So generally I've heard around that CarMax will typically appraise your trade in much higher than what a dealer would offer.
A few questions I have about CarMax:
1) Is that the general consensus that CarMax does in fact give out better appraisals than what dealers will initially offer?
2) To get an appraisal from CarMax, is it something where you have to trick them into thinking you're going to do business with them even when you have no intention of doing so?
3) Do they care that you just want the appraisal from them to just go show it to a Jeep dealer on your trade in?
From my experience... traded in a 2014 Cherokee trailhawk to my current 2014.
Dealer offered me 23k on my trade. I wasn't a happy camper so I decided to give CarMax a try. In the end, they appraised my jeep for 29k. I went back to the dealer the next day and they accepted the offer.
1. It really depends. In my case, the trailhawk was new to the market so there wasn't a lot of data. I got lucky with what was offered from CarMax.
2. I just told them that I was curious in what they would offer me. I told them that if they gave me a good offer, I would consider a trade in. There was no pressure whatsoever.
3. They don't really care. In my case, the dealer wasn't willing to match my offer, but they did trade in the jeep to CarMax themselves.... or that's what they told me.
dealer claimed they would easily beat carmax offer. Then made excuses why trade in couldn't possibly be worth the offered amount. They wanted trade in for $500 less. I countered with $300.00 less on new purchase. They agreed, I gave up 200.00 and only paid sales tax on the difference in price instead of total purchase. (State sales tax thing)
No, just walk in and ask for appraisal. Sales guy will try to sell you a car though. Offer to search inventory, etc. Play along if you want. I told them I had searched already (true) they sell new cars, but they didn't have any new wranglers. We chatted a bit. When my apraisal was ready. he asked if It was fair and if I wanted a check. It was right on what I was expecting, but I wanted the tax break thing on my new purchase.
Nope, the appraisal is a thing they do to get bodies in the door. The more that walk in, the more chances for a sale.
The sales tax issue is where you can make/save some money. Pay attention to that.
Other than that, Carmax has been good for me. Have dumped two cars on them, in both cases they beat the dealer offer. In one case it was a substantial improvement, though that dealer had lowered the sale cost of the Jeep substantially and probably was just trying to make some profit back on the trade in.
Pros:
Really is no-hassle
You'll get a decent offer
You don't have to go nuts cleaning
You won't hear from them again after the transaction
They do so many that it's very quick and easy
Cons:
You can get more money from other avenues, but they all have their own pros and cons
I place a very high value on my free time. Not going to do private sales. I'd prefer to trade in to a dealer, but if they don't give me at least the bluebook value, I just call back on Carmax and call it a day.
I sold a 2003 Dodge ram Quad cab hemi in 2009 to Carmax. I drove it over got an appraisal came back a couple days later dropped it off basically gave me bluebook trade-in value. No trickery in making them think you're going to buy a car.
So generally I've heard around that CarMax will typically appraise your trade in much higher than what a dealer would offer.
A few questions I have about CarMax:
1) Is that the general consensus that CarMax does in fact give out better appraisals than what dealers will initially offer?
2) To get an appraisal from CarMax, is it something where you have to trick them into thinking you're going to do business with them even when you have no intention of doing so?
3) Do they care that you just want the appraisal from them to just go show it to a Jeep dealer on your trade in?
I have purchased/sold several vehicles through Carmax (27 in the past 10 years). They generally have good condition, low mileage cars for a decent price. That would lead me to believe they're a little low on their purchase appraisals ( its not a trade in appraisal per se as they will honor that number even if you dont buy your car from them...thats how they obtain their inventory)
I can honestly say, i only feel like i was screwed once in those 27 cars on a trade in. But it was a Honda Crv that i had purchased new via a Honda dealer. Some cars, they actually bought back at or above what i bought them for (a 2013 Toyota Fj and a 2014 jk Sahara). This was due purely to popularity and low available inventory.
So, no tricks and they won't care if you buy their car or not.
CarMax does not operate like most traditional dealerships. You can have any car appraised whether or not you plan to buy a car there. They will appraise your vehicle and make an offer based off of the current market. ie, auction data, sales data, and typically the trend of the market. The best thing to do is be honest. It doesn't matter what your intentions are, they are just there to help and want to buy every car. Sometimes they are higher than other dealers, sometimes not. If you have a specific vehicle, and a traditional dealer is low on inventory on that specific car, you will probably get a better offer there because they have others ways to make a profit.
