Any experience of Carmax?
Discussion
Just a thought at the moment. I've never looked at them as I figured they were akin to car supermarkets in the UK and just flogged on auction nails, but it seems they've got some decent inventory. Cursory Google suggests they're up to the naffs in debt and overheads, thus charge a bit more than many dealers, but the cars I'm interested in are a bit tricky to find in the spec I want locally.
Any thoughts on whether they're to be avoided or not?
Any thoughts on whether they're to be avoided or not?
Stu,
CarMax is fine for two things. If you want a good condition average car/truck they have a great selection and you don't feel pressured there. Expect to pay around $800 more than other places, but the vehicle you buy there is generally in better condition. You can check them online and see information on what they have for sale. They will transport a car from another branch to your local one for a reasonable fee. Don't expect to find exotic or old cars there.
The other thing they are good for is giving you an offer on your current vehicle.
Unlike most dealers, they separate the selling and buying operations. The offer is not dependent on your buying from them.
Wilf.
CarMax is fine for two things. If you want a good condition average car/truck they have a great selection and you don't feel pressured there. Expect to pay around $800 more than other places, but the vehicle you buy there is generally in better condition. You can check them online and see information on what they have for sale. They will transport a car from another branch to your local one for a reasonable fee. Don't expect to find exotic or old cars there.
The other thing they are good for is giving you an offer on your current vehicle.
Unlike most dealers, they separate the selling and buying operations. The offer is not dependent on your buying from them.
Wilf.
Obviously I'm going to tell you to avoid them...... 
Depends what you want Stu. They do a fixed amount of reconditioning (not much) and then have a fixed mark up to their no haggle price. If you are looking for a domestic or a low end import then I guess they're ok. Personally unless you're buying a cheap car I'd always rather buy from a franchised dealer who will have experts inspect and recondition the cars. If you're buying a luxury car you're always best to get a certified vehicle with a long manufacturers pre owned warranty that has passed a rigorous inspection to the manufacurers own standards. They are generally only available from franchised dealers.
Depends what you want Stu. They do a fixed amount of reconditioning (not much) and then have a fixed mark up to their no haggle price. If you are looking for a domestic or a low end import then I guess they're ok. Personally unless you're buying a cheap car I'd always rather buy from a franchised dealer who will have experts inspect and recondition the cars. If you're buying a luxury car you're always best to get a certified vehicle with a long manufacturers pre owned warranty that has passed a rigorous inspection to the manufacurers own standards. They are generally only available from franchised dealers.
Thanks guys, seems they're not as grim as I was expecting.
It'll be an LR4 I expect, tempting as the FFRR and RRS s/c are I'm desperately trying to be sensible for a couple of years and get out of the habit of swapping one depreciating asset for another every few months and paying someone else's depreciation for them 
I figured an honest CPO car was always going to be the way forward with a decent extendable warranty. The 6 year Carmax warranty is what got me interested after reading this - http://dougdemuro.jalopnik.com/one-year-with-a-car...
Don't suppose there's any scorching deals on LR4s around the corner is there?
unrepentant said:
Obviously I'm going to tell you to avoid them......
You would if you saw what I was looking at, one of them is... err... a JLR product. It'll be an LR4 I expect, tempting as the FFRR and RRS s/c are I'm desperately trying to be sensible for a couple of years and get out of the habit of swapping one depreciating asset for another every few months and paying someone else's depreciation for them I figured an honest CPO car was always going to be the way forward with a decent extendable warranty. The 6 year Carmax warranty is what got me interested after reading this - http://dougdemuro.jalopnik.com/one-year-with-a-car...
Don't suppose there's any scorching deals on LR4s around the corner is there?
LR4's are currently more difficult to find than Range Rovers Stu. New ones are like hens teeth and used ones (when we get them) are selling at very solid numbers. I sold a 3 yr old HSE 2 weeks ago with 31k miles for $43k.
I personally would not buy a LR from CarMax, whatever some blogger on the internet says and whatever their warranty claims to cover.
I personally would not buy a LR from CarMax, whatever some blogger on the internet says and whatever their warranty claims to cover.
unrepentant said:
LR4's are currently more difficult to find than Range Rovers Stu. New ones are like hens teeth and used ones (when we get them) are selling at very solid numbers. I sold a 3 yr old HSE 2 weeks ago with 31k miles for $43k.
