CarMax
Reviews and Complaints

Buying a car from carmax was the worst of all my car purchasing experiences.

I came in January 5, 2008 and purchased a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee. We did a held-check for $6000 and financed the rest.

The salesmen, Eric, didn't seem very familiar with the ins and outs of finalizing a sale. He had to ask his sales manager almost step by step as he took my insurance information and did my held check. Once we finished paperwork and all of that, we walked out to get our new car that, according to Eric, would be "detailed" while we were finishing up papers. I even made the comment of "wow, detailed in 45 minutes...that's awesome!" He told me then that there were several guys that tackled it to get it done. The car was ran through the automatic carwash and the floors had been vacuumed. The inside windows and interior were smudged and it was obvious the car had not been detailed, nor even thoroughly cleaned. I figured if that was the best they could do, oh well, I was just excited and didn't want to wait around nor seem picky, although looking back I should have.

Eric never made a follow-up call after he claimed he would.

The real trouble began on January 8, when I went to give the title of my totaled car to the insurance company and they handed me an affidavit to give to the license bureau for proof of value of the old car. I called the business office at Carmax and told them that I wanted to self-register because I wouldn't have to pay so much sales tax and wanted my money back at time of registering. They said that was fine.

Around January 10, I received a call stating that the inspection they had performed on the car had expired and they would need me to go get it inspected at my cost, or drive 25 miles (one-way) to Carmax and they would perform one free of charge. Due to my busy schedule with work and school, I was unable to return the call immediately, but when I did on 14th, we couldn't make a quick appointment that worked out for both me and the service department. Keep in mind Carmax is thirty minutes out of my daily routine and that is one way.

Meanwhile, we had begun to notice a few things that were bothering us about the car. First of all, it vibrated very noticeably while stopped at a stop-light. If you were to put it in neutral, it would quit. Second, there was a noise coming from the front passenger wheel area--it sounded like a bad strut. Also, the car was out of alignment. I also noted on my letter to the service department that I would like for them to "detail" it as they said they were going to in the first place and had not done. I finally arranged to drop the car off on the evening of Thursday, January 24 because I couldn't afford to wait around for all of these things. I left a note with a list of things wrong and also a copy of my insurance card and tax receipt because they said EVEN THOUGH I was going to self-register, they needed those things when they took the information to the DMV for me.

Saturday, January 26, since all the things wrong with the Jeep would take a while, I came and got a loaner. I was very pleased with the fact that they loaned me another Jeep and I must say Teri, in the service department was a very good communicator, she called when she said she was going to, she kept me up on the service that was performed and she was very understanding when it was time for me to pick my Jeep up on January 31st and I had the flu and had to wait a day and a half later.

Since Carmax was supposed to be performing the inspection for the registration, I had called the last week of January to see what DMV they would be sending my papers to. On January 30, someone told me that they thought the paperwork had been sent to the KC DMV at 13th and Cherry. When I asked why, they said they try to get it to the one closest to the customer. The girl I talked to asked if I wanted her to call KC DMV and make sure the papers were there. She did and got no answer, so she asked me if I wanted to just keep trying myself. I told her that NO, so she said she would keep trying and call me back. No one ever called. So, when I picked the car up on February 2nd, I asked where my paperwork was. The girl told me Lee's Summit. I said okay and we were on our way home. Since it was Saturday, I couldn't do anything about it. So, we got in our dirty Jeep with brush marks from the carwash and left. As soon as my husband pressed on the brakes, a sound like metal on metal came. By this time, I am still sick with the flu and have no desire to mess with your company anymore that day. About 15 minutes later, I called and talked to Brandon and told him that Lee's Summit was really way out of my way. He said to call on Monday, that the papers weren't in Lee's Summit, they were at the KC location, and he would let me know for sure. I called on Monday, February 4--the day my temp tags expired. Brandon told me that the papers WERE at Lee's Summit and he was going to go get them THAT DAY and he would Fed-Ex them to the location of my choice, which was Gladstone. I called the Gladstone location twice on Tuesday and they said they had not received my papers yet. I called Brandon, who THEN put me on hold to check the tracking number on the Fed-Ex package. After a few minutes he got back on and asked why I had wanted to self-register and I told him that I had an affidavit that stated the value of my totaled vehicle and it was going to save me almost $500 at the time of registering. Well, he told me that APPARENTLY the license bureau had gone ahead and registered the car for me instead of letting me self-register. He said that I could just take all the stuff to the license bureau and put in for a refund. So, I just went and got the tags and paperwork and went to the bureau where the woman told me HAD I registered myself with the affidavit, I would have just received the refund then. Why didn't we deal with this at the time of signing the papers. Eric new that my old car was totaled and it was worth $6000.

