Complaint Review: CarMax - Stockbridge Georgia

Those current employees of CarMax who commented here are in violation of CarMax's own "Contact With The Media" policy. You'd better hope you are not identified, because CarMax will fire you faster than you thought possible. The TRUTH is that the 125 point inspection was a JOKE at 7107 in Orlando. The TRUTH is that they're doing complete re-sprays on cars now. The TRUTH, that I saw with my own eyes, was CRAPPY paintwork, with runs in the paint, key-holes sprayed over, tag lights sprayed over, etc. Just wanted to shine a bit of light on what happens at SOME CarMax stores. If it's no happening at YOUR stores, current CarMax employees, consider yourself lucky.

Those current employees of CarMax who commented here are in violation of CarMax's own "Contact With The Media" policy. You'd better hope you are not identified, because CarMax will fire you faster than you thought possible. The TRUTH is that the 125 point inspection was a JOKE at 7107 in Orlando. The TRUTH is that they're doing complete re-sprays on cars now. The TRUTH, that I saw with my own eyes, was CRAPPY paintwork, with runs in the paint, key-holes sprayed over, tag lights sprayed over, etc. Just wanted to shine a bit of light on what happens at SOME CarMax stores. If it's no happening at YOUR stores, current CarMax employees, consider yourself lucky.

Those current employees of CarMax who commented here are in violation of CarMax's own "Contact With The Media" policy. You'd better hope you are not identified, because CarMax will fire you faster than you thought possible. The TRUTH is that the 125 point inspection was a JOKE at 7107 in Orlando. The TRUTH is that they're doing complete re-sprays on cars now. The TRUTH, that I saw with my own eyes, was CRAPPY paintwork, with runs in the paint, key-holes sprayed over, tag lights sprayed over, etc. Just wanted to shine a bit of light on what happens at SOME CarMax stores. If it's no happening at YOUR stores, current CarMax employees, consider yourself lucky.

First of all, I don't appreciate being called retarded. Thats mature! Yes i do know what I am talking about, I also have a close friend who is a mechanic at carmax. Would you like to know over the Summer a technician brought his 14 year old son into work (night shift) and let him work on cars! Does Not sound like certified techs working on vehicles there! Do you own stock in Carmax? You must. Why do you think to work at Carmax you have to sign a arbitration agreement? It is so you can't go to court and make public complaints. One of the body techs was turning 40 hours a night, Do you realize how much money he is making? As of now he has made over $100,000.00 Not too bad for 7 days work in a 2 week period! Again, I know what I am talking about (Trust me!)

Maybe you should take it for a prepurchase inspection by your "... brother in law who is a well qualified certified mechanic". Pay him $100 or so or give him a nice gift for his helping you avoid future "used car issues". At least CarMax corrected your problems. Many used car buyers are not that lucky.

I am not and have not been a customer of Carmax, but have owned 2 Jeep Grand Cherokees for 6 years. Pre 2004, they are infamous for brake and transmission problems that, in all fairness, sometimes cannot be detected in an inspection. My transmission went out in my 2000 Gr. Cherokee, and a new one was put in by the dealer. It was covered by my warranty. The brakes on that car were always problematic, and there is currently a class action lawsuit settlement pending against DaimlerChrysler (for the brakes) that covers your Jeep. I'm not sure if you received the paperwork from the attorneys. If not, do some Internet research.

"Each car bought goes through about 12 hours of inspections." With what a blind man? I purchased a 1998 Jeep Grand Cher. 4 x 4 in 2002. Loved it thought it was great. Took it to my brother in law who is a well qualified certified mechanic. To find that.......... 1. Needed brakes and rotors. 2. Needed an alinement and new tires. 3. Rear end was shot. (took car-max 3 tries to get this right, they could not seam to a-line everything.) 4. Transmision needed an overhaul. Yes! Car-max did fix these items but for them to say it was inspected is a joke. Then to top it off had a $100.00 radar dector stolen from it.

I am a consumer. The employee rebuttal, I believe is the individual below my rebuttal. You are saying that I am comparing a used Honda. In my rebuttal I clearly state that I purchased a brand New honda in 2003 for a little over 17k. And sold it this year for $9500. That is a depreciation against my purchase price of $7,500 over three years. I would agree with you that some makes/models depreciate huge amounts when bought new, but Honda is not one of them. I firmly belive that they have the best resale value of any make out.

