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Carmax...question

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chakita
Established Member

Carmax...question

Hello,

 

I'm looking to get a new vehicle within the next few months.  I went and looked at carmax and they have the car that I want and like that you can have something shipped to their store if they don't have it.

 

I see they have 'hassle-free' pricing...does this mean you cannot negotiate a lower price?

 

Does any one have any experience with them?  Good or bad experiences with getting approval?

 

I plan to put down $10,000 on a car and finance $5,000-$10,000 depending on what I decide to purchase.

 

TIA!

Message 1 of 15
14 REPLIES 14
tntexans72
Valued Contributor

Re: Carmax...question

I have purchased a car from carmax. The no-hassle price is what it is, no hassle. You can't haggle them on the price. It's set plus tax.

As far as approval, I don't know what your credit profile looks like. If you do have some baddies, your rates will be high but either way, you'll probably get approved.

You may have to put a bigger down payment depending on your score.

As for them shipping the car to you from another location, they are pretty legit. The wait may be 2-3 wks to get your car tho.

GL.

Message 2 of 15
lajntx
Frequent Contributor

Re: Carmax...question


@chakita wrote:

Hello,

 

I'm looking to get a new vehicle within the next few months.  I went and looked at carmax and they have the car that I want and like that you can have something shipped to their store if they don't have it.

 

*** Yes, but the sending store has the right to refuse the request if it is a hot seller in their market, or it is not available.

 

I see they have 'hassle-free' pricing...does this mean you cannot negotiate a lower price?

 

Exactly. But you will pay more than the person who went elsewhere and did it the old fashioned way.

 

Does any one have any experience with them?  Good or bad experiences with getting approval?

 

I bought one car there, paid the $199 X-fer fee for the one I wanted and got "easy" financing for 14.99%  Smiley Frustrated

 

I plan to put down $10,000 on a car and finance $5,000-$10,000 depending on what I decide to purchase.

 

With that much down you miight want to do some more shopping around as well.... Play with Autotrader.com & Cars.com as well


 

EQ- 647, EX- 641, TU- 644
Sept `13 - ZERO Debt, 100% Liquid, AND a climbing credit score. Eat your heart out Dave Ramsey!
Message 3 of 15
rock_lobster
Valued Member

Re: Carmax...question

I have purchased 2 cars from Carmax, they were both great experiences.  The first time, I was really worried about my credit and they got me approved with 2 lenders.  I went with Cap One.  The second time was about the same...I ended up with Cap One again, but with a lower rate.  I have found that the no haggle price might be a bit higher than the other dealers around, but at that spot in my life I was not looking for any dealer games.  I needed a car at a fair price and fair financing.  I that is what I got!  So I left happy.  Good Luck



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Message 4 of 15
StartingOver10
Moderator Emerita

Re: Carmax...question

What kind of vehicle do you have now?

 

What is it worth?

 

IME, Carmax is ok to sell a vehicle to (they pay wholesale, not retail) but the lenders they use are all subprime lenders with extremely high rates. In addition to that, the vehciles they sell are priced high also (higher than other places for the same or similar vehicle). Don't get me wrong - Carmax is better than your local BHPH lot. But you are in a pretty good position because you have $10k and can either pay off your current vehicle and work on your credit. Or you can sell your current vehile privately - you will have to bring some cash to the closing table.

 

So is your current vehicle running? or are you just tired of it?

Message 5 of 15
lajntx
Frequent Contributor

Re: Carmax...question


@rock_lobster wrote:

I have purchased 2 cars from Carmax, they were both great experiences.  The first time, I was really worried about my credit and they got me approved with 2 lenders.  I went with Cap One.  The second time was about the same...I ended up with Cap One again, but with a lower rate.  I have found that the no haggle price might be a bit higher than the other dealers around, but at that spot in my life I was not looking for any dealer games.  I needed a car at a fair price and fair financing.  I that is what I got!  So I left happy.  Good Luck


I agree the process was stress fee and hassle free, and for me ( at the time ) it was the best option for me.

In June of 2012 I had them transfer in a 2009 Pontiac G6 with just over 30K on the odometer that had spent the first 3 years of it`s life as a corporate lease vehicle.

 

 

 

Six Months later...........

