CarMax
reviews and complaints

I reluctantly accepted a low ball offer from Carmax when I was selling my 2008 Equinox. The process was far from simple. I had to get the veichle registered, titled and a tag before I could sell it. In hind sight I should have just traded it in because I would have gotten $800 more than they offered however the dealer I was planning on buying from was a long way from my home and I wasn't sure I wanted to take the chance of getting less for it.

After trying to cash the check they gave me at the bank it was drawn on with no success; I deposited it in my bank. Five days later the check was returned and I was beyond pissed. When I called the corporate office requesting they send me a cashier's check they fed exed me another check just like the one that was returned. I am going to the dealership to demand my car back or I will file charges.

Racist Racist Racist. Blacks are not treated fairly. We are made to slave while the whites can stand around. There is no open door policy, If you talk to one Manager about anything all the other Managers know about your conversation. The OPs Manager retaliates if you question anything she says, then you are blackballed. Don't even try to move up if you are black she will do whatever it takes to hold you back. But she will move a white person up before you in a heartbeat. She has human resources and other Managers behind her, they are in her pocket so you don't have a chance of fighting it. I am so surprised CarMax has not been sued yet. I thought racism was a thing of the past, but it is alive and well at this store.

The reason im writing this is because I am not sure if Corporate knows that lately it feels like it is the managers’ versus the sales consultants at least at the Naples store. We have some sales managers that are comfortable just with their salary and do not want to figure out solutions that will help a customer buy a car at Carmax. They don't think outside the box and cause more barriers than they are helpful. The sales consultants already have enough hurdles to overcome with trying to sell a car to someone let alone have a manager from Carmax making it even harder to do so. I have brought up these issues several times to my Lgm and it doesn’t seem to get any better. Just an idea but maybe you shouldn’t pay your sales mangers as much and put them on a commission type of pay scale to give them the incentive to help make these deals happen but, when they are ok making 50k to start or have been in the company for a long time and are making 100k they don’t need to work any harder for their money.. "just a thought"...Plus you might want to take a look at some of your buyers who are not helping making any deals happen with their ridiculous offers that immediately kill a deal instead of trying to help make a deal happen. We have buyers that don’t care about whether or not the offer will help this customer buy a car here or whether or not the offer is less than what a junkyard would offer the customer. How can a customer feel that CarMax is making a good offer or the best offer when its lower than a junkyard offer. How can we offer an average of $4000 less on some cars that look 10 times better than the one we are selling and try to justify it. It doesn’t say much for CarMax’s philosophy of making the best offer to our customers or "the way car buying should be". We also have spoken about the quality of the vehicles seem to be getting worse and worse. Cars with paint work that the color doesn’t match or cars with missing or broken parts. Tires that are just shy of being dangerous to drive on if not dangerous already. Cars that sound like no one has done a tune up to them in years. Cars that smell like they have been used as a toilet or cars infested with roaches ants or spiders. We at CarMax state our cars don’t have that used car feel.. I beg to differ, they feel and look worse than other used cars that I have seen. Yet all management can say is that it meets standards. How can we say that our cars are of a higher quality and that we pick the best cars for our customers or that our cars don't have that used car feel when as soon as anyone looks at them they look and feel worse than a used car. How can we say that 1 in 3 qualify to be a CarMax car when the cars we are selling are in those conditions? I can only imagine what the other cars must look like. Naples store is unlike any other store because our market is very seasonal. So when we have the ability to make a sale we don’t need someone from our company making it harder for it to happen. Furthermore when was the last time that CarMax increased the sale consultants pay? We are constantly stating how profitable we are and how our associates make CarMax a better place but we pay our associates at the bottom of the pay scale. Our consultants are the worst paid sales people in the country per industry standards. I know I sound like an employee that isn’t making any sales and that I am looking for a reason to blame it on the company versus myself, but I am one of your top consultants in your sales team and what I am looking for is for someone to open their eyes and see that some managers shouldn't be a manager, but because they couldn’t make it as a sales person they decided to take that route instead. What ever happened to hard work and dedication to become a manager? Here it seems that all you have to do is kiss a little butt and you are in. Someone should really look into how we choose to promote our people. I was so proud to be an employee of CarMax but because of the people that I have to work with mainly some managers and the way things are being done it has turned into more of a disgust. I have done nothing but try to bring these issues up to see if we could fix them. Instead I was tag as complainer and or exaggerating the circumstances. The fact is that if everyone thinks that these issues are ok nothing will ever change or get better. For this and other reasons I handed in my two weeks’ notice and was treated as if it was a relief to the company. I want to bring these issues out to corporate and if that is how you want to run your business so be it.

