Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You got $5,000 from CarMax when the dealer was going to only give you $100 for the same trade in?

That's right!

Car dealers aren't interested in your trade in. It's not a money maker for them. You are always better off to sell it yourself or go to CarMax. Glad it worked out so well for you OP.

No true. They are interested. They prey on ignorant buyers. Most buyers will want to purchase the new car so badly and they will give up their trade-in for nothing.
Imagine the dealer buying it for $100 and reselling it for $5000. That's a huge profit.

Trade-in value is one of the “four squares” car dealers use to rip you off. Read about it:

https://www.consumerreports.org/consumerist/dealerships-rip-you-off-with-the-four-square-heres-how-to-beat-it/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You got $5,000 from CarMax when the dealer was going to only give you $100 for the same trade in?

That's right!

Car dealers aren't interested in your trade in. It's not a money maker for them. You are always better off to sell it yourself or go to CarMax. Glad it worked out so well for you OP.

No true. They are interested. They prey on ignorant buyers. Most buyers will want to purchase the new car so badly and they will give up their trade-in for nothing.
Imagine the dealer buying it for $100 and reselling it for $5000. That's a huge profit.

Anonymous wrote:Last time I bought, CarMax offered me $3000. Trade in offer at another dealership was $4500.

Interesting. I’ve never had Carmax be lower than the dealer. And we are usually trading in something the dealer actually wants (like trading in a 4 year old Odyssey for a new Odyssey.) Usually the dealer will match Carmax for us, but I’ve never had their starting offer be higher.

Last time I bought, CarMax offered me $3000. Trade in offer at another dealership was $4500.

Six hours? I would have been out of therein 30 minutes. They try to wear you down.

We’ve had good luck with CarMax for selling as well, at least 3 cars. Sometimes the dealer will match, sometimes they won’t, but the dealer’s first offer is always well below CarMax IME.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You got $5,000 from CarMax when the dealer was going to only give you $100 for the same trade in?

That's right!

Car dealers aren't interested in your trade in. It's not a money maker for them. You are always better off to sell it yourself or go to CarMax. Glad it worked out so well for you OP.

Not true, car dealers often make more money on your trade in than they do on selling you the new car. I have no idea why they offered so little for the OPs car but it seems like the whole process was a bad experience from start to finish.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You got $5,000 from CarMax when the dealer was going to only give you $100 for the same trade in?

That's right!

Car dealers aren't interested in your trade in. It's not a money maker for them. You are always better off to sell it yourself or go to CarMax. Glad it worked out so well for you OP.

Anonymous wrote:Used car prices seem to be crazy.

I will say it’s also worth checking vroom and carvana— my kid sold our car on vroom (took a couple pics answered a few questions on an app) for more than Carmax would give me.

Good to know. But after I got my $100 offer from dealer, seeing a $5K offer from CarMax was already a pleasant surprise!

Anonymous wrote:You got $5,000 from CarMax when the dealer was going to only give you $100 for the same trade in?

That's right!

I love carmax for selling cars. It’s so smooth and easy that I’m willing to take a little less from carmax than going through the rigamarole of a craigslist sale.

Used car prices seem to be crazy.

I will say it’s also worth checking vroom and carvana— my kid sold our car on vroom (took a couple pics answered a few questions on an app) for more than Carmax would give me.

You got $5,000 from CarMax when the dealer was going to only give you $100 for the same trade in?

Thanks for the info, OP!

After spending 6hrs at a dealership where they took forever to get all our paperwork together, came back with an offer of $100 for my used car. I declined their trade in offer but bought the car. I was exhausted and never wanted to look at another car shop ever again...but then I still had my old car to deal with and dispose of.

The next day, I took my used 2012 Mazda5 (certified pre-owned, scrapped bumper, 105K mile car) over to CarMax where it took just about an hr for them to check out my car and handed me a check for $5k. I was expecting them to negotiate down from their online offer, but nope! Easy peasy. I've sold private sale before and hated all the back and forth negotiations and meeting randos, so this worked out great.

They also gave off a much better vibe from the dealership sales people. When someone buys a car, they attach a giant yellow bow on it for a picture of the car with the buyer. I would definitely consider buying from them vs traditional if I ever get another used car. Hope this helps someone in the future from getting ripped off by a dealership trade-in!