and with a hatch, it can hold my 2 dogs. Yes, 2. We got a second dog. I need to start a whole new thread on that at some point. But the Mazda 3 seems to fit the bill quite nicely. I am just suprised that used versions held value so well.

This one in particular interests me, as it is the most stripped version, and has no sunroof (good for autocross weight, and good for less junk I don't need breaking). The plan would be to buy it, put on some Konis (allowed in Stock), get a second set of wheels with some nice R-Comps, and have some freakin fun for a change. Wife has signed off on this, so now its a matter of finding a good one.

Checking this car on Edmunds it looks like an "ok" deal, if you don't mind the dealer making a tidy profit (IMO)

However

If you take into consideration what they paid for it (wholesale auction or tradein) they are stillmaking some decent profit (they probably paid less than the $9k shown on Edmunds, more realisticly < $7k )

Carmax's no negotiation policy (no haggle) benefits Carmax under the guise of benefiting the consumer by eliminating the "greasy car salesman" factor (little unfair stereotype IMO as not all car salesman are dirt bags)

Check Edmunds pricing out here for this make/model

http://www.edmunds.com/used/2004/mazda/mazda3/100364240/options.html?tmvaction=vdpresult

Notice the "private party" amount, I wouldn't even consider buying anything above that amount regardless of who's selling it...But that's just me...

Some people just don't have the stomach for negotiating or visiting numerous dealers etc.

Good Luck!

[kang]

In my opinion, Carmax is overpriced. They pay less for cars than wholesale, and sell them for more than dealer retail.

But they have added value. They claim they inspect the cars, give warranties, offer service, etc.

If paying a bit more for these services is worth it to you, go for it, but with open eyes.

[silver912e]

Originally Posted by schamp

I heard their inspection program was a load of crap. Might want to check it out real good. PPI.

I agree.

I bought my current Accord from Carmax. I took it in for a PPI during the 5-day grace period. Turns out the driver's door had been repaired. After the PPI pointed me to the repaired door, I noticed some shoddy workmanship like missing screw covers. Also, the pressure in the tires was way off, obviously never checked. I decided to keep the car since I didn't care that the door had some minor damage at some point. IT has been a problem free car for three years now.

I think their business model is to buy slightly damaged cars at auction and have their mechanics make the repairs. Just a guess, as I have no first hand knowledge.

[on2wheels52]

I guess I'm in the sticks, the nearest one is three hours away. At that distance i don't give a rat's as* about a warranty (and I'm not sure what premium I would give for one in walking distance). You never know about a used car, it could go 100k miles or it could grenade going around the block.
Jim

[red-beard]

Bought a 2000 XMW X5 and very satisfied. Low miles, and the price was decent. I expect we could have gotten a little more for the trade in, selling it ourselves, but when I factored in the tax savings, the difference was $800 on and $8000 car. And that wasn't worth the hassel of selling the car ourselves.

My next vehicle will probably be purched there, a BMW wagon.