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FWIW I use both Carmax and CL regularly. I bought my Box and my wife's Lexus there, both were one owner cars in very fine condition. I was selling one of my daughters cars (98 Honda Civic Dx) as she was moving to France. I took it to Carmax first and they offered $1400. I sold it 1 week later on CL for $3400 cash. I have also taken a few service trucks to Carmax and received below market offers. I regularly sell these trucks quickly on CL for double the Carmax offers. All of these vehicles were 10 yr old, with high mileage and would not meet Carmax standards to resell so I suppose that explains the low offers.

If you owned a really pristine 3 year old car with low miles and no dings or damage you would probably get at least a fair trade in value because they could just detail it and put it on the lot. I have no problem with the Carmax business model and I understand they must make a profit on every transaction. I tend to keep cars a long time so my trade-ins just are not very interesting to them. YMMV