Carmax - What's Your Experience?

questioning · May 2006

I'm thinking of applying for a sales position at Carmax. They have, at this particular dealer, a part-time opening. Since most of the high traffic is probably on the weekends and at night, I'm guessing the partis for the weekday when the guys who want volume don't want to be there. Does anyone know if this makes sense, or has had the part-time experience? TomK

superstevo415 · May 2006

i have some faith in this lol, yea keep me posted as i am definitely interested

superstevo415 · May 2006

I did the part time sales thing here with my local CarMax. Next thing I know I'm makin more money part time than I was making at my full time job. So I can definitely say that a part time position there isn't a bad gig. How are the sales at Land Rover? I am new to the forums here. (been reading forever but just started posting) I have read your posts in the "Sales from the Frontlines" area. You seem like you have been in the business for a little while. Like I said I have had some experience with CarMax as a company. Let me know if you have any other questions.

superstevo415 · May 2006

goofy money? Why did you take customer trades over to them? Does your dealership not do trade ins?

british_rover · May 2006

Goofy money means they are putting too much money on the car.

For this example keep these variables in mind...

Y > Z > X

Also keep in mind that this is entirely hypothetical. That is why I am using variables instead of real numbers.

Let say you got a car that you know is worth X and it is worth X because it has had a little body work and just does not drive straight.

The reason you noticed the body work is cause the paint is not 100% right it looks a little off say on the back right quarter panel. After seeing the paint you take a close look at the panel gaps in that region and notice they are a little off compared to the rest of the car.

Now you decide to pop the trunk to take a look at the back of the quarter panel. After removing the trunk mat and taking a look around the spare tire area you see some sloppy welds and mismatched panels.

The car got hit in the back end hard. It had a clean carfax but had obviously had some work done in the past and there is a good chance the current owner does not even know about it.

With all of that in mind you need to take this car for a good drive to see if it drives straight. The car just does not drive 100% right. It is not horrible but there is enough vibration and the back end does not track as well as it should.

If the car was perfect with not body work good tires and brakes it would be worth Y. This car also needs tire and brakes all around so it would be worth Z if there were not body work issues.

Because of the body work issues it is really worth X.

Just for giggles you have someone drive it down to Carmax and see what kind of number they put on it. They only catch that the car needs tires. The guy doing the appraisal is just not as experienced as he needs to be and misses everything else.

They put Z+300 dollars on the car.

The best you could do before going to carmax was X and now you are very close to Y which happens to be just a few hundred less then the owner was looking for. Now instead of being thousands of dollars apart you are only a few hundred. You can make that few hundred up somewhere and close a deal.

Once the deal is done you just take the trade back to Carmax show them the appraisal slip and wash your hands of the questionable trade.

apsos · May 2006

The Greensboro store obviously had little interest in car prep, as evident by some of the mess I had to clean out of the car, even AFTER they had "detailed" it for me.

Flat out message to me from Carmax was that my business didn't matter to them and that if I didn't like it, I could take the car back. End of story, no compromise.

Yet when it comes to the price on my car, they had no problem changing the "no haggle" price to make it $601 higher.

jipster · May 2006

Both cars had lots of issues they completely missed.

That wasn't very honest of you not to tell Carmax the problems the cars had.

I'm thrilled they are in town...they do a lot of advertising and charge big prices.

Yet, they continue to expand and do good business?

apsos · May 2006

Carmax is crooked (see my posts about how the "no haggle price" is a scam) -- why should someone dealing with them be required to be honest?

jipster · May 2006

Yeah, I read your post. But, I fail to see how Carmax's "no haggle price" is a scam. The "new" dealership posted the price after the vehilce came into their hands. They didn't haggle. Perhaps the car in question is worth more in a different area/region?

tamaraster · May 2006

For the store to change the price does not invalidate that the price is "no haggle." I'm sure they do not have a completely automated pricing system whereby a car is always given the same price. Of course it depends on the local market and other factors.

