I read everyone elses review, and I am sorry, but I just did not have a good experience with Carmax. My daughter was in the market for a car, and I am not talking looking, BUT ready to buy. Someone suggested Carmax, so we gave it a shot. When we walked in the front door, there were many many people working inside, and it being our first time there, we did not know their procedures, so we just stood there, waiting for someone to greet us or come over and ask if we needed help. Nothing....we went outside and looked around....and still not a single employee came to offer any help. And, too, their inventory was way TOO HIGH. So, we went to another dealership and bought a car on the spot. I will never recommend Carmax to anyone. read more

Horrible experience at Carmax , after spending 1/2 providing everything that they requested and having the manager speak with his manager we were approved signed the contract put a substantial down payment and left with our new car to then hear 2 days later that they made a mistake and they needed to resubmit paper work or need the vehicle back. Mind you We do not have bad credit we are business owners and they to make a quick sale is what I finally concluded did not calculate correctly what they should have. As they clearly admitted and said to me it was their mistake but would do nothing to correct it. To make matters worse they refuses to return our money that we had out down they said it would mailed to us in a few weeks - OUTRAGEOUS ! Will NEVER recommend CarMax . read more

First off don't bother scheduling an appointment here because they don't bother honoring your appointment time. I waited over 2 hours when I had a scheduled appointment only for them to tell me they didn't even have the appropriate part for a car I had just purchased the week before. BTW it wasn't some intricate difficult labor it was an alignment check. Since when is this a 2 hour process?? I'm totally disappointed in the quality of service. Even though I have full warranty ide rather pay out of pocket then have my car serviced here again. read more

STAY AWAY FROM THE SERVICE DEPT!! They know as much about cars as my 6 year old! Towed dead SVU into Carmax on a Monday in June after it died on a Saturday (their service center is closed on weekends...how smart, right?). Was told by the technician that it was a security issue and I must have hit something that triggered it into theft mode (they could never tell me what that "something" was that I hit). Told if it happened again we would have to bring it back for them to reset the system. I informed them that the SUV made strange grinding noises when starting on occasion--that was ignored. I pay $50 plus for them to reset the security system. 2 Two months later car dies again--luckily it was a weekday. Told that it was the security system yet again, regardless of the fact that the loud grinding noises were getting much more frequent...and loud...and quite frankly, embarrassing. After a little push back, the decided that Ford was the best place to determine the actual problem. Ford says it was the ignition switch, which they replace and I get my SUV back 9 days later and $100 poorer. Two weeks after that repair, SUV dies yet again. WOW!! I'm sooo shocked! Since it died on a Friday evening after the service center had closed at 6:30, I had to wait until Monday morning to have it towed back to their shop. They got the SUV Monday afternoon and it wasn't until Tuesday afternoon that we called back (yes, we called--they will not call you!) only to tell us that it's again the security system. I'm going to pick up my SUV and have my 6 year old diagnose the problem correctly. After all, he has tons of experience working on Tonka Trucks! Bottom line is make sure you get the warranty and don't take it to CarMax for the service. I've had my vehicle serviced there three times in the two years that I had the vehicle and EACH time, I had to return it to them because the initial problem was not fixed! read more

Great customer service. HOWEVER, If you want to sell your car wholesale to someone, go to Maxwell Ford. Carmax offered me 13,500, and Maxwell Ford offered me $15,700. Car was a 2006 Lexus GS430 with 97k miles. Private Party Book was 19,500 at the time of this posting, and retail was $22,500. My brother works for a dealer, and looked the vehicle up on the Mannheim auction site which is what dealers use to see what cars have been selling for at auction. My vehicle with similar miles was trading for between 15-16k at auction. ' I think their appraisers either 1. don't know what they're doing, or 2. Carmax just tries to lowball the crap out of you, so worse case scenario, they can sell the car at auction and still make money. Gotta respect the business model, but don't take your car here if you want anywhere close to what it's worth. Maxwell Ford will offer you closer to wholesale is, and will cut you a check right then. read more

