Complaint Review: Carmax

I recently purchased a car through Carmax. I have read your posts and had a few comments/suggestions.

With regard to the statement "if you wanted a new car why didn't you buy a new car". I chose to purchase a used car for the fact that I believe it is a wiser decision. Why? Well because when you purchase a new vehicle, the moment you drive it off the lot, it depreciates several thousands of dollars. However, I did make sure that I had warranty coverage on my used vehicle. It still has a remaing manufacture warrantly of 2 years, 20,000 miles. :)

There has been several remarks about Carmax and the auction business. Where did the car come from, etc. May I suggest that when you purchase a used vehicle, request a Car Fax report. THis will tell you a lot about the vehicle you are purchasing. I found that mine was in fact purchased at auction. Even having the name(s) of all owners, any accidents, reports, etc made on the car.
It was with this information that I believe I made a wise decision in my purchase.
Take time to really read through it all. Utilize your resources and be sure to ask all questions.
I think sometimes people (not necessarily in your case) get overly excited with the purchase of a new car - but hey, who wouldn't it is fun - and tend to not consider and overlook the important things.
Good luck with your issues!

I worked at Carmax for two years, on the East Coast. I will not say what location for privacy reasons. I have witnessed so many complaints from customers, and many of them were valid claims!! It had gotten so bad, that I saw a few customers assult some salesmen because they were so sneaky, and did not provide good customer service.

In response to Christine's comments, I have to agree with you on the lack of knowledge, and customer service from Carmax. However, just so you know almost every used car that is on Carmax's lot, comes from an auction. A few of them are customers' trade-ins, but not many. They are the auctions that are only opened to dealers, and not consumers. Carmax does not really say that they don't sale cars from auctions, but they do say they don;t sell cars that have endured any type of frame damage, or a bad title, like salvage, flood, or the odometer has been changed. Many of the cars do have things wrong with them, because of lack of attention from the people that inspect them. The people that buy cars for carmax, either from the auctions or other consumers that want to trade their car in, are normal people just like you or me, that can easily miss a detail that is important. They have been trained for the job, but if they receive the wrong training, than I guess the consumers are the ones to pay for it, as Chrisine has.

Every car that a consumer brings to Carmax can be bought if the person is interested in selling. I have seen cars brought in on tow trucks, and Carmax has purchased them (at a very low price). Those cars are not suppose to end up on the lot, but instead sold to other auctions. Either way Carmax finds a way to make money off of anything. As far as the painting is concerned, cars can be sold with paint work done, as long as it is under a certain amount of money worth of work. If it is higher than the maximum amount, than the salesmen are required to have the buyer sign a form that states they are aware of the paint job repairs that were done to the car before tey bought it. A salesmen is not going to voluntarily give out this info, because many people will leave without buying. It is kind of a "what they don't know won't hurt them" kind of thing. I think they should be sued. They are careless with their customers, as well as their employees.

Not to bring my own problems, but after being there for two years, being promoted, and praised very highly as an asset to the company, I was fired for something that they could not prove, but because they were incompetent in finding out the actual person who had did wrong, they fired me to prove a point. I was made an example of. Just like they make an example out of their customers by selling them cars with things wrong with them, and thinking the customer is to stupid to realize what has just happened.

You are quite right to be furious with Carmax. It sounds like that car has been used and abused -- so much for the their inspection policies. And I would ignore "D," I am about 60% sure he's a Carmax flunky, and probably the same guy who has alread responded to a few of the Carmax warnings on this site.

In addition, my sister also purchased a car from Carmax, and was met with reoccuring problems their service department first denied and then claimed to have repaired. Eventually she simply dumped the car, deciding the 8k to get out of the rest of the lease was less than the stress and difficulty of having to deal with potentially life threatening mechanical failures.

I suggest that, if you have the time, you park your vehicle on the public land by the entrance road, and stand with a large sign detailing the highlights of your complaint. Take your kids with you so people understand not just the financial expense of dealing with Carmax, but also that it might cost them something they love. I'd practically bet you'll lose them enough business that they should return your money, and I know I'd feel better keeping people from repeating the mistake of buying from Carmax.

You are quite right to be furious with Carmax. It sounds like that car has been used and abused -- so much for the their inspection policies. And I would ignore "D," I am about 60% sure he's a Carmax flunky, and probably the same guy who has alread responded to a few of the Carmax warnings on this site.

In addition, my sister also purchased a car from Carmax, and was met with reoccuring problems their service department first denied and then claimed to have repaired. Eventually she simply dumped the car, deciding the 8k to get out of the rest of the lease was less than the stress and difficulty of having to deal with potentially life threatening mechanical failures.