 

An idiot ran a stop sign

 

 

@Anonymous loan ( as bad as it was % wise - 14.99 ) allowed me to replace it  with a brand new car  for 0 down @ 1.9% through Ford

 

 

 

 

 

EQ- 647, EX- 641, TU- 644
Sept `13 - ZERO Debt, 100% Liquid, AND a climbing credit score. Eat your heart out Dave Ramsey!
Message 6 of 15
chakita
Established Member

Re: Carmax...question

Thank you for your answers everyone.  I am not looking to trade in my current vehicle because my husband will drive it to save on gas money driving to work.

 

Everyone's answers were very helpful and it makes me see that we will need to do some shopping around at dealerships to see if we can find a lower price on the car we like.  Right now we are looking at a NIssan Altima and they are the cheapest we found in the Omaha area so far.  But I will keep look since we are still waiting a few months.

 

Thanks!!!

Message 7 of 15
lajntx
Frequent Contributor

Re: Carmax...question


@chakita wrote:

Thank you for your answers everyone.  I am not looking to trade in my current vehicle because my husband will drive it to save on gas money driving to work.

 

Everyone's answers were very helpful and it makes me see that we will need to do some shopping around at dealerships to see if we can find a lower price on the car we like.  Right now we are looking at a NIssan Altima and they are the cheapest we found in the Omaha area so far.  But I will keep look since we are still waiting a few months.

 

Thanks!!!


You are welcome, and if you are dead set on a Nissan Altima, be sure to use Autotrader.com`s advance setting search as you can filter the searches down

EQ- 647, EX- 641, TU- 644
Sept `13 - ZERO Debt, 100% Liquid, AND a climbing credit score. Eat your heart out Dave Ramsey!
Message 8 of 15
chakita
Established Member

Re: Carmax...question


@lajntx wrote:
You are welcome, and if you are dead set on a Nissan Altima, be sure to use Autotrader.com`s advance setting search as you can filter the searches down

    Will do!  Thanks for the tip!

Message 9 of 15
Creditaddict
Legendary Contributor

Re: Carmax...question

I have purchased 2 cars from Car Max and sold them 2 also... all at different times!

sometimes you can find cheaper but for the most part it is straight forward wholesale pricing.... they work with lenders for all the way to terrible credit and even have their own carmax financing now that can sometimes kick in for a great rate on not very good credit. I took Santander both times I bought (capital One) and it was very quick and smooth.

Basically you can tell them how much you want to put down and they run the application and then it tells them who will pick it up and at what rate, etc.

you then pick.

if you want to put more down, less down, change to a different car... they run it again... but with the same credit and stuff but it goes back through all the lenders again.... last time I did it I was declined by EVERYONE and had an answer in under 2 minutes for Santander for $18k with just $1k down... rate not so great but literally I was looking at the identical car from one of the largest car dealerships around the corner from carmax (literally parking lots touch by fence!) I called him and said I was just approved through santander at carmax.... he called santander directly (his dealer contact) and they declined my app... so took it at carmax!! it's pretty automated I think a lot of times maybe because of volume... I dunno, but whatever it is it's worked for me!

now if you have great strong credit... might be good to shop around or if you have a credit union relationship!

 

The only verification I had to go through at Carmax was a address verification which was done instantly online via like 4 questions of public record and Santander was a go!

 

My only other thing to add that I was irritated with at the time is they replace anything that is (almost bad) or what not in the 180+ whatever point inspection... I ended up buying a 2004 Honda Accord and took it to Honda after purchase and it needed (According to Honda Standards) front Brakes/ Resurface of Rotors and something else... also then it had Michilen Tires and needed 2 tires but CarMax put their own brand... I ended up taking the credit for their brand and paid the difference to put matching Michelen all around... in all cost me about $500 for the brakes and that work over at Honda.... Carmax said that it was 15-20% whatever the % is they call okay and honda was like 5 or 10% higher of when they said it needed to be done... so while I felt Honda might be a little high, they also make great cars that run long long time so they can't be all wrong! and while Carmax was within standards and had not lied or anything, I felt it was a little close and would have needed to be done even by carmax standards in less than 5k miles so thought it should have been done... but in the end it was just about $500 and it cleared the way for that car not to need anything for like 30k miles besides oil and tire rotation and in the end almost 3 years later I sold it back to carmax for barely $2k less than I paid... I think it worked out!! (should have kept it but don't get me started!)

 

gosh, sorry that turned WAY long!

Message 10 of 15
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