CarMax Reviews 

I began the process of purchasing a vehicle on 8/21. The car was located at a dealership five hours away, but I was assured it could be transferred to the dealership near me without issue. While I was given a delivery window of 8/25 - 8/30 I was advised that since the vehicle was only 5 hours away it should arrive in 2-3 days. Fast forward to today there is still no vehicle and I wasted ten days waiting for a car that CarMax cannot even confirm will be delivered any time soon. No one reached out to update me, no one explained the delay, and customer service had nothing useful to offer. Only when I called the local dealership myself did I learn the truth: CarMax uses independent shippers who will not move a vehicle until a truck is fully booked, which could take weeks. That should have been made clear up front, not after the fact. Buying a car should not turn into a drawn-out process that drags on for weeks with no communication, no certainty, and no respect for the customer’s time. CarMax failed not just in logistics, but in transparency, accountability, and consideration for me as a customer.

Went on line for a quote for my 2016 Kia Optima. Got a $9600.00 quote. Started shopping around at local dealerships, the best offer I got was $8400.00 ( Kia dealership only offered $5000) They also said I'd never get $9600 from Carmax. Took my Kia to Carmax in Bradenton and walked out with a check for $9600 in less than hour. Great experience.

Absolute pits. They demanded 30 high res photos, made an offer, it was accepted and already today they take it down another $500. So of course that means when the car is delivered, a “magical flaw” will appear.

Bad faith = bad review. Show some honor, CarMax, and honor will be shown to you.

I bought a 2021 Ford Ranger from CarMax and within 2 days, it had serious issues — knocking in the steering, a leaking axle seal, broken fan clutch, and signs of transmission slipping. A certified mechanic confirmed everything.

When I went to return the truck within the 7-day return window, CarMax told me my trade-in was already gone. But I saw it sitting on their back lot. When I pointed it out, they said I wasn’t supposed to be back there — supposedly for my safety. That’s ironic, considering they sold me a clearly unsafe vehicle.

They then told me they couldn’t return my original car because it had been “marked for auction already.” So not only did they give me a low trade-in offer, but they also couldn’t even hold the car for 7 days in case something went wrong — even though their return policy guarantees that window.

They gave me the trade-in value back, but I didn’t want the money — I wanted my original car back, and they still had it. The ground manager, Frank, didn’t care at all.

They were all smiles when it came to selling me the truck, but as soon as I tried to return it due to serious defects, they treated me like I was a nuisance. No support, no ownership — just excuses and cold indifference.

Now I’m stuck with a rental out of pocket, trying to figure out my next move. To top it off, they tried to sell me another vehicle — like I was just supposed to trust them again after all this.

I’ll never trust CarMax again. Don’t believe their “125-point inspection” and don’t expect them to care once they have your signature. You’re on your own.

I’m extremely disappointed in how CarMax and their warranty provider handled my recent issue.

I dropped off my Jeep at a repair shop on 5/1 due to a check engine light. The shop didn’t begin work until 5/4, and they found $3,000 worth of repairs needed (bad canister purge valve + leaking timing cover gasket). The MaxCare warranty expired on 5/2, and because the claim wasn’t opened until 5/4, the warranty provider denied the claim.

Let’s be clear: these issues didn’t develop in the 36 hours after the warranty expired. They were present when I dropped the vehicle off—I did the right thing. The delay was on the repair shop, not me.

I called CarMax hoping they’d step in and support me as a three-time customer, even if the warranty company wouldn’t budge. But they flatly refused to help, offer a goodwill repair, or even a discount. For a company doing $26 billion in annual revenue, refusing to assist a long-time customer over a timing technicality is extremely disappointing.

I’ve bought three cars from CarMax, but I won’t be coming back—and I can no longer recommend them to others. If you're thinking the warranty gives you peace of mind, just know they may use a timing loophole to deny your claim when you need it most.

I sold my car to Carmax and it was the easiest experience I could imagine. They actually gave me the full price I was quoted on the internet, which shocked me. It was by far the highest offer I received. The whole transaction took exactly one hour. I could not be more impressed. They've figured something out that other dealerships need to emulate.

