Anyone use Carmax to Sell / Buy?

[vr4Legacy]

Just what the title says. Has anyone sold their car to Carmax? How do they compare to KBB or other offers?

The closest CarMax to me is ~70 miles so I was hoping to get some first hand experiences before I just take a trip for the heck of it.

I am looking to trade my '06 Hyundai Elantra for a Forester. I just found one for sale privately for a good price, but I need to unload my Hyundai so I can afford the Forester.... Of course this would be easy with a dealer.

Also has anyone bought from them? Their prices are better than anything else I see and the cars tend to be lower mileage. They don't have a 5spd Forester with a Sunroof or I'd just try to use them all around.

I'm going to check with my local dealer and see if they'll buy it outright, but I doubt they'll play ball or offer me much.

[upflying]

Carmax will give you low book for your Elantra, same price as if you were trading it in.
I am guessing you are looking at around $5,000 for the Elantra. IIWY, borrow the $5,000 from yourself, buy the Forester and then sell the Elantra privately.
People who drive in off the street and ask the dealer to "buy my car" are vulnerable for being fleeced. Sorry for being frank.

[vr4Legacy]

I appreciate the straightforward advice. I agree the dealer is going to fleece me if I just walk in trying to sell, so I doubt I'll go that route. But it won't hurt to ask.

I've looked online through google and on a few forums I've read where people were getting close to KBB if their car was <100k and in good shape. The Elantra has 55k and is in good shape. KBB shows trade in ~$6500, which is what my dealer was offering for trade in. I seriously doubt he'll give me that straight up.

CarMax advertises that they will buy the car or let you use towards trade in for the same price. I'm trying to figure out a way to bridge the gap and try to sell the Elantra outright, but if CarMax can give me a reasonable price I'd rather go that route.

Honestly I'm not expecting much, just curious if anyone has any first hand experience with CarMax.

[bigsteve83]

I just got my 2013 2.5i Limited OB. Its a company car and I had no use for my 2003 GMC Envoy. I had no desire to waste my time trying to sell it myself. I bought my wife's car there and also traded in her old car. I researched the trade-in value on my Envoy and determined 4 grand was what I expected. That's what they offered, so I took it.

They are pros and cons. You could possibly get a better deal through another dealer. However, margins are thin on used vehicles right now, so you may not.

The main thing I like abouy CarMax is how they do financing. They'll show you all of the offers that come back and then you choose. That eliminates a lot of thr finagling finance managers do to get you the loan that's best for you, not them. Of course, this could all be eliminated if you secured your financing prior to buying.

[tdelker]

I would borrow from the bank and sell the car privately. I got NADA for my truck, but I was patient. Took me 2 months to sell. But I also make 1.5k more by waiting, which is good money for me. Craigslist is amazing.

Tom

[subaruman49]

Got to agree with Tom..............I sold several cars through craigslist..its more timeconsuming...but woth it in the long run if you have the time...

[Bags]

I went to Carmax to get an "offer" on a vehicle, which turned out to be $500 more than where I purchased my OB. The OB dealer matched the Carmax offer so it worked out well. Make sure to take into account the sales tax difference when you trade a car in versus selling it and using the cash toward the purchase. Had I sold the car and used the cash toward the purchase I would have actually paid a bit more because of taxes!

[bigsteve83]

Originally Posted by Bags

I went to Carmax to get an "offer" on a vehicle, which turned out to be $500 more than where I purchased my OB. The OB dealer matched the Carmax offer so it worked out well. Make sure to take into account the sales tax difference when you trade a car in versus selling it and using the cash toward the purchase. Had I sold the car and used the cash toward the purchase I would have actually paid a bit more because of taxes!

And the appraisal you get from CarMax will tell you exactly how much you'll save on taxes if you purchase as well.

[bheinen74]

My general rule is never sell/trade to a dealer, and never buy from a dealer.
Buy or sell as individual, use Craigslist, these forums, or place a for sale sign and park in a good shopping area near car dealerships.
For buying, buy from owners posting in newspapers, from friends, or from forums/craigslist.
I also buy the auction route as well, you can pick up good titled cars there that have mechanical issues, or slight slight slight body damage that did not total them out, even repos or theft recovered ones.

[vr4Legacy]

Originally Posted by Bags

I went to Carmax to get an "offer" on a vehicle, which turned out to be $500 more than where I purchased my OB. The OB dealer matched the Carmax offer so it worked out well. Make sure to take into account the sales tax difference when you trade a car in versus selling it and using the cash toward the purchase. Had I sold the car and used the cash toward the purchase I would have actually paid a bit more because of taxes!

Thanks Bags, this is what I am looking for.

In WV you only pay taxes on the difference if you trade, BUT my local dealer has his cars priced at least $2k above anything I can find privately and even through CarMax.

My max price is $12k, I hope to get $6k MIN out of my Hyundai.

$6 @ 5% tax = $300
$12k @ 5% tax = $600

My dealer is nowhere close to a $300 difference, so for my situation it's not worth considering. That's assuming I pay the MAX and get the MIN. I hope to do better on both sides. Even if I haggle and swindle, I doubt I'll get that close. Plus he doesn't have anything lower mileage in my price range. But thank you everyone for the advice.

As for selling it outright, that's still on the back burner. But if I can get a resonable price from Carmax outright, it's not worth the hassle for me.

KBB has it at ~$6k trade in and ~$7.5k retail. Carmax has them selling with similar mileage and options at $9k min. So I'm hoping to get closer to the retail price. Just curious if anyone has any first hand experience and where Carmax has priced them before I drive 140 mi roundtrip.

I found a 2006 Forester with 73k miles 5spd Premium with Sunroof, EXACTLY what I am looking for at a good price.

I'm still debating getting a loan and selling outright too. Then just paying off the loan when I sell the Hyundai.

I have a feeling I might be taking a trip to Carmax lol. Maybe I can take the wife and get some shopping done too.

Thanks again everyone for the pointers and tips