Carmax Major ripoff - Unfair practices - they offered 60% of trade-in value from Edmunds & KBB Lithia Springs Georgia

You have not been ripped off. You were offered a price for your car that you could take or leave. Just because you feel it was low does not mean you were hurt in any way. They offer what the car would get at auction because if they cannot get your car they would get one at auction.

Warranties are HUGE when figuring value of a car, especially on luxury vehicles with tons of options. Call up Kelly Blue Book, tell them thanks for the offer and inform them that you are going to have the vehicle delivered to them. See how long you have to wait for the check.

Ok first off when you took your car to carmax to see how much you could get for it, you were getting a wholesale value price. Forget KBB or NADA. Carmax goes by Manheim auctions and there own auctions and Black book figures. This is only figures dealers havd access too and it is updated every day and black book every week unlike NADA or KBB. Also region prices change as well as the season prices for your car. I was a buyer for them and we look at every avenue to get the most we can for the person because we want to buy your car. We know how much things are selling for at that time at AUCTION PRICES (wholesale price) You may thinkn your 40k dollar truck is worth more because you added things and modified it. Well it is not because carmax can't warranty them and rips them off and throws it away. Also if your vehicle is a gas guzzler prices change by the day. Before or on the way with gas prices hitting more then $4 a gallon it was worth more and might have been worth more then what you paid because it was in high demand. Well guess what, if you were getting rid of your vehicle because of gas prices, everyone else was doing the same thing and you know what that mean!!!! In simple words "supply and demand" If we can go to the auction and buy your vehcile for XXX amount of dollars, why would we offer you more then what they are selling for.

Another point, if you have this great looking clean low mileage vehicle that has been garaged and looks like it is out of the showroom but is more then 9yrs old, forget about getting what you think it is worth. Carmax can't sell it on there lot and it goes straight to our auction and those buy here pay here dealers buy them at stupid low prices. So why would we offer you more for something we can't sell and know what John Doe Dealership is g oing to pay at our auction?

Another point if your vehicle has been repainted or something is sketchy, we are going to deduct even though it might have been a rock chips and you wanted the front of the car painted over. Repainting may look great to you but Carmax buyers don't pull the car a part and check everything from head to toe. We can only infer that something happend and make a decision on how much we deduct depending what we think happend. Where not going to get in the business to screw ourself or lose our job. Case in point I inspected a nice high end luxury vehicle that had an excellent repaint on the passenger side. Well nothing looked wrong, the car had good miles and was stunning. I put better then average money on it and guess what after we bought it. It had severe frame damage from a side impact that was hidden well and was only known after pieces were pulled off. Guess what, we lost 10k on that car because I was so sure. We don't get paid by the amount of appraisals. We make salary and the more cars we buy, the more we have a chance of a bonus. So we are not looking to lowball anyone, and we are not looking to lose are job because we paid too much. Just think about this next time when you go to carmax.

Ok first off when you took your car to carmax to see how much you could get for it, you were getting a wholesale value price. Forget KBB or NADA. Carmax goes by Manheim auctions and there own auctions and Black book figures. This is only figures dealers havd access too and it is updated every day and black book every week unlike NADA or KBB. Also region prices change as well as the season prices for your car. I was a buyer for them and we look at every avenue to get the most we can for the person because we want to buy your car. We know how much things are selling for at that time at AUCTION PRICES (wholesale price) You may thinkn your 40k dollar truck is worth more because you added things and modified it. Well it is not because carmax can't warranty them and rips them off and throws it away. Also if your vehicle is a gas guzzler prices change by the day. Before or on the way with gas prices hitting more then $4 a gallon it was worth more and might have been worth more then what you paid because it was in high demand. Well guess what, if you were getting rid of your vehicle because of gas prices, everyone else was doing the same thing and you know what that mean!!!! In simple words "supply and demand" If we can go to the auction and buy your vehcile for XXX amount of dollars, why would we offer you more then what they are selling for.

Another point, if you have this great looking clean low mileage vehicle that has been garaged and looks like it is out of the showroom but is more then 9yrs old, forget about getting what you think it is worth. Carmax can't sell it on there lot and it goes straight to our auction and those buy here pay here dealers buy them at stupid low prices. So why would we offer you more for something we can't sell and know what John Doe Dealership is g oing to pay at our auction?