This is a follow-up to a previous review. Due to our last review, CarMax reached out to look at the document in regard to their offer. When they called back, they said that they were new to the offer process on line because it was a beta program they did not realize was active in their area. Instead of honoring it, they said that the VIN on the vehicle did not bring up the correct vehicle type therefore they would not honor the offer. This is an outright lie. I have proof and documents to prove this is not true. They did not want to earn us back as customers by honoring their offer. All they were trying to do was get us to rescind our previous review. Seller beware. Not a company worth your life energy.

CarMax is a scam. They bait you in with an "Estimated Offer Range." You schedule an appointment for them to verify the vehicle is what you claim it is. Then after you have gone to the trouble to gather all of the documents and drive there, they give you below the estimated range. Yes, the vehicle was what it was claimed to be and more. There just wasn't any options in the online estimate to list some of the extra options. They offered 20% less than the lowest of the price range. Then claimed they have never seen the "Estimated Offer Range" document provided from their own website. They are the reason used car sales people have a bad reputation.

I recently purchased a 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning XLT from CarMax in Jacksonville, FL, and my experience has been deeply disappointing. The vehicle was advertised with automated cruise control—a feature essential to my decision—but I later discovered this feature is not even available on the trim I purchased. This clear misrepresentation of the window sticker has caused significant inconvenience.

Additionally, I traded in two vehicles, including an F-150 with aftermarket parts (truck bed cover, Class V tow package, and Tonneau cover). Despite my explicit instructions to remove these parts before the trade, CarMax retained them. When I raised this issue, their compensation offer fell far short of the actual value of the parts and the inconvenience caused.

CarMax markets itself as a no-haggle, transparent company, but my experience has been anything but. Their customer service team and legal department have been unhelpful in resolving this matter, despite my extensive efforts to find a fair solution.

I expected honesty and transparency, but instead, I feel misled and undervalued as a customer. I cannot recommend this location or company based on my experience.

took my c4 corvette in for an appraisal today. they offered me $1k. the car is in good to excellent condition. vincheck.info gives a market average price for this car of $9,500. i'll give it away before i let these price-gougers get their hands on it.

On October 9, 2024 we had an appointment to see a specific salesman, but we're given a very inexperienced person. He was up and down asking
questions to his colleagues or they would come over. His lack of experience made buying a car from Carmax a 4 hour way to long experience. I think it was his first sale. When taking the car the salesman offer No information of the workings of the 2021 hybrid Hyundai Sonata. After getting home I noticed issues with the stereo and could not
connect to the satellite radio. Now today 8 days later while bringing the car in for issues my car is now telling me it needs general servicing and this after the salesman says CARMAX has a 125 point service check before selling a car. I had to take the day off for to correct
the servicing that was on
the list they claim to check.
The salesman was more interested in taking a picture of the sale and the yellow ribbon.
Shame on Carmax the paper work was incomplete and they needed to FedEx me paper work that I needed to be signed. I want to cancel my old extended warranty from my old car, but the lender says they have not received payment from Carmax 8 days later, so I need to wait until payment is received before I can cancel it.
I think I can go on, so Not happy with thinking about returning it after just being told now I have to bring it to a Hyundai dealer for servicing on my issues.

My family went to Carmax in North Attleboro after contacting the customer service line and stopping by another store in Norwood, Ma. We went to Attleboro as it is closer. We were trying to sell our vehical to them. We recieved an online offer went to the store waited for a bit . Jay came over to help us he sat us down, went over why we wanted to sell the car and then went to review the car to make sure it was as stated. Jay came back in he stated that we needed the title and registration. This car was not registered. We told Jay it was not registered when we sat down. We explained to him it was a vehical that was inherited and not registered as we didnt need the car. Jay claimed we needed to register it so he knew that we were not trying to get away with not paying taxes on the car. Jay went to speak with a manager. Eric came over and said he just spoke with his manager and we needed to prove no taxes were owed on the vehical. We went back and forth, me trying to explain that in Ma you sign the title over to the buyer and that should be it . We asked for help getting a document we dont know of to prove it . Eric was being very short and rude to my wife and son . At this point I got up and walked around asking everyone for the manager. Every employee looked at Eric and said they couldnt help us. I was aked to leave or they woild call the police. As we were walking out the manager said "you should have gone to the Norwood store " I approched him asking him to repeat what was said but he wouldnt.
I waited a couple days then contacted the Carmax help Line where I had several calls with a employee Asia she was very nice. She tried to get more information as to what I needed to get inorder for them to purchase the vehical. She called the No Attleboro store where Eric got on the phone. He denied telling me to leave or that he threatened to call the cops. I have now called back and was told Carmax would not do any business with me ever again with no explination

