Anyone ever sold a vehicle to Carmax? I've got an extra vehicle I just want to get rid of. I just don't want to sell it to an individual because the sunroof leaks and the transmission is going out...........soon. I'm not expecting to get the blue book but anyway know what to expect

2/4/2007 7:13:26 PM

please state the car type, color, and vin so I dont buy it

2/4/2007 7:16:56 PM

I think they will give you a written offer on the spot. Depending on what it is though you may just want to donate it and take the tax credit.

2/4/2007 7:49:09 PM

don't they just buy newer cars (2002+) in tip top shape.

2/4/2007 8:39:23 PM

yeah, carmax wont buy your POS, and even if they do, they wont give you a good deal.

sell it to an individual and disclose the maintenance issues. many folks buy cars and fix them up to resell privately.

or donate it to a charity and write the value off on your taxes.

2/4/2007 8:50:50 PM

they offerred me 500 bucks for my 94 mazda 929, I ended up getting 1,500 for it somewhere else.

2/4/2007 8:57:11 PM

charity is no longer a good option. You can only deduct the value that it sold for at auction (no longer fair market value). Actually you have to choose the lesser of the two. Unless it gets used by the organization, e.g. delivery vehicle.

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p526/ar02.html#d0e1515

2/4/2007 9:06:26 PM

when we got my fiance's jeep, we traded in her 94 accord with a broken A/C and transmission on the fritz and we got almost 2k for it. I was very pleased.

2/4/2007 9:33:26 PM

Quote :

"don't they just buy newer cars (2002+) in tip top shape."

Actually, Carmax will buy just about anything. My parents sold them our old '84 Accord a few years back. They will not, necessarily, give you a good deal. But it's a good option if it's not worth it to you to try to sell it yourself.

They only sell newer cars in "tip top" shape though. I wonder what they do with the cars that they buy but can't sell due to age/condition/etc? I assume they end up at auction somewhere?

[Edited on February 5, 2007 at 12:57 AM. Reason : d]

2/5/2007 12:56:06 AM

Carmax will buy ANYTHING. They wont turn down anything, however dont expect to get much for a peice of junk. The appraisers there are pretty smart and will likely catch the problems with your car.

Selling a car to Carmax is not like trading it in at the dealer. Carmax will explain this when you go up there. They cannot accept your car as a donation, they have to give you at least $5 for it. They wont give you any more for your car than they could buy another one at auction for. If it is something they could use on their lot, and your car needs mechanical or body repair, they take that into consideration.

Carmax wont put anything on their lot with over 100k on it or with any mechanical problems. So if it will take too much reconditioning or it has too many miles, it goes to their wholesale auction. There is one in raleigh every tuesday, you must be a dealer to attend.

2/5/2007 1:38:27 AM

if they are only going to give you $25 or something you might post it here, someone might be interested in buying somrthing to take to a field with a case of beer

2/5/2007 1:56:09 AM

Would it be suitable for a 4-cyl demo derby?

2/5/2007 2:02:50 AM

i sold a '94 accord that was in pretty bad shape to carmax back in '03 and got 2k for it...i was very surprised

2/5/2007 3:04:27 AM

yeah, they will buy anything, but wont give you a good price. Took my wife's '00 Ford Escort zx2 with low miles and they offered $1700. I ended up getting $3500 for it a few weeks later selling it private.

2/5/2007 9:45:51 AM

Carmax wouldn't buy my 93 Duster when i bought my truck there last summer.
granted, the damn car overheated on the way to Carmax and wouldn't even make it there....

the Duster is still kickin.We fixed it up and it's worth more to keep as an emergency vehicle then sell for $500.
i've had this thing since i was 16.

2/5/2007 10:53:38 AM

carmax has always offered very good money for my vehicles.

i traded in a 95 Civic with 175k on it and the CD player missing, and they gave me $1500. other dealerships offered $900-1000

2/6/2007 3:35:01 PM

You will do a hell of a lot better selling it private party than selling it to Carmax. I had a '97 Wrangler I took by there and they offered me $3K for it, and I sold it the following week to a Craigslister for $6k. If you are lazy and are independently wealthy and can afford to let someone make a couple thousand of profit off you, I say go ahead. I'm sure you can find someone who will take the vehicle even with its deficiencies for more that Carmax will give you. I am also sure that they will be able to tell your transmission is going and will be over (down) priced accordingly.

[Edited on February 6, 2007 at 3:54 PM. Reason : .]

2/6/2007 3:54:06 PM

on a side note about donating.... Be very careful with charities. Yes it is a small tax write off, but often times the charities do not have the ability to change the name on the title since there isn't one person who might be using it all the time. B/c the title is still in your name, the vehicle may be used in all sorts of manners that would affect your record.

FYI, check before donating.... but from above, i don't think you will donate.

2/8/2007 8:25:04 AM

I sold my '91 Chevy Lumina with 192k miles to Carmax for $600. It was $599 more than it was worth.

Apparently, though, these results are not typical...

2/8/2007 8:46:32 AM

Quote :

"you may just want to donate it and take the tax credit"

this seems more reasonable, because Carmax will take it to you with no lubrication.

2/8/2007 9:01:17 AM

I sold my 99 Prelude to Carmax for $5000. Considering I bought it for $7500 and it needed about $5000 worth of work to get it into tip-top shape again, I thought it was a pretty darn good deal.

I'd say stop by there and see what they give you. If you like it, take it, if you don't - go private. Worth a shot at least.

P.S. - they base their figures on wholesale figures, not KBB values.

2/8/2007 11:31:26 AM

Quote :

""you may just want to donate it and take the tax credit""

it's not a "tax credit" anyway. Moreover unless your in a 30+% tax bracket you'll probably do better taking it to a junk yard. Unless of course you really want to donate it.

I agree with

Quote :

"sell it to an individual and disclose the maintenance issues. many folks buy cars and fix them up to resell privately."

2/8/2007 11:47:18 AM

I've never sold to them, but have bought from them. I was going to trade in my '96 Pontiac Sunfire, just because I had no use for it after I got a new vehicle, but decided to give it to my mother in-law since the KBB value was low. I could have sold it privately I'm sure for more than it's "value" but didn't want to hassle with that.

My husband bought an '04 Chevy Avalanche from them about 5-6 months ago, then decided to trade it back in for an '03 Nissan 350Z. They gave him almost what he paid for it in the trade in.

2/8/2007 3:19:43 PM