Would you buy from Carmax?

[mikefocke]

Buying from a dealer, you are paying for their service beyond what you can pay to a motivated seller.

Do dealers sell lesser cars through auctions, outlets, etc? yes. They also sell perfectly good cars they have too many of (especially lease returns). Keep in mind again that in every step of the transaction between seller, dealer, auction house, reselling dealer and you someone is expecting to make a profit so the ultimate price goes up higher each step of the chain. When I think of that, it causes me to buy from the original private seller and pay $250 for the PPI. I come out thousands ahead (or have for each of the 2 Boxsters I've bought).

I've been impressed by CarMax as a seller and they do give some sort of limited warranty, though not as good as a CPO. But then the CPO is certainly not as good as a new-car warranty (many more exceptions).

[blueillusion97]

I bought a Benz from carmax and had no problems at all, and it still is a good car. But when I was looking for a boxster I test drove one at carmax and I felt that the breaks were bad so I look at rotors and all 4 of them are wavy and really wavy. So I ask the guy would they change them so he calls out a tech, tech sits in a car rolls about 1 or 2 feet forward breaks, then backwards...steps out of a car ad says the breaks are good...So I say you cant be serious that that’s how you check all your breaks....so he says he will check with his senior tech and will call me back....and then the sales guy dares to tell me that that’s how Porsche breaks are supposed to be...that’s when I left and never got a call back. So I used to think that car max checks their cars good before selling but not anymore, if you buying from there make sure your self you are buying a good product.

[SC986]

I'm sure as it always is with any chain there are good and bad with each location. I have sold a few cars to them always getting way more than offered for trade by a dealer.

I bought a Yukon from them and had no issues. They toured me through the shop showing me the inspection they do on all vehicles going to the lot for sale. I got a warranty for it and had a couple of repairs done later with no issues.

[eziggy3]

Thanks for the replies. I went to Carmax and did a test drive today. Not bad. I will have to decide between this one with 7K and one at a dealer with 500 miles which I could probably get for minimally more. Both have the remainder of the factory warranty. Carmax does give the five day no questions money back deal so I can always get theirs checked out if I go that route.

[zackwatt]

Dude, If you found a good car, you found a good car. I would not know who I would go crying to if something went wrong, lol

[ultimate1]

Carmax will usually have high retail markup on its price and the Porsche dealership will have a little more of a premium in terms price. I bought by Porsche from a Jeep dealership last year. I found my car at cars.com and I called them up to inquire about the car. I bought my car for $19,000 and the full retail price on that car would have been close to $24,000. What I learned is that the car was traded in for a Jeep by a young couple. I asked why so low a price with the car beingin excellent shape and with only 46000 mile on it. The sales rep told me that when they get a car that they don't normally service or sell that they usually mark it up by about a $1000 or so. The dealership would rather unload it than have the added expense of sending it to auction. They also let me take the car to Porsche to get an inspection done. I also looked at Carmax and the same car with similar mileage was priced at $23000. I also got a great warranty from carchex.com for 3 years/ 36000 miles with wear and tear and seals and gaskets. I have used the warranty for a right rear wheel bearing, 2 oxygen sensors, and ignition switch with no problem. The warranty cost me $2700 so all in all I spent $21700. The car at Carmax would have also been without an extended waranty. Plus I got Zenith Metallic Blue versus the red one at Carmax.

So my suggestion is to look at Mercedes, Lexus, Jeep, Infiniti, BMW, and Acura dealerships as well ass private sellers for a steal.

[spark00]

I guess my experience was somewhat similar to Ultimate1. I looked at Carmax Boxsters online and they were much more expensive than at other non-Porsche dealerships. I did cars.com search and found mine at Volvo dealership for a great price and I was able to deal it down pretty good. The dealership said the Box was traded in by a couple who's expecting a baby for a SUV back in January. I went in at March and the manager wanted to get the car out of the dealership since it's been in the lot for few months(I guess Box is not a popular car in DC winter).

Ultimate1 got much better deal on warranty than me though. I paid $3,000 for 2 year/24000 miles bumper to bumper coverage but not including wear. I did the PPI after I purchased it (stupid I know, but I had to have the Box after the first test drive) and found RMS had slow leak, clutch needed replacement, and MAF sensor went bad which were covered by warranty and cost $3,200. Buying that warranty was worth every penny.

Should I expect another Boxster owner with DC tag sometime soon? Good luck with finding right Porsche for you.

[rick3000]

I actually got my '99 from carmax. There price was not exactly great, but they have a 3 year 36K warranty that makes buying from them worth it. Essentially the price to buy an aftermarket warranty with another car vs. going with carmax for the car and warranty was cheaper. The warranty was $1100, and they have already spent $5K fixing the car, but to be honest there 125 point inspection sucks they missed some very visible problems, but the warranty made it all worth while.