Carmax Of Houston Giving values under market value and lying about trade. Houston Texas

You are an idiot.  Having worked in the car business, you would know that you always get "wholesale" value for a trade in.  You expect them to give you 25k for a trade they can turn around and sell for 26k?  They wouldnt be in business very long.  Every dealer is trying to sell a car for too much and give you too little for a trade, toolbox..   If NADA or KBB or whoever you researched online says your car is worth 25-28k, go sell it to them.  Oh, wait, they dont buy cars?  Well maybe you can buy a car from them, no?   huh..  Well, keep using them to determine vehicle values, they must be accurate..you know, buying and selling so many cars..   

Why not try to sell the car to a Toyota dealer? In any case you will not get more for the car than the dealer can buy a similar one at auction for. If you have been in the car sales business you should know this. Anyone who wants to get anywhere near "wholesale" sells his car privately. Used car price guides are worthless. It is amazing that they offered you $20k.

I just bought my car from Carmax.  It is a 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe with only 8850 miles on it.  I paid them $19,925.  If you look at NADA, they say $26,025 is the "clean retail."  So I got a steal of a deal on a car that smells, looks, and drives wonderfully almost new!

Additionally, I only had so much for my down payment.  $1,054.  Took it home on Tuesday.  On Friday I got paid again.  They let me bring in more money for a total of 2K and with that, re-worked my order, and lowered my interest rate 3%.  Even more of a steal!!  I think Carmax is wonderful and I thank my friend everyday for referring me to them.  I will be back as long as they are in business.

KBB and NADA are ballpark figures, and last time I checked, neither one will give you a cash offer for your car.  Anyone can appraise your car, but when you go to Carmax, and they hand you that appraisal form, they are making you an OFFER.  They drive your car for a minute and take a short look at it.  Your car could blow up an hour later, and you still have your money.  THATS WHY ITS A WHOLESALE VALUE, not the value after its detailed, inspected, reconditioned, and put on the lot.  And news flash buddy, businesses make money.  Almost ANYWHERE you spend money, you are paying someone more than what they bought it for.  I'm sure you have a job that can afford to pay you because of that exact same concept.  Oh, and we're selling cars.  Google CarMax's quarterly earnings.  

I used to sell cars and I suspect that if you were actually in the car business then perhaps you were a porter, mechanic, or maybe you worked in the parts department.  Shooting you wholesale values is not a gimmick or a scam, its everyday business on the lot.  The fact that Carmax offered you ONLY $3k less than what you paid for your vehicle new when it was 2 years old is a miracle in and of itself.  I'm honestly surprised you didn't get offered $18.5 .  You should have taken that offer in a heartbeat, I would have!

There are two problems here that are endemic to the public which you exemplify.  The first is that people tend to have an overinflated view of what their car is worth to them.  It can become an issue when they come to trade-in.   For example.  Bob Smith brings in his 1995 Dodge Grand Caravan, fully loaded, fair to good condition, and 87k miles on it.  Now I don't know what the going rate would be on a vehicle of this type nowadays but I'm just gonna guess that its about $2000.  Well Bob has a lot  of emotional value attached to the family hauler which hes owned since new.  He also believes that the deer whistles, 6 cd changer, and tv screens add at least $5k to the price (no lie we used to get this all the time).   So now you have a vehicle which we (the dealer) will probably offer him $750-1100 for and he believes is worth $6-7k.  You see the problem?  Recipe for a disaster or at least a vicious argument. 

The second is that people tend to rely too much on so-called "trade-in values."  I will say this right now, the only semi-reliable blue book to go by is NADA.  Thats the one that 98% of dealers in this country use and its the one that finance companies go by.  Kelly Blue Book and Edmunds usually tend to be off on the values.  Both are too high.  Kelly was usually higher than Edmunds but that was in 2000-2002 when I was in sales, don't know about now.  If you do use a blue book, its best to use NADA online as it provides the most up to date info and its also isolated by zip code.  I do recommend going by wholesale value as the low range and trade in as the high range.  That gives you and the dealer some wiggle room for negotiations. 

The problem erupts when we have customers want to use trade-in as the low range and retail as the high range.  I would have customers argue with me until they were blue in the face about how we were trying to rip them off.  Bob Smith just KNEW He could get $6500 for that 1995 Caravan.  IN fact he had a guy call him and make him an offer already.  I'd usually just tell them, "If you have an offer that high from a 3rd party, you need to hurry up out of my store and go take it.  What the hell are you waiting on???"  Then the guy would either leave and we'd never see him again or he'd take it down to about $3-4k and try to keep negotiating.  Then I would ask the customer this "If you were on my lot today looking for used minivans, how much would you be willing to pay for your minivan as is today?"  If the guy gave me a high number then I'd tell him that he wasn't ready for a new car and he should take his old van home since he liked it so much.  If he told me a low number then I'd just won and it'd be about time for paperwork. 

Bottom line is, when you go to a car dealer to trade-in, put yourself in their shoes.  How much would YOU be willing to pay to buy your car right now in its present condition.  Chances are its less than what you would insist they pay for it!  

You went to Carmax for a free service.  You were not happy with the offer so you posted on here because you were so wronged.  If you truck is worth so much more, don't get mad, sell it on your own.  After all, Carmax gave you such a low offer that you should have noooo problem getting what you want for it right?  How many other people/ places are going to give you a check on the spot?

what does this consumer think that carmax is there to work for nothing.  if his car is worth so much then he should just put it in the paper and sell it and then find the hard truth its hard to sell car for what you think there worth.  anything is only worth what a reasonable buyer will pay. and it takes time and work to sell. he shouldn't even be able to put this in rip off as this isn't a rip off they just make a truthfull offer of what they are willing to pay.  he doesn't have to take the offer.  nobody is ripping him off and you all shouldn't even print things like this.  there are probally car sale challenged people out there like him that would listen to this rubbish.
trw43

Maybe it is just that location that gave a bad price, I dunno. I sold my 2010 honda Fit to the one on the sw freeway in houston and got an awesome price. Sure it was about 4k less then when I bought it brand new but all the blue books(including kelly) said the highest I could hope in getting was 15,500 , in excellent condition. Mine had a cracked windshield that needed to be replaced and I still got the highest bid. Plus they were super friendly and the whole transaction took about 40 min.