Selling to CarMax, Carvana-tips?

[ocean view]

DM is in her late 80s and has finally decided to give up her car. Yahoo! She’s planning on getting offers from CarMax and Carvana. Anything she needs to be aware of? Are their services identical (other than Carvana will pick the car)?

I see KBB has an online offer service now called “Instant Cash Offer”. Anyone used them?

She’s got all her paperwork in order. The registration is due in early December, so she wants it gone before then. I’m several hours away, so not able to be there to help her out. By the way, she’s selling a 2001 Buick with 40k miles. I told her she should be happy for anything above $500, although in this market she might do a bit better.

Thanks

Edit to fix typos

 

[travelover]

I think for a car that old, I'd just do Facebook Marketplace. You should be able to get a couple grand for it.

 

[RetMD21]

Facebook is fine for young folks but I think she's better off selling to a business

 

[ocean view]

I think for a car that old, I'd just do Facebook Marketplace. You should be able to get a couple grand for it.

DM is not a Facebook user.

 

[DonnieT53]

DM is in her late 80s and has finally decided to give up her car. Yahoo! She’s planning on getting offers from CarMax and Carvana. Anything she needs to be aware of? Are their services identical (other than Carvana will pick the car)?

I see KBB has an online offer service now called “Instant Cash Offer”. Anyone used them?

She’s got all her paperwork in order. The registration is due in early December, so she wants it gone before then. I’m several hours away, so not able to be there to help her out. By the way, she’s selling a 2001 Buick with 40k miles. I told her she should be happy for anything above $500, although in this market she do a bit better.

Thanks

I have sold a couple of cars to Carvana. They usually offer the most for a low mileage car. The process was very fast, and paid off the one car within 72 hours for the car that had a lien. All that you have to do is log on to Carvana to get a quote without any obligation, you just might be surprised as to what they will give you.

 

[MC Rider]

I'd think a couple grand at least as well. Assuming it is in in decent shape.
It's certainly low miles. Is suspect selling to Carmax or the like will get a lowish price (not $500 low I hope), but the process should go easy.

 

[2HOTinPHX]

I have sold a couple of cars to Carvana. They usually offer the most for a low mileage car. The process was very fast, and paid off the one car within 72 hours for the car that had a lien. All that you have to do is log on to Carvana to get a quote without any obligation, you just might be surprised as to what they will give you.

Also note Carvana offers do change overtime. If not happy with first offer you could let it expire and get an updated quote. It could be higher or lower. We have a 2018 Cadillac ATS base trim. Undecided if we are keeping it. Carvana offers have been all over the place from about what we paid 24,000 to a low of 21,000 to a new high of 27,000 in the last week.

We did sell another car to Carvana cause it was a really good offer and the transaction was super easy.

 

[Qs Laptop]

DM is in her late 80s and has finally decided to give up her car. Yahoo! She’s planning on getting offers from CarMax and Carvana. Anything she needs to be aware of? Are their services identical (other than Carvana will pick the car)?

I see KBB has an online offer service now called “Instant Cash Offer”. Anyone used them?

I recently got a bid from Carvana and went through the initial process with KBB. Carvana gave me a specific number that was good for 7 days; KBB gave me a price range they would pay. Can't remember but I think KBB wanted me to take it to a dealer for them to inspect.

Carvana is going to want a picture of the odometer and a VIN. They ask you a bunch of questions about the condition of the vehicle including any noticeable wear and tear. All of this is done online after you register on their website. They are pretty fast with their appraisal. And they are pretty aggressive with follow-through emails asking to buy your vehicle.

Of the two I felt Carvana was easier to work with.

I ended up buying my leased vehicle instead of selling it to either Carvana or KBB.

 

[Murf2]

I just sold my FIL’s 2002 Buick Regal last week. 132K miles, good mechanical condition, less than great body & interior. I listed it on Facebook at $2750 knowing that they all want to beat you down. I sold it for $2300 and could have sold 3 of them if I had them.
I’m thinking she’d be leave a decent amount of money on the table sell to a dealer but if that’s what she wants to do.
Maybe you or a family member could handle it for her?

Murf

 

[travelover]

DM is not a Facebook user.

Sorry, I thought you were selling it for her.

