CarMax Pros and Cons - Don't Get Ripped Off!

In this video, we cover the pros and cons of buying a car from CarMax and selling a car to Carmax.

Pros are:
- Easy to sell/ trade your car
- Plenty of inventory to research
-You can buy literally anything

Cons are:
-Nonnegotiable purchase prise
-Questionable vehicle history and carfax reports
-Cars that are out of warranty or not certified.

This is not an exhaustive list and not financial advice, however, I would love to hear what I missed in the comments below. Have you had a good or bad experience at #carmax? Let me know!

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[thedetective]

I recently purchased a vehicle from CarMax and a few days later found that the windshield washer pump was dead even though it passed their CarMax inspection. This prompted me to check the cabin filter and engine filter and both were extremely dirty but had passed inspection too. I suspected something shady was going on and checked my vehicle through CarFax and discovered it had a prior minor accident. CarMax said they did not know about it as it came clean in their auto check report. I believe CarMax checks the vehicles they buy through multiple car systems but only provide the auto check report to customers as it provides a superficial check and history. I returned the vehicle to CarMax and got my money back. The accident on the car’s history made it drop in value therefore making a fair deal on the car to a bad deal. Buyer beware.

[JonathanGrandt]

Autocheck may say no damage or accidents while the CARFAX may show accidents and damages. Carmax uses autocheck, so watch out.

[vampirecult]

CarMax also has it Maxcare extended service plan that is available for an extra cost.

[SkarGig]

They sold me a lemon but when it broke down 5 days out of the 30day return policy they did give me a full refund.

[timtereshchuk]

i work at carmax, honestly, a good company to buy from cause they get a lot of good inventory and they have a solid warranty, also a 30 day return policy is nice

[SDF]

I bought a Mercedes from them almost 2yrs back, and strongly feel I got a great deal. To this day the car has been amazing and in terrific shape. And knowing how expensive MB can be when it comes to fixing or replacing parts, I purchased the 5yr extended warranty and I haven't brought it in for anything! Like I said, the car has been amazing.

[E_xi]

I brought a car from CarMax an Acura MDX and I didn’t have any issues. I’m going to buy a Subaru wrx tomorrow from as well. CarMax is good they take care of customers.

[sirnik]

On my 17th car and bought 3 others for people. I’ve been ripped off by local dealers!!! I only buy private party or carmax...THE END!

[jojoxlt]

Carmax does not sell vehicles with frame damage, flood damage or salvage titles..so your statement there is incorrect.

[devinrivera]

Carmax is a great place to buy a car. I bought a 2012 with only 45k miles on it. Zero accidents and one owner. Flawless car and experience.

[georgeperkins]

I sold one car to carmax, and traded another.
It was a fair price. The history report was good. And showed it had 1 owner. Some cars i looked at show the negative. Ill take carmax all day over the bs dance you have to go thru with dealerships and car lots. "As is no warranty" in many cases. Low ball trade in offers. Salesmen Going back and forth to their managers. Car max ( and carvana and others) have revolutionized car buying and its an easy experience. And no more moronic salemen calling months later trying to see if you want a car. I have so-so credit. I bought a honda from a dealership at 18%. 5 months later i bought a toyota from carmax at 10.5. Ive since refi'd the honda.

[GeekRedux]

Paying "too much" also depends on your market. Local deals will be usually be cheaper, sure, but I'm in Michigan and am willing to pay over market if I can get a car from the south or California with an underbody or frame that hasn't been reduced to rust by winter road salt. All my local "deals" are Michigan or Wisconsin or Ohio cars---no thanks.

[JR-prjb]

I will NEVER, EVER set foot in a regular dealership, with their humiliating haggling games, etc. That's based on working for several dealerships. All were the next thing to organized crime.

[Keep-on-ok]

We sold a 2018 CAMARO 2SS convertible with 2, 000 miles on it just yesterday, July 7, 2021. We did our homework and we knew what the car was worth. We took the car to a couple dealerships before we went to Carmax. The car was like new, spotless. Carmax gave us $7, 000 more than the dealerships were offering. Also, $4, 000 more than Kelly Blue Book. VERY POSITIVE EXPERIENCE. We were not buying a car, just selling one. This experience really soured me on dealerships. Next time I want to purchase a car, I will go to Carmax first.

[martindavis]

They also charge a shipping fee in many cases.

[howardkerr]

Where I live, dealers, in very small print, advertise that they have a $999 fee for...whatever (extra profit?) AND a $200-$300 documentation fee for filing your registration paperwork for you. When you add that $1200-$1300 to the " bargain " price at a dealership, then CARMAX doesn't look so bad unless you had to have a car transferred a long distance.
Where CARMAX falls down, in my view, is in the instance where a car is more than 3 years old.
Deals can be had at CARMAX if you don't mind driving a low mileage car that is quite old and/or unpopular. And other deals occur when a manager at a CARMAX location " accidentally " undervalues a car that he is not aware of its true value (very rare occurance).

[chickencoleman]

You really just have to find the perfect deal for you... You could find a car that's $1500 cheaper somewhere else but the car salesman will do some sneaky business like low balling you on your trade in offer once they realize you're actually getting a good deal so they can make up the money.

[Thecarexchangepodcast]

Good video, but some information is incorrect. Carmax guarantees they don’t sell cars with flood or frame damage in their vehicle history. And buyers are trained to determine these things when they walk cars prior to the auction. Carmax doesn’t sell cars “As is” every car came with a 30 day warranty and now it increased to 90 days and a 30 day return policy, unheard of in the auto industry. So if your power windows went out you would be covered for 90 days not to mention 5 years if you bought Maxcare

[jdwhit_]

But dealers always add fees on the back end. One dealer wanted to charge me a $895 "Dealer Processing fee" plus another $300 fee PLUS tax and tags.

[MyDadsNotAphone]

I’ve bought two cars from them and I will be using them again when I get ready to buy my next one. I’ve always felt they had better prices and selection than the dealers in my area