Certified Preowned or Carmax 2015 Lexus

[harllee]

My current car is a 2006 Lexus RX with 200,000 miles, I have loved it. There is nothing really wrong with it but I am feeling uncomfortable driving it on long trips. I want to get another Lexus RX. I do not like the new body style (which changed in 2016) so I m looking at 2015s.

I have spent many hours dealing with 3 Lexus dealerships and I am totally frustrated, they act like they don't even want to sell me a car!. The closest dealership is about 20 minutes away and has no cars I like. The second closest is 40 minutes away, has several cars I like, I first tried to deal with them by internet and then in person. They have hardly budged on their prices which appear to be way over priced to me. They go down $200 at a time and act like they are doing me a favor. About the only thing they have dropped is their awful $600 document fee. I have dealt with 2 other dealerships by phone/internet, they have come down in price a little more but still too high in my opinion. All of the dealerships say they will take my existing car in trade at the Carmax price.

So I take my old Lexus to Carmax to get an appraisal (painless, got a decent price for the old one) and low and behold they have just the 2015 Lexus RX I am looking for. Right color, year, options, clean Carfax,etc, it even has lower miles than the ones at the dealership (Carmax car has about the 30,000 miles, most of the dealership cars around 40,000). The only difference is that the dealer cars are Certified Preowned. The Carmax car of course is not CPO. The real icing on the cake is that the Carmax car is over $4000 less than the lowest quote I have from a dealer.

How much value does a CPO add to a car? Would you go with the Carmax with less mileage and $4000 cheaper?

I want to be able to go back to the dealer and say too bad, so sad, you missed your chance.

 

[REWahoo]

I'm a fan of CPO cars but I'd go with the Carfax vehicle in a heartbeat.

You are highly unlikely to run into any repair issues on a low-mileage, late model Lexus, so the value of going the certified route is questionable. Plus, you can pay for some serious repairs with the $4K you'll save.

 

[jazz4cash]

To me, the CPO is worth about $2k extra for a car like that.
I did a quick search for my area and here are the results
Carmax has 20 vehicles that match 2015 Lexus RX 28-40k Miles price range is $28-32k
Lexus L/Certified has 25 vehicles match 2015 Lexus RX under 40k miles price range is $29-35k
(I don't know anything about the submodels and options.)

It does seem like the Lexus dealers in your area are aggressive to say the least.
I would look very closely at the history of the vehicle and wouldn't have a problem buying through Carmax even if you pay for their optional warranty which may or may not be honored by Lexus. Our Chevy dealer took the Carmax warranty for my daughter's car.

 

[Bamaman]

All the CPO is would be a very expensive ESP package--which the dealer also makes a profit on.

Congratulations to you finding what you're looking for.

I was over at my Lexus dealership in Memphis yesterday meeting with the owner. I can honestly say they are the finest car dealership of any brand I've ever seen. And I worked in the automobile field 24 years and worked with 100's of dealers all over the country.

 

[AS2019]

I would go with Carmax. If you’re worried about not having the CPO, then buy an extended warranty from Carmax. Or call Lexus and as if you can buy it from them.

 

[ncbill]

Buy from Carmax, post pics of your new ride!

 

[Red Badger]

Carmax. Then, if you have a trusted mechanic, have him inspect it thoroughly. If not, Google for one. I've had 2 in our 12 years here (1st one got acquired by a chain - homey don't do chain garages).

I did return a car to Carmax (5 day buy back guarantee) a few years ago. They asked why and I was happy to answer. But that was all. Had my money back in about 10 days.

 

[harllee]

OP here, I do have a good local independent mechanic and will get him to check out the Carmax car during the 7 day trial period.

I was using the local Lexus dealer to service my old Lexus but every year the oil change, etc got more and more expensive. So I changed to an independent mechanic and he charged me about one third of what the dealership charged for the same work.

 

[SmallCityDave]

OP here, I do have a good local independent mechanic and will get him to check out the Carmax car during the 7 day trial period.

I was using the local Lexus dealer to service my old Lexus but every year the oil change, etc got more and more expensive. So I changed to an independent mechanic and he charged me about one third of what the dealership charged for the same work.

Sounds like the difference is the warranty and I doubt that it's worth $4k, for me that might be worth an extra $1000.

 

[atmsmshr]

We have done both CPO and Carmax.

