Carmax experiences

Just get the appraised value from the "black book" at vw.com. It'll be higher than carmax and the dealer will honor it more or less.

Alternatively, get it at appraised at carmax and tell new car dealer that you want x amount more. They know that car max is low balling and they wont mind beating it by a few hundred bucks.

dustinouch said:

I'm sure my experience with carmax was an outlier, I wouldn't sell the GTI through them but if I ever leased again I would.

Click to expand...

Carmax is huge, and they’re doing really well, so obviously not everyone comes out of there with a bad experience. It's just about works best for your personal situation and weighing the cost of your time vs. maximizing your purchase. Some people don’t care much and are willing to pay for it. Those that aren’t going to do their research when buying/selling are likely going to pay a little more for the convenience. If you are going to be thorough in your research then you’d be foolish to not check out the biggest used car retailer in the US. If they give you a shitty offer, then toss it in the reject pile, which, if you’re doing your research, is huge.

I had a very good experience when I Carmax'ed my 2010 GTI. I had the car for sale on various forums for 1-2 months prior to going this route. After no solid bites my father suggested Carmax and I had never heard about it, probably because the closest one was 2 hours away in Indy.
Anyhow I went down and checked things out. The guy who helped me was very knowledgable and I felt comfortable. I got asked a bunch of questions as an appraiser looked at my car and gave it a test drive. Not too long after I had a quote, which was higher than I was expecting. The quote was good for 7 days and I went back a week later and sold them the car.

I was happy going this route because I was able to sell some things on the side that I was going to include with the sale otherwise (euro switch, 2 brand new tires, and a few other things). Add to that I got around 800 bucks back from the extended warranty that I didnt use. It was a no-brainer for me, but Carmax isnt for everyone. I loved my experience and have heard the same from others.

I miss the GTI but I had very valid reasons for selling