I had high hopes going to CarMax in South Austin. CarMax repeatedly has been on the list of best places to work. But what I found as a customer is that they are no better than the typical used car dealer. The one good thing about shopping at CarMax is that they tout that their cars are not the ones that have been in wrecks and then fixed up to look like they are new again. CarMax claims that it is very easy to shop for a car there. They have large clean stores and a 30-day guarantee. For these conveniences, you pay quite a bit more than the price you would pay at other used car places, and significantly more than from a private owner. I was willing to pay the extra price to have peace of mind. But what I got was no peace of mind whatsoever. I was in a jam. I was moving in a very short amount of time and I needed a reliable car to get me and my stuff across country. The car I bought did get me across country. But that's about the only good thing I can say about my CarMax experience. My main problem was titling the car. CarMax would not release the title for the car I had just paid cash to directly to me. Instead, CarMax said they would send the title to the car registration place in my new location. I gave CarMax the location information for a car registration place in my new state. CarMax South Austin did send something to the car registration place. But they never sent the title for the car I had just paid cash to them for. I made numerous calls to CarMax South Austin from my new state. They repeatedly said they would take car of things. After going to the two different car registration places for a total of four trips, and after waiting hours at these places to find that once again CarMax South Austin, screwed up, I got very tired and angry at CarMax. Finally, when my temporary tags came up to expire, I called CarMax South Austin. The woman I spoke with guaranteed me that she would have new temporary tags sent to me before the old ones expired. That day came and passed, and I was now not able to legally drive the very car I bought from CarMax South Austin, had paid cash for, and owned outright. After I threatened legal action, CarMax finally agreed to allow me to return the car with no title to the local CarMax in my new location and get a different car with a title. This is not to mention the fact that both cars had stuff break pretty soon after the 30 day guarantee expired. CarMax is nothing but trouble. Go somewhere else. read more

My experience is with getting an appraisal to sell my car. The process was very professional. The full process l took about 45 min. Carmax selling (buying in this case) strategy is a very polite, no-pressure strategy. However, they do give you a presentation of pseudo-facts to appeal to your logic and make you believe your car is worth less than the norm. I sold my car the next day to a private party for 45% more than what Carmax offered (it would have been more if not for that I was in a hurry and I gave this party a substantial discount). In summary, their strategy is to (politely) skim as much money out of you as it is possible, just like any other dealer. If you know what you are doing and can negotiate, go elsewhere. If not, Carmax may be a good fit for you. read more

Excellent, friendly service from Mark Lemley! Mark will work with customers to make sure they get what they want. Much appreciated!

I was ready to put my junky old car on Craigslist and be done with it, then a friend told me about the sweet deal Carmax gave her for her old Honda. The short story: Carmax gave me $2500 for a 1992 Toyota Camry with 100k+ miles on it, shot brakes and a non-functioning air conditioning system. RAWK. read more

Tried to sell a car to Carmax in south Austin. The quote is about half of what Edmunds quoted. I decided to sell it on Craig's list 2 days later using Edmund's quote minus $1,000 for a quick sell. I got ~10 inquiries and sold the car within 24hr after I posted it on Craig's list. The point of my story is actually not on making a few thousands dollars by selling it yourself. The point is about the honesty of this Carmax. Sales told me "we take you car, spent 12hrs on it on average, then sell it to make a few hundred dollars". By looking at the prices of equivalent cars on the lot, I think they tried to low ball me to make a few thousand dollars quickly. Carmax can offer me whatever low price they want, just don't tell me they only plan to make a few hundred dollars on it. read more

Probably one of the worst experiences at a used car lot. Salesman we dealt with was condescending and corrected my husband and/or I numerous times. We knew specifically what we were looking for, you didn't have it. Not a big deal at all. We were told if we thought we could get that car for what we wanted to pay, we should go down the street and take that deal. Well, we did. We have never been to a Car Maxx before and we won't ever again because some kid salesman probably 20 years younger than me, really put a bad taste in my mouth about this business. read more