People, be aware that the company www.carmax.com is awful. I paid deposit for the car, but this jerk took money and started to provide some fake promises. After 4 days he even told me that the car was sold. WTF? I told him to return the deposit, but this scammer stopped to reply. Please, help me to get my money from this jerk. As well as post comments about your things with them.

I took my car to CarMax on June 5, 2014 to change the oil. They sold me the car 5 months earlier and after reading all the reviews I feel lucky for not having any problems with the car during that period until they changed the oil. The car is a foreign car, mini cooper. I learned now that not anyone can work on these cars. To make a long story short the car became worthless after l took it there. The mechanic broke a plastic bracket while changing the oil filter which caused oil and antifreeze to leak. Since he could not replace it immediately because a replacement part of course was not available he decided to glue it. I waited so long for them to change the oil. Someone came and apologized telling me that the reason for the delay is because they found an electric wire that needed to be fixed and charged me an additional $42, Really? Of course I did not know then what happened until recently when I took the car to a different garage after I exhausted myself dealing with the service department at CarMax. I just can't believe it, GLUE? How can this company continue to operate? Where is the attorney general? Why nothing was done to prevent these ### from operating a business. Get on the internet check the BBB how many complaints about the service/repair department and they get A+?

My Wife took her Cadillac to Car Max Branch in Boynton Beach, Florida for a service issue on January 29, 2014. The vehicle was dropped off at the service department and she handed the keys over to the service advisor.
The service department had the car in service for over one month, as they could not locate the mechanical problem successfully, but were aware that the problem did exist. They did however, replace parts that they thought would rectify the problem, but repairs carried out were unsuccessful, and the mechanical issues were not rectified. Car Max while unable to rectify the problem sent the vehicle to an outside vendor who specialized in our model of Cadillac ( Auto Nation ) in order to attempt to locate and rectify the problem that Car Max was unable resolve. According to the service documentation that I later obtained from Auto Nation in Green Acres, Florida; the vehicles problem had been rectified by them, and was awaiting collection by Car Max for over one week. No one from Car Max made any attempt to collect the vehicle, and our car sat in Auto Nation's service parking lot from February 28 until the early hours of March 6, 2014. In the early hours on March 6, 2014 the vehicle was stolen from the service lot and later found vandalized, rendering the vehicle a total loss by our insurance company.
Auto Nation finally reached out to us because of the intervention of Jenn Strathman of" News Chanel 5 Watchdog " Due to the prevailing situation we were left with no choice but to purchase a replacement vehicle from Auto Nation or we would be left without any form of transportation. It took over 20 days for the corporate office at Car Max to finally call us. I am certain they would never take the time of day to reach out to us and possibly would hope that all this would just go away. This is a typical example of Car Max's egregious behavior towards me and consumers in general. As a result of my conversation with Car Max corporate all I managed to receive was a blank GAP insurance claim form and noting more. At least Auto Nation made us an offer of a replacement vehicle at a reduced cost. We never thought we could take our car into service and have it stolen and the company who had our car in their care would not assist us in this terrible situation.

