I am extremely distraught right now. My husband and I bought our vehicles from Carmax 3 years ago and were told all about the company's wonderful ethics, dedication to customers, etc. and that Carmax will buy your car (that you bought from Carmax) back for a great price.

We are moving to England and have to sell our car. Trusting that Carmax would give us a fair deal, we go to them. First, my husband's car, a 2002 Ford Taurus in excellent condition. The Kelly Blue Book value is between $5000 and $7000. They offer him $5000. He is disappointed, but it was just a little under the KBB value for his particular car, so he took the offer. It really hurt because he still owed $5349 on the car, so had to pay them when selling them his car. We were consoled by the fact that my car would make some money.

My car is a 2002 black Ford Escort ZX2 premium in great condition, with 29K miles, and all the options (automatic, sunroof, automatic, leather seats, ABS, etc.). The Kelly Blue Book value is between $6000-8000 and my husband predicts we'll get $6200. They "appraise" the car and tell us what a great car it is, how it's the perfect car for Carmax to buy, particularly with the low mileage, and then offer $4000!!! My mouth gaped open and I explained how we were expecting a lot more since the car was worth more. An "appraiser" was brought in and eventually concurred with me that we would get "at least $6000" for the car "on the streets," but that Carmax's first offer is final and that they do not negotiate. I owe $4700 on the car.

So, we were expecting to make a few thousand dollars and ended up being screwed out of a thousand. I literally spent the day bawling because I don't want to get rid of my car and feel so incredibly helpless and taken advantage of. They know we are moving overseas tomorrow and that we don't have another choice.

As an addition, we both bought the extended warranties on the cars, but when my husband brought his car in with a simple problem, they refused to fix it and only tried to temporarily stop the problem from happening.

I caution everybody to stay away from Carmax and feel stupid for having listened to their story about being fair, honest, and reasonable. Admitting the car is worth at least $6000 and then offering $4000 is a slap in the face.

I will NEVER go to Carmax again and will caution all my friends, family, acquaintances, and coworkers about their unethical predatory business practices.

Vanessa

Arlington, Virginia

U.S.A.

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6 Updates & Rebuttals

Tedddddddy

123 Ted Ave,
Texas,
U.S.A.

"premium" escort

#2Consumer Comment

Wed, October 15, 2008

That's like a jumbo shrimp right? I love how people always think their crap cars are worth so much money. As far as a ripoff, you werent ripped off, 95% of people would not give you a penny over $4000 for an escort. It probably cost $12000 brand new back in 2001....

Been There Done That

Ashburn,
Virginia,
U.S.A.

Appraisal???

#3Consumer Comment

Tue, October 14, 2008

Ok Mark from Sterling...or should I say Carmax employee, I dont understand what the heck the appraisal being free has to do with this AT ALL you keep bringing that up has no bearing at all. Appraisals are FREE at every dealership. Anyway the OP was wrong in waiting so long to sell her cars and was not counseled on the right prices to base their estimates on in any event this issue is 4 months old and I am sure they have moved on and so should we.

Peter

Pony,
Alabama,
U.S.A.

How is this a rip off?

#4Consumer Comment

Tue, October 07, 2008

They made you an offer, and YOU ACCEPTED said offer. If you thought it was "too low" then you had every right to sell your car elsewhere. And I hate to break it to you, but there is NO market for Ford Escorts these days, nor any other make/model of 7-year-old vehicles. You were lucky to get as much as they offered you.

Mark

Sterling,
Virginia,
U.S.A.

Rip off?

#5Consumer Comment

Tue, October 07, 2008

Hate to be insensitive here, but why in the world did you wait until the day before you had to leave, and put all your hopes in one basket. I can think of a hundred different ways in which this is stupid. And also, the appraisal was FREE.

Joe

Coral Springs,
Florida,
U.S.A.

more depreciation..

#6UPDATE Employee

Thu, August 09, 2007

carmax retails newer model ford taurus around the 11,000 price range, i assume you purchased it in 04 and its an 02 and had it for 3 years, now when you pay your monthly payments your paying more towards interest than principal of the loan thats how loans work especially if you dont put any money down. You can also get money back for the unused portion of the extended warranty. As far as your escort, they dont make escorts anymore. The ford focus took over the escort and escorts arent the most popular car despite yours having low miles and great options. carmax does have that 30 day warranty policy so if anything goes wrong carmax eats up the costs, now i dont know why that serv. dept did nothing for you, im glad mine does, and i make sure i take care of my customers.

Robert

Buffalo,
New York,
U.S.A.

Difference between wholesale and retail

#7Consumer Suggestion

Mon, July 09, 2007

KBB lists 2 categories, the private resale value (what you or a dealer would ask for the car) and the wholesale/trade-in (what a dealer would pay you for it) value. No dealer is going to give you the "private sale" or retail value of the car - they are in the business of selling cars for a profit. They offered you the wholesale price which is all any dealer will offer - they will attempt to sell the car at the retail value and make a profit. This is normal and not a ripoff. If you want to get the retail value, then you have to sell the car yourself.

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