I found a C6 Z06 at Carmax that I may want to make a move on. I'm looking at trading in my Obsidian 2008 IS-F with 58K miles, it has all the options. The cheapest IS-F they have online is $36,900 also with 58K miles. I'm also trying to sell the car private party (in the classifieds section) and am asking $33,500. My car does have an accident reported so not sure if Carmax will really make this a big deal. They did have an IS-F a few weeks back which had 3 accidents on the history report and it was listed for $35,900. I can afford to take a few grand less than private party asking price because of the tax savings on the new car.

Does anyone have experience with carmax... Is their offer most likely going to be insulting?
Also, as far as their "no haggle price", is their any room for negotiating?

 

I have given up on them 100% as far as trading or selling them my cars...last few offers were insulting...total waste of time too, they take freaking forever. a few years ago I tried to sell them an 02 Toyota PreRunner in immaculate condition and they lowballed the shti out of me; they offered me $7K less than the exact same vehicle on their lot and mine had 30K less miles...and keep in mind I'm in Texas where pickups are in huge demand, I turned around and sold it myself for $4000 more than they offered.

 

Ya, I have a feeling their offer might be insulting... Just thought with an IS-F, it could be different with it being such a rare car. Carmax only has 12 od them in the whole country.

 

I mean you could give it a shot - but allow lotsa time - and don't expect much.

Personally I like autotrader.

 

They have a great operation. We actually just traded in and purchased from them and I got $2k more for my trade then any dealer could touch. I think some cars they have are priced great while a few are a bit high. They won't negotiate the price but they stand behind it with a week to bring it back and I think 30 days of warranty that they will fix anything you find wrong.

What I can share, is the whole process and how they stand behind your purchase is amazing. Turned out I had a few bushings that were going and new tires that were defective that unless you hit the right speed you wouldn't feel anything. Well they replaced everything, free of charge, and also did a few extra things. Also noticed a small rock chip in the front windshield when I got it back and they replaced it with NO questions asked.

Good luck

 

What kind of vehicle did you trade in?

The C6 Z06 LS7's are known to have issues, so the 5 day return policy makes me feel better. I could take it to a good vette shop and they could go over it with a microscope, if they find problems, I can take it back

 

They didn't want your truck...regardless of demand they either had too many or had invested too much in the current inventory.


OP:

I just ran auction on your ISF and average book is $32,700, with your accident I would estimate an offer of $29k or close to it. It all depends on the demand and how bad they need your car after inspecting it. CarMax uses the same data that I do for what its worth.

 

We traded in a 1 year old Honda Odyssey for a SUV.

Good thing is not too many sports cars see the auction unless its a leased car. Most of these cars you see at CarMax were traded or purchased. Many probably due to this great economy.

 

I've never actually bought a vehicle from CarMax, but have shopped there with others looking for a car. I'm generally impressed with them. Reasonable no-haggle prices, dealer-processing fee (if applicable in that state) clearly posted on the price-sticker, clean and modern service-facilities, usually a wide selection of vehicles in good or excellent condition, and good detailing/preparation of the vehicle before customer-delivery. If all used-car shops operated like CarMax does, they probably wouldn't have the shady reputations that many of them do.

 

Thanks for the insight.. I was working with a dealership a few weeks ago and they seemed to think they could give me $31K-$32K even with the accident, but I assumed Carmax would be a few grand less.
$30K is about my bottom dollar I can take on trade for it.

 

Subscribed i'd be very interested to see what they offer you for your trade in. I had a not so pleasant experience with them years ago. I wanted to sell them a barely year old Ford Explorer XLT that was pretty well loaded no wrecks no accidents no paintwork nothing I had bought it new but wanted a change. To say there offer was insulting would be an understatement (less than half of sticker, not what i paid but you get the idea) I walked out and never looked back. But with that said buying from them wouldnt be to bad as there cars tend to be clean and they have a great extended warranty program but selling or trading your car in i think would be the sucks and better off private party selling.

 

I recently had a 2010 ES350 in mint condition appraised at CarMax while shopping for a new Audi. They would have given me $28k for it, which would have been a decent price.

I used their offer in my negotiations with the Audi dealer to get them to raise what they'd give me on trade-in by nearly $2k.

It was a good experience, but I wasn't buying fro them so don't know how that would have gone.

 

This was exactly my situation. Every dealer wanted our Honda but were afraid to step up. I know I was offered more then my vehicle would sell for at the auctions. Since I could pull up auction numbers on my trade and car we wanted to buy I was able to toss out the numbers game and get to the point. I even called my friend, owner of a Honda Dealer, and he said I was crazy to not take their offer. But not every situation works out this way.

It really does boil down to the car your trading in, or having them purchase. Again its all a supply/demand on what they will offer. Having more experience seeing what cars will sell for at the auction they have NO reason to pay "what" you think your car is worth, regardless of age, or what KBB says its worth. Your more common cars, due to the volumes they sell, will drop in value much faster at the auctions. More people trading out of these vehicles in the first year kill it for the rest. Loss of job, not happy, ect...

I did take two cars for CarMax to purchase in the past and the offer was lower then I wanted. I just walked out and went on with my day.

 

Not sure if it makes a difference If I tell them I plan on buying from them. If they know they are going to make a few grand off of the vehicle I'm buying, maybe they have more room to give me a little more on my trade... IDK

 

^ no they will offer the same even if you don't purchase from them.