My experience with CarMax is not recent, but I see all the bad reviews, I wanted to tell my Great Experience with a Carmax in Charlotte NC.
I bought a Nissan from them, had a problem with tag…we live in another state so there was a problem, which when we came to the dealership it was resolved quickly.
While there, I mentioned my service light was on….they checked while we took care of business. Needed an oil change of which they did..no charge. We traveled the long way home and stopped to eat. Got home late, parked the car in our enclosed garage. Next morning the garage floor was covered in oil….got a mechanic to check our car…he seen that oil cap was not put back on….we drove over 50 miles from there to home…it was low but still had oil.
I called CarMax, at first I was passed from one person to another. Next I called, asked for the manager of the repair shop. I told him my story, he said he would clean up my oily motor. I asked him if a car drove 50 miles like this would actually be a good vehicle after that….he agreed that it might not be.

Now above and beyond….I was told to come up and pick out a comparable car, do new paperwork. I did and it had a few more perks …but did not matter, true to their word, they sent me on my way, a happy customer!
Several years later, we decided to trade cars…Carmax did not have a car we wanted but they gave us a Carmax quote for a trade in, the quote was good for 5 days. We continued to look at other car lots, finally found one we wanted. This car lot’s trade in offer was considerably lower, than what Carmax had offered. We told them we would need to get at least this much or we would just sell our car to Carmax….he said, his manager would not let him go any higher on trade in. BUT if we had the offer from CarMax with us, could he see it. He took it to his manager…The manager honored the CarMax offer!
So, even though our last car was not from CarMax…CarMax offer, helped us!

And no, I do not have a relative or friend that works for CarMax.

This is a review for the sales team in Kenner, LA. BUYER BEWARE. These people are slick and sick.

Here's how it went down.

We found the car we wanted online. We negotiated a trade online. We made an appointment to drive the car. Karen Canizales greeted us, she was sitting at the reception desk, but turns out she's a Sr. Sales Consultant. Karen was lovely. Everything went as smoothly as a magician's act.

Then comes the slight of hand. Lovely Karen needed to go -- something about picking up her daughter. "Someone will be with you to finish this is just a few minutes," says Karen. Then the wait. Information that had been loaded online seemed to take FOREVER, and I realize...that's part of their game. You're tired. You want this over. The fun is done.

I squeak and some manager who looks 16 taps another sweet man who loves my gold jewelry. We will call him Richard Simmons, cuz he spoke so fast I missed his name. Richard Simmons takes you through the fine print and you sign your life away. You know how on drug commercials they do the fine print at 8X speed? Richard Simmons who loved my jewelry flew through 20-some pages faster than you can say hemorrhoid cauterization. I stopped the sweet boy, um, man for a little explanation - and he spewed out answers like white bread out of a toaster. The two pieces of information that stuck with me were a not-so great loan rate, given my 782 credit score and the fact that a car didn't come with a manual or spare tire. Huh?

Richard Simmons is interrupted several times by his boss and then someone who needs something on his computer -- remember, slight of hand. Distract them during the bait and switch. His ADHD was in full flame. I lost track of what the hell we were signing or about to sign.

And that's the trick, the slight of hand.
I said "I think we can do better that that rate." "Oh," he says. "You have 3 business days to get a better rate." Just call us within 3 days and you can re-finance -- so that would be by Friday. I called the first place after we left and had a better rate. So I called CarMax.

