CarMax

I took my 2001 Mercedes to the Boynton Carmax dealership for an appraisal. Although I was treated politely, the appraiser basically lowballed my car saying that the engine oil indicated sludging--a frequen for an appraisal. Although I was treated politely, the appraiser basically lowballed my car saying that the engine oil indicated sludging--a frequent finding in German and Japanese cars. He added that this sludge was highly associated with total engine failure at an indeterminate future time. I then took the car (which ran perfectly) to the Mercedes dealer for evaluation. They exchanged the oil (which was clean and free of sludge) and pulled the valve covers to inspect for sludge (which was absent). In the end I don't know whether the kind folks at Carmax were trying to bamboozle me or are just incompetent...but in either case just to set the record straight was not cheap. More

I had a mixed experience with Car Max. The stuff they do right is very, very right. The stuff they mess up, they really mess up!<br><br>Good Stuff:<br>I did my research on my trade in before I went. They right is very, very right. The stuff they mess up, they really mess up!<br><br>Good Stuff:<br>I did my research on my trade in before I went. They were a little lower than my research, but not appreciably. I have four kids, there were probably more scratches than I want to admit to. It was only about $200 lower than I expected. Not bad.<br><br>The car was a surprise for my husband. I went in on Monday. His birthday was on Thursday. I found a great car in great condition. Knowing I did not want to take the risk of waiting until Thursday to buy it, we actually completed the sale Monday night and they loaned me my car for the week at no charge. I could not believe they did that!<br><br>Pitch about warrenty- every car place does this. Why is everyone so surprised that Car Max does? He told me about the two options, I declined them both, we went on. The whole thing was about 10 seconds.<br><br>Bad things<br>I asked my salesperson about what gets checked in the engine. He didn't know, referred me to the brochure.<br><br>When I turned in the title, they forgot to have me sign it. I had to go back out there to sign the title over to them.<br><br>I had an appointment to pick up my car. They knew when it should have been ready. I waited an hour, then they brought out the wrong car. My car was still being worked on, was ready about 10 minutes later.<br><br>They didn't put the temp tags on the car<br><br>They left the key box in the car, then were upset when I told them I still had it. <br><br>There were three things missed when I picked up my car - the title, the temp tags, and the key box. She asked if I was in a hurry when I picked it up, like it was my fault that these were missed. I said no, they just handed me my keys and said "Here you go." I assumed that meant we were done.<br><br>All in all, car buying is never fun. You always need to be aware of what's happening during a major purchase. This is the second car I have bought from CarMax and have been as pleased as you can be while buying a car. More

I was foolish enough to walk into CARMAX looking for a car. Allow me to tell you about the environment in their "superstore". CARMAX is a sub-division of Circuit City Corp. I have purchased many items car. Allow me to tell you about the environment in their "superstore". CARMAX is a sub-division of Circuit City Corp. I have purchased many items from Circuit City and ASSumed buying from CARMAX would be o.k. Well you know what they say about people the ASSume things.... <br>They have this huge store the looks very impressive. <br><br>The cars themselves are all in absolute perfect exterior condition, no dents, dings, scratches, or otherwise visible imperfections. (clue #1) The interiors were probably most impressive and ook like they have never been driven, they are all super-clean They have unusually low mileage on all their cars. How could a perfectly good car have 15,000 to 25,000 miles BELOW the national driving average? Were the cars just not used? Or were they discarded early because of problems? OR, can CARMAX offer cheap prices because they purchase unwanted cars for almost nothing make them look pretty and resell them to the public?<br><br>Additionally, the salespeople practically beg you to buy the extended warranty plan. Throughout the entire sales process they keep reminding you to take the MaxCare warranty. Why are they so determined? Aren't there cars "inspected" and completely "restored"? Do they know something we don't? (clue #3)<br><br>They claim to perform a 101 point check on the car and replace everything that they find wrong. That's fine however, do you think you would notice if the turn signals weren't working? I think that's pretty obvious. Their so-called expert mechanics failed to notice a blown fuse on a car they intend to sell (that should have been my cue to "get the h*ll out of dodge".)<br><br>CARMAX is completely uncaring and unresponsive to your concerns or cries for help. A car is a major financial purchase and anything that goes wrong with that affects your (financial) future. All CARMAX is concerned with is your money. (which after you finance, they HAVE!) So they could care less how you feel AFTER the sale. Darn shame isn't it??<br><br>To follow is a listing of all the problems I have had with my car.<br><br>Problems:<br><br>1. Radiator hose fell off.<br>2. Brakes started to fail.<br>3. Radiator hose fell off again.<br>4. Drivers seat front/rear adjuster broke off.<br>5. Tilt steering lock broke.<br>6. Brakes failed completely (resulted in accident).<br>7. Drivers window became stuck down.<br>8. Car began leaking on front passenger side during rain.<br>9. Passengers window became stuck down.<br>10. Rear passenger's windows became stuck down.<br>11. Brakes failed completely again. (resulting in second accident)<br>12. Passenger side door lock broke. (unable to open passenger side door from outside)<br>13. Rear right dual-exhaust became unhinged.<br>14. Upper radiator hose split.<br>15. Brakes became severely worn within 7K miles.<br>16. 30 days later brakes became severely worn again in 5K miles.<br>17. Drivers side front window becomes stuck down again.<br>18. Oil gasket failure below intake manifold.<br>19. Transmission gasket failure.<br>20. Alternator completely dead.<br>21. Battery dead as a result of the faulty alternator.<br>22. Electronics failures as a result of the previous two and damaged fuses.<br><br>The final straw was when I traded it in, the dealer lowered my trade-in because of crash damage!! YES CRASH!! Carmax's policy is that they will NEVER sell you a damaged car. Uh-huh. More