Its all about value - which in this case sounds like Carmax, all else being equal.

 

[Aerides]

CPO and regular pre-owned generally differ in warranty. I was lucky because I got a one year old CPO, so it had 2 years of the original 3 on the warranty, and the CPO added 2, so I ended up with total 4 years under warranty - more than buying new.

Your experience on the lack of negotiation is not suprising. Dealers make their profits of selling used, not new. And they know that quality CPOs will sell - especially this time of year when shoppers are looking for deals anyway.

$4k, when everything else is the same, and with 7 days to be sure? I think that's worth the difference.

 

[Ever_Ready]

Scotty Kilmer, mechanic for 5 years, on certified pre-owned:

 

[Ready]

I've owned Lexus vehicles since 2004. I would never buy a used vehicle from a Lexus dealership. The markups are ridiculously high. I've never bought from Carmax before so I can't comment on that, but I've generally had good results buying late model cars from private parties. Individuals are just trying to sell their cars so they can buy a new one. They are not worried about how much profit they are making.

Everyone generally starts off pricing the car at an unrealistically high price, but eventually when no real buyers come along they come down to a more realistic price. That's the right time to buy from them.

 

[harllee]

Ready, how do your find used Lexus vehicles for sale from a private individual? I have looked at Craiglist and Autotrader, etc but have not seen any 2015 Lexus RXs for sale.

 

[Ready]

Ready, how do your find used Lexus vehicles for sale from a private individual? I have looked at Craiglist and Autotrader, etc but have not seen any 2015 Lexus RXs for sale.

I'm basing my input on living in Southern California, where there are a lot of people living in a fairly small area. A quick check on Autotrader shows 207 2015 RX350 cars available for sale. Only 2 are private sales though. I'd probably see more if I expanded the search to other RX models and years.

You could also try Edmunds.com. But if you live in an area that is not high density, there may be only so many options.

 

[Katsmeow]

Given your situation, although I like certified pre-owned, I would go for the Carmax vehicle.

 

[Texas Proud]

Scotty Kilmer, mechanic for 5 years, on certified pre-owned:

Did not watch the whole video but from the gist... this...


Years ago I had a coworker who bought a CPO Lexus.... she picked it up and was driving but found out that she should have gotten some info on that certification... dealer that sold it to her sent her some paperwork that was dated the day she asked!!! IOW, they did NOTHING but put CPO on the ad and sold it for more money since it looked good and had low miles..


Go with CarMax... get it checked by your mechanic... save $4,000....


BTW, you can do a lot of repair for $4,000 if needed...

 

[StephieJean]

My current car is a 2006 Lexus RX with 200,000 miles, I have loved it. There is nothing really wrong with it but I am feeling uncomfortable driving it on long trips. I want to get another Lexus RX. I do not like the new body style (which changed in 2016) so I m looking at 2015s.

I have spent many hours dealing with 3 Lexus dealerships and I am totally frustrated, they act like they don't even want to sell me a car!. The closest dealership is about 20 minutes away and has no cars I like. The second closest is 40 minutes away, has several cars I like, I first tried to deal with them by internet and then in person. They have hardly budged on their prices which appear to be way over priced to me. They go down $200 at a time and act like they are doing me a favor. About the only thing they have dropped is their awful $600 document fee. I have dealt with 2 other dealerships by phone/internet, they have come down in price a little more but still too high in my opinion. All of the dealerships say they will take my existing car in trade at the Carmax price.

So I take my old Lexus to Carmax to get an appraisal (painless, got a decent price for the old one) and low and behold they have just the 2015 Lexus RX I am looking for. Right color, year, options, clean Carfax,etc, it even has lower miles than the ones at the dealership (Carmax car has about the 30,000 miles, most of the dealership cars around 40,000). The only difference is that the dealer cars are Certified Preowned. The Carmax car of course is not CPO. The real icing on the cake is that the Carmax car is over $4000 less than the lowest quote I have from a dealer.

How much value does a CPO add to a car? Would you go with the Carmax with less mileage and $4000 cheaper?

I want to be able to go back to the dealer and say too bad, so sad, you missed your chance.

I would definitely go CARMAX. Thery go through the cars pretty good and are no hassle/haggle. They give excellent trade in rates, too. 100% go with CARMAX, since the dealer doesn't really want to sell you a used, they want you to buy new.

