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Carmax

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Jennifer of Jacksonville, FL May 18, 2009

Purchased a 2004 Volvo S80 from Carmax with an extended warrarenty for an additional 2000.00 . So the car would not start in Feb 2009, so I contacted Carmax to have it repaired.They took it to Osteen Volvo to have the "specialist " repair it. Waited 15 days for an ignighter to come from Sweden. The Carmax tech picked it up and less than 20 miles down the road it caught on fire. Car is a total loss.

The fire investigator hired gave cause as unidentified some where in the headlight area.The fuse panel was ok. So basically it was a freak fire? You will never convince me of that. Allstate is giving me fair market value based on Car Trader Ads- like I would buy a used car out of some one's drive way. Only I still owe another 8000.00. Once again a past Volvo owner gets screwed because of a fire?

The car warrenty company was too eager to send back my refund and of couse Carmax was too eager to help and now I know why. Also Car Max and Allstate do not sell GAP insurance which would have covered this difference but dont sell it on used cars more than 2 years old. Again I the consumer lose. I will never buy another Volvo or a used car from CarMax. Volvo's are flamers so be careful. If you see smoke get out and get away from the car. 22,000 car now gone and I get to pay the bill still. Thanks Allstate I am in your hands but I feel I got dropped on my head.

Roan of new britain, CT May 8, 2009

on the 4th of December i purchased a Nissan Quest when i went for the test drive i heard a knocking so i let them hear the knocking and the sales person told me its just because the van was cold and need warming so we let the van warm up then the knocking went away but it came back the following day so they keep saying bring it in so they can look at it but still they keep saying the reason why its knocking it need to change the oil so we let them changed the oil then the knocking was gone for couple hours then it came back again so they said its the transmission we changed the transmission get a different transmission then the same evening the same problem so we keep bringing it back like 7 times and it still keep messing up know they saying its the motor please can someone tell me whats the best way to go bye this can i hired a lawyer help me pleasae.

Sam of San Diego, CA April 27, 2009

I purchased Mercedes ML 500 from car max in San Diego at 27000 miles and reported the break problem within weeks of purchase they attempted to fix but in vain now the car has 35000 miles. The car is beautiful and the brand Mercedes was the reason for purchasing my car.

I am really disappointed with the car because of the horrible Break Squeak. It is dangerous and disappointing to drive the car with horrible break squeak. I do not feel comfortable pressing the break because I do not like the sound of squeak and it scars me even more.

I almost had an accident while backing up. When I backed up my car it squeaked badly and I stopped the car and restarted again in the mean time person walking on the street thought that I had stopped for him and started walking behind the car. I almost ran over him and I had never seen him. Car Max has attempted to fix the problem many times and in vain.

Phillip of Schofield, WI April 26, 2009

Okay. Here is my story and I never thought that I would have a bad thing to say about Carmax. I have purchased 4 vehicles from them 2 new and 2 used. I had purchased a 01 Lincoln Town Car 18 months ago and had decided to trade up to newer and a bit smaller car. I drove 4 hours to get to the dealer because they had the car I wanted. I never thought I'd be driving back without trading.

I got there and the salesman was absolutely stunned at the superb condition of my car. When I got it it was still a bit dirty and I had completely detailed it and had kept it in showroom new condition. I had all the service records since owning it in the glove box proven the car had been meticulously maintained. I drove the car I came to buy and it was great. So then this guy went to do the "evaluation" of my car. Now when I purchased the car 18 month before it had supposedly gone through the extremely thorough check they do for vehicles. I had only drive 12123 mile since purchasing it. I paid 11,999 for the car. Now when the price they would pay came back, 3500! Yep, the wonderful car they had sold me was now a piece of junk in their eyes. And the guy that did the evaluation was extremely rude and very insulting.

In point of fact, I have never been so insulted in my life. I walked out with him basically still shouting at me that the car was now "worthless" and would have to be auctioned off. How did it happen that in 18 months the car went from a Featured vehicle to an auction item????

I was so upset but not deterred. I went to my local Mercedes dealer where they had a pre-owned event going on. I was treated as a valued customer and respected. I had parked my car over by the cars for sale while test driving the one I liked. Another customer came by and thought that it was ready for sale, it was that clean. While I was buying the car I drove he was ready to buy my old one. So much for a car worthy of only auction!

The car I bought was certified, came with a paid up warranty to 100k miles and I got over 8k for my trade and paid 4 k less for a very comparable car and this one came with a warranty that Carmax would have had me pay 1600 for! They said they had never seen a car in such clean and wonderfully kept condition! Carmax, after 4 cars you have lost a customer for life. Next time you want to insult a good customer, hope they can recover and get an even better car at an even better deal like I did.

Julio of Montebello, CA April 20, 2009

Julio of Montebello CA (04/20/09)
Purchased 2002 Mazda Tribute with Extended Warranty from CARMAX in April 2007. Within 6 months the transmission Failed. Towed it back to the CARMAX Service Center in Torrance, CA for repair. After a week in their shop they told me they had rebuilt the transmission and fixed the problem. Three days later I had to take it back for the same reason, except this time the transmission fluid had flushed into the radiator and had dammaged the radiator. They told me they had to replace the radiator along with the transmission problem. I left my truck there again for a second time for another week. They again told me they had fixed the problem and in addition replaced the radiator.

