Should this pre-purchase inspection be a dealbreaker?

[the 18th letter]

Just ask. That's what i do if they tell me no, i can't take it to another chevy or whatever dealer they're shady as hell

I have a trusted mechanic who I wanted to use when I was looking and two places that had trucks I was interested in were willing to let him look at it on the lot but both wanted a “refundable” deposit to take it elsewhere. I didn’t wind up getting either one.

 

[K2 Kaiju]

Curious to see what he did. I will tell you that Carfax is not to be trusted. Wife traded in her car last week. It was a Lexus 1 owner we got with 18K miles in 2021. Its listed now as a 1 owner vehicle with 36k miles. Our 2nd ownership is nowhere to be found; instead it states "lease was purchased by owner" - absolutely fraud IMO. If you see a 'one owner' that has 2 distinct locations, be wary...

 

[91RS]

It’s not fraud. Carfax can only show what is reported to them and that’s clearly stated on their web site. They can’t and don’t know everything that has happened to every car ever and sometimes mistakes are made in the reporting. I’ve seen carfax show multiple owners when the title number was the same because a change was made to the title. I’ve seen mileage discrepancies because the oil change place typed in the customer’s phone number in the mileage box. You have to use the information provided by Carfax as one piece of the puzzle and interpret the information to make a decision. No Carfax report overrules getting a proper PPI by a qualified tech that knows the vehicle. There are still plenty of jurisdictions that do not report accidents to Carfax and most body shops do not report to Carfax.

 

[petethepug]

Is it just me or did the OP ghost?

 

[wjburken]

Is it just me or did the OP ghost?

Nope…they posted on 10/26/2023 and haven’t been back since 10/27/2023. Guess they made a decision.

 

[petethepug]

I’ve had two experiences w/ CarMax. One for a job, the other for an 06 YXL Denali.

First, The job. Well, laughable. As I progressed through the interviews the mgmt was more underhanded, disrespectful and condescending.

They actually were upset when I pointed out that incentives (commission) structures were able to be exploited by mgmt if you didn’t do your 6 day a week open to close shifts and even that wasn’t a guarantee.

The purchase, 2nd. I walked into a lot void of employee. I found my reserved car embedded so at least 4 cars would have to be moved to drive it. The truck was unlocked and the keys were inside.

The outside was a 7/8. The inside was a hard 5 and the drive train was a hard 7. They insisted they pull a credit. They offered 4%. I said ok just to move along. My credit union had me @ 2.9%. The rack was bent, steering wheel @ 3 o’clock and pulled hard to the left. Traffic behind me honked because it’s back end tracked in the other lanes Lolololo!

They closed on the truck with “sign here”. The APR jumped to 6% with our prices are non negotiable. It’s better (for us) that way. Less hassle. They said they’d fix the truck after I bought it. Lolololo

Just for fun I said ok, put all that in a due bill please. That really pissed them off. They said I was lucky they were even financing me Lolololo!!! They’re a horrible company that is run by a huge automotive conglomerate that perfected exploiting wages from employees and profit from customers with a board of directors each banking millions. Just Run from that place.

 

[blackelky]

I’ve had two experiences w/ CarMax. One for a job, the other for an 06 YXL Denali.

First, The job. Well, laughable. As I progressed through the interviews the mgmt was more underhanded, disrespectful and condescending.

They actually were upset when I pointed out that incentives (commission) structures were able to be exploited by mgmt if you didn’t do your 6 day a week open to close shifts and even that wasn’t a guarantee.

The purchase, 2nd. I walked into a lot void of employee. I found my reserved car embedded so at least 4 cars would have to be moved to drive it. The truck was unlocked and the keys were inside.

The outside was a 7/8. The inside was a hard 5 and the drive train was a hard 7. They insisted they pull a credit. They offered 4%. I said ok just to move along. My credit union had me @ 2.9%. The rack was bent, steering wheel @ 3 o’clock and pulled hard to the left. Traffic behind me honked because it’s back end tracked in the other lanes Lolololo!

They closed on the truck with “sign here”. The APR jumped to 6% with our prices are non negotiable. It’s better (for us) that way. Less hassle. They said they’d fix the truck after I bought it. Lolololo

Just for fun I said ok, put all that in a due bill please. That really pissed them off. They said I was lucky they were even financing me Lolololo!!! They’re a horrible company that is run by a huge automotive conglomerate that perfected exploiting wages from employees and profit from customers with a board of directors each banking millions. Just Run from that place.

I've always loathed carmax. Always steer people aways from them. Autolenders has a similar model but not too bad they said they don't negotiate but they do.

 

[petethepug]

Add that to my rant, they say we don’t negotiate, but they do

I felt like I needed a shower when I left Carmax.

 

[Wwes]

I've sold 3 cars to Carmax and bought 1. The cars I sold they offered slightly above KBB trade-in value (and one time - in 2021 - way over), and all three times I walked away with a check and a smile.

The one I bought was a great deal, they did agree to replace two front tires and fix a bumper scratch as a condition of sale. The finance APR was in line with market rates, and the purchased extended warranty from them was a great buy and we got the money out of that.

I know that whomever eventually bought the three cars I sold them ended up with solid unwrecked and unmolested cars.

 

[91RS]

Statistically, they can’t all be bad, but I wouldn’t buy a car at Carmax either. Pretty much everything I’ve seen there that I might have been interested in is overpriced and I’ve seen so many cars from there was were polished turds.