Guess what? You need the check in hand in 3 days. Try finding a check in hand in 3 days. Oy, I feel like a fool. I am a fool It was in the 20 pages of ADHD spewed, 8X faster, fine print RIchard Simmons flew through.

Look, this isn't my first time at CarMax. The first time they told us they would transfer our insurance for us. We drove off the lot believing they had done so. THe car was not insured. That's illegal in Louisiana. We indemnified them for it in the fine print.

There isn't a $2 Bentley or VW Bus that could get me back in that place. My partner wanted this car and I went reluctantly. My bad.

If you find yourself in the same position, take your time. Take your time. They are going to waste your time to wear you down. As soon as you get sent to the nice chairs to wait, tell them you'd like to come back. Go get a coke. Get lunch. Ask if you can do the rest tomorrow. Let them keep your trade in. Take an Uber (better yet, arrive in 2 cars.) Come back rested, and take the time it takes to read the Sheboygan you agree to.

When I called USAA to tell them that as much as I wanted to take their offer of nearly 4 lower points, unless they could give me the check tomorrow, I have to turn it down. They commented: "Oh, sorry -- yeah we've heard that about CarMax. Not a good business.

Yeah. Right.

I don’t think you can put zero stars but I could if possible. Bought a car from carmax within 4 years was having issues and broke down. Got it fixed and tried to sell it back to them. Called the store they said I had all the right information came in and waited an hour for them to check my car to verify offer. Got offer they said they couldn’t do sale because system was down. I had the offer for a week and I should have plenty of time to do offer. Called today and I have to do the process all over again because their system is not up. Don’t go to them all of there states and customer service is terrible!!!

The CarMax buying only location in Chamblee, GA is FILLED with friendly, knowledgeable people who got me out of there with a very fair offer in less than an hour. I would recommend this location to anyone looking for a reasonable and fair offer for their used vehicle. I can only attest to the selling your vehicle side of things. I did not buy a new used car from them as I have heard horror stories. This location didn't sell vehicles anyways.

Sellers to Carmax beware! I made an appointment to have Carmax look at my car and make me an offer. 45 minutes AFTER the appointment time, they couldn't tell me when they would be able to look at it, but it would be at least another 2 hours. What is the point of making an appointment???? I drove 30 minutes each way from home to Carmax. I left without ever having received an offer because they couldn't give me a time frame. Who has time to sit in a dealership for hours? These guys are a joke!

They are unethical. Highly overpriced. sold two kids (they over 18 so it was legal) a Cadillac suv for 40k at 16.7 percent interest. I do not know how they sleep at night. I took them in to discuss and they offer to buy the car back that they sold to them less the 9 months ago for 18k. They sold it to them for 40k. Rip of artists! Run, do not buy for these types of companies that prey on the youth of America.

Tried to sell my Nissan Pathfinder that I purchased from them. Sat in waiting room for nearly 2 hours (had an appointment) then got an ok offer on the vehicle. Well, about 2 weeks later, the payment hit my account- for $1000 less because they found more stuff wrong with the car. Avoid this company!

OMG...I purchased a 2018 Buick Encore from CarMax in Springfield Missouri, Nov 2022, 13 months ago. Since then I have driven a total of 3144 miles, 241 per month, 8 miles per day. I am a first time buyer with CarMax and was so happy when I received the offer on my trade in and I loved the Encore.
My story begins in May, 6 months after purchasing the car with a $1630.00 repair. Thank God I purchased an extended warranty that covered $901, leaving me with a $729. expense. Then in August, another repair for $1090, all at my expense. Then today, after detecting a smell when I turn off the ignition, I brought it back in and I'm told this repair (Oil leaks) will be $2055.00 !!!! So in other words, after 13 months, my repairs will have cost me $3874.00 and warranty company $901.00. What the #%&@
I am sick to my stomach. I'm a 78 year old widow with cardiac and lung issues and don't know where to turn.
My question is; who is doing these so called pre purchase inspections?