I bought the maxcare warranty for $1699, and they have paid out 10k in warranty claims (my local Audi dealer has been great in getting them to honot claims).

Carmax promised to reimburse me $158 for a busted switch and despite repeated faxes they never paid.

This is the only rational explanation for why the Saturn model worked so well for them.

Like you said, I can go to any dealer in the country, pay sticker price, and I’ll be treated like a king since I didn’t haggle with them. The only difference is that I’ll feel like a sucker because other folks have paid less for the same car.

My best car-buying advice is not to get hung up on one car, and never be afraid to walk away if you think a dealer is trying to stiff you. (Note: Stiffing is different than making a profit.)

On the other hand, I’ve traded twice at the dealership, and wasn’t happy with how much I’d gotten for either car.

So I have no idea how the buying experience is, but the selling experience has been (for me) terrific.

Day-ham, that’s practically poetic. Succinct, poignant in its simplicity.

Forty words. Kudos, bleach.

“Sir, I’m pleased to tell you that we have a ‘Saturn Experience’ available right here at this dealership, and you can take advantage of it right now!”

“How does it work?”

“It’s very simple. I will go introduce you to the service manager and everybody at the dealership. Then we will come back and sell you the car for the window sticker. No haggle, no hassle. We can have you on the road within in the hour.”

“But… but… but… I don’t want that! I don’t pay sticker for cars!”

“Well, Sir, at Saturn you would, and if you do it here I will treat you with all the courtesy Saturn offers and then some.”

You can imagine how it went from here. Most people don’t really care how much they pay for a car; they care about what other people paid for the same car or type of car.

When I ultimately decided 2 years ago that my mid-life crisis mobile was going to have to be used, I located exactly what I wanted through Carmax. This was after numerous test drives of similar vehicles in the area, and running VIN numbers through CarFax. One looker from a local reputable dealership came up “Dual airbag event” or some such notation, although the car drove fine.

It broke my heart to not be able to negotiate, and yes, Carmax’s price was $1200-1500 more than what I could have done I estimate, but again – I got exactly what I wanted ($150 transfer fee) with a clean history. I even sprang for the extended warranty inas I bought a European car and my past experience dictates the extended warranty is cheap insurance.

Several friends have traded in cars there (with no resulting other car purchase) and Carmax has been very reasonable in their offers.

All hassle-free.

As opposed to an individual dealership that will often base their trade in valuation to some extent on their possibility of being able to sell said vehicle for a reasonable profit, at THEIR location.

Interesting you mention this. CarMax actually sells new Jeeps at two locations. However, they do not allow transfers on new cars.

Anyway, the Georgia CarMax store has a 2009 Wrangler X Unlimited 4×4 with power locks/windows, the hard top, Sirius, auto transmission, and the Red Rock color. Basically the exact car that the guy from the blog wanted. CarMax wants $25,800. IIRC, the dealers were trying to sell him similar Jeeps for between $27,700 and $31,200.

Get the car you like inspected by a trusted mechanic, negotiate with the individual and buy it. If you’re buying from a good seller, there will be no slight of hand or dealer type BS to deal with.

I’ve also gone to Carmax to get some used cars appraised. Their offers are fair, but you can do about 20% better if you are willing to put in the time and take the risk of selling it yourself. If nothing else, getting a Carmax quote gives you a floor for your negotiations.

You’ve had a lot of really good advice on buying used cars, do you have any advice on selling them. Is there any alternative to CarMax for people that don’t want to screw with Craigslist and Autotrader, either because they cannot provide financing on a relatively expensive used car, or do not want to deal with angry buyers when selling a beater? Can individuals put cars up at auctions?

I took one of my girlfriends from work “just to look” at an ‘06 xB. While we were standing there, two other couples had a peek at it. She bought it that night.

…and her old Mazda threw a belt in the service bay. HA! Carmax guy was like “Uh, well, it’s our problem now!”

I don’t know about anybody else, but an extra $1000 premium for cutting out all the bullshit associated with my personal second-biggest purchase is more than worth it.