I personally would not buy a LR from CarMax, whatever some blogger on the internet says and whatever their warranty claims to cover.
Must say it doesn't sit as comfortably as buying from a proper dealer. I personally would not buy a LR from CarMax, whatever some blogger on the internet says and whatever their warranty claims to cover.
Interesting that the LR4 is harder to get - I thought for sure when I first got here they were the lesser loved, more readily available option and found tons of them, but I'll be buggered if I can find one now that isn't a 4 hour drive away or that doesn't blow the budget.
I'm trying to stick to $40k as whatever I spend beyond that comes out of the budget for the other car. I guess I'll mull it over for another month and see what crops up. RRS is always an option too I suppose.
Stu R said:
Must say it doesn't sit as comfortably as buying from a proper dealer.
Interesting that the LR4 is harder to get - I thought for sure when I first got here they were the lesser loved, more readily available option and found tons of them, but I'll be buggered if I can find one now that isn't a 4 hour drive away or that doesn't blow the budget.
I'm trying to stick to $40k as whatever I spend beyond that comes out of the budget for the other car. I guess I'll mull it over for another month and see what crops up. RRS is always an option too I suppose.
Stu. LR4 owners seem to keep them longer and the volumes are less than RRS's. Plus LR have not made many new ones this year and that has had an affect on pre owned cars coming into stock. I've got one at present, an '11 HSE LUX, that we've got up for $38,990 with a 12/12 warranty but it has 66k miles. I've got a customer desperate for a 40k miler with $45k to spend and I can't find one.Interesting that the LR4 is harder to get - I thought for sure when I first got here they were the lesser loved, more readily available option and found tons of them, but I'll be buggered if I can find one now that isn't a 4 hour drive away or that doesn't blow the budget.
I'm trying to stick to $40k as whatever I spend beyond that comes out of the budget for the other car. I guess I'll mull it over for another month and see what crops up. RRS is always an option too I suppose.
unrepentant said:
Stu. LR4 owners seem to keep them longer and the volumes are less than RRS's. Plus LR have not made many new ones this year and that has had an affect on pre owned cars coming into stock. I've got one at present, an '11 HSE LUX, that we've got up for $38,990 with a 12/12 warranty but it has 66k miles. I've got a customer desperate for a 40k miler with $45k to spend and I can't find one.
I did spot that one (assuming you're at TW). I think I'm in a similar place to your customer really, I could probably do $45k.I'll hang fire for a bit and see what crops up in the next month or so. I'm not in a rush - as long as I've something comfortable to flog around in by July I'm happy.
If I can't find an LR to suit there's plenty of other options - I just fancied scratching the LR itch again really.
This is the one that grabbed me - http://www.carmax.com/enus/view-car/default.html?i...
Edited by Stu R on Thursday 17th April 18:50
Strange history that car has Stu. First appears on Carfax at 3525 miles which is odd, but probably means it was used as a service loaner. There are no recorded services whatsoever on the Carfax! All LR dealers report to Carfax so that's strange. Dealer took it into stock on 5/29 last year, couldn't shift it but put 1000 miles on it then shipped it to auction in January 14 where Carmax bought it. They've had it 3 months which is also odd as LR4's sell quickly.
Just tacking a sort of related question on to this to save making a new thread.
I was weighing up my options for financing earlier and it struck me that nobody does balloons over here. I've never financed any of my US purchases but this time I might (house purchase looming)
Anyway, I'm just curious really, is it because the lease market is so popular or something else?
Bloody hate the idea of burdoning myself with a 4 figure auto loan for umpteen months so there'll be a decent sized deposit going down, just struck me as odd that nobody does the PCP type stuff that's so popular in the UK given residuals are strong here.
I was weighing up my options for financing earlier and it struck me that nobody does balloons over here. I've never financed any of my US purchases but this time I might (house purchase looming)
Anyway, I'm just curious really, is it because the lease market is so popular or something else?
Bloody hate the idea of burdoning myself with a 4 figure auto loan for umpteen months so there'll be a decent sized deposit going down, just struck me as odd that nobody does the PCP type stuff that's so popular in the UK given residuals are strong here.
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