Considering a CarMax purchase......do or don't?

In the market for a newer car for the lil lady, completely clueless about CM and wondering if it's a viable option or not?

- Kinda intrigued by their no haggle price, have people found them to be fairly priced or ????
- Looking on their site, they seem to have two options for extended warranty's.....can stick to OEM or go with their own...thought that was a neat option.....guessing it's a bit cheaper than the factory option?
- Is their service dept reliable, I've read positive things but I'd rather hear from fellow MC guys on here!

We're probably going to trade in our '08 Odyssey, wifey, wants another minivan but our kiddo's are 11 & 13 now and don't really think we need another. Trying to talk her into maybe a crossover/mini SUV type deal.....hopefully something with decent MPG since it will be used on longer trips a few times/yr.

Any suggestions would be great!

 

Which one are you considering buying from? Some stores have better reputations than others.

The advice I've given over the years is - if you really like the car and you want to buy it from there, you could do worse... But never, ever, ever, go there for service. Now, that may have changed in the years since I've been with the company (left in 2009), but it was that way for a long time before, too.

 

Doug Demuro's stories about milking the Carmax extended warranty program are internet gold. Apparently, they really do come through on that program.

 

https://jalopnik.com/my-range-rover-s-carmax-warranty-is-now-half-over-and-i-1733772237

 

Bought my truck from them after dicking around w three different dealers. Very satisfied. Yes, they are a little higher than typical car lots.

It was satisfying when the one dealer called me the next day and I got to say "Remember when I said I was buying a truck yesterday? I bought one." (That was Heard Chevy btw who has since gone belly up.)

 

I need ScottyRock to post his story about buying his Audi. It is some Broome level FU to his local Audi dealer.

 

Depends on your definition of "service"

 

Probably Cool Springs....thinking Rivergate is probably not the better one??? lol

I didn't even realize they sell brand new cars....lol

 

Cool Springs is the newest one in this area. I actually helped to open the Rivergate store years ago while I was still living in Richmond. The 100 Oaks store (off I65, just south of I-440) is the oldest and largest. I think all of the Nashville area stores have a decent reputation. There's a handful in the country that aren't as good. I was thinking somewhere in the northeast is where you were buying.

There are a few stores that sell new cars, but not many. I don't even remember where they are now. There is/was a Nissan Dealer in the NoVa/Maryland area (White Marsh, maybe?) - that's about the only one I remember.

Here's some tricks with CarMax:
- Go where they sell that car. CarMax buys from all over the country and spends a lot of time figuring out where vehicles sell the best. They don't get that many F150s in Los Angeles, and by the same token, they don't get as many BMWs at Rivergate as somewhere like a Cool Springs. Search their website and you'll start seeing patterns of where the cars go. Why is this important? Because if they have a lot of them, some will stay on the lot longer, lowering the price. If they've had it for months, they'll lower the price to move it.

- See if you can find out how long a car has been on the lot. If it has been a while, you might be able to wait it out, or get them to give you a deal.

- I don't know many people who have done well on a trade-in with them. I'd sell outright before I did a trade in with them. YMMV.

- I already told you about the no service thing.

- Cool Springs in particular, but other stores. You can see when they're getting delivery of new cars. They often park the semi right there at the dealer, or across the street occasionally near the Walmart. I've seen the semis at the two other stores too. Sometimes there's a model you're interested in - you may be able to get first pick. Depends on how quickly they're in the system at the lot. You may be able to get sales to call you when it is ready for sale.

- You might not be able to negotiate on price, but you may be able to negotiate transfers. Some transfers are free (or used to be). You may still be able to get that waived if its not too far or if the car has been around a while. They'd rather sell it to a customer than sell it to other dealers because it didn't sell.

A big part of CarMax's business is buying cars - from customers or auctions and distributing them correctly. The bullets above try to use those facts to the best advantage.

You may already have a car picked out, so this stuff might not help, but it may help someone else.

 

Get another Minivan, from wherever, but get another minivan. Don't be a SUV poseur, get something that meets the needs. They'll go to college and you'll need to take their stuff. Low floor, sliding doors, room in the back when there is 7/8 people inside. I was recently checking out the Atlas, and the sales person said this is the biggest in it's class, and they are right, but it's so small still, and the floor height is a no-no.

 

+1 for CarMax. Got my current truck from them back in 2010 and they were in line with the KBB value. Had the truck shipped up from GA and it was in great shape and looked brand new.

The only complaint I had was they put brand new Cooper tires on the truck and I burned those fuckers up as fast as I could and then put a nice new set of shiny Michelin tires on it.

 

I think they might. I can't remember. I miss the days of being in the military where you could effectively set your "home state" to be anywhere. People were driving around with South Dakota and Oregon tags just so they could avoid sales tax and high registration fees.

 

Melka sheds tears of joy

 

Dealers inadvertently send a lot of business to CarMax out of spite lol.