I bought my '03 Touring from a private seller though Autotrader.com. Worked like a charm, and got a decent deal. But I have considered using Carmax too.

 

I've bought 2 vehicles thru Carmax so far. No bad issues here. As with any dealer, it is up to the buyer to do his/her homework before purchasing.

The thing I like about Carmax vs traditional dealerhsips is the no-hassle deal. If you know what you want, can be in and out with 1.5 hours or less. No finnance manager BS to deal with and you can get a decent warranty for a good price (5yr/70k on my vette for 1200).

 

Dude,
I shopped on autotrader.com for several months and did a lot of research. My patience paid off as I finally found exactly the one I wanted at a good price. Andy Mohr Nissan in Indy treated me really good. Had to drive 80 miles to check it out but it was worth it.

 

I was a crack head and sold my truck to CarMax for $16,000. They in turn sold the truck for $20,100. If you are fine knowing you could have paid $3000 to $4000 less for a 350z then by all means buy from CarMax. If you take the time and do the research on auto trader, craigs list, or eBay etc. etc. you can find a great deal. Just my opinion, but NO HAGGLE PRICING is for suckers. I have 3 really good friends in the car business and they say the same thing. I bought my 2004 350z Touring Roadster on eBay and got a great deal. I did my internet search for about 4 months though.

 

What did you expect Carmax to sell your truck for? They are in the business to make money, not the opposite.

You are comparing apples to oranges. How much do you think a traditional dealer would have given you for your truck? No haggle pricing is not for suckers. The price you can buy the vehicle at is at least equal if not less than a traditional dealer.

Buying a car via private sales is cheaper by far, but don't compare it to just compare it to Carmax to make them look bad. Private sales are cheaper than all dealer types, for the most part (sometimes not the case). What took you 4 months to accomplish took me less than two hours at Carmax. And I got the car I wanted at below book, with very low miles (under 20k for an '03).

 

mercedes dealers low balled and offered only 4000$ for my trade, so i turned around and took the car to a consignment dealer and it was sold within one week for 9K$. That was seven years ago. That was also the original purchase price brand new back in 1996 btw.

 

HDPD 350z,

I am not knocking you for buying from CarMax. I am just saying that if there was an exact year and options 350z at Carmax and at another dealer selling for let's say the same price at $20,000 You'll be able to wheel and deal at the other dealer for maybe $18,000 to $19,000, but at CarMax its $20,000 period. I tried to make an offer once to CarMax about 3 years ago, but they wouldn't buge a penny. I have to agree though, CarMax does give you the best money for your trade or outright sale. Maybe saying CarMax is for suckers is a little harsh. I have always been a deal maker so that's why I won't buy from CarMax unless they have some type of exotic I want. I bought my first 350z in May of 2003 and paid FULL STICKER. I will NEVER buy a car for full sticker again. It was nice to have one of the only 350z's around, but the feeling that you paid full sticker sucked. Does HDPD stand for Henderson PD? Did you get a police discount? LOL!

 

Got mine from carmax with no problems... Knock on wood. I have ****ty credit and they made it happen. i noticed a few small problems like a small scratch here and one in the back, they were all too happy to fix them. I like Carmax.

 

I know people that love Carmax. If you don't have the time to mess around looking for a good deal, it's fine. They will give you a warranty and, if you're enough of an a**hole to hold them to it, you can avoid some of the problems.

But, if you're trying to get a serious deal on the car, Carmax "no haggle" pricing is garbage. $3,000 below KBB dealer retail is nothing. That is what the dealer is supposed to start the bargaining at. Oftentimes if you look at Edmunds there will be at least a $3,000 discrepancy. I personally refuse to pay anything more than the Fair Market Value as a matter of principle, so can't go to Carmax.

Finally, unlike some people have said, I haven't had any problems with reputable dealers lying about the car or refusing to cover warranty services. You just have to make clear that you know what's going on and you aren't going to put up with anything. As far as I'm concerned one little tiny lie might cost them thousands if reported to the right agency, I like to let them know about that before-hand.

 

Oh don't get me wrong guys being a college student majoring in eletrical engineering-power systems(BOILERMAKERS FTMFW!) im already running on a low budget as is. But, I have been window shopping for the past months and doing my research and I've come to terms with my chances being slim finding a good deal on a PPW Z . However I was at Napelton Nissan earlier and they had an 04 SS enth with only 10k miles but they want 24,9XX for it...I hope they will go down to low 20's o well time to cross fingers and haggle like a ****!

 

I bought my 2nd Z from carmax. I've never had such a "hassle-free" experience in my life as far as auto purchasing goes. It's very simple, no bull****, no negotiating, you pay the price and you're happy. All carmax cars are certified and can be trusted. I purchased the extended warranty. Even though my Z has 40k miles, I'm fully covered till 100k or 2012 all for 22k. They're also very easy to finance with, although I ended up paying off my car because I enjoy looking at the title haha.

 

Also, transfers are not all free. I transferred my Z from ohio to chicago for $250.

 

If you buy the vehicle, all but $50 goes towards the down payment.

 

highway what do you mean? If I find a good deal at Carmax im more than likely going to transfer it. So does that mean for a $550 transfer the majority of it goes towards my downpayment??

 

I bought my z from carmax and got the extended warranty plan so im covered up to like 97,000 miles... I dont know of any dealer who will do that

 

I'd rather have a 75,000 mile extended Nissan warranty than a 100,000 mile Car Max one.

 

autotrader.com

 

Well, you must have felt that was a fair price. you accepted the offer.


Yeah, thats the way business works. They buy things at wholesale prices, and re-sell them at retail prices. Just like the grocery store, the clothing store. the gas station, etc.

FWIW, CarMax has always offered me more for my used cars, (even a straight sale) than any other dealership.

bill

 

I got $1000 more from a dealer than what Carmax was offering so it all depends. With a dealer you can haggle on the trade in price. Carmax is fixed.

 

How exactly does Carmax's extended warranty work? Where would I take my car to for repairs? I've never been to Carmax.