A wife of a former bitter employee. Yup, accurate info there. Of course managers want high efficiency. Show me one industry where that's not the case. However, high efficiency and high quality are both used to judge the managers and techs. There are probably 30 or so reports used to rank supervisors and managers. It all has to be mixed. Too high of efficiency and they start looking everything over to see why. Too many warranty claims results in the same thing. As far as the pay goes. For service people in the auto industry(body shop, techs, and even detailers in some cases) are paid a form of commison. A book/computer lists how long it "should" take to do a job. That's how the customer(in this case carmax) is charged. Ever notice how an estimate lists labor hours? If job A pays 2 hours and through experience and efficiency a tech can do it in 45 minutes, well he just got hooked up. If it takes 3 hours, he learns a lesson. Body guys do alot of jobs that overlap each other and can build up a crazy amount of hours. But in general a proficient tech can get 12 or so hours for an 8 hour shift. Nothing fishy about that. It's called being good at your job. After all, a mechanic averaging $40 an hour is doing it because he's good. Ask around. That's how the industry works.

I bought a Ford Escape at Carmax 4 years ago and have had zero problems with the vehicle. Bought it at 1 year old and less then 10,000 miles. I will buy from Carmax again.

Michele, please. Stop posting your "second hand" knowledge, or lack thereof. You have no idea what you are talking about. Each car bought goes through about 12 hours of inspections. No exceptions. If there is ANY evidence of frame repair, in the slightest, it is never put on the lot. If there is something wrong with your car, you have 5-days to have it checked out and you can bring it back FOR ANY REASON for a refund. People do this all the time due to mind changing or finding another car. Maybe your husband was fired because he was being a nuisance like you.

Again, I will say my husband worked for Carmax and the cars they sell are not worth the price! All the managers in the mechanic and bodyshops are doing are worrying about getting the "zone" down! They want the cars passed through and on the lot asap! So they have a better efficiency because they will look better as management material and try to climb the corporate ladder! I am not saying all Carmax stores are the same, but The one my husband worked at is pretty bad! Of course the employees also want to get the cars through quick because the sooner they do they can move on to the next car and make alot of money! A person can turn 40 hours in one days work at Carmax! and only work 11 hours! Who is paying for this??? The Customer!!!!

Tom, If you are an employee as your submission says you are you should know that a new car depreciates much faster than a used car. The $10,000 depreciation that was listed above was on a NEW can and not a used one. New cars on average do depreciate on average of $6,000 to $14,000 or in some cases more, as soon as you drive them off of the lot. A used car, such as the one your refrenced depreciates much slower.

We have a body shop at the production stores. They fix dings and replace panels from time to time. They'll even paint large portions of a vehicle from time to time. Everything is well within or above industry standards. They can take a car that looks perfect and find problems that the normal person would pass over. A major source of income for the company is in selling wholesale cars. Other dealers come and buy our rejects. At most locations this is a monthly thing and we move about 150+ cars at the auctions that are only open to other dealers. The frame damage we look for is the obvious stuff. We cannot put every car on a frame machine and check measurements. We look for cracks, tears, bends etc.. Even clamp marks, if the car has EVER been on a frame measuring machine it's unnacceptable although it may be perfect. It would be like a health insurance company declining you if your cholestoral has ever been checked, after all there had to be a reason for it, so it's better to err on the side of caution. You'll be able to find hundreds of complaints about ANY car dealer. It's the nature of the business. So it looks like carmax is full of con artists, but look at the number of cars sold vs. the number of complaints filed to put it in perspective. There are small under 3 location dealers here that have more complaints than all of carmax's 70+ locations and millions of cars sold. Stuff happens, but unlike most dealers we usually take care of problems with the least amount of trouble.

I am confused where you said that Honda lost $10,000 the second he drove it off of the lot. Not a chance. Unless he paid $30,000 for a $20,000 accord. Put it like this. I bought a 2003 Honda LX (brand new) in 2003 for $17,000. I just sold it for $9,500 over three years later. Honda has the best resale value of any car. You depreciation is way off. I understand your logic, but the numbers could not be more inaccurate.