Good afternoon. I would like to find out how to submit a story about my awful experience with Carmax, in an effort to warn potential buyers of what may happen.
On April 17, 2012 I purchased a 2009 Volkswagen CC Sport with 35, 000 miles on it for $21, 000.00. I test drove the vehicle and was pleased with how the car handled and found no issues with the car at that time. I was excited about purchasing the car, and agreed to let Carmax arrang the financing through Santander Bank.
Within the first 45 days of owning the vehicle my newly acquired 2009 Volkswagen CC Sport which was carmax QUALITY certified shut off on me while driving to work, home from work, and on the way home from picking my father up from Dulles International Airport. Each time I was left stranded for approxamately one hour. The last time the vehicle shut off on me while driving, a few lights came on my dashboard (check engine, and ECV). I started to research online what these lights mean and found a open bulletin issued by Volkswagen for a faulty throttle sensor which could cause the car to shut off while driving. I then proceded to take my Volkswagen into the Carmax service department and explained what had happened and they agrred to repair the vehicle at no cost to me even though I was already past the initial 30 day period of owning the vehicle. When I finally got my Volkswagen back 5 days later I was told the throttle sensor was replaced and a ECV valve was replaced by Lindsay Volkswagen of Sterling Virginia.
For the next nine months my car worked like a charm and I did not have any issues until Monday February 11, 2013 when things went down hill in a hurry. On my way to work Monday February 11, 2012, during a sleet storm, my drivers side window got stuck in the open position. At the same time my passenger door window got stuck in the closed position and my check engine light came on. I took my Volkswagen back into Carmax in Sterling Virginia to have the repairs made. Again, my Volkswagen was sent to Lindsay VW of Sterling to have the repairs completed. Two weeks later my Volkswagen was repaired and the motors were replaced in both windows. Carmax stated the reason the check engine light came on was due to a low battery and they replaced the battery. Thankfully, I purchased the Max Care plan so the total repairs cost me ony $468.00. As I was driving away from Carmax I noticed my check engine light was still on, so I turned around and spoke the service representitive that was cordinating the repairs on my car and told her my check engine light was still on. She promptly pulled my service records up on her computer and saw that Lindsay VW still needed to program my car. This time Carmax provided me a loaner car to use while over the next three days my car was over at Lindsay VW in Sterling Virginia.
To make matters even worse, the loaner car I was provided was a 2011 Ford Fusion which was fine but the service technician only gave me a Valet key which did not have the remote keyless entry capabilities. So when I got home and realized I had to go to the store I was not able to get into the car. I called Carmax that evening around 8:30 PM and spoke with a Manager and was told the only way they could help me is if I took a cab into work and they would bring me the remote keyless entry key to me the following morning at work. That wouldn't have been a problem, except I live in Brunswick Maryland and work in Leeesburg Virginia, and the cab fare would have been more than they were willing to reimburse me. I finally was able to crawl through the trunk and unlock my drivers side door later that night. I will say Carmax did still make the effort and did deliver the remote keyless entry key to me at work the following morning as they agreed.
When my car was ready to be picked up I drove all the way to Carmax again. This time, as I was getting into my car, I noticed my drivers side door would not close properly. It felt like it was hitting something prior to the door closing. Unfortunately, I had to wait a while to get my car and I was on my lunch my break, so I did not have time to talk to them again at that point in time. So, on my way home from work that same day I planned on calling them and schedulling another service appointment to fix my door. Well sure enough, my check engine light came on again so I had to call and get my car back in the service department to have the repairs made. That same night, as I was picking up my kids from daycare, the drivers side rear door seal completely fell off the car.