Another point if your vehicle has been repainted or something is sketchy, we are going to deduct even though it might have been a rock chips and you wanted the front of the car painted over. Repainting may look great to you but Carmax buyers don't pull the car a part and check everything from head to toe. We can only infer that something happend and make a decision on how much we deduct depending what we think happend. Where not going to get in the business to screw ourself or lose our job. Case in point I inspected a nice high end luxury vehicle that had an excellent repaint on the passenger side. Well nothing looked wrong, the car had good miles and was stunning. I put better then average money on it and guess what after we bought it. It had severe frame damage from a side impact that was hidden well and was only known after pieces were pulled off. Guess what, we lost 10k on that car because I was so sure. We don't get paid by the amount of appraisals. We make salary and the more cars we buy, the more we have a chance of a bonus. So we are not looking to lowball anyone, and we are not looking to lose are job because we paid too much. Just think about this next time when you go to carmax.

Ok first off when you took your car to carmax to see how much you could get for it, you were getting a wholesale value price. Forget KBB or NADA. Carmax goes by Manheim auctions and there own auctions and Black book figures. This is only figures dealers havd access too and it is updated every day and black book every week unlike NADA or KBB. Also region prices change as well as the season prices for your car. I was a buyer for them and we look at every avenue to get the most we can for the person because we want to buy your car. We know how much things are selling for at that time at AUCTION PRICES (wholesale price) You may thinkn your 40k dollar truck is worth more because you added things and modified it. Well it is not because carmax can't warranty them and rips them off and throws it away. Also if your vehicle is a gas guzzler prices change by the day. Before or on the way with gas prices hitting more then $4 a gallon it was worth more and might have been worth more then what you paid because it was in high demand. Well guess what, if you were getting rid of your vehicle because of gas prices, everyone else was doing the same thing and you know what that mean!!!! In simple words "supply and demand" If we can go to the auction and buy your vehcile for XXX amount of dollars, why would we offer you more then what they are selling for.

Another point, if you have this great looking clean low mileage vehicle that has been garaged and looks like it is out of the showroom but is more then 9yrs old, forget about getting what you think it is worth. Carmax can't sell it on there lot and it goes straight to our auction and those buy here pay here dealers buy them at stupid low prices. So why would we offer you more for something we can't sell and know what John Doe Dealership is g oing to pay at our auction?

Another point if your vehicle has been repainted or something is sketchy, we are going to deduct even though it might have been a rock chips and you wanted the front of the car painted over. Repainting may look great to you but Carmax buyers don't pull the car a part and check everything from head to toe. We can only infer that something happend and make a decision on how much we deduct depending what we think happend. Where not going to get in the business to screw ourself or lose our job. Case in point I inspected a nice high end luxury vehicle that had an excellent repaint on the passenger side. Well nothing looked wrong, the car had good miles and was stunning. I put better then average money on it and guess what after we bought it. It had severe frame damage from a side impact that was hidden well and was only known after pieces were pulled off. Guess what, we lost 10k on that car because I was so sure. We don't get paid by the amount of appraisals. We make salary and the more cars we buy, the more we have a chance of a bonus. So we are not looking to lowball anyone, and we are not looking to lose are job because we paid too much. Just think about this next time when you go to carmax.

Ok first off when you took your car to carmax to see how much you could get for it, you were getting a wholesale value price. Forget KBB or NADA. Carmax goes by Manheim auctions and there own auctions and Black book figures. This is only figures dealers havd access too and it is updated every day and black book every week unlike NADA or KBB. Also region prices change as well as the season prices for your car. I was a buyer for them and we look at every avenue to get the most we can for the person because we want to buy your car. We know how much things are selling for at that time at AUCTION PRICES (wholesale price) You may thinkn your 40k dollar truck is worth more because you added things and modified it. Well it is not because carmax can't warranty them and rips them off and throws it away. Also if your vehicle is a gas guzzler prices change by the day. Before or on the way with gas prices hitting more then $4 a gallon it was worth more and might have been worth more then what you paid because it was in high demand. Well guess what, if you were getting rid of your vehicle because of gas prices, everyone else was doing the same thing and you know what that mean!!!! In simple words "supply and demand" If we can go to the auction and buy your vehcile for XXX amount of dollars, why would we offer you more then what they are selling for.