Take my advise and take your business elsewhere. I cannot express how awful my first time car buying experience was. It has ruined my credit and Carmax is not willing to help. My husband is military we have enough to deal with moving around a lot, deployments and all that entails and Carmax has managed to make our lives 10x harder than being in the military has. They do not care. I've been beyond nice and communicative with Dave, Kieth, Mario, and the countless others I have spoken with in resolving the issue at hand. They have broken the law and lied to my lending company. I have reached out multiple times to Kieth the general manager and have received no reply or call back. I've driven over 24 hours and flew in multiple times on my own dime to meet with Dave to try to get this issue resolved to only be told that "I was not communicative enough." All they care about is themself even if that means negligence to customers. read more

It was the easiest car buying experience I have had to date. I really was a haggle and stress free experience. My sales person was great as well. However, after buying my car from them, I had it taken into the manufacturer dealership for a recall fix and asked them to check my oil and a few other things on the car. They found that the oil needed changing, (I had told Carmax about it looking muddy and smoke coming out of the tail pipe once when I started it, and they said their records showed that it was not time to change the oil yet and that everything should be fine because Hyundai's only need oil changes every 7,000 miles with a synthetic oil) I said carmax told me that the oil change wasn't necessary on my vehicle for 4000 more miles. Hyundai said the manufacturer redacted their statement about the 7000 mile oil change with synthetic oils and that it should be 4000 miles regardless of the oil used in the engine (shouldn't carmax know this type of important information?!). Also the cabin air filter was shown to me by the mechanic, it was dark and filthy and had debris in the folds! My tires also needed rotated because of the wear on the outside of the tires. I think that Carmax should do their due diligence when selling used vehicles if they want to keep a good reputation. I am disappointed in the fact that they did not take care of these things before putting it out on the lot for sale. read more

Just like every other dodgy used car place... they will low ball you, and over exaggerate and minor issue to get you to consider taking it. Sell private. read more

Like other reviewers stated, their place of buisness is clean and professional but their inspections/service dept sucks! I bought 2 cars and had to return them a few days after purchase due to mechanical isssues that should've been caught during their inspection process. They are NOT an exemplary used car service company! Do not trust their car service dept nor their 120 inspection guarantee BS! read more

I would have given zero stars if possible. I bought a car in late January from these guys. The vehicle seemed to be okay but then one day after work it wouldn't start. i realized it was out of gas even though the fuel gauge was reading a 1/4 tank. It was a Mitsubishi Mirage. I walked to the gas station since it was a Friday evening and their service department was closed and bought a gas can and put gas in it. I then drove the vehicle to Carmax on Monday and they sent it to Mitsubishi. It took 10 days to get the car back. They claimed it was fixed but it ran out of gas again. This time it was showing on the fuel gauge that it had even more fuel in it. I brought it back to Carmax and they took it back to Mitsubishi. After another week without the vehicle i told them i wanted out of that car since no one was fixing it. They told me to come in and get it appraised and i would have to pay the devalued difference. They would not accept it as a return. Right now i'm considering legal action against them to take the lemon back. I'll NEVER!!!! buy another vehicle through them. read more

This place is not worth your time. We made an appointment and showed up on time, yet when we arrived we were told they needed to put us on a waiting list because the associate we were scheduled to meet was working a different position. After 20 minutes an associate, Dace, looked at the car, took down information, and told us it would take no more than 30 minutes to get an offer (1st lie). 15 minutes later we looked outside and no one had even looked at the car, Dace told us the appraiser was about to walk outside and take a look any minute (2nd lie). 10 minutes after that, we asked Dace what was going on and she responded with the most unprofessional, condescending tone and more inaccurate statements. On top of all of this, she took multiple cell phone calls in the middle of our sentences and it was apparent that she had no intention of treating us with respect. Finally, the appraiser finished and Dace told us with a mocking look how much our car was worth to them, and she handed us the key before we even responded because she knew it was a slap-in-the-face offer. At least there was free water. read more

I'm a fan of CarMax in general, and this location is no exception. Our representative Mark was warm, friendly, and not pushy. I really appreciated that he never tried to pressure us into anything, and explained that the offer for our used car was good for seven days, so that we didn't have to decide right away. The location was clean, bright and airy, and we were able to get on the waiting list to have the car appraised from our living room. Excellent customer service. read more

I got what I needed when I went to CarMax. Easy navigation on the website. Knowing what I needed and wanted in a car made it even easier.