Hell, I would drop an extra $20 a month just to deal with smiling, knowledgeable people than sleazy, uninformed morons. It’s nice to leave the dealership without that thin coating of slime on you.

A word on the return policy: as someone who’s actually used it, I could not be more pleased. I was upside-down on my trade-in, but I hated the truck I bought. It really is a no-pain process. I couldn’t believe it. I’ve gotten more crap for returns at Wal-Mart.

I still got a little chill when I read the headline on this article. For a moment, it was like when mommy and daddy start fighting.

Right now they’re in the midst of a very substantial restructuring of their operations. The basic premise of their operation is very good. No hassle for those who value convenience above all. But the CPO programs, the sub-prime fiasco (which has hurt them tremendously in terms of acquiring financial support), and the rise of online dealers with strong feedback ratings have all made their mark on Carmax’s stock price. Currently they’re off over 80% from their highs.

Hypothetically, it would be far better for them to enact a ‘pull’ strategy where they simply buy to order from the auctions. Unfortunately their consumers are usually either extremely fickle or ‘finance’ driven, and Carmax specializes in buying the ’showhorse’ vehicle instead of the ‘workhorses’ that are better suited to that model.

If new car dealers went towards eliminating the hassle and bogus fees approach for their Certified Pre-Owned vehicles, Carmax would be in a very challenging situation since they only offer a basic 1 month warranty. But instead of being honest and decent, many of them will play games with the public. Until that dynamic changes, Carmax and other online dealers will remain competitive.

Anyway, I sold then my 2002 Hyundai Elantra (125k on the odo) got around $2000 for it and walked away. Pleasant, no hassle and worry free. I was only slightly turned off by the no-haggle philosophy when I saw a 2008 Dodge Magnum that I thought I could bargain $1000 off the asking price.

Oh well…

I walked in and purchased a car and was out the door in under 2 hours. I walked in with no proof of income (I had it with me but they never asked for it), no trade in even. Oh and I didn’t even bring a down payment, just went to an ATM during the process and pulled out some cash to hand over.

Since I knew it was the car I wanted and the price they were asking seemed completely normal to me (actually.. a pretty good deal IMHO), I really enjoyed the no-haggle thing. Plus I have aspergers (think of “social anxiety disorder” mixed with a pinch of autism) which makes high pressure sales environments a nightmare –like where I need a day to recover.

This was back in January of this year so I really didn’t even expect to get approved for financing given that I just graduated from university and have well over 100k in student loans. Luckily I have a good job (they took my word for it) and I got approved at a rate I was fine with paying from a reputable bank (are any these days?).

I couldn’t be happier. I picked up a 2004 Mazdaspeed MX-5 with 7k miles on it (yes, just seven thousand) and the car is absolutely new and perfect inside, outside, and under the hood. Every bolt looks new, every piece is original. It was $15k, which is the going rate for one from a private seller with 5-8x the mileage on it. I think Carmax didn’t realize that it’s a really special car :)

If I weren’t time crunched, as in I’m days away from moving to Europe, I would have shopped around more. That said, I tried selling my Jetta TDI on Craigslist, and on the Tinker Lemon Lot, to no avail. People in this area do not want a small diesel car with a manual, no matter the high mpg’s.

Plus, I’m of the variety, when I find the right car, at the right time, for the right cost, I will take it. I reached that point where I was tired of waiting for Audi to make up its mind on whether or not they were going to let me export the A3. Ultimately, they would have had to let me export it, with the military clause and all, but by the time they figured that out, I decided a LS1 GTO capable of 170mph on the autobahn for half the price of an A3 was just the ticket.

@ redwood

The car is a silver 6-speed with the red leather interior, and it was at my own Oklahoma City location… hence how I spied it by chance next to the Audi dealer here. Good thing I can identify cars 200 yards away at 65mph!

Thanks for pointing out the re-painting policy. I’ve never used CarMax but if I did I wouldn’t have thought about them doing that. That might be a problem if you spent $500 to have a specific car transferred and it looked like hell. I would try to find some thing on the local lot but I can see if you really wanted something specific you might want a transfer.