If you didn't like the price, you shouldn't have bought the car. If you liked the price, then it's a good price for you, no matter what the same car was selling for before in a different place in time.

But if you really can't get over it, sell it back to them and go buy a different car. I just don't get what all the drama is about.

audia8q · May 2006

I should have been more specific...we appraised the cars and valued them accordingly. The customers wanted alot more and we couldn't put a deal together...as a hail mary pass I suggested they drive their own cars over to carmax and see what they will offer. They offered more and the customers sold their iffy cars to carmax. It's not my fault their appraisers missed all the problems. Perhaps they should hire people with experience.

Nordstroms does big business and charges big prices and continues to expand also...your point is what? I didn't mean it was a bad thing...actually its a great thing for us. They will move retail used car avg. prices higher in our very competitive market. I love the idea of higher profits.

jipster · May 2006

It's not my fault...

No it's not. Thanks for clarifying.

your point is what?

Well, less volume for your dealership with the competition. Overall, I don't see how it could be benefical. I can see buyers going to you for the lower retail on used, but it seems you would lose more in the way of overall sales. Higher margins wouldn't be able to compensate for less volume would it?

british_rover · May 2006

I have met several of the people working at Carmax and I am not impressed at all.

We actually had their F&I guy call us directly trying to get the Pay off for someone's land Rover.

He was like well this is land rover of blah blah where Mr. Blah bought his Land Rover why can't you give me the Pay off.

Our sales manager was talking to the guy recognized the name of the customer and asked to speak to him.

He asks the customer, "Mr. Blah does the guy sitting across from you look real young and a little clueless."

Mr. Blah says, "Well Bob yeah he does a little bit."

Bob says, "Well good then we don't have much to worry about from them. I can't give you the pay off but if you call this number they can give it to you."

jlawrence01 · May 2006

I should have been more specific...we appraised the cars and valued them accordingly. The customers wanted alot more and we couldn't put a deal together...as a hail mary pass I suggested they drive their own cars over to carmax and see what they will offer

That is what I have been doing with the fleet vehicles ... Why not get their quote before offering it to the employees ...

audia8q · May 2006

We have seen a substantial uptick in used car sales since carmax came to town...So maybe they are driving buyers into the market with their massive advertising. The northeast historically has had the lowest wholesale used car values in the country...so perhaps their retail pricing structure is shocking a few folks in this market. The biggest complaint I'm hearing is about price. We have not changed our pricing structure...but some dealers in the region have gone to one price selling with used cars at near carmax prices.

jipster · May 2006

Sorry, but what is a "payoff"?

I've walked Carmaxs lot recently. While the number, "apparent" quality and variety of available vehilces is impressive, their prices sure aren't.

questioning · May 2006

If you work days do you get enough traffic/buyers?

superstevo415 · May 2006

It seems amusing how just a few days ago you were thinking about taking up a part time job there? Also CarMax doesn't have F&I guys. The company doesn't have finance managers and I'm 99% sure that "the guy sitting across seems young and a little clueless" story seems a little off. Never have I known a Sales associate to obtain a payoff with a customer. Why in the world would a F&I guy (which doesnt work there) contact a local dealership to obtain a payoff on a vehicle? This seems a bit strange to me personally. I did find the story amusing nonetheless.

superstevo415 · May 2006

If I were you then I would be happy that CarMax was around to help you get a deal there that apparently wouldnt have happened if not for the "goofy money" and the "inexperienced appraisers". Gee whiz you would think that with over 300,000 vehicles sold per year and that number increasing rapidly that they would hire better more experienced appraisers. Heck lucky for the people in your great city whereever that may be they can get more for their trade somewhere else than the place they intend to purchase from.

superstevo415 · May 2006

What sort of mess did you have to clean out of the vehicle? Why didn't you think to speak to a manager and have it redone? My experience is that customer service and a good reputation would drive them to resolve the issue and maybe even throw in an oil change or two. As far as no haggle as a scam I do not get that statement at all. They didn't haggle with you over the $600 dollars did they? If this was tearing you up so bad why did you purchase the vehicle in the first place. Why didn't you return the car in the first 5 days as that is a courtesy if you choose to do so? I do not understand where and why you are complaining. You had every opportunity not to purchase the vehicle and even give it back but instead you kept it and now you are being taken advantage of? I do not understand your complaint here!

british_rover · May 2006

Let me spell a few things out for you mister registered just a couple of days ago and only seems to be posting in the Carmax forum.

