Carmax sold me a car with $800 worth of outstanding tickets

Mar 17, 2008

Carmax complaint

I bought a 2006 ford focus from Carmax on Wednesday. On Saturday I find it gone. At first I thought it was stolen but came to find out it had been towed. Apparently the previous owner had racked up 800 dollars worth of parking violations and had not paid them. Prior to buying from Carmax I spoke with a representative and went through a number of questions with them over the phone including whether or not they do a thorough DMV check prior to selling a vehicle as I had run into a problem with outstanding tickets in the past when buying from a private party. I was assured that I would never have that issue with Carmax. So I bought a car and it is now sitting in an impound lot collecting dust will I try to resolve this with Carmax.

More Carmax Reviews

ads from Shopzilla

Discuss
Carmax News

on our forums

Quote this article on your site | Views: 796

Comments (7)

1. Written by Knavery, on 25-06-2008 00:36

In response to Lew: I just pulled the auction data on your Sebring and found that the average one matching your trim and miles runs abot $1850 cuurently. The highest in you mile range was $2500, and the highest in the last 60 days, was $5,100 for one with 38K. LOL, KBB has no clue what cars are worth because they haven't even bought their first car yet! Rofl - it is real easy to estimate a value if you don't have to cut the check. When KBB adds a "Print Check" button, then I will be a believer. Oh, and I checked carmax's site, and couldn't find ANY Chrysler JUNK over 90K miles. At 100K, your Sebring is toast.. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.. lol

Report

2. Written by Ryan, on 10-06-2008 10:09

In response to lew. CarMax never advertised buying better than blue book value. Produce something that shows that and Ill believe you

Report

3. Written by Lew, on 14-05-2008 20:53

I own a 1998 Chrysler Sebring JXI Convertible in wonderful condition. It is truly a beautiful vehicle and is in excellent mechanical shape though it has 103,000 miles on it. But because I can't fit my whole family in it, I recently bought a Ford Windstar Minivan so we can all travel together.

CarMax advertises that it buys vehicles at better than Blue Book, and its website recommends using the Kelley Blue Book to find out the vehicle's wholesale value. CarMax allegedly bases what it pays for cars on the Blue Book wholesale value and conveniently links its website to Kelley.

I followed the instructions exactly and came up with a wholesale value of $6,005 for a Sebring in 'Good' condition with 103,000 miles on it. The car is actually in 'Excellent' condition by Kelley's and even CarMax's standards. So I printed out the report stating the car's value.

Imagine my surprise when after having it appraised by CarMax's so-called buyers, and having them tell me what great shape the car is in...they offered me just $3,300!!!

They wanted to steal my car! I was livid.

Their first excuse was they don't use the 'Blue Book,' they use the car dealers' 'Black Book.' I demanded they produce it. When they did, it showed the lowest possible wholesale value for my car (and there were four levels starting at $8,780) was $5,750. A complete lie!

Their next excuse was that they don't sell high-mileage Sebrings and they would have to wholesale it out. $3,300 was all they could possibly get for it.

Liars!!!

A search of their own website turned up a comparable 1998 Sebring Convertible selling at a nearby CarMax for $8,995. Since their price is 'no-haggle,' that means CarMax was trying to make a quick $5,695 by stealing my car!

CarMax needs to be stopped! Their advertising is totally misleading! Instead of a fair deal, CarMax lowballs people on the buying side and overcharges them on the selling side. CarMax uses the Kelley Blue Book when it's convenient (every car on the lot compares CarMax's price to Kelley's), but calls Kelley irrelevant when to its advantage.

What kind of business can get away with this kind of double dealing and maintain a customer base? Get wise to CarMax. Don't get ripped off by this dishonest dealership.

Lew

Raleigh, North Carolina

U.S.A.

Report

4. Written by Donna, on 05-05-2008 11:39

I purchased a 2006 Saturn Vue on Thursday from the Hartford, CT location. The young woman I worked with was very patient and helpful. Having more knowledge of options the car offers would be useful.

The young woman who handled my paperwork was efficient and friendly. It was ten at night and we both wanted to go home yet she did not make me feel as if I were keeping her.

The only complaint I can find is with the service dept. The phone must have rang 50 times before someone answered. However, when Mistika did answer she was pleasant and helpful.

I like doing business with Carmax.

Report

5. Written by MOPA, on 05-04-2008 09:40

ummm, it's not the actual car that gets the tickets- its the license plate.

Report

6. Written by CarMaxChris, on 17-03-2008 10:55

My name is Chris and I am the social media PR guy at the CarMax home office. I am sorry to read of your poor experience at one of our stores. You didn't use a name or a store location within your post, would you please contact the CarMax Customer Relations Department at 1-800-519-1511 and give them the opportunity to assist you with your issue. CarMax strives to offer excellent customer service and we take it very seriously when we read an instance such as this. Thank you.

Chris Wilmore

CarMax New Media

Report

7. Written by CarMaxChris, on 17-03-2008 10:52

My name is Chris and I am the social media PR guy at the CarMax home office. I am sorry to read of your poor experience at one of our stores. You didn't use a name or a store location within your post, would you please contact the CarMax Customer Relations Department at 1-800-519-1511 and give them the opportunity to assist you with your issue. CarMax strives to offer excellent customer service and we take it very seriously when we read an instance such as this. Thank you.

Chris Wilmore

CarMax New Media

Report

Comments on Carmax sold me a car with $800 worth of outstanding tickets
Consumer Forum is another great place to discuss consumer concerns NOT RELATED to this article.
Name:
Comment:

Code:* Code
I wish to be contacted by email regarding additional comments