Two weeks later returned the truck for a third time with the same complaint, transmission problem. Truck was left there for an additional week to have the problem fixed. Picked up the truck once again and a month later came back to drop it off for a fourth time only this time i asked to speak with a service manager due to the constant problem i was dealing with. I insisted they take my truck elsewhere to get it fixed because they were not fixing the problem at all. The manager promised me he would finally take my truck to another shop to fix the problem. I left my truck for another week hopefully to get my truck fixed for good.

It is now 6 months since the first initial repair and my truck once again is having the same exact problems i have been taking it in for the past 4 times now. I still have warranty on my truck but i have decided to file a complaint instead. The time, effort, mileage, frustration, and days off i have to take from work just is not worth it. So now i have to look to get this problem fixed by my own account with my own money to ensure things get done properly. No thanks to CARMAX.

I had to take several days off from work to drive my truck to and from CARMAX. I had to take public transportaion on all they days my truck was in the shop getting fixed. I put alot of miles driving my truck back and forth from CARMAX on several ocassions. The constant frustration of driving out from getting my truck fixed at CARMAX and having to worry about the transmission always failing on me. I can't trust to drive my truck on long trips now because I worry if the truck will break down on me.

If i have to go on long trips i have to either drive my smaller compact car or think about renting a bigger size vehicle. NOW i have to spend a great amount of money to get a private shop to actually fixt the transmission on my truck even when i still have warranty on it. Having to take it to CARMAX for a 5th time is jsut TOO MUCH!

Dennis of Elgin, IL April 13, 2009

Dennis of Elgin IL (04/13/09)
I bought a 2000 Chevy Blazer in 2006 with high mileage and purchased the Carmax extended warranty. It is a pain that there's a 50 deductible for each and every item I bring it in for, even if I'm bringing it in with multiple issues at one time, but I think that the investment of the additional warranty was a good investment for me. I had a warped oil pan on my truck. I was out of the truck for a couple of days because the part isn't something that the local parts stores carry, but they set me up with a rental car and gave me a 25/day allowance for it. This single repair almost matched the cost of the warranty, but it's been in there for a bunch of other things: the door hinges, the rear hatch, mismatched tires that they replaced, the cruise control, the air conditioning, a broken seat adjustment handle, etc.

Now, while I had a positive experience with the extended warranty and all of the people in the service department, I still paid too much for my truck. When they compare the sticker price to the NADA value, they are using the very top end of the scale. My truck should have cost less than it did with the amount of miles on it and the features that it was equipped with from the factory, but that's a different issue.

Luis of Van Nuys, CA March 23, 2009

Luis of Van Nuys CA (03/23/09)
My experice with carmax has been a disaster. CarMax is good at building illusions, just a few examples, when you visited the lot, did you notice that the cars that had been test driven by victims had a SOLD card hanging from them, and how they have this so called REJECT cars inside their buildings, that's the illusion they sold me thinking that i was purchasing a good quality car, just like they say they would. i purchased a Nissan maxima '08 with 622 miles, in feb/08, at carmax in duarte,ca. my car started giving me problems with the door locks, the brakes, the radio, the alarm, and the Air Conditioning condensation hose that was no were to be found, all condensed vapor was turing into water and filling up my car with it.

i purchased the extended warranty, but carmax has it's customers use the manufacturers warranty before they are willing to spend any money to fix the cars that were supposed to be fixed before they put them up for sale. i spoke an an employee named jose and told him about the problem that the car was having. he told me to bring the car in, i asked him if the service department was open on the weekend he told me NO. I have a busy schedule and it's quite difficult for me to bring the car in for service on a weekday, so the next time i could bring my car in it was about 4 weeks after i had purchased the car.

i took my car to the carmax store that's located in burbank,Ca. i was the first customer there and i spoke to a service agent named L. Lazo, i explained to her what the issues were with my car and what i had spoken to jose a couple a weeks prior. My car on paper it sounds like a good buy: '08 maxima with 622 miles. So i told L. that what was going on with my car was unacceptable because first of all this issues should have been taken care of before the car was put up for sale, second why should a car this new have all this problems. her words were well you bought a used car, the first thought that came to mind was to cuz her the out, but i remained calm. she made it seemed like it was my fault the car was in the state that they sold it to me in.

my car still has the door lock problems, it also has developed other problems, my transmission is sluggish, a loud noise has developed when i back up, a clicking noise coming from one of the axles, my electronic key doesn't repond all the time, and no dealer knows what the problem is, or they don't want to deal with it because i didn't make the purchase with them. my recomendations to anyone trying to purcahse a car from Carmax. DON'T DO IT!, you'll regret it if you do. They don't care for their customers, all they care about is finding ways to rob you for your car and money. i have shared my experience with my friends and family that have been thinking of purchasing cars from them. i have stopped them from becoming the next carmax victims. THE WAY CAR BUYING SHOULD BE what a joke for a mission statement.

loss of time, money and respect to a company

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