Here's why you should take your car to Carmax

Off-Ramp
41

Interesting…what kinda car was it?

43

2013 Porsche Panamera GTS - I was looking at leasing a Volt so I got a quote for my trade. Yes, the Chevy Dealer’s quote was way under the car’s value, but still, I thought Carmax’s offer was pretty legitimate so I would bring my cars to them again in the future for valuation.

44

Chevy dealer wants nothing to do with Porsche. Like any other dealer with different brand car. Also - it’s expensive car, so Carmax has room to make good money on it.

1 Like
45

Did you try to sell privately?

46

They offered me $1000.00 less than I would get on a trade.

47

Porsche Panamera GTS to a Chevy Volt…What a time to be alive!

5 Likes
48

I sold them a RX350 a few months before the lease was up for essentially the buy out from Lexus, the car also had some minor damage. So yeah if you are trying to unload a jetta you are not going to get much, but truck/suv i think they are fair.

49

Fair like in line with “normal” dealer offer? I got $500 more from Volvo and Subaru dealers on my Forester.

50

Absolutely right! Written, third-party appraisals or offers to lease give you a bit of leverage at the dealership. If you are going to a dealer to trade in and trade up, it is always best to have proof of an offer to trade in writing otherwise you don’t have a leg to stand on when negotiating.
Dealers want to see apples-to-apples comparisons on purchases and lease. Same equipment, same MSRPs to go on.
Just some food for thought when you are reaching out to us for the “best” deal…

51

There is a market for our brands on our lots. If I can’t sell a new vehicle because of price, I can offer a slightly used (leased) vehicle to my customer with similar equipment, so we tend to give a better appraised value.

1 Like
52

Thanks. It’s good for us to know how dealers think

53

Yep, Carmax stood to make 4k off of my trade in had I taken them up on their lowball offer. For not a lot of work on their part.

They’re taking advantage of their market position. People go there for the convenience, but unless you’re trading in a VERY in demand car, it seems like they’ll soak you.

54

The “other” alternative to Carmax was Beepi … but apparently, very hard to make money in this business

55

Wow they raised $150m and couldn’t make it

56

I sold two of my cars to them. They offered me so much money got me out of two leases a year early! Sorry to see them go…

57

Because @Phantomcypher took all their money with his two trades :slight_smile:

2 Likes
58

CarMax and Beepi in one comparison? sounds like the e-commerce strategy. lose money on every deal until the hype machine goes critical. then change pricing until turning a profit.

59

Or until you IPO and run.

1 Like
60

I took my 2008 MDX to carmax and was offered $8k. After 3 weeks I returned (after buying a new car) and they dropped the offer to $7500. Quite a bit of depreciation eh?

This pissed me off so much that I took a $25 advert in autotrader and sold the car for $9300 within 2 days. $1800 more for about an hour of effort.

CarMax is great if you want to set a floor for your vehicle. But the offer is not much better than a dealer trade, if at all.

3 Likes
61

Autotrader is all about exposure you get a national audience in seconds.