Buying from CarMax

wonderbr34d

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Long time lurker, first time poster here.

I'm doing the 24 hour test drive early next week and was wondering if anyone has had experience with buying a car like this from CarMax? I was planning on doing some basic checks around downpipe and intake to see if it was modded previously but not sure what else I should really look out for. I figured if there's no red flags to me I can buy it and do a PPI at a dealer within the 30 day return period. Any guidance from y'all would be greatly appreciated though!

It's a 2020 Downshift Blue w/ 5k miles.
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Zupra1776

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Long time lurker, first time poster here.

I'm doing the 24 hour test drive early next week and was wondering if anyone has had experience with buying a car like this from CarMax? I was planning on doing some basic checks around downpipe and intake to see if it was modded previously but not sure what else I should really look out for. I figured if there's no red flags to me I can buy it and do a PPI at a dealer within the 30 day return period. Any guidance from y'all would be greatly appreciated though!

It's a 2020 Downshift Blue w/ 5k miles.
Just look for bolt head marks to see if it things were turned and put back to stock. Inspect turbo, intake, charge pipe, downpipe, look at ECU panel to see if it was removed a bunch, etc...

At the end of the day this car is a two seaters...people frequently buy them then realize how impractical they are if they don't have another daily and get rid of them so it's never surprising to see them on the used market.
 

Loco38SUP

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Long time lurker, first time poster here.

I'm doing the 24 hour test drive early next week and was wondering if anyone has had experience with buying a car like this from CarMax? I was planning on doing some basic checks around downpipe and intake to see if it was modded previously but not sure what else I should really look out for. I figured if there's no red flags to me I can buy it and do a PPI at a dealer within the 30 day return period. Any guidance from y'all would be greatly appreciated though!

It's a 2020 Downshift Blue w/ 5k miles.
The 2020’s are pretty safe to buy. No oil consumption issues and tunable. I would poke around the engine bay and look for aftermarket parts. Charge pipe, turbo intake pipe or any wiring connections that look out of place.

Here is a stock 2020 photo for reference.

-RJM

99B86966-6DFB-4DB9-8005-D24BC70B8CAD.jpeg
 

RenRed2

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Long time lurker, first time poster here.

I'm doing the 24 hour test drive early next week and was wondering if anyone has had experience with buying a car like this from CarMax? I was planning on doing some basic checks around downpipe and intake to see if it was modded previously but not sure what else I should really look out for. I figured if there's no red flags to me I can buy it and do a PPI at a dealer within the 30 day return period. Any guidance from y'all would be greatly appreciated though!

It's a 2020 Downshift Blue w/ 5k miles.
Get the inspection done before you buy. Why wait. Thats the entire deal on the inspection. If it passes enjoy the other 23 hours then work a deal.
 

Grady60

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Make sure the Navigation maps are up-to-date. One of the reasons I bought my Prius was for the Nav. It would have cost $300 to update, so I just use my phone. See if they have service history available. 2 small things, but good to know.
 

RenRed2

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Make sure the Navigation maps are up-to-date. One of the reasons I bought my Prius was for the Nav. It would have cost $300 to update, so I just use my phone. See if they have service history available. 2 small things, but good to know.
His inspection at Toyota should show some history if the dealer was used for service. One of the best selling points to a car such as this is documented service by a dealer. During the warranty its all on the dealer and company. The beauty of new.
 
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wonderbr34d

wonderbr34d

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Just look for bolt head marks to see if it things were turned and put back to stock. Inspect turbo, intake, charge pipe, downpipe, look at ECU panel to see if it was removed a bunch, etc...
That's a nice list of things to check, thanks for that! Didn't think of looking at the ECU but that's obviously a pretty big indicator.


Here is a stock 2020 photo for reference.

-RJM

99B86966-6DFB-4DB9-8005-D24BC70B8CAD.jpeg
Very helpful, thank you so much!

Get the inspection done before you buy. Why wait. Thats the entire deal on the inspection. If it passes enjoy the other 23 hours then work a deal.
I guess I was under the assumption that the inspection would take a decent amount of time that I'd rather be spending figuring out if the car is the right fit. But I can see it from that perspective too. I'll call the dealer and see what kind of timeframe it would take and if they can squeeze me in.
Make sure the Navigation maps are up-to-date. One of the reasons I bought my Prius was for the Nav. It would have cost $300 to update, so I just use my phone. See if they have service history available. 2 small things, but good to know.
Good tips here as well, thank you!
 

zrk

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That's a nice list of things to check, thanks for that! Didn't think of looking at the ECU but that's obviously a pretty big indicator.



Very helpful, thank you so much!


I guess I was under the assumption that the inspection would take a decent amount of time that I'd rather be spending figuring out if the car is the right fit. But I can see it from that perspective too. I'll call the dealer and see what kind of timeframe it would take and if they can squeeze me in.