1. I was not looking for a part time job there you must have me confused with someone else.

2. My salesmanager called him the F&I guy since he was working on loan particulars. I don't think he ever actually called him self an F&I manager or associate.

3. I was standing in the office as the phone conversation went on so if you are going to call me a liar just come out and say it.

4. Several times I have had to have the customer with me in order to obtain a Payoff if the particular fiancial institution has very strict privacy regulations.

5. The whole point of the story was that the guy working at carmax was an idiot for calling a local dealership trying to obtain a payoff when it makes much more sense to call the bank the guy has the loan with. The guy at carmax was just lucky that our customer fianced with LRCG instead of some third party that we did not have the number for.

superstevo415 · May 2006

I do apologize that my post rubbed you the wrong way. I misunderstood another post. Someone was replying to ypur post about a career at carmax. Like you pointed out I am new at the forums here and do not understand if "Mr just registered a couple of days ago" was intended as a cut down or you just couldn't find my username. In reference to number five on your list there I do agree the Associate with CarMax was an idiot for calling a local dealership to obtain a payoff. Whether he was new or what his responsibilities do not include working with the banks. I found the story amusing as I said. How are sales at Land Rover? I read in the Sales's from the frontlines thread that there are only four guys in your sales department? (let me know now if I misunderstood the posting system again as I am new around here) What area of the country do you work in? I am down here in Memphis, TN!

anonymousposts · May 2006

I work in a dealership and you would be amazed how many customers have no idea who they financed with and give us every name and number except the right one. I've had customers insist that their finance company is XYZ and even after I call XYZ and tell them that they have no record of their account they still insist XYZ is their finance company. Additionally, assuming this was a lease, certain captive finance companies require you to get the payoff from the selling dealership.

I think it's a bit short-sighted to judge the entire companies employees based on this one conversation of which we are only getting your side of the story for.

jpmist · May 2006

OK, I gotta confess my experience was better than I anticipated, not perfect, but good enough.

My jaunticed attitude is due to a previous car buying experience where "the switch" was pulled on me just as I was about to write the check. ("Oh, no, we've been quoting you the RX8 with the cloth seats!" Yikes!) That was a burn that took me a long time to get over.

I've been looking for a low mileage Toyota Mr2 for months. They're hard to find. Toyota designing a car without a trunk was a stupid blunder, so they only sold about 5,000 a year until dropping the car mid-2005. Carmax had one in Chicago which was an '04 - great, red -great, black leather - perfect and with only 11.5K miles. This is the kind of car some boomer buys to tool around in so this didn't get driven a whole lot in two years. It was priced slightly lower than most I've seen for this year. My trade-in was an '04 Acura TSX with 9.5K miles. New, they both would have sold for about the same price, (the TSX slightly higher, but I got invoice) but two years later CarMax appraised the TSX at $22K, higher than their asking price for the MR2 at $20,998.

The way the numbers worked out, in spite of paying CarMax to ship the MR2 to Atlanta, I actually drove away swapping the TSX for the MR2 with a check for $835 in my pocket. I still can't believe it.

Could I have gotten more for the TSX if I sold it privately? Perhaps, but in Georgia, sales tax on the car purchased is decreased by the valuation of the trade-in. (7% of 20.9 minus 7% of 22K = zero)) So by trading the car to CarMax, that was worth an extra $1510 or so. Selling the car privately, I'd have to get at least $23,500 and my AutoTrader ad for $23,890 met with almost no interest for two weeks.

Could I have gotten the MR2 for less? I don't see how. Being so scarce, who knows when one just like it would have shown up in Atlanta.