Another point, if you have this great looking clean low mileage vehicle that has been garaged and looks like it is out of the showroom but is more then 9yrs old, forget about getting what you think it is worth. Carmax can't sell it on there lot and it goes straight to our auction and those buy here pay here dealers buy them at stupid low prices. So why would we offer you more for something we can't sell and know what John Doe Dealership is g oing to pay at our auction?

Another point if your vehicle has been repainted or something is sketchy, we are going to deduct even though it might have been a rock chips and you wanted the front of the car painted over. Repainting may look great to you but Carmax buyers don't pull the car a part and check everything from head to toe. We can only infer that something happend and make a decision on how much we deduct depending what we think happend. Where not going to get in the business to screw ourself or lose our job. Case in point I inspected a nice high end luxury vehicle that had an excellent repaint on the passenger side. Well nothing looked wrong, the car had good miles and was stunning. I put better then average money on it and guess what after we bought it. It had severe frame damage from a side impact that was hidden well and was only known after pieces were pulled off. Guess what, we lost 10k on that car because I was so sure. We don't get paid by the amount of appraisals. We make salary and the more cars we buy, the more we have a chance of a bonus. So we are not looking to lowball anyone, and we are not looking to lose are job because we paid too much. Just think about this next time when you go to carmax.

You should probably keep in mind that the amount offered to you is the amount CarMax is willing to pay you for the car. The amount the car is actually worth is another story altogether. Since you are not obligated to sell them the vehicle for that amount you cannot really say they are ripping you of in this instance.

Just to clarify, especially on a higher end luxury vehicles with high reconditioning costs, if the vehicle is out of factory warranty the appraiser may be more hesitant to give the highest offer because of problems that may occur after they purchase the vehicle that they do not see. If it is within the factory warranty and they buy the vehicle, and the motor blows or all the warning lights flash the next day, they just simply take it to the dealer. If its out of factory warranty, they are screwed and after fixing the problems they may not even make a profit. From my years of experience around all types of vehicles, bmw, mercedez, and similar vehicles tend to have more problems and are a higher risk to the dealership. CarMax would rather buy a honda civic then a bmw, since they make a similar profit on all their cars and and theres less to go wrong on the civic.

They would not give you the TRADE IN value for your car!

You were NOT TRADING IN your car, you were only offering to sell it. If you went to a dealer using your car as a trade-in, you would probably have been offered more for it.

Further, the last quarter of 2008 was a TERRIBLE year for ALL auto dealers. Heck, even Toyota posted sales were down over 30 percent from the previous year. Hence, there is some truth to the "slow market" excuse.

Kelly Blue Book does not buy cars...

dealers do!

Dealers use KBB as a guide. Nobody, but nobody gets trade in value from KBB when trading in their vehicle at a dealership.

If you want to get more money for your vehicle, sell it privately.

...Mr Carmax guy since you know everything if you read his report date it was in November and he was trying to sell a Z3. Not much of a market for a convertible/sports car going into winter. And the warranty thing? Come on thats bull. Warranty has nothing to do with it you all know what the dogs are and bid accordingly by auction estimates. I have seen plenty of cars on the lot out of manufacturers warranty and bringing expected value and vehicles in warranty bringing less as well, besides isnt that why you SELL the aftermarket warranty? Or is it because you know that maxcare is worthless and people put no value in that product and have to rely on the manufacturer to fix the car?

Also, I wish you guys would stop touting the "FREE APPRAISAL" crap. All appraisals are free from ALL dealers to buy the car. You all act like you've provided the "cure" for this ailing economy and should be congratulated.

There are several reasons why you recieved that amount for your vehicle.

1. The market is overall slow right now

2. Luxury vehicles overall definitely transact for less then KBB, whether it be selling or buying them.

3. Your BMW is out of basic warranty coverage, and is at a high risk; based on a thirty minute walkaround, someone is willing to give you a cash offer for a luxury car out of warranty.

4. Just because CarMax is selling them for 20k, who knows how long they have been sitting around and based on that, why would they want another one to sit around.

5. Its a FREE CASH OFFER!!! At that point in time, that is the highest offer you have for your vehicle. If you don't like it, try to sell it on your own, but good luck.