CarMax

Reviews 3

MA

Madison Smith

We searched for months for the right car in our price range and were so excited when we finally found it at Carmax. We bought a Hyundai Santa Fe 2009 with 45,000 miles on it 04/15. 2 days after we purchased the car we were broken down on the highway because are clutch has lost all pressure. We towed the car to Carmax because we had the warranty and we had JUST bought the car. Carmax gave us a rental and while waiting for them to "fix" our car. They had it for about 10 days replacing the clutch, the master cylinder, belts, bleeding the clutch over and over again to make sure it didnt lose pressure again. Once we finally got the car back it wasnt even 24 hours before we were losing pressure in the clutch again. We brought the car into Carmax a total of 6 times all the way through July, where they replaced the same things over and over again.. Finally it seemed like they had fixed it. Not even 7 months later I get in my car to go to work and I cant even get my car into gear because there is absolutely no pressure in the clutch once again. We take it back to Carmax and this time they stated they didnt know what was wrong with it and they had to send the car back to the manutfracter. They had the car for another 3 weeks. We had to call several times and ask what was taking so long and apparently whoever was taking care of our car had gone on vacation and our car was forgotten about and sat there for a week without even being touched.. When we finally got the car back the clutch seemed to being working great for once but we noticed a very loud rattling noise that wasnt there before and it would only happen when the car was idling and the noise would stop as soon as we push the clutch. Then not even a week after we noticed the noise the clutch started losing pressure AGAIN. We take the car back to Carmax and they drive it for about 30 seconds and tell us that they could feel our axle moving while they were driving and they could fix it but wed have to pay our deductible (which we didnt mind) but it made no sense because we only heard the noise while the car was idling and we never felt anything "moving" when we had been driving. So my husband made him check it again like we originally asked and finally they heard the noise. Then they actually had the audacity to tell us that the manufacture had messed up on the clutch and we had to bring it back to them and it wasnt covered under our warranty there, when they were the ones who sent it to the manufacture because they couldnt fix it. At this point we dont even want the car anymore because it has been nothing but problems that no one has been able to fix. We went to try and talk to a manager to see what we could do since they sold us this piece of junk and they told us the best they could do is appraise the car but theyd "hook us up". They appraised our car $6,500 less than what we paid for it and told us they were doing us a favor even giving us that much for it. Now we have a car that causing us trouble constantly and our only options are traded it in and being out the $6,500 weve already paid for it or keeping a car that breaks down on us constantly. I HIGHLY recommend staying as far away from this place as possible. Save yourself the stress.

AM

Ameesh Patel

I wish I could give a negative star or zero star review. I planned to purchase a second vehicle from them of a specific make/model with specific options. The similar model I found in their Tampa location looked like it had been used as a rental vehicle and was so dirty, yet on their lot for sale. I paid a transfer fee to have the car moved from California. Took over 4 weeks, which was ridiculous and they stated they had no way of tracking it after it left the CA location. Hard to believe they would just let a shipper pick up the car and not know where it is. Ive purchased other cars from the west coast and it took a week or two at most not four. Car arrives in Tampa and while test driving it, I discover an issue with the navigation/I-Drive system. Supposedly this car went through 2 quality checks yet Im the one who finds this major glitch. They end up having to take it to the BMW dealer and then call me 2 days later advising they dont feel comfortable selling this car to anyone. I had to start my search over again and managed to find a newly listed car in Miami with similar but not all options, one year newer, and less miles, but $2k higher in price. After elevating concerns to management, all of whom didnt seem to care about all the run around I was getting, they finally agreed to sell me the car at the original price I had found for the lemon vehicle they were about to sell me. Fast forward another few days later when the car finally arrives in Tampa (mind you it takes 4 hours to get to Tampa from Miami by car) the car checks out but it takes CarMax over 6 hours to complete the paperwork for my purchase and the paperwork with the lienholder. CarMax keeps blaming the lienholder/credit union but it was apparent they werent happy I didnt use their in house financing despite them giving me a 3% lower interest rate. The sketchy sales manager and business office manager kept muting the phone when I insisted on completing a 3 way call with the lienholder and myself to keep bad mouthing my lienholder. It wasnt until I insisted they keep the line open so everyone is on the same page that they stopped bad mouthing the lienholder to me. Everything the lienholder did or sent over was not good enough for CarMax. CarMax acted as if they had never completed sales paperwork before and had to reprint and redo numbers in their system multiple times to finally finish all the paperwork. 6 hours later I finally was able to leave after a stressful and ridiculous purchasing process here. Never again will I set foot in a CarMax after this experience. They are a joke.

DE

Dennis Bandy

I worked for Carmax in Tampa from 1996 to 2010 as a Master tech at first inspecting and reconditioning cars to get them ready to sell. The last several years of my time there, I worked on the retail service side repairing customers cars that had purchased and brought them back for regular and aftermarket warranty service. I recently searched Carmax for an Infinity G37. The salesman was polite and was very honest about the slight imperfections the car had located at a nearby store. We received a fair "offer" price for our old car. We were offered $11,000. Brandon Ford and Infiniti of Sarasota offered the same. Lexus of Clearwater came in lowest at $10,000 (Lexus dealer wanted us to pay for detailing our trade also @ $200!). We ended up purchasing a new Infiniti in Sarasota and traded our car there, however the Carmax experience was just the way I remembered. The Carmax offer in writing allowed me to go to the Infiniti dealer armed with a written offer in case they tried to low-ball us (they didnt). I believe Carmax is a great place to start and they deserve much credit for forcing the old high pressure car sales tactics of the past to go away. Gone are the days of sales managers retaining your keys (under the guise of evaluating your trade) while the salesman works on wearing you down and FORCING a deal. I didnt purchase from Carmax this time but I would not rule them out in the future if they had the car with the features, colors etc. that I want. Carmax is not always the cheapest, but I know that their cars have been reconditioned. Some other car dealers like Lexus of Clearwater, will only address used car issues if the customer sees a problem. And then they may only offer to "split" the cost of repair. Thats happened when we were looking at a used 2011 G37 there. On a $33,556 dollar used 2011 G37, there was an obvious problem with the drivers interior trim. They said they would split the $450 that it would cost to replace the trim! Remember I worked Carmax and Carmax would never expect the customer to pay to make the car sale-able once its on the lot. In conclusion, shop Carmax when youre looking for a good inspected/reconditioned used car. Arm yourself with an offer in writing for your trade. After youve shopped around, you may just find that Carmax has the best over-all deal. Its truly a good company and one that you can trust.