I've sold my last two vehicles privately and have done much better than the dealers trade-in offers (savings - about $4,000 for two cars). I planned to do the same with my current vehicle, which I'm selling in anticipation of getting my new '06 Pri. I did the requisite research - Edmunds, Kelley's, autotrader.com, the local classifieds and a couple of local auto publications. Decided on my target price and my asking price. After doing all that, I decided why not check the local CarMax and see what they'd offer. Turned out their offer was only about $300 less than my target price. Needless to say, $300 isn't worth the hassle of putting an ad in the paper, putting up flyers, and dealing with potential buyers. I sold it to CarMax. Took about 45 minutes for the appraisal and another 45 minutes for the paperwork. Anyone have similar or different experience with CarMax? I still believe a private sale will maximize your cash on the sale, but CarMax might be a viable alternative for some.
I used cars.com, sold my escalade in 24 hours at asking price, which at the time was above KBB with gas at 3.25 per gallon. No flyers or paper ad.
It cost me $50 for the best package, unlimited time and extra pictures. I made sure I had angled side shots, hood shot, front and back, interior to show the condition. Easy to use, set up and do.
heard many people say they were very happy with carmax. my neighbor recently sold them her mustang and (d'oh!) got an exploder. i mean explorer. she got a great deal.
I feel a bit stupid as I should really know this, but I haven't sold a car in many years to anyone other than friends or a tradin..... I really hate messing with newspapers. thanks alot for the info....
I didn't have a good experience attempting to sell to CarMax in Albuquerque, NM. I went in just to get a baseline on my 04 pkg 5 with 20k miles, no problems, pristine. I'm asking $22,450 for it, and was told by the dealer I'm buying my 06 from that it should be no worries getting that price. I didn't expect to sell it at CarMax so I wasn't worried. They took a look, came back and told me $19k even, since they have to send hybrids off somewhere else for prep. The crazy thing was they had an 05 with 9k miles, same color, with a lot less options (no side airbags, no 6 disc CD or extra speakers) asking $26,900 for it. I know they have to make money, but CarMax doesn't bargain as far as I know, so unless they lowered their price, they were expecting to get $27 for less of a car with less miles. $8k seems like a lot of difference. anyways, when I bought from CarMax and AutoNation before I always had good experiences buying from them. Selling to them, I didn't get any better deal than what the local toyota dealers offered me, and if I sold to Toyota I'd only pay taxes on the difference in the car I sold and bought. Just my 2 cents
I don't have any experience with car max at all, but i can make some guesses? If you are selling a car where the price is in flux... like less than 3 or 4 years old, you may get a better deal, but once older, the price flattens out and there is not much difference in price from region to region. What area you live in makes a difference too! If you move, you can really get burned in some areas. MSRP is more advertised and a little harder to hide from region to region, but used resale can vary quite a bit based on how much money and demand is in your area verses another.
Are there any other viable alternatives/similiar companies to Carmax? I said yes on an 06 Prius my dealer called me about, so I plan to sell my 02 Nissan Maxima. Unfortunately, the closest Carmax to me is 158 miles. I'm not sure I want to go that far to find get an appraisal and also I'll need a ride back if I sell to them! I've sold a used car once before and it was a hassle but I hate getting reamed by a dealer for trade in (never done that).
I assumed you could sign up online and the online customers would call you? If this is true... assessing your car is easy.... go to www.kbb.com Be honest and punch in your car for the middle one..... "private party sale" and see what it comes up with. Then you can go to carmax.com and see if there are any cars like yours and see what they sell for so you know what your competition is!
Yup, I've already looked up my car's value on KBB, Edmunds and NADA. Unfortunately, Ive found that KBB tends to be on the high side and Edmunds on the low side. I actually did think about selling the Maxima long ago and even got 1 ridiculously low offer (BELOW dealer TRADE IN value). That guy must've been nuts.
they are always out there ready to scrape up some quick cash... youll find them when you sell a home too.
