The 2nd career adventures of Yankee

What are some opinions of CarMax on here?

My opinion of them prior to looking for a truck recently, was low. I feel they are overpriced. But if they are, I would say some of that is the convenience you are getting. I can know what I want and get a search of that vehicle with like a 1000 mile radius and have them deliver it to me.

Anyway, I’ve gone from thinking poorly of them, for really no reason in particular. To now looking at their site more and more due to convenience.

Any good or bad experiences?
I’m on the pro-Car Max side. Never bought a car there myself, but my in laws have purchased a couple. Obviously you pay a premium to have a large collection of used cars brought together in a safe place, but many people are happy to pay for that or they would go out of business. As for trade ins, my FIL bought a Lexus there a couple years prior to his passing. When the family was disposing of the estate they took the car back to CarMax and got 90% of the purchase price from 2 years prior - considerably more than I expected. I would give them a look if I were in the market
 
I bought a Cadillac XT5 through Carvana in November 20. Then sold them our Kia Sorento in December 20. Extremely happy with the entire experience.

Got a mail offer to purchase our XT5 yesterday from Parkside Cadillac for almost $2k more than what we paid for it in 20. Crazy time we live in.
 
What are some opinions of CarMax on here?

My opinion of them prior to looking for a truck recently, was low. I feel they are overpriced. But if they are, I would say some of that is the convenience you are getting. I can know what I want and get a search of that vehicle with like a 1000 mile radius and have them deliver it to me.

Anyway, I’ve gone from thinking poorly of them, for really no reason in particular. To now looking at their site more and more due to convenience.

Any good or bad experiences?
For a used car dealer, they aren’t bad in todays market.

During normal times, they are more expensive and zero haggling.
 
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I bought a Cadillac XT5 through Carvana in November 20. Then sold them our Kia Sorento in December 20. Extremely happy with the entire experience.

Got a mail offer to purchase our XT5 yesterday from Parkside Cadillac for almost $2k more than what we paid for it in 20. Crazy time we live in.
Buying a used Cadillac is much smarter* than buying new considering how much Cadillac’s depreciate.

*if used is your thing.
 
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What would be a good price for a Trailblazer in your opinion? I’ve seen some as low as $24,000 and as high as the mid 30s.
Depends on the trim you’re looking at.

The LS (base) is $22,995. An ACTIV or RS can go over $30K with options. The LT (the trim I wouldn’t go lower than), starts at $25,195 or $25,590 depending on the engine (1.2L vs 1.3L)
 
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Depends on the trim you’re looking at.

The LS (base) is $22,995. An ACTIV or RS can go over $30K with options. The LT (the trim I wouldn’t go lower than), starts at $25,195 or $25,590 depending on the engine (1.2L vs 1.3L)

You know if Spark’s are getting a good trade-in value right now? I’d love to still deal with Chevy.
 
Looking for a mid sized suv for my wife.. looking at highlanders, palisades, telurides, etc. Should we attempt new or used?
 
Don't forget those dealer market adjusment adds.

Saw a new F250 6.7 Tremor on ford lot. MSRP 58K. Options 22K. Dealer market adjustment 25K. Total retail price 105K. Stayed on lot for over a month. Saw some poor fool driving it (associated w/paving company so maybe the business bought it?) If he paid full adjusted retail, he got snookered in a really bad way. The housing and auto market will come tumbling back down, and there will be some serious negative equities bankrupting alot of folks.
 
Don't forget those dealer market adjusment adds.

Saw a new F250 6.7 Tremor on ford lot. MSRP 58K. Options 22K. Dealer market adjustment 25K. Total retail price 105K. Stayed on lot for over a month. Saw some poor fool driving it (associated w/paving company so maybe the business bought it?) If he paid full adjusted retail, he got snookered in a really bad way. The housing and auto market will come tumbling back down, and there will be some serious negative equities bankrupting alot of folks.

NFW will I pay a "dealer market adjustment". We need a couple more super duty's so I'm waiting until the order banks open back up.
 
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NFW will I pay a "dealer market adjustment". We need a couple more super duty's so I'm waiting until the order banks open back up.
Fortunatley I got my wife's used 2017 Honda Pilot before all this sarted. Or atleast went bad. At this point I can't even remember when we bought it. Late summer 2019 or 2020. Everytime we take it in for oil change, delarship tries to make us the sales pitch to trade it in. "Nope" is my usual answer, unless they pry. Can't complain about the original salesman we had though.
 
NFW will I pay a "dealer market adjustment". We need a couple more super duty's so I'm waiting until the order banks open back up.

Yeah. Been seeing where folks are paying up to 35K market adjustment for broncos, putting the purchase in the upper 70's. Such stupidity. You could have got a well restored classic bronco for that, and a premium for a lot more, and never lost a dime on them. Same with Land Cruisers. All these jeep heads losing money on those purchases. For the same money you can have a very nice classic cruiser and never, ever lose a dime on the purchase. And have a beast of an off-roader.

I think they did a great design job on the new bronco. You can see alot of the classic in it. But, it really needed a durable and dependable engine. I think they missed on the drive train.
 
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Yeah. Been seeing where folks are paying up to 35K market adjustment for broncos, putting the purchase in the upper 70's. Such stupidity. You could have got a well restored classic bronco for that, and a premium for a lot more, and never lost a dime on them. Same with Land Cruisers. All these jeep heads losing money on those purchases. For the same money you can have a very nice classic cruiser and never, ever lose a dime on the purchase. And have a beast of an off-roader.

I think they did a great design job on the new bronco. You can see alot of the classic in it. But, it really needed a durable and dependable engine. I think they missed on the drive train.

I get it on the dealer part, they are scrambling to stay afloat and make money and if they can get people to pay it more power to them. I just see it the way you do, 2-3 years from now there's going to be a bunch of people severely upside down in their rides.
 
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Yeah. Been seeing where folks are paying up to 35K market adjustment for broncos, putting the purchase in the upper 70's. Such stupidity. You could have got a well restored classic bronco for that, and a premium for a lot more, and never lost a dime on them. Same with Land Cruisers. All these jeep heads losing money on those purchases. For the same money you can have a very nice classic cruiser and never, ever lose a dime on the purchase. And have a beast of an off-roader.

I think they did a great design job on the new bronco. You can see alot of the classic in it. But, it really needed a durable and dependable engine. I think they missed on the drive train.
If it could be equipped with their small V8, I would be even more intrigued!
 
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I get it on the dealer part, they are scrambling to stay afloat and make money and if they can get people to pay it more power to them. I just see it the way you do, 2-3 years from now there's going to be a bunch of people severely upside down in their rides.
Dealerships aren’t struggling to stay afloat lol.
 

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