carmax?

[tchrchgo]

has anyone recently purchased a car from any carmax location? I have been reading online reports and many people have been very unhappy with their car max purchases recently. I say recently, because several people mentioned having had great experiences with car max in the past, but feel the quality and service have really declined recently.

also, any tips for purchasing a pre owned car? is it best to finance or just pull from savings to purchase at once?

thanks!!!

 

[sunshinecruise]

We bought a car from Car Max about 3 months ago and we bought our last vehicle at Car Max about 6 years ago. I think that we had excellent service and selection both times. When we bought the car 3 months ago, our salesperson noticed that one of the interior lights was not working, but it was late and the service dept was closed. He told us that we had 7 days to bring the car back to have anything fixed. We took it home and drove it for a few days and we noticed a couple other little things that needed to be fixed. We brought it in and they fixed all of the problems for no charge. They were very pleasant and efficient.
We are big fans of Car Max.

 

[pantherlj]

Our last 2 cars are from carmax. Most recent about a year ago. No problems, very friendly, low pressure. I didn't know what I wanted at all - the salesman was very patient. It's probably like anywhere - depends on the sales person you get.

The paperwork was painful, it took a long time. I got preauthorized online with BOFA but did it on Sunday morning before we went to Carmax and for some reason, it couldn't be processed. I had to buy it with Carmax financing and then return it a couple of days later and rebuy. That took a lot of time but worth the 2.9% financing!

 

[Judique]

Daughter sold a car to Carmax. She was moving to Europe for a job and they gave her a very fair price. The car itself still had warranty, was well maintained. They were very easy to deal with.

 

[tar heel]

We looked at Car Max last time we bought a car and the prices were not competitive with private sellers. We had never bought from a private seller before, but had a good experience. We met him at the bank and did the title transfer/payment in front of a banker. We did not finance it.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

has anyone recently purchased a car from any carmax location? I have been reading online reports and many people have been very unhappy with their car max purchases recently. I say recently, because several people mentioned having had great experiences with car max in the past, but feel the quality and service have really declined recently.

also, any tips for purchasing a pre owned car? is it best to finance or just pull from savings to purchase at once?

thanks!!!

We recently bought a used car and I did a few months research prior to buying and it seemed Carmax was consistently higher in price than other dealers. I was comparing apples to apples and so the pricing difference was pretty obvious.

We did have a great experience selling to them

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[bdcp]

My youngest son worked for Carmax a few years ago for a couple of years. He was the guy who took the photos of the cars for sale and moved cars around the lot and a few other things. There's a very good reason the sales pressure is low and that they don't try to sell you more expensive cars, newer cars, etc. The salesmen work on a flat rate per car sold. The rate is based on their previous success rate and promotions. Most dealerships only have one or two top salesmen at any one time who earn the top rate. They are really big on customer service. He owned 3 different "wholesale" cars that he bought from them as an employee (one we bought). The wholesale cars that employees can buy at a small markup are the ones that they send off for auction and don't resell to the public. The cars on the lot go through a good inspection before being bought by Carmax. They look for weld spots and turned bolts that indicate frame work and engine work. They won't resell those cars except as wholesale. We bought our older son a car there when he was in college. We also sold them a car before our younger son ever worked there.

 

[mward73]

My parents just bought a truck from Carmax. It was at a nearby location, so they had it brought to the location closer to them. They were very pleased with the service as well as the vehicle.

DH and I have both sold cars there and were happy with the transaction (both got more than we tried asking for with a private sale and one was way more than the Honda dealer was willing to give us as a trade).

 

[BeachLove]

Carmax overcharges for cars around here. Some 1-4 year old cars on the lot are more expensive than the dealers. They are not allowed to leave you alone to tour the lot. A friend of mine recently quit (6+ months ago) because of the shoddy work they did to get the cars ready to sell. They pressure you to sell the cars where the employee who had been there longer said it used to be a pleasure to work there.

5 years ago carmax was great!! Now, Don't even bother.

 

[BeachLove]

Now selling them a car, then yes its fine.

 

[Swimalie]

Last year we took our CR-V to Carmax to see what they would offer us since we were selling it and buying a new car. We had owned the car for 10 years and bought it used at 13 months old. Never in an accident (we had it inspected before we bought it, too). They claimed it had been in an accident in the rear quarter panel and offered us $1500. HA! They were wrong about the accident and we sold it privately for $5000. Same cars as ours they were asking $7000 for. So not worth going to them for their mark-up on selling and mark-down on buying.