I own a 1998 Chrysler Sebring JXI Convertible in wonderful condition. It is truly a beautiful vehicle and is in excellent mechanical shape though it has 103,000 miles on it. But because I can't fit my whole family in it, I recently bought a Ford Windstar Minivan so we can all travel together.
CarMax advertises that it buys vehicles at better than Blue Book, and its website recommends using the Kelley Blue Book to find out the vehicle's wholesale value. CarMax allegedly bases what it pays for cars on the Blue Book wholesale value and conveniently links its website to Kelley.
I followed the instructions exactly and came up with a wholesale value of $6,005 for a Sebring in "Good" condition with 103,000 miles on it. The car is actually in "Excellent" condition by Kelley's and even CarMax's standards. So I printed out the report stating the car's value.
Imagine my surprise when after having it appraised by CarMax's so-called buyers, and having them tell me what great shape the car is in... They offered me just $3,300!!!
They wanted to steal my car! I was livid.
Their first excuse was they don't use the "Blue Book, " they use the car dealers' "Black Book." I demanded they produce it. When they did, it showed the lowest possible wholesale value for my car (and there were four levels starting at $8,780) was $5,750. A complete lie!
Their next excuse was that they don't sell high-mileage Sebrings and they would have to wholesale it out. $3,300 was all they could possibly get for it.
Liars!!!
A search of their own website turned up a comparable 1998 Sebring Convertible selling at a nearby CarMax for $8,995. Since their price is "no-haggle, " that means CarMax was trying to make a quick $5,695 by stealing my car!
CarMax needs to be stopped! Their advertising is totally misleading! Instead of a fair deal, CarMax lowballs people on the buying side and overcharges them on the selling side. CarMax uses the Kelley Blue Book when it's convenient (every car on the lot compares CarMax's price to Kelley's), but calls Kelley irrelevant when to its advantage.
What kind of business can get away with this kind of double dealing and maintain a customer base? Get wise to CarMax. Don't get ripped off by this dishonest dealership.
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