buying a car form carmax

[disfan07]

has anyone here bought a car from carmax?

We are looking to ditch my 2007 Toyota camry that we bought 1 1/2 years ago and I want to get a honda accord again (I had a 2001 but it was totaled in 2008 which is when we bought the toyota)

We would get about $12,000 for my toyota so we cannot afford to buy a new honda at about $22,000

We are going to go to the certified used honda dealerships around here also but we were also going to look at carmax becasue we have found 5 honda accords under $16,000 from carmax.

So i just wanted to knwo if anyone had first hand experience with purchasing a car from carmax

 

[FireDancer]

When I lived in Florida I knew a couple of people who purchased cars from CarMax and none of them had anything but good things to say.

 

[tictac]

My husband worked there a few years ago and he never said anything bad about them, but what exactly are you wanting to find out more info about?

 

[disfan07]

I just wanted to know if people had ever bought a car from them and if it was a good or bad choice to buy from them.

We dont know anyone who has ever bought from carmax....everyone we know has either always bought new cars or bought used cars from the dealerships

 

[shortbun]

We bought my husband's truck from them because it was the only place he could find what he wanted. He loved their service and the salesperson was intelligent. There was no hard sell.

 

[tictac]

Well, from what I remember he did tell me that all the cars do get an inspection and they all get seen by a mechanic to repair them also they fix minor things such as dings before being put up for sale. I peaked into an area where all the interiors where being cleaned and repaired . I believe the car is under some kind of warranty and you can purchase extra warranty just incase.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I just wanted to know if people had ever bought a car from them and if it was a good or bad choice to buy from them.

We dont know anyone who has ever bought from carmax....everyone we know has either always bought new cars or bought used cars from the dealerships

Try private party sales as well. I know people are afraid of buying from someone that is not thru a dealership but I can assure you that you will get a better deal.

Look in Craigslist & AutoTrader for your area. At least look.

We just sold a car thru Craigslist and we bought a truck a few months ago.

 

[DMickey28]

Both our cars are CarMax cars and we have nothing bad to say about it. We loved the experience, got great prices and the cars have been flawless minus normal wear and tear.

 

[mrsv98]

Both our cars are CarMax cars and we have nothing bad to say about it. We loved the experience, got great prices and the cars have been flawless minus normal wear and tear.

Ditto, we have purchased two different new cars from CarMax (new cars at the WI location by us) and loved the experience both times.

 

[Heidict]

has anyone here bought a car from carmax?

We are looking to ditch my 2007 Toyota camry that we bought 1 1/2 years ago and I want to get a honda accord again (I had a 2001 but it was totaled in 2008 which is when we bought the toyota)

We would get about $12,000 for my toyota so we cannot afford to buy a new honda at about $22,000

We are going to go to the certified used honda dealerships around here also but we were also going to look at carmax becasue we have found 5 honda accords under $16,000 from carmax.

So i just wanted to knwo if anyone had first hand experience with purchasing a car from carmax

I have had 2 friends purchase cars through carmax. The first one had nothing but good things to say about them. Loved her car and felt that she got a fair deal on it.

The second one had some issues with the car after she brought it home. If I remember correctly, it was something about the brakes. She called the salesman and he told her to bring it in and they would take care of it. They had to order some parts and then they fixed it at no cost to her. She brought the car home and there was another problem. So, she brought it back again. By this time she started to worry, thinking that she got a bad car and was worried that more things were going to go wrong with it.

It still fell under the money back guarantee thing they have, so she returned the car. They gave her the money back with no problems what so ever. She said they were great and was really worried that they would give her a hard time but it was very easy and painless. She still has not purchased another car but when she decides to she said that she would definitely go back there again.

 

[Karalea]

I have purchased by last 2 cars from Car Max and love them! My brother also purchased his truck there. They also bought my old car at a better price than the local dealership wanted to give me. Everything was very easy.


