CarMax Dealership

Reviews 3

HA

Hamid Mirshahi

Fair warning, this is rather long...but I want people to have a good understanding of the type of unethical business this Carmax is running before patronizing this establishment. Should you have any doubts, I encourage you to read the other reviews about this locations service center. If youre short on time, the key takeaways are: - After the first 30 days, Carmaxs customer service becomes a frustrating and faceless experience, with little to no ability to address issues due to the customer having to interact with virtual representatives that do not have the authority to resolve complaints. - Make sure to request a copy of the "125 point inspection" performed by Carmax (or any other documentation on the condition of the car prior to purchase [if they will provide it to you]), and request record copies from any secondary sources that refute or contradict Carmaxs inspection results. - Should you find yourself in an unresolvable dispute or unable to obtain responses from Carmax, a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) seems to be the only thing that gets Carmaxs attention. Details: I purchased a Mercedes at the Dulles Carmax in March 2015. The car had a few minor issues that fell under their 30 day full coverage, and they took care of them, which was fantastic. A short time later, however, I noticed water dripping into the interior of the car (after rain, etc.) -- at one point, it got so bad that all the carpeting was soaked. I took the car to Mercedes Benz of Tysons to have it inspected (I have a warranty with Mercedes directly as purchased through Carmax.) Mercedes indicated that the sunroof pipes (for water drainage) were badly clogged, and that this wasn’t an issue that had arisen within the past year -- the car was sold to me with clogged pipes. They offered to fix it for a fee, but recommended I take it back to Carmax for repair first since they failed to clean the pipes prior to selling me the car. This began a months-long dispute with Carmax that eventually resulted in my having to come $1425 out of pocket to repair the issue, due to an unexpected rainy season hitting the area and my needing a resolution quickly. During the initial stages, my in-person complaints with Dulles Carmaxs management (specifically, Craig and Scott) were met with complete disinterest and disregard. Carmax and I went in circles due to their refusal to provide records indicating Carmax had inspected the sunroof pipes prior to sale (which I was told wouldve occurred during their "125 point inspection"), citing "confidentiality"(?) reasons, and my refusal to now pay Carmax (at a rate of $112/hr) to do another inspection on the car to diagnose the problem (as I believe this wouldve resulted in Carmax finding themselves not at fault.) My paperwork from Mercedes was essentially dismissed outright, as Scott directly stated he "did not trust" Mercedes technicians. Frustrated with trying to deal with Dulles Carmax directly, I attempted to file a complaint with Carmax corporate -- big mistake. All complaints filed with Carmax corporate are either immediately redirected to the original dealership for response (a detail about which Scott rather flippantly warned me), or are "handled" by a social media team that is like a virtual Oz and has zero decision-making power. The only good that came from my virtual exchange was that they were able to provide me a copy of the 125 point inspection for my car. Unsurprisingly, the inspection record did not indicate anywhere that the sunroof pipes had been inspected. If I knew then what I know now, I wouldve paid a little bit more and gone with a more reputable establishment. I will never purchase a car from Carmax again and recommend you do the same!

JO

Josh Lim

Dear CarMax, This is the message that I sent to you both via email and the feedback survey two years ago but no one from your service department got back to me. We ended up getting the rear view camera after so much wasted time and effort, and yet not a single person said an apology for this extremely poor service and neglect after your sales. Two years later, I sold this car back to you at a much cheaper appraisal price ($6K) than when I bought this from you at $18K, ending up owing you $5K. The car was in the same condition for its year. What a great business model that your firm runs. I promised to myself that I will rather buy used cars from other dealerships with more negotiation leverage and risk. At least, I wont regret handing you the money on a silver platter... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We came from our third trip from the Sterling CarMax location for the 30-day warranty service repairs and the rear-view camera installation. We bought Honda Odyssey 2006 XLE on 10/21/13 and ordered a rear view mirror camera at the time of purchase. When I first went to pick up my car after the installation on 11/04/13, I only saw a small monitor on the dashboard with no explanation why it was not a rear view mirror camera. I spoke to my sales rep immediately and he sounded willing to resolve the matter ASAP because we both had the identical understanding that $449 that we paid was for the rear view mirror camera. We have never received any follow-up calls for a few business days since then. 4 days later when I called the sales rep, he mentioned that he notified a service rep about the situation and was surprised that no one stepped up and took the ownership of the matter. He said he would talk to him again. A few days have passed again, and nobody had called me to give me an update. 7 business days later when I called the sales rep again, he was surprised that no one gave me the update. The following day, I managed to speak with one of the service reps, but he was not able to provide any updates or direction. Today on 11/15/13, I called my sales rep again, but he then mentioned that it is the service contractor issue and he is having a hard time locating him. Throughout this whole process, NOBODY FROM THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT GAVE ME A SINGLE PHONE CALL. It was only my sales rep, busy trying to find the right person and constantly forgetting to update me. It has been 11 calendar days since I got the installation. Although I was trying to resolve this matter while I deal with other mechanical issues that I found with the car, I am here again left with the small rear view monitor that I have never wanted. Still, I do not know WHO IS RESPONSIBLE AND WHO IS WORKING ON THIS ISSUE. I still do not know how many more phone calls and trips with my two babies and wife to make to resolve this matter. I came to CarMax and paid more "no haggle" money than to other dealerships because it was known for quality cars and services. I am beginning to think that this extra money that I paid with no negotiation to CarMax was a huge mistake and a waste.

OL

Ollie Carman

CARMAX is known for their "No-Haggle" Price and they have proved that over and over to me. What you see on the web is the price and that is it. I do have to say that it does eliminate "the dance" of haggling on the price and expedites the process. But that is it. They are more than willing to take your car off your hands but dont be surprised that your trade gets the low end of the KBB price that you may have looked up online before entering. Once again, there is no haggling there either. Getting me into a car that I wanted and out of the car that I wanted to trade in was the easy part. However... This is where the negatives start to show themselves. The cars that they have on the lot, in appearance, look absolutely great. They look and drive well and in the short amount of time that you have to look the car over, you may think that you have a wonderful vehicle right here within reach. But when you do take it how you realize that you did buy a "Used" Car. In CARMAX defense they do offer you a 30 Warranty if you do not buy their extended warranty. But you better be ready to go through each and everything that the vehicle has to offer to make sure they make good on the 30 day warranty. But if they actually took the time to run the car throught the paces that they told me that they did with every car that they put on the lot, and the reason why my trade in was so low is because of that additional cost to prove that they are putting good cars on the lot. Well that was not true on the purchase of my new Vehicle. Within the first three days I found, one recall, a failed Water Pump that I actually smelled antifreeze on the test drive, a missing headrest, interior lights not working, Passenger side Mirror not working. OK I will give you the water pump, and the recall, because they both fell under the Drive train warranty from the dealership, but a missing head rest? Lights not working?, a Mirror that does nt work? Once again... These are obvious things that could have been corrected before the vehicle went on the lot. So the end all of this. My excitement of my new vehicle was tempered by the fact that after five days of owning the vehicle it spent the next 10 days at CARMAX getting all of these things fixed. I do have to commend the Service Department that they called me each and everyday to give me an update on the status of my vehicle. I was not happy about not having my new vehicle and being put in a loaner, but at least I was not forgotten. So that ups the value of CARMAX for me as well. Overall I would recommend CARMAX to buy or sell a vehicle as a whole, but buyer beware... Make sure you go through the car and make sure everything works. Make sure they are going to fix it for you. After all, a car purchase is probably the second biggest purchase a person makes after a house. You want to know you can depend on the car after all the money that you pay for it.