Carmax Wants to Buy My Car! Tips to Negotiate Your Trade-In Value.

[@brendan6601]

should i mention my car isn’t paid off yet?

[@AutoN8GT]

If they ask - but I wouldn’t lead with any information unless it is advantageous for your negotiations. Having your car paid off would make the negotiation easier and give you leverage. Having a payoff isn’t bad, but there may be a fear that it will make the deal less likely to go through because of your equity situation. Will you have too much negative equity to make a deal? Will they have to offer too much on your trade just to make you satisfied? That is a likely objection that dealers don’t like to tackle. The best bet is to go to carmax to get an appraisal offer as if you are just selling the car outright (not trading it in.) Then you can assess your equity situation and make sure you have a good idea of your actual budget all things considered with the payoff, equity, etc. The more you know before going to the dealer, the better. Carmax has changed their appraisal process after merging with Edmunds.com so now you can get a conditional appraisal offer online using your VIN and providing truthful answers on the online appraisal form at www.edmunds.com/appraisal/ . Just keep in mind that this offer is subject to appraisal for final verification so you can’t rely on it 100% anymore unfortunately. It’s not as official as it was when I made this video. I’ll do an update video about this soon.

[@brendan6601]

Nathan Adams Cars What would hail damage be marked as? I have like 7 dents on the hood and I’m not sure if it would be a $500 loss or $3,000. everything else is in good shape, so no worries there (2014 scion tc)

[@AutoN8GT]

In my area (Washington DC) we get hail only occasionally and it is golf ball sized at most. Usually it can be repaired pretty easily and it is just considered cosmetic - especially on a used car. Dents and dings are to be expected and they can be easily repaired by most dealers. The more expensive details will be damaged paint or broken pieces that will need to be replaced. Tires are another big thing they look for so note if some or all Badly need to be replaced - otherwise leave that out. Mechanical failures will also be discovered during the appraisal, so leaving that out could mean they appraise lower than expected. Basic rule of thumb: if it’s obvious that it takes value out of the car, mention it up front. Otherwise, don’t mention it at all. You want to be upfront so they know you’re working with them, but don’t shoot yourself in the foot by telling them about every imperfection. They are pretty forgiving on used cars even though they exaggerate about everything during the appraisal process. We all know a 2014 car will have dents and dings, so you should be good for the most part. This is if you’re just using carmax as an appraisal tool but trading in at a non-carmax dealer. Anything going through carmax directly will have no negotiations so you either accept their offer or go elsewhere.

[@brendan6601]

Nathan Adams Cars good to know! i’m trying to trade in for a focus st, but my current car isn’t paid off and i’m only 18. so this whole process is new to me 😬

[@AutoN8GT]

It’s a crazy process sometimes because of how franchise dealers work. Carmax is a big national corporation so they trade cars between all the stores easily and they control pricing better than every other car dealer company I’ve seen. It’s good because they make the process direct and straightforward, but with Carmax (as many commenters have pointed out) you can NOT negotiate. I use them as a tool to get a comparison if the car I’m trading in for is at a non-Carmax dealership. If you are buying from Carmax and you can comfortably afford the deal today plus for the entire length of the loan you sign up for, then I would say go with it. Otherwise, you can always take more time to shop around and find the best car and best deal at any dealership. Let me know if you’d like any tips on other parts of the process. Good luck!

[@AutoN8GT]

You can not negotiate at Carmax. But you can use their appraisal to help get a better trade in value elsewhere. That is what this video is meant to show.

[@xudongweng7703]

Thanks for the tips. Also if you show some interest of buying a car from them, it's likely another reason they could offer more for your car.

[@nottabidenfan660]

Went today! 2017 Dodge Charger Scat pack...6700 miles, absolutely pristine condition. They offered me $33,000! 😳

[@AutoN8GT]

They’re just full of surprises I think

[@robinsonf1136]

Damn that sucks I took in my 2018 with 12k miles for an appraisal today 8/15/2020 and they offered 37k

[@JustineCooksVegan]

Thanks for sharing your experience! I'm curious if that price was based on a trade-in for the offer was higher? Or is that the price if you just sold to carmax without getting a new car from them? Thank you! :)

[@AutoN8GT]

There was no contingency about buying a new car in order to get that offer; nor was there any incentive added if I were to get a new car. It was a straight offer; take-it-or-leave-it type of thing. That was before Carmax merged with Edmunds.com. Now they give offers that are subject to appraisal before they are confirmed - so you can no longer bank on it as you once could. For example, in case you’re asking as a customer: The owner of this Tucson traded it in to an Audi dealership for $3500 (thousands of miles and a couple years later) instead of going with the new Carmax/Edmunds ‘offer’ of $4000. We took the lower offer as a trade-in at the local Audi in order to make it a seamless transaction and also avoid the possibility of carmax reneging on their offer later. They could come up with a lower appraisal value than was estimated over the Internet - and the headache wasn’t worth $500 over 60 payments. So Carmax offers have changed slightly in that they are more conditional, but they’re still more reliable and direct that other dealerships. New car dealerships, on the other hand, will commonly add incentives from the new car into your trade value, in order to win you over and get the deal. Their plan backfires when the the seller decides against the new car purchase; the dealer can no longer honor the inflated trade value. In some cases, the plan works because it can help lower negative equity in which case it can help with a lower APR or taxes depending on different banks and governments. Just be sure to learn as much about the numbers and how they are presented. Carmax makes that part easy.

[@elizabethortegareyes1311]

I have a 2015 ford focus se 71k miles and carmax offered 5k for trade in my car does have some unfixed bumps and bruises.

[@AutoN8GT]

Did you take it?

[@mariogalvan6634]

Thanks.

[@5pctLowBattery]

Not during Coronavirus times. They will offer 1/2 like carvana.

[@greg20152015]

RIP headphone users @ 4:28!

[@Rkitt8]

Carmax has a strict no haggle policy lol

[@AutoN8GT]

Riian Kt they do

[@AutoN8GT]

Riian Kt lol they do have that policy I mean. I am aware of that. I’m saying you should use this tactic if you plan on trading your car to a new car dealer. Perhaps that was unclear in the video

[@Rkitt8]

Nathan Adams Cars gotcha man!

[@DrJoJoBoxer]

how long is the CarMax offer good for? Thanks.

[@AutoN8GT]

7 days in my case, but that could vary from location to location

[@junito1008]

2:35 Check Your Twitter !! Lol

[@tsavage7053]

Your title is very misleading as you can’t negotiate carmax offers

[@AutoN8GT]

That was not my intention. As a former salesperson, I viewed Carmax as a good shopping tool but expected viewers to use this as general advice for new car purchases elsewhere. Of course you cannot negotiate at Carmax and my mistake was assuming everyone would know that. This has been noted, though, and I appreciate your feedback. This video is somewhat outdated now with the Edmunds.com affiliation. I might have to post an update soon.

[@e30lev]

You can't negotiate at carmax lol

[@AutoN8GT]

levon abrahamyan you cannot.

[@e30lev]

@@AutoN8GT yeah...so why are you giving tips on how to negotiate your trade in?

[@AutoN8GT]

levon abrahamyan if you’re selling to a new car dealer. Take it to Carmax first. Perhaps I could’ve made that more clear.