Find a ride online and hope it's still there when you get to their location
Written: Apr 08 '05 (Updated Apr 08 '05)
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Carmax.com is a online showroom for Carmax which allows the prospective buyer to do all the legwork before taking the journey to their physical location. They have a niche market because they offer a very large selection of vehicles with a no-haggle price.
My husband is a Mustang enthusiast and when it was time for him to buy a used car he started looking on websites for some ideas. We actually had no intentions of buying a car online, we were just browsing at the time until he ran across a car on Carmax.com.
We knew that there was a Carmax in town but it was quite a drive from where we lived so had it not have been for their website we would never have found the deal that we couldn’t live without. How my husband ran across the website, Carmax.com, I do not know however I do know that we had to leave immediately and drive across town to see the car that he saw online.
Searching for a vehicle is on my list of most-dreaded things to do. For one thing, it’s hot as blazes here and walking around for hours outside in the sun is not fun. Secondly, with three bored kids there’s no opportunity to actually look at the cars. Finally, that man that breathes down your neck hovering over you…eh the salesman.
Locations
The website has a lot of information on it. One of the first things that you will probably want to do is find out if there is a Carmax in your area. You can find this information by the location section located at: http://www.carmax.com/dyn/companyinfo/locations/locations.aspx . We found an additional location in our area that we didn’t know about and another location coming soon. Clicking the exact information will give you’re the address, direction, phone number, and hours.
Searching for a car
Searching for a car was very easy. Cars are searchable by new, used, or either. You can further your choice for make, model, location, or price. The search saved us a lot of time because we already knew that we were looking for a Mustang and nothing else would do.
Once you get your search results you can further sort by make, model, trim, doors, price, color, transmission, cylinder, miles, or transferable outside of your area (new cars can not be transferred due to law restrictions). You also have the option to compare the cars that you have chosen.
Not only are you shopping from your local location you’re also shopping from all of their other locations which is around 20,000 cars. You can have a used vehicle transferred from another location for a fee. If the car arrives and you decide you don’t want it you sill have to pay the $150 transfer fee.
If you don’t see what you are looking for you can set up and email alert that will notify you when a vehicle in your criteria arrives.
Another thing that I’d like to mention is that the website is kept pretty current. It seemed like the website was updated daily.
What I don’t like about the website is the lack of pictures of the car. There is only one across the room mug shot of the car which isn’t detailed enough to know anything about the car.
No Haggle Price
One of the things that got my interest was the no haggle price. What you see on the website is the asking price for the vehicle, there is no negotiating. However, vehicles that don’t sell at the asking price will eventually be reduced by Carmax.
Also, if you are looking for an inexpensive car they do have choices on the Value Max lot that are categorized separately due to mileage or appearance.
The no-haggle price excludes tax, title, and tags though you can purchase them through Carmax.
Am I buying Lemonade?
Cars are not reliable so no matter who you buy a car from it is a risk. One thing that I liked is the inspection process that Carmax goes through. They will not sell a car that has ever had damage to the frame or had flood-damage. They also inspect cars before they are put on the lot. They site says, “Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) Certified Technicians check over 125 points and an average of over 12 hours inspection and reconditioning all used vehicles.”
Warranty
If you buy a car from Carmax you have a 5 day money-back guarantee if you decide you just don’t want the car and a 30 day warranty for repair. You can also purchase their extended warranty. You can read the details thoroughly online. The warranty is offered by another company, not Carmax.
Other Resources
There are other resources on their site which allows you the opportunity to calculate your payment, find car insurance (directed to another site), and read car news which are written by professionals.
Carmax will buy your car
This is one of the areas that Carmax fell short in our experience. Carmax gave us an insultingly low quote for our used vehicle which we ended up getting a lot more for at another dealership.
They do make offers and will buy your car even if you don’t buy one from them. The quote is based on their mechanics inspection and test drive. The condition and mileage of the car is the determining factor, not necessarily the bluebook price.
My experience onsite
It seems that previous people that have rated carmax.com have based their opinions based on the quality of car that they got, or the quality of their physical location. It’s really hard to separate thoughts of carmax.com from the experience with Carmax as a physical location because you can’t really buy the car through the website though you can do all of your research online without dealing with people or standing in the sun.
Carmax as a dealer of used car was no different than any other used car dealer. They had salesmen to assist you on the floor, private offices to complete the deals, on-site financing, snack room, waiting room, and service shop. They had internet connection in the showroom so you could do your own research if needed.
We bought a used Mustang and we got it for a fair price without any problems. We finaned through Wells Fargo which in cahoots with CarMax. Carmax also uses other banks like Bank of America and more for financing.
The next time we went to Carmax we were looking for a van or larger vehicle and weren't able to find anything at all and were disappointed with the trade in quote. We were also disppointed that the salesman had no time to spend with us and had no suggestions for possibilites. We were just left to roam their lot which was not what we wanted at the time. Another thing that irritated me was that they wanted to run our credit before they'd speak to us about the cars which was unacceptable because we didn't want to waste a credit inquiry for nothing.
One of the drawbacks of buying from a neutral party like Carmax is they don’t know much about the cars like you would find at a dealership like Ford, Chevrolet, Dodge, etc. They have all makes and models on site and they have very little knowledge other than what you can read on your own.
We bought there once, shopped there twice, and probably won't go back because they just don't offer anything special for us.
Why so vague?
The website is extremely vague and my questions can not all be answered online. Buying a car online through carmax.com isn’t really an option because you don’t really buy the car through the website, you only use the website as a tool. Once you find the car you want you contact a representative and finish the process in their office or by mail. They do not reserve or hold cars so even if you find something online if doesn’t mean that you can have it. You don’t just put a car in your shopping cart and check out like you typically would when making purchases online. When you look at the website for guidance it refers you to the physical location.
Another thing is all of the fine print is missing.
Overall
I’d like to point out that Carmax is merely selling cars so it’s still the buyer’s responsibility to check over the car and make sure the car is in good shape. I mean really, Carmax didn’t use these cars and they didn’t build them so other than checking them over and offering a short warranty there’s not much else they can do.
I would say the website is average. It’s above average in that you can search easily and acquire vehicles from out-of-town locations for a price and a long wait but it is below average if you want to look at a car from your computer because just one picture and car overview just doesn’t cut it. The website may peek your curiosity but it won't seal the deal.
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Used car
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xyzwyatt
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