Going to Sell Our Car to CarMax

[Blue Collar Guy]

over 500,000 cars totalled

Nice , so our car insurance and flood insurance premiums going up soon.

 

[REWahoo]

over 500,000 cars totalled

Saw something that said that number was an estimate based on the number of cars registered to individuals. It did not include an additional 300,000 to 500,000 new and used vehicles on the lots of 500 auto dealerships in the area. That brings the number up to close to a million.

 

[badatmath]

Just easier to get the car dealer to match the car max price. . . Just make sure you have your deal set first.

 

[Teacher Terry]

By the time we sell our cars they are usually worth less then 1 k so I sell them. It is so easy. I post on CL and usually sell the first day. I only take cash. I always ask more then I want so when they make a lower offer I say let's split the difference and they always say yes. Easy.

 

[Alan]

I like Carmax and have used them 3 times to get a quote when selling or trading in a car. On 2 occasions I ended up selling the car to the dealer for a better price but the other time I sold it to Carmax. I have recommended that my son use them in the coming weeks. He lives just north of Houston so I don't know if they will be suspicious of a flooded car. (It wasn't, he stayed high and dry)

 

[JoeWras]

Another topic that comes up here is: "When to take the keys from mom/dad."

I can say that having the CarMax option for this process can be really helpful.

Dad didn't want to give up the car, even after he hit a wall due to pedal mix-up. We worked with him on his choices, and eventually he agreed.

Wasting no time, we were able to close the deal immediately that day before he waffled back. Please don't think me and my siblings are evil about this. There was no trickery. It just was that Dad would sometimes sleep on stuff, and with the mild dementia, he would get new ideas after a night's sleep or unrest.

By taking care of it right away, all of us didn't have that problem. We felt we got a fair deal especially for the convenience. They even dealt with the titling issues (my deceased mom was also on the title).

 

[Aerides]

My last two cars, I went to Carmax and got the written quote. Then once I had the new car fully agreed upon I'd ask the dealer for their trade in offer. They lowballed, I showed them the Carmax quote - they met it and took it off my hands in both cases.

Had they not price matched, it was nice to know I had the carmax option.

 

[Katsmeow]

I wouldn't trust the trade-in offer. Sometimes it's "bundled" in with a higher price on the car you're buying. I prefer to keep the two transactions separate.

I always negotiate the price of the car I'm buying before I get a trade in value. If they ask me I say I plan to sell my old car myself. Then, when I get the price of the car I'm buying negotiated I ask for a trade in value (if I'm interested in trading in).

I also check Carmax and see which is better. We've sold a car privately ourselves but there is definitely more if a hassle factor doing that and concerns about safety (since I would want cash) and so just easier to sell to Carmax (or another dealer) or possibly trade it in.

 

[Texas Proud]

Saw something that said that number was an estimate based on the number of cars registered to individuals. It did not include an additional 300,000 to 500,000 new and used vehicles on the lots of 500 auto dealerships in the area. That brings the number up to close to a million.

Did they say the dealerships were flooded? From what I could see, none of the ones around me flooded... not sure about 45 south or I-10 in either direction....

 

[Walt34]

The last car, we just traded it in at the dealer. It was a 2003 Buick Century with 173k miles and the transmission was on the way out so it was only worth the $500 the dealer gave us for it. We were also dealing with the last of the issues shortly before FIL passed so we didn't need to be spending time & hassles on the old car.

The old pickup truck I sold private sale and did fine on that. DW's previous car to the Buick we gave to her nephew & his wife as they were going through a period of poverty and their car had just croaked. It lasted long enough to get them past that.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

All this great talk about Car max made me inquisitive. So I look them up, figures that are in Connecticut. This is why I never heard of them.

 

[JoeWras]

All this great talk about Car max made me inquisitive. So I look them up, figures that are in Connecticut. This is why I never heard of them.

They have an interesting story.

