[FC4]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

What are the "hassles" with a private sale? List it, vette the requests and sell it.

I've never had issues.

I don't typically associate with the types who buy used high-end cars. I'm not too familiar with what Carmax is, but given the context of the conversation, I'd assume it's a car dealership which means trading cars in is relatively hassle-free.

[BloomRunsDubs]

I would never go there again. I noticed they told the guy getting his car appraised before me that his car had frame damage and they could only give him so much for it.

I had a 2012 RRS HSE lux at the time that I was trying to sell 45K miles one minor accident. He proceeded to tell me too that my car had frame damage and they could only give me 25k for it LOL. Took it to a dealer I know the next day and got 36K for it cash.

While they "Appraised" my car I walked around there lot and couldn't help but notice they had a few really really nice cars for thousands less then what they should be so Im assuming they got a few people to bite on the frame damage bs. Im not sure if doing this is illegal but it should be.

[FC4]

Originally Posted by BloomRunsDubs

Took it to a dealer I know the next day and got 36K for it cash.

They actually gave you cash for it? Why? Sounds like a pain in the ass.

[chumley]

Had a good experience with them. Got rid of my wife's 2011 X5 in last year and they offered about $2,500 more for it than the Acura dealer was willing to put into it. Still much lower than a private sale I'm sure but I have zero time or patience for private sale nonsense. The process could not be easier. They look it over for about 10 minutes, give you a quote that's good for a week? and cut you a check in 5 minutes whenever you're ready. No pressure no hassle. I will go by there every time just as sanity check vs. a dealer offer.

[mremg]

Carmax is great for leased luxury cars. They appraise very close to the payoff amount and they can sell that car around very easily. For more niche, unique vehicles it's not really the best deal. It all depends on how fast you want the car gone.

[NickyC]

Place always seemed like a complete ripoff to me, and the "no haggle" nonsense is total BS and frankly offending. Haggling is 95% of the fun in buying a car.

Quick question, why do people keep mentioning it being a good deal because of taxes? In Missouri you can can count the sales price of your old car versus what you owe in sales taxes on the new car you buy (regardless of trade in or if you sell to a private party). Why would going to CarMax make any difference? Different tax laws for some states regarding this?

[1N54E92]

CarMax will always give you the lowest . It's a no hassle process but their offer is always the lowest. I would get an appraisal then go to few "Large" dealerships within few miles of CarMax and try to sell to them. The other dealerships will usually offer $1000-$1800 higher than CarMax's offer. Have you tried KBB cash offer process ? get an appraisal from CarMax then get a KBB cash offer, compare both.

[Tommyvee]

In my experience the offers I received from CarMax have been ridiculously low. I don't mind the private sale process. Maybe I've been lucky, but its been pretty headache free for me. I've had great luck with posting cars on Auto Trader. You can post a lot of photos and potential buyers can filter down to get to cars that fit their criteria. I've kept thousands in my pocket going the private sale route using Auto Trader.

[saeyedoc]

I recently traded in a '12 Cayman S and the appraisal was exactly what the dealer offered me sight unseen. The dealer ended up taking off $1000 because of some wheel and front bumper cover damage that I forgot to mention, so I thought that was fair, especially with the tax savings. I don't think you can link CarMax to a new car deal here in TX.
I've used it before also when buying cars in another town to help prevent getting low balled by the dealer.

[lorinzo]

I have never purchased a car from Carmax.

I have sold them 3 cars. In each instance, the offer was at the mid/low end of Kelly Blue Book. 1 of the 3 cars I sold to Carmax, I shopped it as a trade-in to 2 different dealerships. The Carmax offer I ultimately accepted was slightly higher than both trade-in offers.

The trade off is convenience. You don't have to list the car, take calls, meet with potential buyers, negotiate price or handle paperwork.

When you sell to Carmax, they do all the paperwork and hand you a check.

[9krpmrx8]

The same goes for any dealership, they all buy cars it's not anything new or special about Carmax. When I sold mine to Honda it was stupid simple, they made an offer of bluebook, I accepted, handed them the title, signed, and they stroke a check.

[CreoUCLA]

When we sold my wife's old 2006 IS250, CarMax gave us $1,000.00 more than the local dealership would.

I've also traded a leased Audi in and ended up with a ~$2,000 check (after deducting the payoff).

Originally Posted by BloomRunsDubs

I noticed they told the guy getting his car appraised before me that his car had frame damage and they could only give him so much for it.

They told my wife this when we had our 2013 Acura RDX appraised, because of a bolt-on trailer hitch. We had it re-appraised later (after I removed the hitch), they removed the deduction for "frame damage." They're very particular on having 100% stock cars.

[Sedan_Clan]

It was hassle free in my experience. I got a better price at Carmax than what BMW was willing to give me.

[328inOR]

I really think it depends on who is doing the appraisal. 2 years ago I took my old 2007 328i to them for an appraisal. The car was a 2 owner, super clean, no accident 6-speed car. They offered me $6,800......

I kindly left and traded the car into a local Benz dealer and was given $12k for the car along with a killer deal on a low mileage 4runner.

On the flip side though, my parents sold them their old Cadillac SRX and were given nearly retail value for it.