Carmax, any good?
 

the 370z was my dream car and i made this forum account back in 2011 but never posted, but now it seems i can finally afford the car.

im looking at a used 2014 7at touring + sport with bose and nav with under 6.5k miles for their "no haggle" 32999 price.

is this a good deal or am i not seeing something here?

the autocheck they provide is completely clean of accidents and any sort of issues.

are there any questions i should ask before driving up 2 hours to check it out?

Hmmmm.
 

Pikachux9: I hope I am wrong but that seems awfully low.

2014 - auto, touring, sport, nab for $32,999 with only 6000 miles. I have the same car, bought it new eight months ago for $40,300. Everywhere I have looked the car is worth much more than $32,999. If the car is actually fine then that would be a great deal and you should jump on it. Carefully check - no report will show everything wrong with a vehicle. Just recently CBS did a special on Carmax and other services like it. Their position was that problems can and often do fall between the cracks. Good luck. trackster22

CarFucks (CarFax) is complete bullshit

CarMax is known to repaint the front and rear bumpers of almost every car that comes in by Jose and Jorge in the back in an unenclosed are, so look closely for tape lines and overspray

On the repaint, I'll present a different side of the coin. I bought my Z and G from Carmax, neither had any touch up. My friend bought an A6 from Carmax as well, no touchup.

How could I tell? For the G and the A, swirl marks were consistent, front bumpers were appropriately imperfect . Z was perfect, but it was believable based on prior usage. All 3 cars had less than 20k miles, however.

They do buy cars from auctions however. The sales person said that's one way they got some of the more unusual and low miles cars from.

I picked up my '12 NISMO with 7k miles back in April from Carmax for $32,998. I had to have it shipped from Arizona.

thanks, i will be sure to check thoroughly

have you had any problems after you received your car that they did not advertise?

The only issue that I have had so far (knock on wood) was that my passenger window was slightly catching on the weather stripping when opening the door.

I took it to the local Nissan dealer, thinking it'd be a warranty issue. They told me that the windows must have been previously tinted, because there was some tint caught down inside the door. Carmax must have removed the tint before selling it. Since it wasn't a "warranty" issue, I paid the Nissan dealer out of pocket. I'm sure I could have gotten Carmax to chip in some money, but I didn't think it was worth pursuing. They didn't entirely fix it either, as it still catches, but oh well.

On a plus side for Carmax, they did end up refunding my $500 transfer fee. When the sales lady was bringing the car up, she accidentally ran over and got the car stuck on one of those cement parking blocks (the little ones usually at the end of parking spaces). She barely even made it 10 feet! After jacking the car up to get it off of the block, they took it back and put it on a lift to inspect it. They even let me go back and take a look at it to verify there was no damage (other than some minor scuffs on the bottom of the car).

Someone did a great write up on how to adjust the height of the glass in the frame when closed. I am sure this will remedy your problem.

wow the transfer fee being from location to location right? I requested a transfer and it was free. hopefully they dont try and hit me with a hidden fee later. thanks for your inputs it is greatly appreciated

Transfers are free if they are within a certain distance, like 150 miles or something.

I purchased my Z and my Tacoma from CarMax without any issues or regrets.

Just get an older one and save 10k

CarMax is legit. I wouldn't hesitate to purchase from them.

yah, ive not purchased a car from them but ive sold 3-4 cars to them. they are a good dealer from my experience.

if im buying a used car, i would definitely check there first. they have that 7day moneyback guarantee or something too. check it out.

It's been said above but worth repeating: Do not depend on any of the reporting agencies such as CarFax. They can miss stuff. Make a thorough inspection and/or have a professional check it out before signing on the dotted line. If haven't seen any reports of bad info, so I'm assuming that if it is that if it is on the report, it is probably true - ie, it's a good idea to run a report. I know from personal experience that wrecks/repairs don't always show up.

OP, I bought my '10 from Carmax in October 2011 with ~13.5k miles at around that same price. Haven't had any problems since.

The 7 day return is great, my brother likes them. He loves changing his mind but he's also a walking victim. They love handing out 10-30% APR's if you're financing with them. Go through your own bank or credit union. They wouldn't work with me so I got my Z for 1.9% at the dealership.

LOL'ed at 30% APR. :rofl2:

i usually buy my cars cash unless they have 0% apr or something like that going.

I dont like them. They are like any other dealer that dictates what they will give on a trade and wont work a deal if you are interested in buying a car.
My advice is shop around a bit and they are all wolves in sheeps clothing when at any dealership. Get approved through your bank and dont go in drooling all over the car you want.
Make the little bastids squirm!!

