CarMax scam?

[Kuato]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
My experience with Carmax. I tried to buy a 1995 300ZX from them. Advertised as "mint collector condition" in their ad. I drive up there to look at it. Trim was dry rotted,driver's leather seat was split and cracked all over the place,and to put the icing on the cake,the a/c didn't work. They wanted top retail value for it. I gave them a cash offer only $1000 off their "asking" price,which would've covered a new a/c compressor. The douche bag interrupted me and arrogantly said "Oh we're a no haggle dealership". With my offer they still would've come out ahead in the deal. What an [censored] clown.


Your correct call in this situation is "I'll take it but you have to fix the AC. Also this trim is dry rotted and needs to be replaced, and the driver's seat needs to be reupholstered." No haggle doesn't mean no repairs.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: JMJNet
Like it or not, CarMax and a lot of stealership always lowball when they are buying a car.
They adjusted the trade-in value as you buy a new car from them.

Try CL or person to person sales and you will at least get 2x as much.



Nonsensical. The dealer where I traded in my Subaru gave me a decent trade in. They had to put brakes-all around and new tires-and the polish and shine job and safety inspection. They are asking $3,000.00 more than the amount they gave me. CarMax was $500.00 less than that.

Major disinformation on this thread.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: JustinH
When I was selling a 2014 Rav4, Carmax offered $4600 less than Beepi.

Beepi wrote me a check on the spot for fair market value.

I received notice a few months ago that Beepi has since gone bankrupt, yet carmax is thriving.

Glad that check cleared.


Yep-and Beepi didn't have showrooms and service departments, in short all the overhead of a traditional dealer. That's where that $4,600.00 came from.

 

[fdcg27]

What was the car and what documented history did it have?
Book value is an accounting term, while published "book" value is a term of art referring to average trade-in or wholesale price.
These people probably don't want to know the accounting book value of whatever they're trying to sell.
No way that a private party is going to take any car to CarMax and get average retail. After all, CarMax has to take this machine into its inventory, pay to finance their acquisition cost and then hope to net some profit on the sale. If they really can't move the car, then they may have to send it to auction.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: CKN
Originally Posted By: JustinH
When I was selling a 2014 Rav4, Carmax offered $4600 less than Beepi.

Beepi wrote me a check on the spot for fair market value.

I received notice a few months ago that Beepi has since gone bankrupt, yet carmax is thriving.

Glad that check cleared.


Yep-and Beepi didn't have showrooms and service departments, in short all the overhead of a traditional dealer. That's where that $4,600.00 came from.


Not really sure what happened with them, but they did raise 150 million dollars and then shut down.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Originally Posted By: CKN
Originally Posted By: JustinH
When I was selling a 2014 Rav4, Carmax offered $4600 less than Beepi.

Beepi wrote me a check on the spot for fair market value.

I received notice a few months ago that Beepi has since gone bankrupt, yet carmax is thriving.

Glad that check cleared.


Yep-and Beepi didn't have showrooms and service departments, in short all the overhead of a traditional dealer. That's where that $4,600.00 came from.


Not really sure what happened with them, but they did raise 150 million dollars and then shut down.


So this amount were the founders of Beepi retirement package.

 

[Kuato]

Originally Posted By: Wolf359


Not really sure what happened with them, but they did raise 150 million dollars and then shut down.


Pretty sure someone took that 150mil and retired.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: Kuato
Originally Posted By: Wolf359


Not really sure what happened with them, but they did raise 150 million dollars and then shut down.


Pretty sure someone took that 150mil and retired.


Then you'd be surprised how wrong you were. They went bankrupt, they didn't have enough money to pay their creditors. They were burning through 7 million a month. At one point they had 300 employees and only sold about 150 cars a month. Not a viable business at that rate.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Originally Posted By: Kuato
Originally Posted By: Wolf359


Not really sure what happened with them, but they did raise 150 million dollars and then shut down.


Pretty sure someone took that 150mil and retired.


Then you'd be surprised how wrong you were. They went bankrupt, they didn't have enough money to pay their creditors. They were burning through 7 million a month. At one point they had 300 employees and only sold about 150 cars a month. Not a viable business at that rate.


Your assuming that they didn't take some of the money prior to the filing of the bankruptcy.

 

[SatinSilver]

Sounds like Beepi was the scam company.

CarMax also has their own in house financing and issue their own warranties. One of the few car warranties worth considering. No one really complains about the cars they sell just the prices. They are negotiable on the right car.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Sounds like Beepi was the scam company.

CarMax also has their own in house financing and issue their own warranties. One of the few car warranties worth considering. No one really complains about the cars they sell just the prices. They are negotiable on the right car.


Yeah, they have pretty good warranties and people have bought expensive cars like the Mercedes E63 and had engine and transmission work done worth tens of thousands and their warranty just covers it without hassle.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Sounds like Beepi was the scam company.

CarMax also has their own in house financing and issue their own warranties. One of the few car warranties worth considering. No one really complains about the cars they sell just the prices. They are negotiable on the right car.


Yeah, they have pretty good warranties and people have bought expensive cars like the Mercedes E63 and had engine and transmission work done worth tens of thousands and their warranty just covers it without hassle.


Yep-several posts on the web about those who buy used Mercedes and BMWs buy at Carmax because they can buy that warranty. And Carmax has replaced motors in those cars.

 

[jim302]

CarMax will never make an offer close to what you could get on a private party sale. Unless your car is fairly new and with low miles, there's a good chance it goes to auction so they still won't be getting anywhere near retail value out of it. They do not focus on selling older or high mileage cars. If they do put your car on the lot, they offer a 5 day return period and 30 day warranty so they are on the hook for issues that they didn't find when they were making the offer. They also have high overhead... more staff than most dealers, large buildings/lots, and they usually build fairly good parts of town so they aren't paying rock bottom rates for land.

My most recent offer from CarMax was actually very good. I have sold two cars to them. I didn't have to deal with taking time out of my day to meet potential buyers, druggies from Craigslist trying to scam me, etc. They give a quick cash offer that is not dependent on a trade. If you don't like the offer, it is worth exploring whether a private party sale is worth the effort, or you can look at local used car dealers (but be sure they are reputable - scams do exist). Any questionable history on a car can seriously limit their offers because most buyers are aware of services like CARFAX and will run fast and far from a car with reported issues.

I have higher opinions of CarMax than many other dealers, especially used car dealers. I do think they try to make the experience for buying and selling cars better than most dealers, and I don't think they ever knowingly sell bad cars. Obviously things slip through the cracks occasionally but I don't think they are in the business of knowingly covering up major issues such as flooded cars or serious accidents.