 

[Midpack]

It's been a long time since I bought a used car, but I always took the car to an independent mechanic of my choice to look the car over thoroughly. I wouldn't care if it came from a dealer (CPO), CarMax or wherever. They could all be good.

Are you the guy who wanted to make the best deal possible from your couch? You could have had a good deal by now IME (every car I've bought since 1988)...

 

[harllee]

Midpack I am the "gal" who wanted to make the best deal possible from my couch! I have now done both--gone to the dealer not too far away and dealt by internet with the dealer a couple of hours away. I have not gotten a good price either way--going to the dealership was a complete waste of time. I had an appointment but still had to wait and felt like they were not interested in making a sale. I actually got the best deal on the internet, but it was only a few hundred dollars off asking price and a waiver of the doc fee.

I found the Carmax car by "accident." I was getting my old Lexus appraised at Carmax and
was wondering around and saw the Lexus I am probably going to buy.

Midpack if you have gotten great deals on a used car like a Lexus by going to the dealership how did you do it? I spent hours driving to the dealer, test driving, talking to the salesman and his "manager" all for nothing. They only came down a few hundred and said "it was the best they could do" even though they had at least 10 2015 RXs on the lot. Now they keep calling me but haven't come down on the price. I have quit answering their calls. A waste of time.

 

[Gotadimple]

Now they keep calling me but haven't come down on the price. I have quit answering their calls. A waste of time.

Tell them you're getting ready to buy the same vehicle with lower mileage at CarMax for $4k less. That should stop the calls. They won't counteroffer - no profit in it.



Dealing via the Internet Manager is the best way to buy a new car IMHO. Not sure about a used car. I do like CarMax, I sold a car to them in June. The entire transaction was open and above board, no gimmicks in the discussion.


- Rita

 

[harllee]

I am the OP and wanted to update this thread--I have now bought a beautiful 2015 Lexus RX (campaign color) and I think I am really going to like it. I was debating between a Certified Preowned from the dealer and one from Carmax which was $4000 less expensive. I went to buy the Carmax car and started looking at it very closely and found several problems--it needed new tires, had several dings and scratches that either had not been repaired or repaired poorly and the leather driver seat was scuffed up. So I decided to pass on the Carmax.

I went back to the certified car at the dealership. It had brand new Michelon tires and was in pristine condition but I could not get the dealer to negotiate on price at all even though the car had been on the lot over 2 months and the car was overpriced based on Kelly Bluebook and NADA. The car was at the Raleigh, NC Lexus dealership. This dealership has 2 locations, Raleigh and Durham. We knew someone who worked at the service department in the Durham location and he suggested we have the car transferred to the Durham location. So that is what we did, had the car transferred to Durham, started over with a new salesman, we made an offer, that salesman countered at what we considered a reasonable price and we bought the car. We still do not understand why the Raleigh dealership would not negotiate with us. Oh well, the Raleigh salesman lost a sale. It took some work but we got the car at a reasonable price and we love it.

Our old car was a 2006 Lexus RX with 200,000 miles but in great condition. The dealer offered us $3,500 for it and Carmax offered us $4000. I thought I could get more by selling it myself so I listed it on Nextdoor. Sold it in 2 days for $6000. Dealing with Next-door people is so much better than Craigslist--no scams or nutty people.

 

[Ready]

Glad to hear it all worked. I'm curious though, how do you have a car transferred to another location that you don't own?

 

[harllee]

Glad to hear it all worked. I'm curious though, how do you have a car transferred to another location that you don't own?

We just went to the Durham Lexus and told them we were interested in a certain car at the Raleigh Lexus but that we wanted to deal with the Durham Lexus on the purchase because we lived closer to the Durham Lexus, may have also helped that we had been a customer of the Durham Lexus in the past. Both of the dealerships are owned by the same company and I understand they transfer cars back and forth all the time.

 

[LOL!]

That's a nice story, thanks for sharing. In our area, I think all the Lexus dealerships within 100 miles are owned by the same person / family.

I have bought two RX's used and they are great cars. The Lexus dealer here has always dropped their pants for me on CPO cars and undercut anything at Carmax by thousands, so a completely different experience than the OP. But maybe they overprice them to start with, but I don't think so. I shoot for and end up with one of the lowest prices ever reported on all those car sales web sites and thousands below the truecar.com website.