I took the car back into Carmax the following morning. I was given a loaner car while my car was sent over to Lindsay Volkswagen of Sterling to have the car repaired again. Another week went by until the repairs were complete and was told this time that one of my fuel injectors were faulty and needed to be replaced as well as one of my Spark plugs. Since my car's manufacturer warrenty was expired the Carmax service plan I purchased would only cover the faulty injector and Spark plug instead of doing the logical thing and replacing all of the injectors and spark plugs. At this poin, t the service manager, Scott Boymel, promised to have the remaining injectors replaced if something else were to occur.
One week later, again on my way home from work, my check engine light came back on again. So I took the car back into the Sterling Virginia Carmax service department where again they provided a loaner while they sent my Volkswagen back to Lindsay VW of Sterling Virginia to have the repairs completed. When I picked my car up my car a few days later I was told this time a coil needed to be replaced. Unfortunately, on the same day I picked up my car from Carmax my check engine light came on again. The next day I took my car back into Carmax in Sterling Virginia to have the repairs complete by Lindsay Volkwagen again. This time my car was out of commision for 4 days and I was told that the other injector and spark plug was faulty, but again only the faulty injector and spark plug would be replaced since it was too expensive to have the remaing injector and spark plugs replaced. But Scott Boymel, the Service Manager, stated he would write a letter to me stating that Carmax would cover the cost in the future if any of the other injectors or spark plugs would need to be replaced (which I still do not have).
At this point, I decided to write a letter to the CEO of Carmax about my experience with my Volkswagen that I purchased from Carmax. In my letter I explained to the CEO all the issues I expeirenced with my vehicle, even though it has passed the 150 point QUALITY Carmax inspection. Two weeks later I recieved a call from Mrs. Apple in the executive relations department and was told that ultimately the Sterling Virginia Carmax Management team would be responsible with for resolving the problems with my car. About two days later after speaking with Mrs. Apple from Carmax I recieved a call from Scott Boymel the Service Manager stating that Carmax will offer a resolution and buy my car back from me but at $19, 000.00 which is $2, 000.00 less than what I paid for the car. Keep in mind my car, within 11 months of purchasing the vehicle, has been in the service departments at Carmax and at Lindsay VW in Sterling Virginia for more than 30 days cummalitively.
I took it one step further and reached out to the General Manager, Jerry Holloway, at Lindsay Volkswagen in Sterling and was told that he would help me out and get rid of this Lemon that Carmax sold me. Unfortunately Mr. Holloways idea of helping me out was selling me a new VW CC Sport R line edition and adding the negative equity onto the loan for the new CC Sport R Line.
At this point in time as I write to you, my 2009 Volkwagen CC is back in to be repaired with Carmax and Lindsay VW of Sterling and neither Carmax or the Volkswagen manufacturer is willing to do anything to help me to get out of this lemon. To make matters worse I spoke with my lender and they are willing to negotiate with Carmax about eliminating the negative equity on my current loan but Santander Consumer bank is only willing to negotiate with Carmax. Unfortunately Carmax is unwilling to contact Santander Bank to negotiate with Santander Bank, even though Carmax facilitated the loan with Santander.
The moral of the story is buyer beware and dont expect Carmax, Santander Bank, or Volkwagen to be socially responsible and stand by the products they advertise!

