Depends on the price range. It very different to buy a $1-2k beater vs 2-3 y.o. one.

I bought a certified used car from Mazda. They add 3 years of warranty on to whatever is left on the original warranty (1 year in my case). Definitely made the car worth more then buying from an individual.

OP here.

I rolled the dice and bought a used car from a private seller on CraigsList.

So far, so good, although I have only had the car a couple of days.

I liked the seller -- seemed like a nice, responsible person, and they had complete service records for the car.

The price I paid was probably 20% lower than what I would have paid if I had bought an equivalent car from a dealer.

Carmax is the most expensive place to buy a used car. By far.

I bought a car from CarMax last week (2018 with only 13K miles on it). It stalled while driving on day 6 and then wouldn't start (bad sign - didn't want to take a chance and keep it) so I returned it to CarMax. They have a 7 day return policy. It was no-hassle return, HOWEVER, they take 7 business days to return our money. I paid cash for it and they're holding on to my $30 grand for over a week and I have no car, and no cash with which to buy another one.

Buyer beware.

You can take it back to CarMax with little to no hassle for one thing. That is a huge pro to me.

What are the pros/cons of buying a used car on CraigsList versus buying from a dealer, or from a website like www.CarMax.com?