Carmax promises not to sell frame damaged cars!!! Sounds like they did exactly what they should have. They admitted their mistake, and fixed the problem. I have bought several cars at traditional dealerships in the past only to find problems with them later. Do you think they offered to "Buy back the car?" NO! they didn't. Carmax should be commended for what they did. Keep up the good work Carmax! This person should be happy. That new car you just bought, the 2006 Honda, do you think it will never have problems? And, just so you know "for the record" that car lost $10,000.00 the second you drove it off the lot. One more thing Citifinancial is a bank that only finances "banged up credit" sounds like you aren't all that perfect either!! About the Mazda 3 you bought, did you do a Carfax report on it? I would have if something like this happened to me. Doesn't Carmax also a offer a 5- day money back guarantee? Bet you didn't have it inspected by your OWN mechanic during this time? Do you listen to Clark Howard or V-103? This former Carmax employee that says something is wrong with all their cars is correct!!! They inspect all of them and everyone of them will reveal something that needs to be fixed this is why they are called reconditioned USED cars and not NEW cars. Lastly Carmax in Stockbridge, Ga. does not have an auto body shop. I work for one of the local body shops that they send their work to. Which is very little, they kick cars to their wholesale auction that I would sell to anyone, or any other dealer would well to customers. Seriously Carmax is one of the best places to buy a used car. The body shop I work for gets alot of business from the other dealers in the area, and they send us worse cars to repair than Carmax does. Buying a used car is risky, and it seems to me from being in the repair business, that Carmax takes alot of this risk out of the process. No other dealer offers a 5 day money back guarantee or would ever admitt a mistake please be careful in the future.

Carmax promises not to sell frame damaged cars!!! Sounds like they did exactly what they should have. They admitted their mistake, and fixed the problem. I have bought several cars at traditional dealerships in the past only to find problems with them later. Do you think they offered to "Buy back the car?" NO! they didn't. Carmax should be commended for what they did. Keep up the good work Carmax! This person should be happy. That new car you just bought, the 2006 Honda, do you think it will never have problems? And, just so you know "for the record" that car lost $10,000.00 the second you drove it off the lot. One more thing Citifinancial is a bank that only finances "banged up credit" sounds like you aren't all that perfect either!! About the Mazda 3 you bought, did you do a Carfax report on it? I would have if something like this happened to me. Doesn't Carmax also a offer a 5- day money back guarantee? Bet you didn't have it inspected by your OWN mechanic during this time? Do you listen to Clark Howard or V-103? This former Carmax employee that says something is wrong with all their cars is correct!!! They inspect all of them and everyone of them will reveal something that needs to be fixed this is why they are called reconditioned USED cars and not NEW cars. Lastly Carmax in Stockbridge, Ga. does not have an auto body shop. I work for one of the local body shops that they send their work to. Which is very little, they kick cars to their wholesale auction that I would sell to anyone, or any other dealer would well to customers. Seriously Carmax is one of the best places to buy a used car. The body shop I work for gets alot of business from the other dealers in the area, and they send us worse cars to repair than Carmax does. Buying a used car is risky, and it seems to me from being in the repair business, that Carmax takes alot of this risk out of the process. No other dealer offers a 5 day money back guarantee or would ever admitt a mistake please be careful in the future.

Carmax promises not to sell frame damaged cars!!! Sounds like they did exactly what they should have. They admitted their mistake, and fixed the problem. I have bought several cars at traditional dealerships in the past only to find problems with them later. Do you think they offered to "Buy back the car?" NO! they didn't. Carmax should be commended for what they did. Keep up the good work Carmax! This person should be happy. That new car you just bought, the 2006 Honda, do you think it will never have problems? And, just so you know "for the record" that car lost $10,000.00 the second you drove it off the lot. One more thing Citifinancial is a bank that only finances "banged up credit" sounds like you aren't all that perfect either!! About the Mazda 3 you bought, did you do a Carfax report on it? I would have if something like this happened to me. Doesn't Carmax also a offer a 5- day money back guarantee? Bet you didn't have it inspected by your OWN mechanic during this time? Do you listen to Clark Howard or V-103? This former Carmax employee that says something is wrong with all their cars is correct!!! They inspect all of them and everyone of them will reveal something that needs to be fixed this is why they are called reconditioned USED cars and not NEW cars. Lastly Carmax in Stockbridge, Ga. does not have an auto body shop. I work for one of the local body shops that they send their work to. Which is very little, they kick cars to their wholesale auction that I would sell to anyone, or any other dealer would well to customers. Seriously Carmax is one of the best places to buy a used car. The body shop I work for gets alot of business from the other dealers in the area, and they send us worse cars to repair than Carmax does. Buying a used car is risky, and it seems to me from being in the repair business, that Carmax takes alot of this risk out of the process. No other dealer offers a 5 day money back guarantee or would ever admitt a mistake please be careful in the future.

My Husband used to work at Carmax as a paint prepper, He said sometimes they would have to do repairs and paint 75% of one vehicle. New cars also have damage because of employees playing around with the cars and hitting other cars, or things such as hail damage, they had to repair the vehicles, and the customer never knows about it. The people that were my husbands managers had no knowledge of body and paint work, but would insist on telling him how to do his job! He complained higher supervisors about the way things are done at Carmax as well as other issues that happened there, he was fired soon after!