Keep in mind that CarMax sells OEM vehicles, or vehicles with very little aftermarket modifications. So if you bring in a lifted Wrangler, with all kinds of mods, they will still appraise it. But the offer may be lower than a similar vehicle without those modifications. At that point they are trying to determine what a dealer will pay for your vehicle at auction, and not for what they could sell it for on the front lot.
They are a very low pressure business so they have a no haggle experience. Which means that if they want to buy every vehicle they can they make you the best offer they can the 1st time. You won't need to ask for a little bit more, the offer they give you is the very best they can offer, so asking for more will net you nothing. It's a really easy process, you can be in and out in an hour with a check in hand.
Save the negotiating tactics for the traditional dealerships. Go to CarMax and get a quick appraisal. Then you will have an idea of what your vehicle is worth.
I've been to carmax once and probably won't ever go back. I get the sticker price is it and that's how they operate. Knowing they won't budge keeps me from ever bothering with going back. Also, their price quote on trade in was way too low.
A few questions I have about CarMax:
1) Is that the general consensus that CarMax does in fact give out better appraisals than what dealers will initially offer? ymmv
2) To get an appraisal from CarMax, is it something where you have to trick them into thinking you're going to do business with them even when you have no intention of doing so? no
3) Do they care that you just want the appraisal from them to just go show it to a Jeep dealer on your trade in?
I wanted nothing to do with private sales. I accepted better than trade in value which I could not get from the local Jeep dealer. My experience at CarMax was 3K more than the Jeep dealer offer for my trade. Took the check and found a better deal elsewhere...ymmv
The CarMax agent offered NO pressure to buy anything and stopped me on the way out with check-in-hand and simply said you got anything else to unload. I came back the next day with a positively beaten '94 Corolla given to me with 145K with not a straight panel on her and got another check for clearing the driveway...LoL
Check your state sales tax policy. Pretty sure that here in CA, and a few others, sales tax is paid in the new vehicle purchase price, before any rebates or trade ins.
How does it work if there's negative equity? Let's say you still owe 20 grand and they offer 15?
Would they pay off the bank in full and then you make payments to Carmax to cover the balance?
How does it work if there's negative equity? Let's say you still owe 20 grand and they offer 15?
Would they pay off the bank in full and then you make payments to Carmax to cover the balance?
Doesn't work that way.
This will vary slightly by state, but typically they will get the loan payoff from the bank that shows a lien on your title. If the payoff is 20k and you owe 25k then you'll be signing over the title and giving them a check for 5k.
No one is going to finance that 5k because there's no collateral. If you don't have the 5k then you'll have to get a personal loan of some type.
^that said, this is a terrible idea. If you're upside down in your vehicle then you need to be selling it, not trading it in or going to car max. You need to get as close to the retail value as you can to minimize your loss.
Then give some thought as to why you're in this situation so you can avoid making the same mistake again. Not beating you up, we've all made mistakes, just make sure you learn your lesson from this. :thumb:
Cal bends you over good. Trade in a car worth 50K and buy one from them for 50K, you pay sales tax on 50K, plus registration. And none of those taxes can be deducted off your taxes except for some of the reg.
Yep. And then they guy that buys the used car pays sales tax on his purchase. A product that was already subjected to sales tax when originally purchased.
The state must love lease turn ins and late model used car sales.
I've had dealer beat Car Max trade in value on two cars while they kept the selling price i was after. This didn't happen on their initial offer, only after i told them them i was getting a better offer for my trade in from Car Max. Car Max is a good tool to get a value set on your vehicle before shopping for new car. I hatted to use them for that but it worked out better for me.
My experience has been that carmax will offer about 1/2 way between KBB trade in and retail. I've never bought a car from them, but I sold two to them when we were moving to Europe. Drove them until the day before we left, drove in with the titles in hand, left with a check about an hour later. Eze- Peezy
I traded in a 2010 F150 longbed 2wd work truck for my jeep. KBB was $9500 at the high end. I decided to give carmax a shot... they appraised it at $11.5k. I took it to the dealership and asked them to match it. They did not want to, they wanted to do $8500. I said "well I'll take it back to carmax". The manager went into a back room for around 45 minutes and finally came out and said he would do the deal. That's my experience, I was very surprised at what they offered, even wonder if it was a mistake (4wd checked in the computer or something). But it worked out for me...
Business is there to make money. The customer is the source of that money. Without that money the business is gone. We are the source of the money. You can't loose money on every deal but make up for it with volume.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Ask a question
Ask a question
Jeep Wrangler Forum
9M posts
468K members
Since 2005
A forum community dedicated to Jeep Wrangler owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about reviews, performance, trail riding, gear, suspension, tires, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, for all JL, JT, JK, TJ, YJ, and CJ models!