carmax experience?
 

I'm looking to sell my car and I was curious if anyone has gone through the Carmax inspection process and know what it entails. I'm a little hesitant to give them the keys and watch it disappear for 30 mins. is this the case?

never used them, and if you I would private seel. I boycott anything with annoying commercials.

It's been a while since I got an appraisal from them but they do most of it out in the parking lot. They didn't drive it offsite IIRC. It's nice to have an offer in your pocket as you explore other avenues for sale. GLWS.

I've had this done once earlier this year. They do a walk-around of the car and take it for a 5-10min test-drive to make sure it's running properly. I requested to be in the car during the test drive and it wasn't a problem for the inspector. The process was pretty painless but the offer sucked.

They only drive it quickly as mentioned, they don't lift the car or do anything crazy, and you can accompany the appraiser if you are worried. They gave me a little bit of a low offer on my 350Z but I was able to get rid of it, get a check same day, and didn't have to return things to stock that they didn't know about. Wasn't the most money I could have probably gotten for the car, but how much time do you want to sit on the car waiting for a buyer while it continues to depreciate further?

Negative experience

took my car in to get an appraisal a few years back , ca was worth around a 20k and they only offered me 13ish. I thought it was a joke took my document and left.
i know its just an appraisal , and have nothing to do with your situation , but
after that , my impression about Carmax isnt good. And this has .has ruined it. My 5 cents.

Carvana does an online quote. Gave me 2k-3k less than the market price or MB dealer selling price (both mine and the comparing cars are still under valid factory warranty with similar options*).


*Yes, packages may vary and I compared my car with something similar or lower features than mine.

Thanks for all the replies!!!!! this is exactly the info i'm looking for. I feel better about going there now.

Like italianjoe, I willing to take a lower offer for the convenience they provide.

also I'm going to look at the site raja suggested.

Carvana seems just like another carmax, but with a nice website. The instant quote is nice feature.

Many dealers will beat a CarMax offer
 

Most car dealerships are looking for clean used cars. CarMax offers are usually rock bottom wholesale so other dealers will usually offer $500 or more over a CarMax offer if you have the CarMax offer in hand. I'm not talking about a trade-in but a straight sale to the dealer. I got a CarMax offer then listed it on Craigslist and had several dealers call me.

Agreed.

I also thought the offer they presented on my W204 was a joke. I sold it myself for much more than their offer. Anyway, I understand the "ease" factor that carmax provides.

All this negativity about Carmax I don't understand. I've sold three cars to Carmax and gotten nearly a thousand dollars more on each car than the trade-in offer from the dealer. Different make/model of cars, all with under 80,000 miles each. All non-smoker cars.

I had a friend (a smoker) who took his 15 year-old W202 MB to Carmax and was offered less, because it had 117,000 miles. Lesson is don't expect the best offers on older cars with more than 100,000 miles that smell like a coal power plant.

I don't know anybody, nor am I related to anyone who works at Carmax. I've simply gotten better than expected offers from them.

I sold them my 2012 BMW and then bought my 2016 MB E-350. The process was seamless,walked out with a check an hour later. No negotiating. Didn't have to do a private sale and worry that the car might fail the buyers expectations. I may have gotten a few dollars less,but no advertising no dickering and no interaction with the next owner.

All the disappointments with the offers makes me thing CAR MAX is a good place to go buy a car. They seem to have lots of negotiating room with the pricing if their offers to buy is so much lower than others...?

That's the beauty of their scam. They DON'T negotiate. They sell the cars at full retail, and buy below wholesale. That's why they grow at the rate they do, it's a fantastic business model.