Trade in or sell at carmax?
 

I got my 08 scion tc appraised at the dealership from which I'm ordering my FR-S, and needless to say it was a fair amount lower than I expected based on kelly blue book and overall condition of the car (miles=45k). I'm pretty sure I could get 1-2k more @ carmax if I were to sell it, but I've never dealt with them before so I wanted to ask you guys what you recommend. Is carmax easy to sell to? When you bring it in, and they give you an estimate, will they buy it right away? How easy would it be for me to sell it, and pick up my FR-S?

I've never dealt with Carmax before, but from what I understand it's pretty painless. I've heard they typically give you a fair amount, and from what I remember, the quote is good for something like 7 days or so. They'll either buy it right then and there, or you have some time to decide.

So you know, they never use Kelly Blue Book. They have a different reference point.

The appraisal itself can take 20-30 minutes per car. They'll have an estimate ready for you after the process is complete.

The offer is valid for a full 7 days, and if you want to sell the vehicle on the spot, be absolutely sure you have the necessary documents and empty out the vehicle as well.

I think most dealers use the NADA guides. http://www.nadaguides.com/

Most dealers do reference NADA guides, blue book is not commonly used anymore. The reason, because dealers now sell your car to other dealers more often than selling it on their own lot.

Carmax is easy. 30 min to get an appraisal and the offer is good for 7 days. They pay right on the spot if that's what you want. Word of advice; they only sell unaltered vehicles. So if your car has been noticeably modified or wrecked, you are screwed.

Go to the big car max down the road from you then go straight to Texas Direct Auto right after. They will give you 500 more than Carmax. You are seriously right down the street from the largest Carmax in America and the largest online car sales lot in America.

My Carmax experience is that they lowballed me pretty hard when we were looking to sell our Yaris. I've heard several people in the area say the same. I've heard some people say that certain vehicles are like gold to Carmax though, so I suppose it really depends on what you bring in. The dealership we eventually purchased the Camry from gave us an extra grand. And that wasn't conditional on us buying a car there, it was "we'll cut you a check for your car now."

I had a similar experience when I bought my BRZ. Blue Book for my low mileage Mazda 3 in great shape (other than a front bumper blemish) was around 10.2k. The highest the Subaru dealer would give me for a trade was 7.5k. Luckily I had just received a Carmax estimate for 9k. At the time I thought that 9K was slightly low, but after the lowball dealer trade-in offer, I went ahead and sold it to Carmax. As mentioned it was pretty painless and easy. Kudos to my dealer though for driving my Mazda 3 down to Carmax for me while I drove the new BRZ. They already had their money so they didn't *have* to do that, so I appreciate that extra bit of customer service. It sorta made up for their awful trade-in offer :)

Heh. Guess I got lucky. Scion/Toyota low balled me on the trade-in value for my Cobalt SS/TC. Subaru gave me between good to excellent condition based off of KBB, so I had positive equity and it made it easier for me to get the BRZ.

In regards to Carmax, I think it's a hit or miss. Can't hurt to try though.

They don't use NADA. Edmunds has an appraisal tool that comes close sometimes.

I believe that. My NADA quote was about the same as Kelly BlueBook and about 1k more than Carmax was actually willing to buy my car for. I've been told the prices in NADA and KBB are too static to be more than a rough guide. A function of current auction values from the past week are likely closer to what they are willing to give.

Well, KBB and NADA don't sell cars with market changes by the day.

People don't realize that the value of their car fluctuates like the stock market; depreciation isn't linear.

I had a good experience at car max, got what i hoped for. Did you take it to them yet? If not it is always good to get a second opinion and go for who ever will give you more.

When it comes time to talk about trade in value, every dealer I've ever dealt with has pulled out the NADA guide. That will give you a general idea, then from there you bargain back and forth until you and the dealer either come to an agreement or part ways...