Anyone ever sold a car to Carmax?

[ohmide]

I have a 2006 Civic EX with 6400 miles and have been trying to sell it for a few weeks now locally with no bites.

I was wondering if anyone has experience with selling a car to Carmax and how much below KBB they offer. Unfortunately I'm a few hundred miles away from the closest one so I can't get it immediately appraised, but it would be good to know a ballpark figure before I drive all the way to one.

 

[dud]

What kind of condition is your Civic in?

Where are you located?

... and how much are you asking for it?

I'm asking because I am trying to help.






BTW ... AVOID Carmax like the plague. I went in to try to unload a $23,000 car from my father's estate. The car was (at the time) worth about $8,000 with 35,000 miles on it. Carmax was so generous ... $4,300 for a mint-condition car with that many miles. AVOID!

 

[ohmide]

The car is in perfect condition. I kept it garaged for more than a year and used it as a grocery-getter. I lived 1 mile away from work so I just rode my bike in. I'm located in Sparks, NV 89434. KBB Excellent is $19,700ish. I posted it on Cars.com for $18,500. I would probably be willing to go down to 18K, but yeah...

Sacramento is the closest Carmax but if they are going to offer something lower than 18K, it would be a waste of time for me. I'm leaving the country for a year at the end of August so selling off the car would be one less thing to worry about.

 

[woodie1]

I agree that you should stay away from Carmax. If you really want to sell you'll have to lower your price below what any dealer is selling the same car for in your area. Also, KBB is not noted for realistic prices IMHO. Check autotrader.com within 200-300 miles of your ZIP Code to see what real prices for your car are.
Good luck.

 

[bwatson283]

I sold my old 97 v6 stang to them and i got ripped. I was moving out of state so i just needed to unload it to them. the car was in good condition. 83,000 miles and they gave me and my dad 3.3k for it. I know they turned around and sold it for at 5k at the very least.

You will get more bang for the buck taking one from them. You typically get more money for trades, rather than unloading a car to them only.

 

[Aimster]

you might get a good deal

try it.

 

[CrackRabbit]

It kinda depends, you have a very in demand car with low miles so the price offered should be better than someone with a higher milage car with little demand.
It couldn't hurt to check it out.

 

[alphatarget1]

craigslist? try the SF Bay one (sounds like you're in CA or near it)

 

[Pacfanweb]

They'll give you about what they can buy it at auction for. No more, usually no less. It's a fair price, but most people don't think so...because they think a dealer pays over wholesale for cars, for some reason.

You'll probably get more for it from Carmax than a dealer would allow you as a trade. Not much, but a little.

 

[thedarkwolf]

A brand new 07 civic ex is $19k and will have a better interest rate. Thats the problem.

 

[NutBucket]

I know a guy on the Suby forum sold them his '06 Legacy GT for about what KBB said it was worth.

Usually, the newer the car is the better deal you'll get since they can sell it themselves. At least with normal car dealers, cars older that 3-4 model years will be sent to auction.

 

[Gibson486]

You are selling a year old car for minimal loss. Selling a year old car is porbably one of the worst things to do since it does not depreciate enough to justiify buying used. You just need to bite teh bullet and loose some money.

Carmax will not do any better. They will simply give you something like 2 or 3k less than what they would sell it for.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: bwatson283
I sold my old 97 v6 stang to them and i got ripped. I was moving out of state so i just needed to unload it to them. the car was in good condition. 83,000 miles and they gave me and my dad 3.3k for it. I know they turned around and sold it for at 5k at the very least.

You will get more bang for the buck taking one from them. You typically get more money for trades, rather than unloading a car to them only.

What did you expect them to do? if they gave you maximum dollar for your car, they would not be in business.

 

[randomlinh]

hrm.. I got a decent figure for my 05 mazda3.. it was on the very low end of course. I'm too lazy to go through a private sale and at the time and needed to offload it w/in a couple days because an 97 turbo'd mx5 was calling my name... heh.

 

[programmer]

I sold a truck to Carmax about 3 years ago. Didn't want the trouble of selling it myself, and Carmax offered 2k more than the dealer as a trade-in. It was nice--They inspect it and give you a price, then you have a few days to think about it. It was fast and easy and I think I got about what I would have if I sold it myself anyway.

They'll give you the best price on low mileage, newer cars. If a car has over 60k, the price will be significantly lower, and over 100k forget it.

 

[PricklyPete]

Things may have changed recently...but I sold a car to them about 5 years ago. They actually bested the KBB trade in value over $2500. The key was that it was in PERFECT condition and a late model...which is likely the case for your Civic. Also, Civic's are quite popular now.

I had also gotten a really unbelievable deal on the Yukon I was selling (the reason why I bought it), so I sold it to Carmax for only $2700 less than I paid (paid 31K, sold it to them for $28,300). The MSRP on the truck has been over $40k...so the deal I got at the dealership certainly helped. The truck was a little over a year old when I sold it and we were at the height of the SUV phase with gas prices still reasonable.

I did try to sell it myself locally, but didn't have any luck after trying to sell it for 3 months. My pricing was really reasonable (and a LOT of people looked at it), but everyone who looked wanted the 3rd row seat...which I didn't have...so Carmax ended up being my best option unless I wanted to wait another 3 months.

Recently, my sister brought her car there to sell and they offered her chump change...but her car was over 10 years old and there was no way they were going to sell it on their lot. I still believe they give you a decent amount for late model cars...but their policies could have changed.

Can't hurt to at least check them out. If you don't like the price, don't sell it to them.

 

[ohmide]

Good point, I think I'll make a trip of it and see what price they offer. Thanks for all the stories guys.

 

[andylawcc]

actually, I have two friends that sold their cars to carmax. one a 3-4 y/o Jeep Cherokee, and the other is a 1994 Acura RL. Both of them said the process was painless, and the price was okay.

 

[RU482]

aren't cars supposed to lose alot of value right off the lot?

Sounds like you are trying to get retail prices for a private party car