CarMax started out of a project from Circuit City (the defunct electronics retailer). I don't know if management saw the future of electronic retailing or what. Maybe it was an accident. Someone saw that they were in the business of selling stuff, and one bit of stuff that could use different thought was used cars.

Just interesting. I don't own the stock and never bought a car there.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Regarding what CarMax offers on very used vehicles, when I sold my 1987 Pathfinder with 180k miles (and an acid burn in the cargo compartment carpet) in 1998-ish, they offered me $5k for that car where the best dealer offer was $2.5k. Heck, I bought it used in 1988 for $12.5k, so I felt pretty good about it.

That's been a while and things may have changed. As I noted in my post above, earlier this year they didn't give me as good an offer. I'll try them again when the time comes to sell DW's 2006 CRV, which should be at least several years from now.

No way am I going to futz with selling a car in the classifieds, or however it's done these days. I plan on driving our vehicles many years so the value should be so low that any small % premium won't add up to many $$.

One exception was when I sold my late father's car. My nephew's FIL needed a car, and we immediately agreed to a deal just under KBB value.

 

[TrvlBug]

Done and $ is in the bank!

Blue Collar Guy...After a ridiculously low offer the sales guy was embarrassed about, their final offer was $9,500. CarMax $12,000. KBB avg price on 'good' car trade in was $13,700. We're very happy.

The dealership was not willing to go higher likely because we got such a great deal on the new car price. When we bought our other car 2 year ago, we had to pay MSRP. Dealer would not haggle as car was very much in demand, in fact, they had to source the car from a far away dealer and we did not get our first color choice. What they did, however, give us a good deal on our trade in which had a KBB avg value of $5,000 and we got $4,500.

 

[mpeirce]

Just easier to get the car dealer to match the car max price. . . Just make sure you have your deal set first.

Really?

Last time I bought a car I got a quote for the old car from Carmax. I asked the deal what their trade in offer was. It was exactly the same as Carmax, so Carmax got the business. I just drove it over there, dipped it off and walked away with a check.

Honestly, I like to keep the negotiation for a car as straight forward as possible. I pay cash - so no loan "deals". I don't trade in - so trade in deals. Just talk to me about how much the car is going to cost me and don't try to hide your costs in various books and crannies.

 

[Alan]

How does sales tax work?

If you buy a new car for $20k and have a trade in for $10k do you pay sales tax on the difference, $10k, rather than the full price of the new car?

 

[dirt_dobber]

How does sale tax work?

If you buy a new car for $20k and have a trade in for $10k do you pay sales tax on the difference, $10k, rather than the full price of the new car?

YES - you only pay sales tax on the difference - not on the total purchase price.

 

[Texas Proud]

Just easier to get the car dealer to match the car max price. . . Just make sure you have your deal set first.

Really? Easier?

You have not dealt with car dealers here....

Both me and my sister have bought new cars in the past number of years... both got quotes from Car Max and both got turned down from the dealer to match...

One was Genesis and the other Honda.... they said it would be much better to sell to Car Max as they could not match...

Also, both were presented Car Max price after the deal was made... and they had made an offer for the car....

 

[RunningBum]

How does sale tax work?

If you buy a new car for $20k and have a trade in for $10k do you pay sales tax on the difference, $10k, rather than the full price of the new car?

It may depend on the state. I know it works this way in Texas, but you have to trade it in to that dealer. Selling it to Car Max or any other way means you pay tax on the full $20K.

 

[CyclingInvestor]

I run them into the ground, then have them towed.

The one exception has worked out well. 2+ years ago I "sold" the old Crown Vic (on its last legs, engine problems) to a friends son for $50. Amazingly he has still kept it running - good deal for both of us.

 

[Alan]

It may depend on the state. I know it works this way in Texas, but you have to trade it in to that dealer. Selling it to Car Max or any other way means you pay tax on the full $20K.

That is what I remembered. The time I sold my car to Carmax rather than trade it in was when the trade-in offered was way below what Carmax paid.