[wj4]

I'm just curious because from what I see CARMAX is very popular. I would assume the price they give you is a bit higher than the trade in value, but obviously lower than selling it privately?

[!Xoible]

i just keep hearing stories that they low ball real hard. i know a couple friends who went there but ended up selling on their own.

[wj4]

Originally Posted by mantis

i just keep hearing stories that they low ball real hard. i know a couple friends who went there but ended up selling on their own.

Interesting...I would imagine that most people only have 1 car to use..so when they get rid of that car, they would get something nicer. What's the point of going to CARMAX if they're going to offer less than what you would get for a trade in value?

[x5love]

Selling privately is way higher. But yes they will give you more than whatever BMW offers, that's pretty much guaranteed.

[benny90]

Originally Posted by mantis

i just keep hearing stories that they low ball real hard. i know a couple friends who went there but ended up selling on their own.

+1, was selling my other car and they were going to give me less than what I would get for trade in. Ended up selling it myself and pocketed the 6 g's.

[!Xoible]

Originally Posted by wj4

Interesting...I would imagine that most people only have 1 car to use..so when they get rid of that car, they would get something nicer. What's the point of going to CARMAX if they're going to offer less than what you would get for a trade in value?

dealers may jack you even more than carmax. people might not have time to sell privately, people might not be able to trade in coz maybe they dont want a new car. just want to sell to move outta town, or whatever reason.

[firstkill]

carmax is pretty good.

I think if you wait you can sell better privately but it takes a lot of time. You can drop off your car there and they will appraise it. That offers good for 1 week or 200 miles or something like that.

Its a good way to get a baseline for your car.


FK

[juanccgg]

I sold my 2000 Corolla at Carmax.
The price was higher than the trade-in value.

And I probably could have gotten more money by doing a private sale but it was very convenient to sell it to them.

[epbrown]

I sold my 2003 325i to Carmax for $16k. I see them going for only a grand or so more privately, but that includes the hassle of selling privately. They put it up on their site for $22k and it disappeared within a week, but I don't think I'd have found someone that... uninformed. I don't begrudge them a profit.

As I've heard it, if you've got a popular model in good condition, Carmax pays well since (as seen above) they have crazy asking prices. The stuff that would be a tough sell for them, they are very stingy about. I knew the 325i would be no problem. I wouldn't offer them my Z4 roadster, though (it's going on Craigslist next week).

[ToothDoc]

I sold my IS350 there for more than trade in+tax break when I got my IS-F. I didn't want to bother with the headaches in trying to make a couple extra thousand selling privately.

They actually gave me more than KBB excellent condition trade-in value. I got 28,500 for a 38K car after 26K miles and over 2 years of use. Not bad huh?

If I had to do it again, I'll sell all my used cars at carmax or at least get a quote at carmax which is good for a week and than use that info when you get your new car somewhere else. Carmax IMO is good for selling off your car but not a good place to buy (too high).

[wj4]

Originally Posted by ToothDoc

I sold my IS350 there for more than trade in+tax break when I got my IS-F. I didn't want to bother with the headaches in trying to make a couple extra thousand selling privately.

They actually gave me more than KBB excellent condition trade-in value. I got 28,500 for a 38K car after 26K miles and over 2 years of use. Not bad huh?

If I had to do it again, I'll sell all my used cars at carmax or at least get a quote at carmax which is good for a week and than use that info when you get your new car somewhere else. Carmax IMO is good for selling off your car but not a good place to buy (too high).

How long does the appraisal process take? Do they play the haggling game? Like they say we'll give you $20,000 for the car. You said no thanks, you walk out, and they go after you and say 'wait, we'll do $22,000'. $10,000 depreciation for 2 years on a NEW car is not bad at all!

[ToothDoc]

no haggle. Appraisal takes about 20 minutes to 1 hour depending on how busy they are.

Yeah, I got really lucky on depreciation for my IS350. I paid full sticker for it too at 38K and change too. And I had it since Nov 2005 and just got rid of it in March 2008 so it's more like 28 months!!! If you do the math, that's what 400 bucks a month? Actually, a little more because it was 38K + tax but nevertheless, less than 500$ per month of use which actually ended up being better than leasing for me.