 

[Sue J]

We sold a 2003 Toyota Camry, 94,000 miles to Carmax in March.

DH gave them all the info online, I don’t remember if it included the VIN number. Online the offer was $2600 which sounded fair.

We drove it in, expecting that they would haggle down on the offer. Nope, they checked it out, took some pictures and came back and offered us the same $2600 as they estimated online. The car was in good shape for 18 years old. But the Check Engine light was on and the exhaust had been getting noisy.

The Carmax sale was fair, easy and straightforward. Our local Carmax was about 20 miles away so not a problem.

Good luck with your Mom.

 

[ocean view]

I’m thinking she’d be leave a decent amount of money on the table sell to a dealer but if that’s what she wants to do.
Maybe you or a family member could handle it for her?

My main concern is for the transaction to be fair and easy for her to handle on her own. Okay, mostly easy. Unfortunately, I can’t be there to help her as I live several hours away. The only nearby family is my sister, who is useless. Without going into details, DS only does what benefits her and she’s not too business savvy so probably wouldn’t be much help anyway.

Since I can’t be there, I figured my friends at ER.org can help highlight any pitfalls, if any, so I can prep mom in advance.

 

[tb001]

Honestly, carvana was the easiest car exchange I have ever had. And they paid me more than kbb or carmax offered. I bought new and looked at doing a trade in for simplicity but the dealer basically told me if they were willing to pay that much for my car to take it and run.

They came out, did a super brief inspection, dealt with the title/registration stuff, handed me a check and moved the car to the street. A few hours later a flatbed came out and picked up the car. Total time was under 30 minutes and the $$ was more than anyone else.

 

[Murf2]

My main concern is for the transaction to be fair and easy for her to handle on her own. Okay, mostly easy. Unfortunately, I can’t be there to help her as I live several hours away. The only nearby family is my sister, who is useless. Without going into details, DS only does what benefits her and she’s not too business savvy so probably wouldn’t be much help anyway.

Since I can’t be there, I figured my friends at ER.org can help highlight any pitfalls, if any, so I can prep mom in advance.

Well if she’s on her own & easy is the goal, Carvana / CarMax are the way to go. Maybe donating it would be a good solution, seeing as how she’d be happy with $500. Probably more than $500 worth of satisfaction in that.

Murf

 

[PaunchyPirate]

Does she have a local Carmax? I sold to Carmax a couple times when I lived in Texas years ago. Before internet car-buying was a thing. It was as easy as it could be. You drive in and let them know you want to sell the car. They have someone go out and check out the car and then they come back in and write up an offer. The offer was good for 7 days.

I accepted their offer a couple times. You just bring the offer sheet into the financial desk with the keys and title and then you get some coffee in the waiting room. About 30 minutes later, they bring you a few forms to sign and give you a check.

I'm sure I could have got more money if I chose to sell it myself by advertising it somewhere, but I wasn't interested in dealing with all that. I got a decent price from Carmax.

 

[DayDreaming]

... By the way, she’s selling a 2001 Buick with 40k miles. I told her she should be happy for anything above $500, although in this market she might do a bit better.

Used cars are selling for crazy high prices right nowCarvana offered me $11,800 for a 2013 Hyundai with 63k miles on it. I'm guessing she'll get a lot more than $500.

I didn't sell my car yet because I have a long wait before I get my new car. But getting an offer from CarMax is really easy, all done through their website. When I have my new car, I plan on getting offers from CarMax, Carvana, and Vroom, and taking the best offer.

 

[donheff]

Carvana sounds pretty easy to deal with but how do they deal with body damage problems the seller did not disclose, or didn't even realize were there? Or things like saying the car looks "like new" when it is really just so, so?

I have sold a couple of cars to Carmax and the process was easy. But Carmax is out in the burbs so I have to arrange a pickup. Carvana would come to me appealing to my couch potato instincts.

 

[freedomatlast]

Too bad you aren't closer to help with the transaction. She'll leave a lot of money on the table selling to CarMax or Carvana. A private sale will bring around $3000 in this environment for that car, if it looks decent and drives ok. I recently sold a mid 90's Toyota with 150,000 for $5000. Out of curiosity, I got a bid from Carvana to see how bad they would try to bend me over. Their bid was $650.

