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Took my car to CarMax for appraisal...appraised at $7500 below a comparable model on their lot...bought this vehicle from CarMax in 2007...now find out it apparently had body damage and had been repainted...CarMax showed me the CarFax but did not provide it to me.

The salesman rattled on and on while my car was being appraised...I asked him numerous times to slow down and talk slower....he continued with his presention.

I told the salesman that CarMax sold this car which had apparently been in an accident...he just shrugged his shoulder and asked if I was interested in buying a car....was he joking?

Stay away from CarMax...

Location: Austin, Texas

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Guest

I went to carmax to see what they would offer me for my infiniti G20t. They came to offer me 1500 and told me there was a transmission problem.

In my mind i was like these dudes are crazy because i know everything about this car and the transmission was fine and performing and everything serviced to this point.

I sold the car privately for more than double there dumb *** quote! If you know your car be smart before you trade it in to these dim-whits.

Amir

Guest

Transfers cost money. The drivers do not work for free. If the car is located >100 miles from the store the car will be picked up and shipped by a private carrier and transported to the store. When you do a paid transfer you are explained and must sign-off on the terms. It's really simple, if you do not like the car you do not have to buy it but the transportation fee is non-refundable. That's a real simple deal.

As for your trade, NADA is a guide but there are other factors at work here. Supply and demand, age. Is your ZR2 a car CarMax could or would resell? Is it out of season? A sports car in the winter is a hard sell. Quite frankly your car is worth what someone will pay for it. Since you think the CarMax price is too low then your best bet is to sell it on your own.

So what is your complaint exactly? You want CM to eat the transfer cost because your trade came in low. Sorry, not going to happen. If CM did that they would lose millions. Next time have your car appraised first or sell it on your own BEFORE you pay for a non refundable transfer.

I agree on one point. An HHR is one of the worst cars made. They should pay you to take that off their hands!

Guest

I just received a CarMax appraisal today. I can honestly say it was a unprofessional encounter and a low ball appraisal.

I can not imagine ever sending anyone to CarMax as a recommendation. The appraisal for trade-In Value was 28% below Kelley Blue Book, 17% below NADA, 14% below Edmunds and 10% below Auto Trader.

I was shocked when I saw the ridiculously price offered. It was a total wasted of my time and a total rip-off!!!

Guest

College Mom, let me quess the dealer that offered you, twice as much for your vehicle did they buy it straight up? or did they take it in on trade? Do you see were I am going with this?

Guest

Kelly\Nada\Black Book these are all guides they won't buy your vehicle!!! Carmax gives you an offer, they don't put a gun to your head and force you to sell them your car. They have sold millions of vehicles if there is an occassional slip up, thats excatly what it is a slip up, not company policy. Carmax like every other dealer is in the business of making money! if they buy your car for 6000 after 12 hours of reconditions labor, ex amount of dollars to get it where they can offer their 30 day warranty, and better yet to make sure it is in good enough shape to offer their Maxcare Extended Service Plan, it cost them money!!

I have worked at dealers were they vacumm the carpet, run it through the carwash, top the fluids and sell it!!! as-is!! and make 4000 dollars profit!!

Seriously most people on this site don't really know what goes on behind the scenes at traditional car dealerships, because IF you did, you would agree that Carmax is actually the better choice when buying a used car.

Guest

You people are not the most intelligent lot. Your nada/kelly/edmunds/blahblah guides are just that guides primarily used by lenders who never buy or sell vehicles.

Furthermore those guides have never once in all thier history backed up their estimates with ANY kind of monetary value.

If your vehicle is older than 10 years well hello less than %20 of the market place wants your piece of *** so no doubt a dealership isnt gonna give your *** they give what they think your P.O.S. is going to fetch in auction to the salvage yards and slavage title mom and pops joints.

Guest

Update on CarMax buys low and sells high: Wrote to CarMax, telling them they sold me a car off their lot that had been repaired/repainted before I purchased it in 2007, which car had apparently been in an accident. I have since traded this car in on a new vehicle and lost about $5,000 due to the unethical business practices of CarMax.

Asked CarMax to make it right. They responded by saying that "CarMax guarantees that every used vehicle it sells at retail has a Clean Title at the time of Sale...it does not reflect an odometer rollback and is not branded as "Salvage" or "Flood-Damage"". They further state..."CarMax does not advertise that it does not sell vehicles that have been involved in accidents...". CarMax further states that "not every vehicle that is painted has been involved in an accident." I ask you - why on earth would anyone repair/repaint one complete side of the car but not the entire vehicle if it was not in an accident?

