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My wife was looking for a vehicle and found a Toyota she liked online at our local CarMax. We went to look at it one evening and everything looked good. We viewed the carfax and were happy to see there were only two owners and no accidents. I like the car but wanted to take some time to think about it.

The next day we decided to purchase the vehicle and the salesperson said we could come down that evening to pick up the car. We chose to use the CarMax financing since we would only be financing half of the cost. We went through the application process and were easily approve for the amount. We asked the salesperson if we could use a personal check for the down payment and they assured us this would be no problem. We made out the check and we presented it to the salesperson.

The next thing that happen really caught me by surprise. The salesperson asked us to log-on to our personal online bank account so we could prove to the manager that we had the money in the bank to cover the check!! Unbelievable! I asked them if this was normal procedure and they indicated that since the banks were closed this was the only way to confirm the funds. I was not insulted by questioning if we had the funds but asking me to log on to my bank account using THEIR computer was very concerning. Not only did I NOT want some stranger looking at my bank account, I also didn't feel it was safe to use a "public" computer to log into my online account. I would be putting my trust not only in the salesperson and manager but also any other person or IT personnel that has access to the that computer and network. I told them I was not comfortable doing this and asked if I could use a credit card. The answer was no. I asked if they could just hold on to the check and call the bank in the morning and then I could pick up the car the following evening. The answer was no. I wished the sales person would have let me know about this before inviting me down. Frustrated I left without the vehicle.

The next evening I returned with a cashier's check. CarMax happily took the check and we left with the vehicle. The very next day - and the first time we saw the vehicle in the daylight, my wife and I noticed some paint abnormalities on the passenger side of the vehicle. Upon closer inspection it became obvious the entire passenger side, from the front fender, both doors and the rear quarter panel had been re-painted; and quite poorly I might add. This is when I got pissed. Using CarMax was supposed to be an easy, honest up front way to buy a vehicle. There is absolutely no way these car sales experts didn't know this car had been painted from front to back on the passenger side. They just chose not to inform us of this. I took the vehicle back that evening and made use of the 5 day return policy. Of course this process took almost as long as buying the car. Very sad.

I'm not saying don't use CarMax. I'm just sayin - don't treat them any different than what they are; Used Car Salesmen.

Location: San Diego, California

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Frankie S Ync

I can understand why you would be upset, and you are right. The customer is always right.

I would be uncomfortable also verifying my funds in my account on their computer. It me be safe, but I can see where customers would be uncomfortable doing that.

I would say carmax doesn't care about customers and just wants to sell the vehicle so all can be paid. Managers get a bonus for making the budget for the day, and believe me, they will do ANYTHING to make their paycheck.

Guest

I'll bet a thousand dollars that car was painted at carmax before you bought it. poor paintwork is a norm there.

Guest

paying a nonrefundable transfer fee to tranfer your inventory seems a bit *** as ***. take the fee off the sale price and stop robbing folk too dumb to say *** no.

Guest

don't call corporate customer service. Its a waste of time! They will not help you and are as incompetent as the managers of the stores!

Guest

at my store, the ABOM is so busy eating all day,and texting, that she is clueless when it come to customer relations, so shop at my store

Guest

yes,carmax verifys funds,but dont worry,the associates are too *** to do any further with them,dont worry..and the female associates are busy being bullied by the male sales managers, that when they leave there, they dont want to remember customers names or info.

CarMaxCCR Jgr

We certainly apologize about your experience. Please call us at 800-519-1511 to discuss this matter further.

Sincerely,

CarMax Customer Relations

Guest

You had a car fax report

what did it say.

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