I am extremely distraught right now. My husband and I bought our vehicles from Carmax 3 years ago and were told all about the company's wonderful ethics, dedication to customers, etc. And that Carmax will buy your car (that you bought from Carmax) back for a great price.
We are moving to England and have to sell our car. Trusting that Carmax would give us a fair deal, we go to them. First, my husband's car, a 2002 Ford Taurus in excellent condition. The Kelly Blue Book value is between $5000 and $7000. They offer him $5000. He is disappointed, but it was just a little under the KBB value for his particular car, so he took the offer. It really hurt because he still owed $5349 on the car, so had to pay them when selling them his car. We were consoled by the fact that my car would make some money.
My car is a 2002 black Ford Escort ZX2 premium in great condition, with 29K miles, and all the options (automatic, sunroof, automatic, leather seats, ABS, etc.). The Kelly Blue Book value is between $6000-8000 and my husband predicts we'll get $6200. They 'appraise' the car and tell us what a great car it is, how it's the perfect car for Carmax to buy, particularly with the low mileage, and then offer $4000!!! My mouth gaped open and I explained how we were expecting a lot more since the car was worth more. An 'appraiser' was brought in and eventually concurred with me that we would get 'at least $6000' for the car 'on the streets, ' but that Carmax's first offer is final and that they do not negotiate. I owe $4700 on the car.
So, we were expecting to make a few thousand dollars and ended up being screwed out of a thousand. I literally spent the day bawling because I don't want to get rid of my car and feel so incredibly helpless and taken advantage of. They know we are moving overseas tomorrow and that we don't have another choice.
As an addition, we both bought the extended warranties on the cars, but when my husband brought his car in with a simple problem, they refused to fix it and only tried to temporarily stop the problem from happening. I caution everybody to stay away from Carmax and feel stupid for having listened to their story about being fair, honest, and reasonable. Admitting the car is worth at least $6000 and then offering $4000 is a slap in the face.
I will NEVER go to Carmax again and will caution all my friends, family, acquaintances, and coworkers about their unethical predatory business practices.
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