So the deal was good. They didn't try to back off of the TSX offer. They got the car in from Chicago a lot sooner than they promised. And I actually came away from the lot with a check. How cool was that?

The only downside was that they took so long to prep the car, I couldn't wait to get the hell out and overlooked what looked like a flat glob of hardened cement on the body just in back of the left rear wheel. Dunno what the hell it is, but hopefully I'll be able to get it off. No owners manual, which kind of pisses me off since someone who only drove the car 11.5 miles in two years would be likely to still have it. But CarMax is supposed to re-imburse me on that.

If the car I bought wasn't so scarce, I don't think I would have paid CarMax's price for it. If the state of Georgia didn't have that tax credit deal, I certainly wouldn't have taken $22K for the Acura. Things just seemed to work out in my favor on this one.

The main advantage of buying from CarMax is that they have such a deep selection of cars drawn from all over the country. I don't think I could have found an MR2 like this any other way. With a low mileage Toyota and two years on the warranty, I don't think I have anything to worry about.

british_rover · May 2006

Sorry if I was short whas not having the best day that day.

The comment about the registered just a couple of days ago was in reference to only posting in the carmax thread and possibly just being someone corporate at carmax trying to spread some good posts around.

Our sales are ok April is a historicaly very bad month for us usually our worst and this april was no exeption. It was the best april we have every had but still our worst month of the year so far.

May has been ok so far and yes we only have four people in our sales department up untill last week. We just hired a third sales guide so now we have a New car/Centre manager and a Used car/F&I manager plus three sales guides.

I am in New England.

Ok so back onto carmax stuff...

The newly opened local carmax has a LR3 listed for just under 37,000. The mileage is listed at 16k but no options are listed. There is a VIN however and since I have access to Land Rover's corporate network I can stick in the VIN and learn everything about this car.

It was sold almost exactly one year ago and at the time would have had a MSRP of about $46,670 and and invoice of about $42,530.

They are listing the KBB price of about 42,000. We all know KBB is junk though so we can just ignore that.

The thing is there are still a few new 2005 LR3's around on Land Rover lots. By looking in the system I can find one of those with the exact same options. There are actually several out there although we have not had an 2005 LR3s since January.

If I had one of those cars on my lot if someone offered me anything north of $37,500 I would take it right away. With a little work you could probably get someone down under $37,000. If it was one of the retired service loaners that had 6,000 or so miles on it they might take an offer as low as $34,000.

Makes Carmax's no haggle price look a little silly.

mattgg1 · May 2006

jpmist -

A question that's a little off topic...

Why did you trade a nearly new TSX with only 9.5K miles for a Toyota MR2?????

dsattler · May 2006

When I bought my last car the used car manager at the dealership whene I bought my new car, after hearing what Carmax had offered me for my old car, said "run, don't walk, before they change their mind." He couldn't come close to their offer. Their new car prices (they sell Toyota here in Maryland) were much higher than anyone else.

jpmist · May 2006

Why did you trade a nearly new TSX with only 9.5K miles for a Toyota MR2?????

That's a fair enough question and the short answer is that as nice as the TSX was, it's a boring-assed car to drive.

The long answer is that I'm was on my second 91 MR2 both of which I'd driven as a daily driver for almost ten years. Given Atlanta traffic and the degree of road-rage I indulge in daily, I thought a mindless, comfortable, automatic sedan would be a good choice.

I just couldn't get used to having the TSX. Front wheel drive felt heavy and I couldn't hear the engine enough to shift the manumatic transmission. It also used premium gas and got less mpg than the MR2 and had a far more jittery and firm ride than it had any right to. Plus the car is just too damn big when you're used to a 2 seater.

