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Why CarMax Makes More Money on Used Cars Than Anyone Else

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Re: Why CarMax Makes More Money on Used Cars Than Anyone Else

#41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You will always be able to get more money on a private party sale than trading into a dealer. Did any other dealership offer you more than $6,500?

Yes, another dealership offered me $7500. CarMax was by far the low ball offer.

The difference of 800 for a car in that price range is far from significant.

Re: Why CarMax Makes More Money on Used Cars Than Anyone Else

#42
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Car max has a long comprehensive waranty. It may be worth it to someone for ther peace of mind.

You pay that warranty on top. And it is good deal for a car that you know will require service. You can find good deals at CarMax. I found a car at CarMax $2k under the dealer. Now maybe I could’ve gotten it cheaper otherwise but I doubt much more.. also you have to realize that used cars are in demand vs new. Today it is often cheaper to buy new.

If you see a used car at the dealer, definitely negotiate it there too. Look the car up on CarFax and see if they acquired it at auction, then look up the average auction price for that year/model/trim and you'll have a good idea how much room they have to work with. Most dealerships make more money selling a used car than a new car so there's usually a healthy margin for you to take a piece of.

Source: my dad runs a dealership and I have negotiated used car prices at other dealerships.

Re: Why CarMax Makes More Money on Used Cars Than Anyone Else

#43
The article kind of dismisses carvana because their profit per unit is low compared to the rest. But, carvana's model is the future. I don't know what their financials are like, but if they are surviving on $902 profit per unit then they have the potential to surpass carmax and be the walmart of used cars... low profit per unit, but huge volume.

Re: Why CarMax Makes More Money on Used Cars Than Anyone Else

#44

Carmax makes a ton of money because they bring new meaning to "low-ball" when they offer to buy your car. Go see what they'll offer you for a car just as a test, then go look up your car value on KBB, edmunds, anything. When I sold my last car, they offered me $2k and I ended up selling it the next week for $7k. Carmax goes after people who are either too lazy to sell it themselves or too desperate and need the money…

Car dealers don't use Kelly blue book, they use either black book or "MMR" (Mannheim market report).

Re: Why CarMax Makes More Money on Used Cars Than Anyone Else

#45

Carmax makes a ton of money because they bring new meaning to "low-ball" when they offer to buy your car. Go see what they'll offer you for a car just as a test, then go look up your car value on KBB, edmunds, anything. When I sold my last car, they offered me $2k and I ended up selling it the next week for $7k. Carmax goes after people who are either too lazy to sell it themselves or too desperate and need the money…

This is just anecdata. We bought a used car at Carmax and they gave us way, way, way above bluebook value for our trade-in (and all other offers, too -- and we were pretty aggressive in researching trade-in offers at other places and were prepared to be underballed by Carmax).

My anecdata is no more useful than yours. Unless someone provides some actual reliable data points to produce a real, known trend, there's no proof here.

Re: Why CarMax Makes More Money on Used Cars Than Anyone Else

#46
post #2

There's value in removing negotiations to end consumer. The expectation to negotiate can introduce stress and uncertainty into an already-stressful large purchase. CarMax removes that, and captures the value in higher prices. But it is interesting that more people don't do a quick check of Kelly Blue Book. For example BMW 328i in article at Carmax is $27k. On KBB selling to private party value is $21k-$23k. Maybe the…

The value of buying from CarMax is a level of assurance that I won't be buying a lemon and that I'm doing business with a company with a positive reputation. I'm in my early 40s and I've only had five cars. The first two were from a car dealer who was the father of my best friend, one new one and two from CarMax for myself and my wife. My experiences at CarMax were much better than my one time buying a new car from a…

I've never used CarMax but I'd definitely consider them if I wanted a used vehicle. I'm in a similar situation when it comes to keeping cars a long time. If anything, I tend to keep them for an expensive repair job too long.

It does make the car buying experience easier. I know the trade-in isn't worth much and I can always just donate as a fall-back. I also haven't needed to finance for a while. When you can just basically ignore the dealer number BS and go in with a take it or leave it price based on the invoice, the experience may still be annoying but it's not particularly stressful.

Re: Why CarMax Makes More Money on Used Cars Than Anyone Else

#47

Carmax makes a ton of money because they bring new meaning to "low-ball" when they offer to buy your car. Go see what they'll offer you for a car just as a test, then go look up your car value on KBB, edmunds, anything. When I sold my last car, they offered me $2k and I ended up selling it the next week for $7k. Carmax goes after people who are either too lazy to sell it themselves or too desperate and need the money…

Greed goes both ways. Tempted to haggle with them knowing their fat margins, especially near end of quarter when salespeople are focused on cashflow now not profit next quarter.

Re: Why CarMax Makes More Money on Used Cars Than Anyone Else

#48
post #44

Carmax makes a ton of money because they bring new meaning to "low-ball" when they offer to buy your car. Go see what they'll offer you for a car just as a test, then go look up your car value on KBB, edmunds, anything. When I sold my last car, they offered me $2k and I ended up selling it the next week for $7k. Carmax goes after people who are either too lazy to sell it themselves or too desperate and need the money…

Car dealers don't use Kelly blue book, they use either black book or "MMR" (Mannheim market report).

You can go to Mannheim and see auction results from the previous weeks and see what your vehicle is going for. Print it out when you go in, they are saving the $500-$1000 cut Mannheim takes.

Re: Why CarMax Makes More Money on Used Cars Than Anyone Else

#49
post #9

CarMax is not the cheapest option, it never was. Their whole business model is to sell the car at a good-enough price, and to make the sale frictionless. And they've succeeded. Today they are the market leader, but as the article suggests, if they start to use that leverage to sweeten their markup too much, other competitiors will come along and offer something better. This is really just a news article about how a f…

Dealers lose money every day a car sits on their lot. You want a good deal from any dealer, scrape results each week and hit them up on cars that haven't moved for months. They will flip it for $1 over cost just to get it from going red on their books and management getting upset.

Re: Why CarMax Makes More Money on Used Cars Than Anyone Else

#50
post #37

Carmax makes a ton of money because they bring new meaning to "low-ball" when they offer to buy your car. Go see what they'll offer you for a car just as a test, then go look up your car value on KBB, edmunds, anything. When I sold my last car, they offered me $2k and I ended up selling it the next week for $7k. Carmax goes after people who are either too lazy to sell it themselves or too desperate and need the money…

Completely agree with user cstejerean here. You didn't say anything about your car, but I will hazard a guess that it was over 10 years old, but still a somewhat rare or desirable vehicle. Carmax doesn't want vehicles over 10 years old. Also, to other commentors here, consider tax implications when you compare sale price on a trade-in. If you wind up paying taxes on the sale of your vehicle, that may offset the incre…

Don't buyers pay the sales tax?
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