I suspected I had an issue with one of my belts so I took my car to the Carmax service center. They said they would check it out. They then said things were fine and my belts were all in good shape. About 2 months later, I took my car back complaining of the same problems and once again said that I thought there was a problem with a belt and that they need to check the belts. After having my car for days, they again said I didn't have a problem with a belt. Convinced there was a problem, 2 weeks later, I took my car to a dealership, not to Carmax, and within minutes they identified a worn out belt that needed to be changed ASAP. So, I take my car to Carmax TWICE and tell them "I think there is something wrong with a belt. Please check the belts" and they tell me both times there are no issues. 2 weeks later at another dealership they find a belt that needs to be changed ASAP. I looked at this belt - it needed to be changed! There is absolutely no way that Carmax would have missed this belt problem if they would have bothered looking. I specifically took my car in twice and told them to look at the belts. How could they have missed this? Either they are so incompetent that they missed it or they lied telling me they had checked everything out when they didn't even bother to look. It's a complete waste of time for me to take my car to Carmax twice, ask them to look at something, and both times they don't even bother looking and then lie to me and tell me everything is in great shape. What is funny is that I thought they were nice and that I was was receiving good service. Only once I took the car somewhere else did I realize that going to Carmax was a big mistake. 2 stars given only because I got a loaner car which was pretty sweet. read more

If Carmax had pants, they would be on fire. I bought a car on Saturday, and the moment I got home I realized a window wouldn't roll down. (That's part of the inspection, right? If the power windows work?) I brought it back, but was told Carmax wouldn't take it on a Saturday (despite the fact that I had been gone ten minutes). There's no weekend service dept, they wouldn't hold my new car without a service slip, they wouldn't fill out a slip for me on a Saturday, and they wouldn't make an exception. There's a 5-day return policy, but CS Mgr Eli told me that I could not have my trade-in back. I come back three days later to return it, and was OFFERED my trade-in car when I did. Eli is a liar. While I waited, Sales Manager Paula tried to scare me into staying: "Please be careful. There are a lot of dishonest dealers out there." I guess she's right. read more

I bought my car from CarMax about 3 weeks ago! Regan was my sales lady she was really great! Although on the other hand, CarMax sold me a car with the wrong tire sizes, my car requires 255/40r18 in the back and 225/40r18 in the front. This process starts with a phone call on my end, and the kid who picked up the phone was me to make an appointment for someone to look at my tiers. This is where the red flag started to show. I need a appointment for someone to come look at my car? Makes no sense to me. So I bring it in, I do not get greeted, or welcomed to Carmax. I then have to track down who I think is a advisor. I deal with a kid named Nick. He is yawning, and leaning up on my car, and asks "what was the price of your car" like what does the price of my car have to do with tires or service? I then to proceed to tell him why I need the correct tires and the tires don't even match brand wise.... it takes me to open the car door to show him what kind of tire size my car requires from the factory! THE Lack of "car smarts" or knowledge for lack of better words worries me about bringing my car into Carmax for service. I did not mention or go into detail about them not clearing my traction control light that came on due to my tire size not being right, and how it was a safety hazard for them to clear codes! They did however put the right tires on and fix the issue, but never called me to tell me "hey Mr. customer.. your tires are in" or anything.. also make sure if your bring your car into Carmax you do a walk around before they take it away and mark any damages you have before giving it to to them!!! I will Never bring my car back to Carmax again! read more

