Certain Carmax locations sell factory new cars. The prices seem to be WAY below what a regular factory dealer would sell them for.
Is Carmax a good place to buy a new car? Yes/no, why?
Example: 2004 Ford F150 XLT 4x4 Supercab loaded package 507A (Very nicely equiped)
Carmax: $26,313 (USD) Typical Foad Dealer: $ 31,000+ (USD)
CCK wrote the following, which while being attributed to fact was none the less being challenged::
NO.
Last November I bought my wife a '97 VW Cabrio convertible from the Carmax in Raleigh NC.
Knowing Carmax's campaign spiel about "Our ASE technicians put every car through a comprehensive 125-point Certified Quality Inspection", we bought the VW that Friday afternoon.
Monday, the a/c & cruise control stopped working. (Yes, I use a/c in Nov) Taking the car back to Carmax, we turned it in for service.
Received a call Tuesday from 'Steve' the service manager, who said our car was 'Terminally dead'.
It seems that Carmax had brought this car up from Florida, through the Charlotte, NC Carmax, and then to the Raleigh NC location WITHOUT anyone performing the ' comprehensive 125-point Certified Quality Inspection'.
Their explanation: "This car fell through the cracks."
While they did buy the car back from us, we lost nearly 3 days combined having to deal with them, from the initial purchase through dropping the car off through having to cancel the purchase contract, etc.
ALSO, they wanted to charge us an additional $300 for bringing another VW up from Florida, and we refused to pay the charge. They then gotted snotty with us, and when reminded that this whole incident was caused by their carelessness, reluctantly agreed to ship the car.
When that car arrived, it wasn't nearly in good as shape as the first one, so we declined purchasing altogether.
AND THEN they 'misplaced' the plates from the first car, this haivng been brought to light nearly 2 months later when I get a letter from DMV wondering why I still have these plates on an uninsured vehicle.
It took 10+ calls back to Carmax before someone found the plate in a box under someones desk...
I am not trying to influence you one way or another on your decision of buying from Carmax, just leting you know, as you asked, about the experience...
William
(to this day i bristle when i see a carmax car...)
I've heard many negative things about the Carmax here near SF, CA. Everyone I know has had bad experiences with them, and personally, I wouldn't go anywhere NEAR the place.
Keep in mind however that I think most car dealerships suck dog piss anyway. Take it for what it's worth. CarMax is a colorful, heavily-advertised used car dealer, ...nothing more.
My rule-of-thumb on this stuff is that if they have to advertise it so heavily, there is a reason. Businesses that treat customers like human beings don't have to advertise at all.
Caviet Emptor.
-JD
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I guess we're lucky to not have Carmax here in CO.
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