We bought a 2005 BMW from CarMax in late Sep 2012. The car has been in the service department more than five times in four months that we have owned the car. We have now decided that due to the way we have been treated i will try to negotiate with the service/operations people at CarMax to buy back what we believe is a LEMON to no avail. The problems with the vehicle have included the following: seat belts that do not latch, AC compressor that had to be brought in because of weird noises and still was not fixed, back bumper its not perfectly align it looks like my car had been hit and bumper that was poorly repaired prior to our purchasing the vehicle.Now I fear that electrical surges in the dashboard might that might have burned out the radio and caused other issues like my navigation not functioning either. and on and on. Did they check out the vehcile throughly? NO Are they treating a repeat customer fairly? NO Would I ever purchase another vehicle from CarMax? NO NO NO Will this probably lead to legal action? YES Consider this your fair warning - BUYER BEWARE Do not be lulled into believing their advertisements. This is not what how car buying should be. They will treat you like a royal customer the first 30 days until you are sucked in and cannot do anything about the situation but bite the bullet and deal with the stress they will put you through. Very dissatisfied customer and to think I was considering buying my daughter her first car at Carmax for her graduation this year...NO WAY THAT'S HAPPENING NOW!

We were very exited to purchase as car from CARMAX, after selecting a car we found our title had been misplaced- we recently moved into the area. A duplicate was ordered and we finally procured a babysitter to and went in to buy a car. We were SCAMMED and told out estimate of trade in went from 10, 000 - 7, 000 $- in less than 8 weeks. This is unacceptable and just criminal business practice. We are a small hard working family and three thousand dollars to us is a huge amount of money - more than we can afford to find else where or loan. Bad business will spread around fast- all buyers BEWARE !

I highly recommend staying as far away from CarMax as possible. I purchased a vehicle, a week later it needed an entire new brake job. They agreed to fix a window with a rock chip when I purchased the vehicle and then tried to get out of it. In replacing the window they trashed my paint and dented my door He also BLATANTLY lied about the window he put in saying how new it was... and it is OBVIOUSLY NOT. Fine... But dont lie about it AND ruin my door in the process. I have been in tears about how badly this experience was. DO NOT GO TO CARMAX. Especially the Menomonee Falls, WI location. The service manager, MIke, will treat you like crap and ruin your car right in front of you. Worst experience ever. So much stress.

CARMAX CAN NOT GET IT RIGHT-REFUND IN ORDER

Do to the poor work on my Ford Focus done by your fellow Ford dealership in Roseville(Threw Carmax) and still charging me $60 for misdiagnoses(it cost me $500.00 for Carmax's and Fords mistakes on just 1 many repairs needed and endangered lives for failing to reinstall caliper pin, I will no long be intrested in a Ford products.My engine was rebuilt poorly buy Carmax twice and Ford Roseville once.Engine rear seal leaks, harmonic balancer pulley no good, failed to replace old parts.failed to put one of the bolts back on distributor or whatever the damn part where spark plug wires attach.The list goes on.Feel free to relay this to Roseville Ford. BOYCOTT CARMAX Auto Superstore and Ford Dealership rosevile, Ca. Many of Carmax's cars are lemons.they lowball you on trade-in and their service center does extremely poor work on repairs.If you have extended warranty they still try to take for every dollar they can get.
BOYCOTT CARMAX AUTO SUPERSTORES, Ford Motor Co.Service Centers both in Roseville, Ca. and The Warranty Group

We purchased a vehicle from Carmax and it was financed for 6 years. We faithfully made very payment on it, but when my husband and I were both laid off at the same time, we fell behind in our payments. I called Carmax and asked them to work with us on the payments and they said they don't do that. Every single one of our creditors has worked with us, including our mortgage company. When my husband was called by to work, I contacted Carmax and told them that we were going to work on catching up the payments and I, at that time, sent them a payment which was more than one month in an attempt to start getting the payments up to date. The customer service rep was quite polite about it, and took the payment and a few days later, our car was repossessed and they sold it for $500 and sent us a bill for $3, 000, which is what we owed on it. We had one year to go to pay this vehicle off and they refused to work with us, repossessed our car, and now want us to pay for a car that we no longer own. I would not recommend them to anyone. If you are laid off, they don't care. They will NOT work with you as other creditors do. They will grab your car, sell it cheap, and send you a bill for what you had owed on it. It is an unfair business practice, especially in hard economic times. They are heartless and do not care about their customers.

WARRANTY WORK POOR.
REPAIRS NOT PROPERLY PERFORMED, WORSE THE MAINTENANCE LIED ABOUT TWO OBVIOUS PROBLEMS.FRONT DISC WERE BAD AND THEY SAID THE BRAKE PADS NEEDED TO BE BROKE IN. VALVE COVER GASKET LEAKS, NOT REPLACED BUT FILLED WITH SEALANT UP.
SALES AGENTS BEGIN BY HAVING YOU TAKE LOAN WITH- THEIR FINANCE COMPANY -FINANCE, ASSOCIATED WITH CAR MAX. PROBLEM IS IT IS A MONEY SCAM THAT WELL OKAY REALLY READ THE COMPLICATED FORM IT WAS NO DEAL HIGH INTEREST AND GUESS WHAT THEY DO NOT LIKE WHITE PEOPLE. THEY DO NOT HONOR ANT COMPLAINTS. NONE.