Now that you have read this novel, you can begin to see what a time-consuming inconvenience this whole experience with Carmax has been---aside my dealing with Teri. I am going to make a copy of this letter and start with mailing it to the GM of the Independence Carmax. I hope something can be arranged to reimburse me for all the time and inconvenience that I have experienced.

Well I am quite disappointed with Carmax. The vehicle itself is fine, I have had if for a few years and running good. My complaint is with their crappy warranty that they like to reword. So as I said, have had the car for a few years and never had any warranty work done. I bought the car with 6k miles and purchased the extended 100k warranty just for peace of mind and security if the vehicle were to ever breakdown. The hack door latch on my ford explorer sport SUV broke. The lock mechanism failed and I couldn't get the back door open and my side power mirrors went out. Well I took it to a Ford dealership to get things fixed since I have moved a lot and not reasonably close to a carmax. Plus I wanted a reputable repair shop so the job would be done right. Well this all should have taken no longer than a day but Carmax wouldn't authorize the repair without sending and inspector to check the vehicle. I mean come on, this is a Ford dealer, why is it necessary to send out an inpector? Well that meant the car would have to stay over night and Ford told me that carmax said they would not authorize a rental without first authorizing the repair but the inspector had a 24 hour window and would not be there till sometime the next day. So I had to personally call Carmax warranty and ask what the problem was and was able to get a rental but the guy said he could only give me one day of rental. well I assumed one day would be fine but that wasn't the case. The inspector didn't come to 3pm on the second day and work could not be done on the vehicle till there was authorization so another day in the shop. Ford called carmax to get another day of rental and with much resistance they gave another day. Well the work was finally done on the third day and Ford called to say that carmax was not wanting to pay the bill and I would be responsible for the remainder. I am so pissed because I bought a large extended warranty and am only supposed to pay a $75 deductible out of network. Well I had to pay $100 more because Carmax was rewording they way the warranty read and something about their labor pay regulations. Anyway, to sum it all up DON'T BUY FROM CARMAX because if you need warranty work it's going to be a hassle and Carmax will screw you one way or another.

After seeing another complaint re Carmax Dulles, Va, I have to add my voice as a warning to others. Before my daughter went off to grad school in August 2007, we bought her a 2001 Nissan Xterra there, having bought MANY cars previously and happily from the Carmax at Laurel, MD. I quickly learned that not all Carmax sites are the same. Three days before she had to drive hundreds of miles alone, she called the NIssan national hotline and was informed that TWO SERIOUS recalls on this vehicle had not been done. We really had to scramble to get these done at another Nissan dealership before she left. And last week, she was stranded because the battery was dead--cable problems. And what did Carmax Dulles do when I called and spoke with several "higher ups?" They sent us two $25 service certificates. As if we would ever go back! Buyers beware!

My daughter wanted help buying a car so we went to carmax. The first car almost didn't make it home, after 4 times in the shop (They had it more than she did!) they said they couldn't fix it and wanted to trade her another car. Like fools we went for it. 9 months later when it's time to be inspected... we find out that it doesn't have a vin number on the dash! No inspection... can't drive it. Found out today that it is a REBUILT WRECK with a salvage title! They are offering her a chance to GIVE BACK the car and they will "Call it even!" Down payment gone... payments gone... and no car to drive. I don't THINK so!