I suggest that, if you have the time, you park your vehicle on the public land by the entrance road, and stand with a large sign detailing the highlights of your complaint. Take your kids with you so people understand not just the financial expense of dealing with Carmax, but also that it might cost them something they love. I'd practically bet you'll lose them enough business that they should return your money, and I know I'd feel better keeping people from repeating the mistake of buying from Carmax.

You are quite right to be furious with Carmax. It sounds like that car has been used and abused -- so much for the their inspection policies. And I would ignore "D," I am about 60% sure he's a Carmax flunky, and probably the same guy who has alread responded to a few of the Carmax warnings on this site.

In addition, my sister also purchased a car from Carmax, and was met with reoccuring problems their service department first denied and then claimed to have repaired. Eventually she simply dumped the car, deciding the 8k to get out of the rest of the lease was less than the stress and difficulty of having to deal with potentially life threatening mechanical failures.

I suggest that, if you have the time, you park your vehicle on the public land by the entrance road, and stand with a large sign detailing the highlights of your complaint. Take your kids with you so people understand not just the financial expense of dealing with Carmax, but also that it might cost them something they love. I'd practically bet you'll lose them enough business that they should return your money, and I know I'd feel better keeping people from repeating the mistake of buying from Carmax.

You are quite right to be furious with Carmax. It sounds like that car has been used and abused -- so much for the their inspection policies. And I would ignore "D," I am about 60% sure he's a Carmax flunky, and probably the same guy who has alread responded to a few of the Carmax warnings on this site.

In addition, my sister also purchased a car from Carmax, and was met with reoccuring problems their service department first denied and then claimed to have repaired. Eventually she simply dumped the car, deciding the 8k to get out of the rest of the lease was less than the stress and difficulty of having to deal with potentially life threatening mechanical failures.

I suggest that, if you have the time, you park your vehicle on the public land by the entrance road, and stand with a large sign detailing the highlights of your complaint. Take your kids with you so people understand not just the financial expense of dealing with Carmax, but also that it might cost them something they love. I'd practically bet you'll lose them enough business that they should return your money, and I know I'd feel better keeping people from repeating the mistake of buying from Carmax.

There is some truth to her post. After renting a number of vehicle, I've found that people tend to abuse rental vehicle much moreso then they would their own cars. What do they care? They are going to drive them for a day or two or more and give them back and never see them again. High speeds, too much weight, too many passengers, who cares.

Secondly, I don't know if anyone has noticed but the price of new vehicles has fallen. Some vehicles are selling for 30%+ off of MSRP. Bought a Jeep Liberty for $15K last year with a MSRP of $23k. Had it for 7 months, put on 4k mi, and got $14,400 when I sold it. The car dealers are selling used cars for thousands more than new cars. New F-150 Ford S/C Heritage XLT sells for $16,995, MSRP of $26,950.

On a $32,000 Tahoe they are "giving" $10,000 off, taking the price to $22-23,000. So pay attention when you are out there looking at used vehicles. If we refused to pay these crazy prices for used vehicles when we can get a new one for cheaper the car dealers won't have any choice but to lower the price on used also. It's a buyer market. Good luck.

I have been a carmax customer for years and have not seen a company with such quality and good ethics. I do realize that a car is a machine and things go wrong with it. Sometimes there are brand new cars that have engines go out with in the first few thousand miles on it. You should look into the extended warranty plan that really protects you.

You should also look at how you maintain your vehicle. Carmax has great no haggle prices, cars that have never been in a major accident, great financing, great warranties, and you even get 5 days to see if you are comforatable with your decision. I had carmax protect me for a repair bill of $1300 with their warranty. They even reimbursed me for a rental car.

I found out that the maker of the vehicle had engineering problems from the start. Sometimes it is the makers fault and not carmaxs. If you have enough time to call channel five, you should have enough time to do your research when buying a car. Carmax is a huge corporation and hasnt sold over a million cars out of luck.

I have been a carmax customer for years and have not seen a company with such quality and good ethics. I do realize that a car is a machine and things go wrong with it. Sometimes there are brand new cars that have engines go out with in the first few thousand miles on it. You should look into the extended warranty plan that really protects you.

You should also look at how you maintain your vehicle. Carmax has great no haggle prices, cars that have never been in a major accident, great financing, great warranties, and you even get 5 days to see if you are comforatable with your decision. I had carmax protect me for a repair bill of $1300 with their warranty. They even reimbursed me for a rental car.

I found out that the maker of the vehicle had engineering problems from the start. Sometimes it is the makers fault and not carmaxs. If you have enough time to call channel five, you should have enough time to do your research when buying a car. Carmax is a huge corporation and hasnt sold over a million cars out of luck.

I have been a carmax customer for years and have not seen a company with such quality and good ethics. I do realize that a car is a machine and things go wrong with it. Sometimes there are brand new cars that have engines go out with in the first few thousand miles on it. You should look into the extended warranty plan that really protects you.