This was the best car buying experience I have ever had. I contacted CarMax last week about a car and spoke with Roberto. I let him know what I was interested in and he setup a time for me to come in. I couldn't make the appointment so I had to reschedule. First, I love the fact that he didn't hound me and pressure me to come in, he left it up to me to decide when I wanted to shop. It was so funny, I had just gotten the insurance check for my total loss on my last vehicle and was finally ready to come in. I sent him a text asking if he would be in the shop and as soon as I hit send, I received a text from him at that exact same moment asking if I was still interested. So funny, it set the stage for the rest of the experience. I walked into the showroom and it's a very clean nice place. Roberto came out and let me test drive the car I wanted. He was the only one I worked with, none of that old school, "i need to go talk with my manager" bull. He was upfront, honest, gave good advice I was out of there in 1 hour 40 mins. Even the nice lady Joan at the back was so cheerful and expedient with the paperwork. I will forever shop at CarMax. They filled the tank with gas, and I have an extended warranty plan with no deductible. Only reason they don't get five stars is that the car wasn't cleaned as well as I would have liked, the car wash guy should have taken the time to clean the wheel undercarriage so it looked perfect. read more

This review is for the service dept, only. I dropped off my car because it had a shake in the wheel at speeds above 60mph. When I purchased the car it had 2 different size tires on it. Carmax initially asked me to pay to put the proper size tires on. They then said they would pay for them only after I had to prove they were the same tires that were sold on the car. Only then did they admit they shouldn't have sold it as i That was on a thursday. 1 week later I'm sitting at the dealership waiting on my car which is still not done from getting tires replaced. I took my truck to Discount Tire and they had it done in less then 45 min. Obviously since Carmax is footing the bill, they don't mind the inconvenience it places on their customers. That's unfortunate. read more

I had a good experience here. Got the exact car I wanted, at a fair price, without all the hassles normally associated with buying a car. Theodore Essell was my salesperson. A genuinely nice guy who was very knowledgable and quick to respond to my questions/concerns. My only complaint is it took about three weeks to get it (delivered from Florida). I didn't deduct any stars for that because Theo told me it could take that long. I paid $600 for the transfer from Florida, which seems pricy for a 3 week delivery. If I could do it over I would have flown to Florida and driven it back myself. It would have taken 2 days but would have saved me a ton of money on the delivery fee and rental cars. read more

Not satisfied. No car manual provided. Tinted rear view mirror is a distraction -- especially for night time driving. Automatic car door opener only opens the driver's door not all doors at once. Door storage pockets are too small. Dislike the gas tank on the passenger side of car. Drove the 2012 Nissan Sentra 2 days later & I heard an intermitant humming sound coming from inside the car then a beeping noise. Gear shift hard to maneuver. Is there a backup warning device to avoid hitting an object? Perhaps this explains one of the noises. Virginia (Ginny) T. 7-26-17 read more

Appraises vehicles low...sells high...offered $7500 less for my vehicle than a comparable vehicle on the Car Max website.... Found out my vehicle that I bought from Car Max in 2007 had been repainted before I bought the car...found this out at my appraisal...Car Max failed to tell me about this... Salesperson more interested in getting his presentation out than listening to me...had to tell him numerous times to slow down so I could even understand what he was saying.... read more

terrible customer service in their service area. their young service reps are too busy looking at things on their cell phones to pay attention to customers needs. one of them was supposed to be calling another employee on his radio but after about 15 mins no one shows up. come to find out that no one heard the first radio call! are you kidding me? don't they train these guys to verify someone actu as lly heard them buy waiting for a response rather thsn just send it and hope it was heard? these guys needs someone to actively supervise them which obviously is not happening. read more

I had probably the best experience you could possibly have buying a car.. Philip was so helpful and showed genuine care. He was not pushy like alot of dealership salesman are, and went out of his way to help me find the right car. I highly recommend Carmax read more

Man let me tell you what...these people are amazing. I was having the worst trouble with my bank and Kristin in the business center was so helpful throughout it all. Even helped me through the banks garbage customer service. Highly recommend this place and will be back if I ever need to sell another vehicle. Thank you Carmax! read more