Keep in mind, the MR2 was nearly new as well so it was a pretty good swap as far as I'm concerned. I have no regrets, driving my new MR2 is a blast and I'm enjoying the top down a lot more than I thought I would. The car is definately a keeper.

packisbak1 · June 2006

I am considering buying a 2004 Ford Escape with 12,000 miles from Carmax that is marked $4000 below Blue Book value. Should I buy the Carmax bumer-to-bumper extended warranty or am I better off going with another aftermarket warranty provider? Can you haggle with Carmax on the price of the warranty or is this a no haggle policy as well? Thank you for your help.

wlbrown9 · June 2006

How does the price compare to a 'real' Ford ESP warranty? I'm assuming as long as it is not out of warranty, that might an option to compare or maybe bring them off their no-haggle price?

audia8q · June 2006

I am considering buying a 2004 Ford Escape with 12,000 miles from Carmax that is marked $4000 below Blue Book value

Have you checked your local Ford dealers prices??? They might be less...in our region carmax is $1500-2000 more than traditional new car dealers for readily available used vehicles like the Escape Plus you can get a Ford factory extended warranty...

british_rover · June 2006

Agreed Carmax always seems to be about 2,000 dollars higher then an equivelant car at any other dealer. That would have to be a very cherry and hard to find car for me to be willing to pay 2,000 dollars more for it.

packisbak1 · June 2006

Surprisingly enough, this is actually by far the cheapest one we have seen when compared to the dealers. It has been on the lot over 100 days so it is one of their featured sale vehicles and they just marked another $1000 off of it. The dealers are listing the same model car with over 30,000 miles for at least $1000-$3000 more.

As far as the warranty, I spoke with the Carmax salesman and told him that I found Ford ESP warranties for cheaper than they were quoting. He told me that they offer their warranties through AON at cost and he would advise me to go with the Ford warranty. I think I will take his advice. Does anyone have a site to recommend for purchasing authentic Ford Warranties?

wlbrown9 · June 2006

http://www.fordwarrantys.com/ looks to be a good legit site. I got a quote from them a couple of years ago...ended up buying a different brand. These guys send you a link and sometimes a special deal. IIRC it was probably 75%or less of retail they were quoting. Give it a shot and see if they can make it work. There might be a couple of others that sell them direct over the web as well if you search the archives of this discussion.

Kirstie_H · June 2006

You'll find even more help about this topic in our Extended Warranties discussion!

cadillacmike · June 2006

$1,800 for an aftermaket "warranty" :surprise:
What does it cover, rancid popcorn & rovig chickens (excluding bird flu!) :P

welchl · July 2006

Our recent experience is that with an extended warranty, the service department has no incentive to be helpful or provide timely service. We pulled our car out after three days there for what should have been a one-hour replacement of an oxygen sensor! The car buying experience was great, but their service for extended warranty customers is lousy.

jplyman · July 2006

Hey everyone when I was looking at buying my Jeep in the Atlanta area - I looked at CarMax and caught them trying to pull a fast one past me. They entered all my information into thier computer along with my trade-in to see what my payments would be - well I started to look at the whole deal and I noticed that my payoff was $500 more than what Audi told me that day - I went home and called Audi again and my payoff was still $500 less than what CarMax had "Confrimed" in thier system -

Bottom line - make sure you know what your payoff is so you don't get ripped off!!!!

tidester · July 2006

Maybe they were concerned that your last payment to the finance company hadn't cleared the bank yet. Let us know whether your finance company issues a refund for the "overpayment."

tidester, host

lemmer · July 2006

That is kinda the answer I put in the sales story forum, but it got swamped by other stuff.

If your last payment has not been on record long enough to be "bounce-proof" they basically add it back to the payoff. Carmax mails the entire check to your finance company. It isn't like they put $500 in their secret ill-gotten dealer profit bank account. Your finance company would cut you a check for any overpayment. I've sold three cars to them, and had this work out that way all three times.

jplyman · August 2006

I ended up not buying from CarMax because of that and there price on the Wrangler was higher than anyone else. I ended up buying 3 days later with the correct payoff. At CarMax there computer did all the finding of the payoff and when it came back it stated confirmed - I told the salesperson that was not right and they just shrugged thier shoulders.