Don't forget that if they don't have the car you want in your local dealership, they will, for a small fee, transfer one from another location.

 

[Kit'smommy]

I bought my Mercedes from them back in 2008 and sold them my Saturn shortly thereafter.

Both experiences were very good and I would recommend them.

The car I purchased was a really good deal and they were fair in what they gave me for my old car.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Did you pay cash for the car or financing it? It seems like if you've only had the car for 1.5 years, selling it (or worst trading it) will be a big loss.

 

[mill4023]

We bought our 05 Suburban from Carmax last year.

From the research we did on prices, we probably could have saved a little money by shopping somewhere else, but not much.

I've been through the car buying process at traditional dealerships and unless I absolutely had to have a brand new car, I would never choose that again. The Carmax experience was so much nicer. No negotiating, no hard sell, quick and easy financing approval with a list of different options from different financing companies.

We bought the extended warranty and a few months later, the air conditioning stopped working. We brought it in and the repair process was super easy and painless too. Instead of the $600+ it would have cost for a new compressor, we just had to pay our $50 deductible.

I definitely recommend them.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

We bought the extended warranty and a few months later, the air conditioning stopped working. We brought it in and the repair process was super easy and painless too. Instead of the $600+ it would have cost for a new compressor, we just had to pay our $50 deductible.

But how much was the warranty?

 

[mill4023]

But how much was the warranty?

I wasn't trying to say that an extended warranty is always a good deal. I was mainly just pointing out another area where I've been completely satisfied with the Carmax service. I was a little worried that they might make it a pain to get warranty service, but they were great.

If I remember correctly, I'm thinking it was about $2500 for 3 years. We bought a Suburban because we really needed the extra room, but we knew it was likely to have more repair costs than our Honda Pilot, so we figured the warranty was worth it for us, to avoid having a situation where we had to come up with a couple thousand dollars in cash for a new engine or transmission or whatever else might come up.

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

We got a second car from them. I did a search on-line and found the exact model with the options we wanted. The car max people I talked with trucked it to the location near us (about 100 miles) at no cost. We test drove it, and decided to get it.

I don't know about any of the financining, as we paid cash.

But the manager made a point of telling us to come back for anything if the car hasn't performed right or has any problems. They also have a program where you can return the vehicle within ten(?) days and either trade it for another vehicle or get your money back.

I did like the fact that they showed you the car fax report on the vehicle, and tell you (on the sticker) where they got the car. (some from private owner, some from rental fleet, etc.)

Also, when you are looking, they let you just look, without having a salesman watch your every move and hover nearby.

 

[disfan07]

we paid cash in full for this car.
the camry falls under the recall and we have been having problems with it so we decided to get rid of it.

we actually went to carmax tonight and found a 2007 Honda civic with only 19,000 miles on it for $16,500 including tax and fees and we will get $10,000 for the toyota so we are going back on saturday when they get the car (they have to transfer it) and we will probably get it than.

 

[Planogirl]

We have two cars that we bought from them. One has 160K miles and the other 100K so it worked out well.

The best part was no hard sell. I'd go there for that reason alone. We showed up preapproved and picked out a car on our own and we were done in no time.

Congrats on your "new" car!

 

[DisneyTravelers2008]

in 2008 we bought a 2005 yukon xl from car max wtihi about 38k miles. we got the 2 ( or 3??) yr bumper to bumper warrantly. the car comes w/a 30 day bumper to bumper warratny for free as part of the car max deal...or atleast it did when we bought our car. on day 27 the transmission went our while i was 4 hrs from home traveling alone with 2 kids! i hobbled to the local car max that i was closest to at that time and they gave me a minivan to use while my car was being repaired so i could get back home. since we were within the 30 day window they rebuilt the transmission for free. i had to be a little persistant to get the minivan but they did end up giving it ot me as a loaner. i had 2 clains on the dvd player during the 2 or 3 yr warranty and they replaced it both times with no probs. i would buy from them again but i will always get the warranty.