An interesting CarMax story

[DWalt]

MY B-I-L died about a month ago, and it falls upon me and my wife to dispose of his personal property. His car is a 2006 Mercedes E350 RWD sedan, low mileage and in top condition (he drove it little, always did the maintenance as recommended in the MB service schedule, and kept it garaged). It meets the description of a creampuff. Everything I could find on the internet indicated that it should sell in the $6K-7K range. Several people told me that I should take it to CarMax to get an offer first. So I did yesterday afternoon. It took about an hour to go through the CarMax manipulations, but their offer came back. $2000!!!!. I already have three offers for it in the $5500-$6200 range from private buyers, but I haven't sold it yet. Moral of the story - Forget going to CarMax if you want to sell.

 

[Clarke Hammer]

I've had very good experiences selling cars to Carmax. BUT, selling a car to Carmax is much like selling your used gun to a LGS. They are a for-profit business and will need to have a enough room in the deal to turn a healthy profit to make the transaction worth their while. Private party transactions with cars (and guns) will always yield better money for the seller, but those transactions also require more work from the seller. At Carmax, you just show up (no appt needed), they evaluate your car, give you a no haggle offer on the spot, and you either accept it or you don't. If you accept their offer, you have a check in your hand and the car is no longer yours in about 45 minutes. That is convenient, but it has a price.

 

[ladder13]

Both Carmax and Acura offered the same money to trade/sell the Missus' car 3 months ago.
Not a fan of dealing with all the tire kickers and BS wannabe's. Yes, less money, also less hassle, pick your poison.
She traded since it saved a few hundred in taxes.

 

[amazingflapjack]

Car like that I would sell privately or on ebay motors.

 

[Texas40]

Find a consignment dealer.
Tell them your bottom line.
Account for 15-20% for them and let them deal with the headaches and people. Then when it sells go collect your check.




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[DeathGrip]

CarMax won't sell that on their lot just because of the age. It will go to auction.

 

[jmtgsx]

CarMax won't sell that on their lot just because of the age. It will go to auction.

This. Car Max is looking for cars that are 2-5 years old and will offer a competitive price based on condition & mileage. They will buy anything, but you'll only get about 2/3's of estimated auction (wholesale).

 

[DeathGrip]

This. Car Max is looking for cars that are 2-5 years old and will offer a competitive price based on condition & mileage. They will buy anything, but you'll only get about 2/3's of estimated auction (wholesale).

It's meat on the bone. I sold them my wife's 2007 Jeep in 2014 almost '15 and they gave me exactly what I wanted for it. It was pretty clean and almost stock. The sales/buyer told me it would never see the lot.

Easy sale and I didn't have to play with tire kickers.

 

[DWalt]

I sold it today for $5900 thru Craigslist. If I had wanted a Mercedes, I would have kept it myself. But I am just not a Mercedes guy. Service is too expensive and it takes high octane gas. Sad that a low mileage car in such good condition which sold new for around $65-70K in today's dollars brought only 10% of that.

 

[GaryS]

Sad, but not unexpected. A 13 year old Mercedes isn't going to draw high end buyers. It's going to attract people who want a nice car, but don't want to spend a lot of money.

A friend of mine has a Mercedes convertible that is a bit older than the one you sold. He got about $2,500.00 for it.

I sold it today for $5900 thru Craigslist. If I had wanted a Mercedes, I would have kept it myself. But I am just not a Mercedes guy. Service is too expensive and it takes high octane gas. Sad that a low mileage car in such good condition which sold new for around $65-70K in today's dollars brought only 10% of that.

 

[rubiranch]

Car dealers can't give you what the car would sell for retail like if you sold it yourself. If they did they couldn't make any money.

If they gave you $5900 they would have t sell it for several thousand dollars more.

If you're trading in a car on a new one and they're paying you what it would sell for they're padding the difference into the price of the car you're buying.

They are in the business to make money.

 

[Glashaus]

Like others have said, Carmax does not want or deal in 13 year old vehicles, no matter how nice they are, they would not have listed that for sale, it would have gone straight to auction. I have bought two vehicles from Carmax. On one of them I traded in a three year old Silverado 1/2 ton and I received an absolutely screaming deal. I tried to sell them an extra car during the divorce, the car was a low miles nice car but 9 years old, offer from Carmax was stinking low. I ended up combining that car and a truck in on a trade to a Chevy dealer for another truck.

 

[ladder13]

I sold it today for $5900 thru Craigslist. If I had wanted a Mercedes, I would have kept it myself. But I am just not a Mercedes guy. Service is too expensive and it takes high octane gas. Sad that a low mileage car in such good condition which sold new for around $65-70K in today's dollars brought only 10% of that.

Watch Barret Jackson or Mecum auctions, Benzes do not bring any money.

 

[LVSteve]

I'm not surprised. Carmax doesn't want an 13-year old 4-door, even if it is a Mercedes. Specialist things like Jeeps are another matter. The very low mileage Toyota Sienna that belonged to my first wife never made it into their ads either.

I would say that Carmax doesn't need sedans, period. Their lots are awash with them, but it's SUVs that sell.