BEWARE...CarMax does indeed conduct their business in such a way as to render cars they sell virtually worthless at the next trade-in because of their own admission that they may sell cars that have been in accidents and they feel no responsibility to disclose or make price concessions at all.

So much for "CarMax...the way car buying should be"....sure if every CarMax customer wants to be burned at trade-in after purchasing a vehicle from CarMax. Stay away from CarMax!!!

Guest

After getting the $3,000 offer from CarMax on a car they sold me in 2007 (which was apparently in an accident and had been repainted yet Carmax sold it to me without disclosing this tidbit)...I took my car to another dealer for an apparaisal.....I was offered $6750...over twice what Carmax offered...beware of the Carmax cars...they say they are certified...but don't believe that!!!

Guest

This is the letter I just sent the Auto Dealer Board in Lincoln:

Good morning Joan:

I called a bit ago about the carmax situation I am trying to resolve, after BBB refered me to you... Anyhow here is the situation. I found a Chevy HHR Panel on the carmax website earlier this month. I then called carmax about the vehicle and asked if I could come down and check it out. They told mre it was actually located in Albequerkie NM, and that if I wanted to see the vehicle I would have to pay a transportation fee of $549 to get it to the Omaha store. I did not want to do that just to look at it. So carmax had me do what they call a "walk around" over the phone, where I ask all the questions I like and they get back with me later with all the awnsers to the items about the car that I am asking about. I was told I would get a fair price for my trade in vehicles. I then decided to go ahead with getting the car here, but was still reluctant because I had never heard of a transportation fee.................... that is when they told me that the car was being relocated to another store in Arizona, and that it would cost me more to transport the HHR to omaha from there, roughly another $100 or so. Carmax told me that they would not transport the vehicle to AZ. if I decided to purchase the vehicle, however I was told it would not be held for long because they would relist the HHR for sale to the public if I did not decide soon. I decided that the HHR Panel was the vehicle I was looking for, and that carmax had a fair price listed on it after talking to a few dealerships here in town, as well as talking with my insurance company about the vehicle. I went ahead with the transport, and was told I would not see the HHR for 21 days. I tried to fight the transport fee due to the fact that carmax was transporting it to another store anyway on there own in hopes that someone else might buy it there. I called the Albequerkie store myself and asked them if it really had been stopped from being transported to AZ. They told me yes, and that it was being transported to another store due to the fact that no one was interested in the HHR for the few months it had been located there. So I asked carmax in omaha, if you guys are going to transport it anyway just in hopes of selling it, then why not send it here to a customer who is obviously wanting to purchase it. I was told thats not how they operate. So the vehicle arrives on the 29th of Dec. I made arrangements with my sales person to do the trade ins and paperwork and all that sort of thing on the 30th. I brought in my vehicles: a 1998 chevy s-10 ZR2, and a near mint condition 1984 Corvette. As I mentioned above I was told I would get a fair price for my vehicles............. I had the NADA trade in values as well as the NADA retail values for my vehicles printed out and with me during the trade in process, that way I has some sort of referance of what I should expect. Carmax quoted me $1500 for my ZR2, which is WELL below the NADA trade in value of even a ROUGH trade in of $2600. My ZR2 is clean, well maintaned and fully operational. It falls under the definition of average trade in according to NADA. Carmax then quoted me just $1700 for my darn near MINT Corvette.... NADA retail value spans $7903 through $17,560! I thought it was a typo as did my sales person and the sales manager was brought out in both cases. He said that carmax goes by auction value. Keep in mind that I as a private party consumer/customer do not have access to, or I would be at manheim auction in omaha everyday buying a vehicle. Dealers and people use resourses such as blue book or NADA to set there prices. So what Carmax is telling me basically is that they will undercut the customer for a trade in, only to later go to the "market" retail value, and sell the car. I could see offering me those trade in value if I had access to manheim, but we dont. When i asked him if the wind was blowing a certain way at auction, and thsat sets their trade in value, then what sets the retail value when carmax goes to sell my vehicle?.. He didnt say anything other that the price was not negotiable. I asked for my transportation fee back, they said no. However, i feel that I was TOTALLY insulted during the trade in process, so if this situation cannot be resolved in some way either by a FAIR deal with the car, or the return of my $549, I will just not recommend Carmax to anyone, and forward this email out to everyone I know. i think at that point a complaint process with the BBB should be started. I do not want to do that, I would like to make a deal on this HHR, thats for sure. In any case I am asking for help to resolve this situation. Thank you.

Neil

Guest

I went for an appraisal and they came in $3500 below the low end of market value. That place is the worst auto experience I've had.

They claim and claim to be the best service BLAH BLAH AND BLAH.

I won't send my worst enemy to this place; they are that bad.

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