Balla'!!! :nutswinger:

ive checked mostly every used car site and exhausted all my options and this seems to be a "too good of a deal" type of thing. thats why im a bit wary.

i heard you HAVE to finance through carmax? how can i finance through another way? this is my first time purchasing a car so im pretty naive

Your best bet is go to your bank for an auto loan. Car max will honor that. Just remember car dealerships are in bed with finance companies and they get kick backs if they finance you with a few more points on the APR.
I would advise taking the Z to a reputable nissan dealership and have them look at the Z too. Z's do not sell well so this is why it's probably discounted the way it is. Do not buy any extended warranties, gap insurance, life insurance, etc. Only finance the auto loan.
Looks to be a good deal but for that kind of money you should shop around for 14 year end clearance models. You just might get the same car for about the same money and it's brand new

Financing a car where you buy it seldom makes sense with a used car. It can work with a zero/low-interest new car loan sponsored by the manufacturer, but good luck finding a low-interest loan on a used car.

The dealers LOVE to charge you for all those extras such as life insurance. Especially if they can tack it on to your loan. You end up spend 2-4x as much - they will usually charge more up front plus you pay financing charges - as it would cost from whoever is carrying your home/vehicle/life/&c insurance already.
An extended warranty might be an exception (depending on your circumstance), but they are usually rather expensive.

YMMV

No you don't have to finance from them, so shop around. If you belong to a credit union, they will typically have the best rates.

If you've done your home work and it's a good deal, go for it.

im looking around for new 14's with touring+sport+nav+bose and theyre still close to 40-45k

should i wait a couple months for the price to drop or is now the time?

I bought my 09 Touring+Sport from Carmax in Philly with 14k on the odometer for 22.5 +500 shipping from their Madison, WI location. I have to say it was the best buying experience I've ever had at a car dealership. The price was incredible, I didn't have to argue with sales guys and their managers about my trade. The car was practically new, with the steering wheel lock issue already taken care of by Nissan. I would very much recommend them.

If you have the patience wait until december/January time frame for the 14 leftovers. This is the best time of the year to buy a car. Also, end of month is the best time of the month. Most car sales are very slow due to the holidays which means cars will be cheaper

CarMax is totally legit. If you are buying a low mileage vehicle like this Z then it was most likely a trade-in. I bought a 2011 BMW X3 with 50000K on it, (the 35i with the 300hp turbo, loaded). The price I paid was $27K which was easily the lowest I could find on a comparable X3. Vehicles such as mine are usually either coming off lease or are fleet or rental vehicles. Mine was shipped up from down south which cost me about $600 but they only sell vehicles that are in exceptional condition, so I was not worried about it not being as advertised.

I have put 3000 miles on the X3 and all is well after 2 months. Carmax = 2 thumbs up.

I can confirm that you DO NOT have to finance through them. The best rate that they quoted me at was around 7-8%. I went through a local bank and was able to get 2.74%.

I can also confirm this. I had a private used car loan through my credit union and was able to get approved for 4.2%.

So did you check out the car, or what?

hey, thanks for checking up!

i might be checking it out next sunday. i havent started my new job yet cause of some complications

a 2013 touring+sport with nav + rearview cam was for sale 29000 an hour closer and unfortunately i think someone bought it already.. the search continues!

In comparison to the general consensus of dealers, I find their prices to be a bit higher.

Carmax is good to us. Got 2 cars from them Jeep and 370 Nis, The good thing for us was my wife's credit was crap, we were getting ready to have a baby a few years ago and needed a bigger vehicle. So we traded in our 98 BMW which was only worth 4k-Kelly Blue Book- They gave us close to 7 grand for it!!! Plus we had a down payment of $3k so it worked out for us. A few years later....just recently I picked up the 370 Nismo from them. The Kelly Blue Book was 23k and they wanted 24k. So they do over charge. It was transferred for free, did it online. Put 4k down and drove it home within an hour. Needless to say they also have a 30 return policy here in Florida so if something goes wrong just take it back within 30 days. Also we got the extended warranty on both vehicles. Mainly for peace of mind. Had the Jeep for 3 years, wash it and change the oil every 3000 miles and it still runs strong. My experience with Carmax on both occasions have been good. My recommendation is when test driving it, DRIVE IT LIKE IT IS THE END OF THE WORLD, push it hard. Test it, check every little nook and cranny thoroughly. If you are satisfied do it. Either way good luck and I hope you get your Z, I finally got my 09 Nismo and it has been one of my dream cars since it was released. Still have 2 more to go, then I am done!!

They do respray the front and rear. I guess it's ok, but I had a lot of over-spray on my muffler and tips on the Nismo. Easy fix, wet-sanded the front bumper, looks like glass now. Think I will wet-sand the entire car because I hate factory orange peel, I have a problem with tiny imperfections, and you can not even notice it, unless you put your eyeball right to it and look at it in a certain light at a certain angle. Still even if you can not see it I know it is there LoL so yes I have some kind of OCD.

Back when I was looking for my Z (this past winter/spring), it seemed like all of their NISMOs were just under KBB value. I'm not sure why, maybe it was just because of the season.

Which color on exterior and interior? make sure you check for soft top issues.