There is no difference between an online and in person appraisal. You get the same offer
2020 Toyota Corolla SE
Carvana: $22,200
Carmax: $24,000
This seems a bit unreal! I already rescheduled my Carvana appointment so I can stop by to Carmax tomorrow first. How strict is their appraisal process and do they tend to lower their offer in person?
No. Unless itâs something extreme or really obviously different from the details you added, i would expect the offer to stay the same
1 Like
For those that sold their car to CarMax, how long did it take before your loan cleared? Itâs been 2 weeks now and my next lease payment is about to be due. Not sure how I should approach this (Iâll call them TFS next week).
Thanks!
There are usually two distinct things going on.
-
How long it took the buyer to pay off the lessor/bank.
-
How long it took the bank to process the payment and close the account.
Sold a 2019 Lexus RX350L Premium with nearly 28k miles to CarMax for $37,600. The payoff was $31,263 with four payments left on the lease term. We did not finalize the sale over the weekend because CarMax could not get a payoff amount from Lexus Financial, which was annoying, so my wife had to go back on her own today. Thankfully, she came home with a nice $6,337 check.
The next best offer was from CarSaver at $36,500. Vroom, Carvana and others came in WELL below that.
1 Like
fyi, I attempted to contact customer support to get a link to do the online appraisal. I was told they no longer do that because they have the online appraisal tool ⌠even though the online appraisal tool doesnât work for my vehicle. Soooo, I guess no more Carmax for me. Sigh.
Would you possibly have an old appraisal offer from Carmax email that has expired?
You can just open that email and click see my offer then renew my offer to get a new offer on any other vehicle as long as you re appraise it and enter the new vehicle vin and details accordingly.
Interesting suggestion but I just tried that and the Start Your Appraisal button just goes to the carmax homepage now. Same with the See My Offer.
1 Like
I just tried and it works for meâŚ
Maybe try an older appraisal
Weird. Mine is from Jan of this year.
Any chance you can get a link without any of your info and send to me?
1 Like
My family and I are 0/3 for any decent numbers from them in person. Thereâs no reason for their virtual appraisals to be higher.
Theyâre just not competitive with the hungriest buyers
yeah who knows. Some Jeep sellers have gotten good numbers from them. Youâd think such a company could be consistent across the board. 
I almost sold my 4xe to carmax until at the last minute a local dealership begged me to take more money from them than carmax.
So, with some assistance from the board, I was able to do the online appraisal. I guess maybe they just pulled up my in-person appraisal and hit me with the same $51k offer on my $64k Jeep. After I declined, I was sent texts asking what I thought and why I thought it. So this was new. I got to share the following:
On your site, you are selling a '21 with 5k miles and about $6k fewer options for $57k. You have a '22 with $6k fewer options for $59k. So offering $51k on mine doesnât make sense. Youâd apparently list it for at least $61k.
3 Likes
How much gross do you think is reasonable?
Beyond $4k is excessive. Beyond $5k is greedy. $10k? Absurd.
1 Like
What they can sell the car for is irrelevant.
If someone offers you a price, and you are happy with it, whatever they resell it for is none of your business. Unless, of course, you consign somethingâŚwhich youâre not doing here.
2 Likes
I agree. Was using their price as a gauge for their offer on mine.
Obviously, I wasnât happy with the offer.
Got a far better offer from a local dealer.
They just having too much low-hanging fruit to be competitive on most vehicles IMO. Every time Iâve been there, lots of people waiting to sell their cars.
2 Likes