Good tips here as well, thank you!
If you have questions or aren't sure, you should definitely take photos and throw them up there. One of us has seen whatever it is you're looking at.
 

NitroYellowMKV

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Make sure the Navigation maps are up-to-date. One of the reasons I bought my Prius was for the Nav. It would have cost $300 to update, so I just use my phone. See if they have service history available. 2 small things, but good to know.
there are so many things with this statement that confuse me, Mainly the " One of the reasons I bought my Prius was for the Nav" LMAO
 

Octane

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there are so many things with this statement that confuse me, Mainly the " One of the reasons I bought my Prius was for the Nav" LMAO
I had to re-read what he wrote too... I can't tell if he actually bought a Prius because it has a good navigation??
 

digicidal

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I've purchased several cars from Carmax... and I probably never will again. All I can say is that there is usually a reason they have something with next to no miles, in great condition, which the owner didn't (or couldn't) sell to a "real" dealer.

Sure they get thousands of cars from auction's as well - many of which were traded in at brand dealerships... but they get a ton of "throw away's" as well. They do have a great selection including transfers, so if you're looking for something a bit special (like that MKV) then they're a decent option... just go in with your eyes open.

My history:
2006 350Z - Oil consumption. Unreported to Carmax, but once I contacted the dealership where it was serviced, I saw the previous owner had already brought it in 4 times in 5K miles. Already owned it, so dealt with Nissan to eventually get the engine replaced under warranty. Took forever, still liked the car ultimately.

2015 RX350 F-Sport - My wife had this transferred and we bought it. Clean supposedly... first insurance was no problem, but upon renewal we were informed of what we already suspected - accident reported 2 weeks prior to sale to Carmax. It just took that long to appear in the database. They refused to compensate and it wasn't worth it to sue for unknown losses so we just ate that. This was our last purchase from them... wonder why. :doh:

2010 G37S - Great car but had been keyed and resprayed (poorly). It was still what I wanted and the price was right for near no miles at $15K less than new, so I took it anyway. Loved it actually and it ran flawlessly for 60K miles.

2015 Porsche Cayman - after having 5 different ones transferred, I got one that didn't have a funny smell, obvious body work, or already broken options. Had to bring it back in the 5-day period because it would randomly fail to go into reverse, smelled like burning wiring, and was burning oil.

2016 RC-F - Again knew it had to have something wrong, but 5K miles and $35K less than new sold me on it. After a couple weeks I noticed if I slammed the trunk, gravel would come out on my exhaust. Seems likely it was under water or slid off-track or ??? Overall still a decent buy and I was able to trade it 2 years later on the MKV and get 90% of what I paid for it... so win!
 

puzzled

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Used car places suck. Used cars suck in general unless buying from an honest friend or family. You're basically buying someone else's problem.

Don't trust what they (includes places like Carvana) show on their 'detailed' report on the cosmetics. There can be botched repairs and they won't show it as repaired if it even looked half decent. You got some low wage workers inspecting these cars in hot or bad weather. They don't give a rats arse. They do however want the rat's pizza slice.

They shouldn't even be listing Supra's right now due to the recall..
 

VA90

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I had a similar experience to digicidal the one time we bought from Carmax. A couple years ago, we bought a ~2015 Ford Escape with less than 25K miles as a second car for my wife. Price was about market so it wasn't one of those "too good to be true" kind of deals. Total disaster. Despite the supposedly clean service/accident record, problems started popping up maybe a month after we bought it. First, the engine inexplicably overheated. I think it was because a required recall service had not been performed but I can't remember now. Month after that, the transmission refused to go into reverse, leaving my wife stranded. We were thoroughly fed up after that. We had to fight Carmax pretty hard but they eventually gave in and bought the car back at perhaps $500 or so less than we paid for it.

I'm sure most people have a good experience with them and in fairness to Carmax they eventually did the right thing (unlike most used car dealers) but for us, never again. Definitely not worth the no-haggle premium they charge over other sources if you're still dealing with the same issues as any other used car. I'd buy used again but only from a forum member or someone I know I can trust.
 

Tsuki

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I've purchased several cars from Carmax... and I probably never will again. All I can say is that there is usually a reason they have something with next to no miles, in great condition, which the owner didn't (or couldn't) sell to a "real" dealer.

Sure they get thousands of cars from auction's as well - many of which were traded in at brand dealerships... but they get a ton of "throw away's" as well. They do have a great selection including transfers, so if you're looking for something a bit special (like that MKV) then they're a decent option... just go in with your eyes open.

*snip*
You're really just talking about the experience of buying ANY used car, from literally any dealer. Not sure what makes you think Carmax is worse than any of the rest. And, for the Z, I'm pretty sure 2006 had the rev-up engine, which was widely known for oil consumption issues, even when I was looking at them back in 2008.

The RC F with the gravel coming out of the tailpipe... That doesn't even make sense. edit - Reading is fundamental. Leaving this bit for humor, though! It came out ON his exhaust, not FROM it. haha
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