You should also look at how you maintain your vehicle. Carmax has great no haggle prices, cars that have never been in a major accident, great financing, great warranties, and you even get 5 days to see if you are comforatable with your decision. I had carmax protect me for a repair bill of $1300 with their warranty. They even reimbursed me for a rental car.

I found out that the maker of the vehicle had engineering problems from the start. Sometimes it is the makers fault and not carmaxs. If you have enough time to call channel five, you should have enough time to do your research when buying a car. Carmax is a huge corporation and hasnt sold over a million cars out of luck.

I have been a carmax customer for years and have not seen a company with such quality and good ethics. I do realize that a car is a machine and things go wrong with it. Sometimes there are brand new cars that have engines go out with in the first few thousand miles on it. You should look into the extended warranty plan that really protects you.

You should also look at how you maintain your vehicle. Carmax has great no haggle prices, cars that have never been in a major accident, great financing, great warranties, and you even get 5 days to see if you are comforatable with your decision. I had carmax protect me for a repair bill of $1300 with their warranty. They even reimbursed me for a rental car.

I found out that the maker of the vehicle had engineering problems from the start. Sometimes it is the makers fault and not carmaxs. If you have enough time to call channel five, you should have enough time to do your research when buying a car. Carmax is a huge corporation and hasnt sold over a million cars out of luck.

"First of all I purchased a 2000 Ford Windstar."

A Windstar is a lower-tier vehicle. A quick read through Consumer Reports should be enough to convince anyone of this. Ther eare much better choices available in the used mini-van market.

"Also, if Carmax purchases cars from auctions why do they not tell you they do? What are they trying to hide? Also, if the car you are purchasing is a fleet vehicle you should be told you are purchasing one. I would have moved on to the next car had I know that the car was a fleet vehicle!!"

Why didn't you ask your salesman if it was a fleet vehicle? No where on Carmax's website does it state they do not buy vehicles from manufacturer auctions. If it were that much of a deal breaker you shoulda asked. How else do you expect Carmax to keep an approx. inventory of 20,000 late model, low-mileage used vehicles?

"Also, if they sell cars with clean titles why do I have 8 vehicle registrations on mine??? What were they doing with the car before Carmax purchased it? Carmax needs to check everything about the cars they sell before they stick them out on the lot."

8 registration records could be anything. It could be the original sale, subsequent registrations, etc. did you ask Carmax for a copy of the title history of the vehicle? If they bought it from an auction then the auction guarantees the vehicle's title history. If they bought it from a private individual then they run their own title history. Again, if it were that big of a deal you should have checked out all of the facts beforehand.

If you wanted a new car you should have bought a new car. Used cars can have problems, especially Fords. Instead of blaming Carmax why not blame the manufacturer who built the car in the first place.

First of all I purchased a 2000 Ford Windstar. I don't think this is a low-tier car. And even if it was it doesn't mean that I should have a million problems with the car!! I have purchased many many cars in the past and yes, some have been cheapy cars but let me tell you I never had problems with them like I have with this one.

Also, if Carmax purchases cars from auctions why do they not tell you they do? What are they trying to hide? Also, if the car you are purchasing is a fleet vehicle you should be told you are purchasing one. I would have moved on to the next car had I know that the car was a fleet vehicle!!

I also should have been told that the bumper was repainted and all the other repair work that went into the car before it was put on their lot. I again would not have purchased the car. From the day I bought it home it has had nothing but problems!!! This has nothing to do with low end vehicle or not it has to do with Carmax selling bad cars.

Also, if they sell cars with clean titles why do I have 8 vehicle registrations on mine??? What were they doing with the car before Carmax purchased it? Carmax needs to check everything about the cars they sell before they stick them out on the lot.

I purchased my minivan because I have children. I was looking for a safe car to put my children in. The people at Carmax could careless that this vehicle was in horrible condition. They just wanted to make their money. Like I said I made my story very short here but a lot has happened with this car and it has nothing to do with if it is a $45,000 car or a $10,000 car.

"Little did they tell me the low 15,000 miles that were on it were put on in as little as 8 months!!"

What difference does it make how long it took for the miles to be accumulated? I have a new car that I have owned since September of 03 and have put 18,000 miles on it.

"The car was purchased at a wholesale auction. Doesn't their brochure and website state "that any car that does not meet our high quality standards are sold at auctions"????"

Carmax purchases cars from major auctions that sell lease returns from manufacturers, programs cars, etc. When these cars are purchased from the auction the auction gives a guarantee that it has a clear title and no accident repair history. It's not the same type of auction that Carmax runs with older vehicles or vehicles that have been in an accident.

You didn't mention what type of vehicle you purchased. If you bought a lower-tier vehicle then you should expect lower-tier results.