Bottom line you have to know you numbers where ever you go so that you don't get a lousy deal.

british_rover · August 2006

overpay from the pay off you would get a check back from the bank. And the pay off is always over estimated by a little bit. We normaly add a minimum of ten days of interest to all pay offs.

lemmer · August 2006

People will really wear themselves out over nothing. The dealer only protects their interests. They see absolutely no extra income in this scenario, so where is the ripoff being perpetrated?

jplyman · August 2006

I understand that the dealer has to protect thier intrests - but when I asked the salesperson about the difference in payoff figures he just sat there and didn't say a word. I commented on this a couple of times. I even stated that was holding up the deal - The fact was that the difference was more than a payment and my intrest rate was 1.9%.

Maybe I am making more out this - but bottom line is before you go car shopping you need to know your numbers b/c the dealer and salespeople want you to pay the most for thier car and give the least for yours.

superstevo415 · August 2006

As everyone on the forum that has responded to your post has stated there is no instance of pulling the wool over your eyes. Every dealership to some degree will over estimate a payoff simply to make sure they can clear the title. Rover stated that they use a 10 day payoff. Carmax uses a 15 day payoff. This is simply to make sure that interest for those days has been paid and allows time for funds to clear Bank A to Bank B. You as is with every other customer would have received an overpayment check from the original bank. When I traded in my Dakota at CarMax for my Ram I got a check back from Suntrust. When I traded my Ram for my Acura at the Acura dealership here in town I got a check back Citifinancial. This has always been the way it works. Say for instance I make a payment on my Acura today and three days from now I go to purchase a new car the payment that I know I've paid may not reflect on an automated payoff system or on the credit bureau. I honestly understand your concern but I see no wrong in what occured.

explorerx4 · August 2006

let me play 'devil's advocate'. let me preface the rest of this post by saying it is not directed at any indviduals or organizations.
for one thing nobody is paying $500 interest over 10-15 days.
so you get a contract that includes 10,500 from your previous loan, although after the payment you already made
your balance should be 10,000.
they already know, or are taking a chance(not really), you sent in the payment.
they hold the payoff request for a few days and send in the post payment balance(10,000). your obligation is paid off.
do you ever find out, if you didn't know the balance at the time of the transaction?
it's been a few years since i traded in a vehicle that had an outstanding loan balance. that means i have a short memory and am still paying on my current vehicle that had a trade in balance rolled into the current loan.

craig24 · August 2006

I have read almost all the posts, most seem to be negative but that is the norm - people only tend to post when they are not happy.

CarMax is a business and a very successful one at that (Fortune 500), that success has to come from somewhere - higher margins. It has its negatives - slightly higher sales prices and I am not sure about the warranties. But I believe people that buy extended warranties aren't too into cars, maybe they should look at a cheap new car that has a long manufacturer warranty instead.

Positives include convenience, you can "import" the specific car you want from an area that has less rust than where you live.

I live in Cleveland and just about every used car here has quite a lot of rust. I found the precise car (model,trans., even color) on Carmax for a few hundred under KBB and from a state where it hardly ever snows. Yes there are extra costs that negate the savings - transportation and document fees. If I dont end up buying it, I lost the transportation cost, it's a risk.

Just my opinion.

PS. If they screw me over, this may all change! :P

audia8q · August 2006

If you consider overpaying by $1000-3000 compared to local new car dealers than your going to get screwed....if you don't mind paying top top top dollar for your purcahse than the process will seem pretty good.

jlawrence01 · August 2006

I am in Chicagoland and I agree with audia8q about Carmax.
If you don't mind overspending $2-3k, go ahead. My most recent "find" was a 2001 Taurus SE with 48k for $10,900. WOW! A car waiting for a sucker to happen.

As for the rust issue ... my current ride from Toledo did not develop rust until ten years.

audia8q · August 2006

Just to give a good comparison....

Dealers in my area are selling 2006 Taurus SES with teen miles for $12,000-12,750. 2001's are selling for $6000-7000.

Carmax - What's Your Experience?

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