After having been jerked around at the north location, my experience with the south location more than changed my opinion. My salesman, Thomas, was fast, efficient, and even helped me squeeze by the lender with someless than desirable income verification. He also had picked out a car for me which was the actual car I wanted, a hyundai gs accent, which is amazing by the way. These guys have buying a car down to a science. I was in and out in one hour. Thanks carmax south. Great job. read more

I have to tell you that before I came to Car Max... I had experienced what can be best described as complete emotional trauma from other dealerships in Austin. I was made to feel like I wasn't good enough to purchase a vehicle. After speaking with a Car Max associate and experiencing the painless finance questionnaire!! I was approved and was able to come in to the dealership with my head held high, knowing that it was possible for me to leave with a vehicle!! My salesperson Barrah, was the most kind, natural and knowledgeable person I have dealt with in regards to my car buying experiences. It was just soooo easy..the whole process!!! I will definitely be purchasing my next vehicle from Car Max and have already recommended Car Max to my family and friends!! Thanks you Car Max for making my car buying experience a pleasant one!! I WILL BE BACK!!! read more

I took off from work to make my appointment with carmax and went in to find out I wasn't even scheduled in. I was told I probably called the north office but when I told them the number I called, as I already knew which one I called they just said okay but I'll have to wait around until someone could help. Waited for 30 minutes and just left. I was initially told it would only take about 30 minutes so now that wasted an hour of my time and didn't seem to matter to them one bit. read more

The salesman was nice and knowledgeable, but the wait killed the entire experience. My wife and I waited 45 minutes to be helped only to then be offered some lowball amount for the vehicle we were trading in. They offered 15500 for my trade and I went right next door to the Mazda dealership and got 18500 instead and much faster service. read more

I had a great car buying experience with Mike Garcia at the South Austin store! Though I did end up buying my vehicle at the North Austin store as it is very close to my house.. I did a lot of communication with Mike over the phone prior to purchase. He was very knowledgeable, answered all my questions, and got back to me with very prompt communication. I never felt pressured to buy or like I was being taken advantage of. I felt like Mike was really working for me! I will say I did make significantly more on my old car by selling in on Craigslist - something I had never done before but it ended up being really easy. I would totally recommend Mike Garcia to anyone looking for a great sales person! read more

Good experience in CarMax South. I went to CarMax South Austin 2 times to find a 4WD SUV for my daughter and there no pressure for you to buy at all and the staff is willing to search the suitable car for you. Of course it is a little expense compare with other sales outlets. I felt a bit not comfortable as we just bought a new Rouge in the Nissan dealer just few block away as they press us so much for almost 3 hour so finally we walked out with a new car but bad experience happen later , see my other review. I just hope CarMax push us a bit to buy the used Rouge, then I will not have a bad experience of first new car buyer. read more

Probably pays less than selling the car yourself, but definitely pays better than trading it in with the dealer. Talking into account the time and effort saved, I would take this route again. Also, they know how to handle all the paperwork and I am confident my car has been cleanly transferred. Total time invested in selling the car - less than two hours. Worked with South Austin Carmax. Smooth and fast. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! read more

I keep forgetting how Carmax salespeople aren't trying to upsell you--they're actually coming up with cars that are better fits. Jarrett was no exception. After test driving two cars, he came back with a Kia Forte that was slightly above my stated range and was an absolute blast to drive, plus an insane bargain to boot. Needless to say, I bought it, and I've been happy with my decision from the start. Would definitely recommend. read more

i went in to look for a car and they were to pushy plus it took forever before someone acknowledge i was there. read more

My review is for David Sunukjian since we didn't end up purchasing a car from Car Max and decided to go new instead. But David was awesome! He was so patient and available when we had questions or kept coming back to try different cars. The location is great and easy to walk up and take a test drive, a lot of variety too AND we even requested that a car I was interested in at the Austin North location be transferred to the South location and he made it happen later that day. He helped us review all our financing options very clearly. If you're in the market for a CarMax car - go see David S! read more