 

[Another Reader]

The price of an older American car that is in excellent condition (including no body rust) is substantially higher than $500. Any car in good working condition that has no rust is likely to be worth a couple to several thousand dollars, as there is a floor to value for cars that run and are likely to run for awhile. Here I would check Craigslist and the community newspaper put out by a large retirement retirement community to get a feel for value.

I have consistently gotten higher offers from Carvana than Carmax here in the Bay Area. I have not sold to either here, though, so I can't speak about that experience.

 

[street]

Your best deal for profit is selling it yourself. Less hassle, take cash, as is clause and have a simple buy/sell with instructions details.

 

[Sue J]

Before we sold the above mentioned Camry to Carmax I had sold two previous cars through Craigslist. Craigslist is a hassle, at least in our area. As soon as I posted the listing I had many emails, some from bots, some from kooks, some from sincerely interested people.

Within the first few hours I set up test drive times for probably six interested buyers. Maybe two would show up and test drive. Some folks never show up and don't even let you know. We were fortunate that both times we sold the car within 24 hours, but it is a hassle, dealing with strangers and no shows. Best to make yourself available and be patient.

Any buyer on Craiglist or Facebook Marketplace is going to be expecting a bargain and will offer less than your asking price. On the first car I took less than I wanted, in cash. On the second car I got my asking price, in cash. Nice deal and he was local so we even drove it home for him.

I don't know if Craigslist is popular anymore since Facebook Marketplace is just as easy.

We sold the Camry in March, 2021, during the pandemic and we were comfortable in getting a straight forward transaction with Carmax rather than dealing with individuals in my driveway.

For your Mom in her late 80's you probably don't want her dealing with strangers at her home. You can probably get an estimate on Carvana and arrange it all for her online. When they come to pick up the car you can be on the phone or Facetime so that she's not alone when they come for the car.

 

[REWahoo]

Off topic but related, I recently helped my daughter purchase a used car for my college age granddaughter after hers was totaled. Since used car prices are totally nuts, I started using Carvana to get a quote to buy the cars we were considering. If the offer was close to the asking price, I figured it was reasonably priced for market conditions.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I totally agree you do not want complete strangers showing up at an 80 year olds home to test drive a car. To many bad people out there these days to risk it.
I sold my Hyundai Sonata to Carvana last year and it was a very smooth process. All paperwork done on line and then they set up an appointment for someone to come to my house and we were done in less than 5 minutes. He gave me my check and parked the car in the street and a transport truck came by a couple of hours later to pick it up. I also checked Carmax pricing and they offered about $2000 less.
Another option that might work is if the car will fail smog then her state may pay her to retire it.
Here is the info for California. I used this program when my PT Cruiser failed it's smog and my options were to fix or retire it. Apply, get approved and drive it to a junk yard on their approved list who will cut you a check there and then. It was sad day when I drove a perfectly functioning car to it's doom but the $1500 helped a lot, It was a totally no hassle process

https://www.bar.ca.gov/Consumer/Consumer_Assistance_Program/Vehicle_Retirement_1500

 

[Gotadimple]

Carmax is straight forward, Carvana was just starting up in 2018 when I sold a 14-year-old car with low mileage to Carmax. You make an appointment online at a Carmax dealer, provide details, and exchange an email with a sales person assigned to work with customers who want to see a car. Of course, they'd love to sell you a car off their lot.

When you meet in person, they inspect, then write up an offer. There is no gamesmanship. They tell you why the price is what they are offering. The price is the price, take it or leave it. If you take it, the 'sale' takes about 30 minutes for the paperwork and to turn over the keys.

 

[PatrickA5]

Sold my dads 2002 Toyota a couple of years ago to Carmax. I was expecting maybe a couple of grand, but they offered $4K. Even drove me home.

I've sold several cars to Carmax over the years. I always go there before trading in a car to get a set price. Sometimes the dealership will beat Carmax price, sometimes not. Now days there are several places to go to get the best price - Carmax, Carvana, Vroom, etc. We're no longer at the mercy of the used car guy lowballing a trade-in offer.

I stopped selling cars to individuals long ago. Yes, you can probably get better deals. Not worth the hassle to me.