SPG123 said:
Carmax makes (made? before the market got soooooo goofy) more money per unit than ANY other dealer. Ever. But hey they have nice blue shirts and warm fuzzy ads right?
I've paid the CarMax tax to not be treated like a mark throughout the buying process and I would do it again. Hard to put a value on a zero pressure sales experience.
Regarding your other point, it's not like conventional dealers have never missed a defect or been caught trying to turn around vehicles with obvious problems. Regardless of who I'm buying from, I check a vehicle over just like I would for any private party sale. I don't suddenly let my guard down because I'm buying a car from a big branded building, whether it's CarMax or Gustafson Motors GM.
kb58
SuperDork
6/22/22 5:17 p.m.
Oh, nice, I got the reference... don't 'cha know!
I actually got a pretty good deal on my Si. I did pay $249 non refundable for shipping. Car was listed with 9k miles same price as cars 1 or 2 years newer with 30k miles. Car arrived early per post above. The car had 8400 miles on it. I took the chance on shipping because of the mileage. I had already driven similar cars before though. I knew I wanted a Civic Si. The car looked better in person than the photos too. My sales rep made this my best Carmax visit ever.
Friend worked there for years until they RIFed for COVID. He said price is not negotiable but you can haggle for extras like oil changes, floor mats, stuff like that.
kb58
SuperDork
6/22/22 11:36 p.m.
AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) said:
...Car was listed with 9k miles same price as cars 1 or 2 years newer with 30k miles.
That's one thing I noticed, and it probably applies to all dealers, is that the year of the car seems to matter more than the mileage. I was surprised that the 2014 car we sold recently with 13K miles on it (really) didn't get a higher price, while 2015 models with the same options but with 4-6X the mileage was about the same price. I guess it is what it is.
kb58
SuperDork
6/23/22 4:52 p.m.
calteg said:
...Instead of speculating how much money they make per car, look it up. They're a publicly traded company (spoiler alert, it's a little over $2100)...
Spoiler alert, it's a lot more than that, at least in our case. Our trade-in was sold one week ago to CarMax for $25.5K, and it just popped up at another CarMax at $33K.
kb58 said:
AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) said:
...Car was listed with 9k miles same price as cars 1 or 2 years newer with 30k miles.
That's one thing I noticed, and it probably applies to all dealers, is that the year of the car seems to matter more than the mileage. I was surprised that the 2014 car we sold recently with 13K miles on it (really) didn't get a higher price, while 2015 models with the same options but with 4-6X the mileage was about the same price. I guess it is what it is.
I wonder how much of that is financing. I know it's common for used car loans to get more expensive and harder to get the older the car is.
In reply to Tom Suddard :
Yes, the payment can still be $400 per month but because of newer model year the financing payment term can go another year longer! Still a $400 payment...but $4,800 more dollars.
