The following is the report I've made with the bbb:
"I Purchased a used car from carmax in April. When purchasing the car I was sold the extended warranty, and I made sure to ask whether or not items such as the clutch and transmission were covered. The sales person then pulled out a sheet of paper with the terms of the warranty and highlighted where the clutch would be covered. I will later come to realize that the warranty I was shown was the 30 day warranty and not the extended warranty as I was lead to believe.
On july 18th after having had the car less than 3 months and driving it approximately 2600 miles, my clutch suddenly goes out. So I call up carmax to bring it in for service expecting it to be covered, I even double check the sheet that was given to me and highlighted when I purchased the extended warranty. I was told that for warranty service I needed to bring the car back to the Sterling, VA carmax dealership. This is about 50 minutes away from where I live and work and is difficult to get to without a car, but I arranged a ride home so I could drop it off.
I drop the car off on the evening on July 19th. On the morning of the 20th I get a call saying that repaing the clutch would not be covered, and the cost would be $2500. I mentioned that in my paperwork it said clutches were covered, and Steve immediately dropped the price to $1855 ($800 OEM parts, rest labor), and said he would be willing to try to submit the claim even though it would be rejected. I tell him to do this, and it was rejected by the extended warranty company. At that point I tell him I want to hold off doing the rapairs, but I will contact him later.
At this point a once again check the paper work, and call up the company which handles the carmax extended warranty, where they confirm that the clutch is not covered, and point me the website with the terms of the extended policy. I thoroughly read the policy i was given and confirm that it is indeed only their 30 day coverage.
I now resign myself to having to pay for the repair to the car and find a mechanic who is local to me and that I trust to do the repairs. I also arrange a ride for someone to take me out to the carmax after work to pick up the car. I arrange to have the car at my mechanic the morning of 07/22/09, where he will do the repair for $1300 (approx 900 for the OEM parts, and 4-5 hours labor), and the repair should take 1-2 days. He also mentioned that in his opinion unless I had the clutch fully engaged for the 2600 miles I've driven the car there should have been noticeable
wear and tear on the clutch that should have shown up durring carmax's "125 point inspection" and i was probably sold a car with a bad clutch.
I call carmax back to tell them not to do the repair because i want to use another shop and I will pick the car up in the evening after I get off work. Since their service department closes at 6, Steve said he would leave the key with the business office. This is at approximately 3pm.
I also ask about canceling the extended warranty and getting my money for it refunded since I was blatantly lied to about that. And was met with a you're welcome to cancel at any time, but we can't refund your money"
At 6pm I receive a voice mail message from steve saying that the technician who was working on my car locked the keys in his tool box. I get this voice mail as I am leaving work and am beginning to make the hour-plus long trip in traffic. I immediately try to call him back but get his voice mail, asking around I find he has already left and there is no one in the service department to help me. I wind up speaking to one of the sales managers who does some research for me. Finally around 6:45 he calls me back and tells me they'll fed-ex the keys to me but I can come out and pick the car up if I have my spare set of keys. This would have been fine, but with how long it took to figure all this out I would no longer be able to make it to them before they close.
I explain that I can't make it to where my keys are and back to the dealership before they close. I also mention that because of work meetings scheduled between 6pm and 9pm on the 22nd, I would either need to take the morning off to pick up the car, or else I wouldn't be able to pick it up until Thursday evening (july 23rd at the earliest) and ask if they'd be willing to match the price of my mechanic or tow it to them on the morning of the 22nd. The sales manager says that it will be the service department's call.
The morning of the 22nd I recieve a call from the service manager, saying they have the keys and they are with the business office I'll be able to pick them up at any time. I ask about getting it towed to my mechanic and he says that won't be possible. He can only tow it within a 5 mile radius. The 5 miles limits my options, and would require a lot of effort to find a mechanic within that range that I trust and can find good reviews for. He also refused to explain what a technician was doing working when i specifically didn't authorize any work.
As it stands on the 22nd, I do not yet have possession of my car, and will not be able to take posession until thursday evening. Taking a taxi out to pick up my car since I have already asked around and have been unable to get a friend to help until saturday will cost me approximately $60 (http://www.metwashairports.com/dulles/parking_transportation_3/ground_transportation/washington_flyer_taxi).
This then means my mechanic will not be able to work on the car until Friday, and assuming the 2 days that it will take to fix, I will now be without a car for the weekend meaning I will need to cancel my plans, or rent a car (approximately $48/day x 3days = $144). By the time I start factoring in these costs they're making it cheaper for me to use them than to use my mechanic, but between the shady sales practices, the fact they locked my keys somewhere inaccessible after I told them I was using another shop, and the difficulty i have speaking to anyone over there who actually seems to be in charge, I do not feel comfortable using carmax for anything again.
Dan
Arlington, Virginia
U.S.A.
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