Is it really no haggle?
Is it really no haggle?
From my understanding, yes, it is. The price is the price and they won't negotiate at all. Which to me means I won't even consider buying from them unless they happen to have something I want at an incredibly good price (which is unlikely).
Yup. Its like trying to negotiate with wal mart.
Sure, you can try. You can also play pool with a rope.
Then they start trying to add things into the price.showing you all these placards, grafs.etc
Pretty high pressure
I bought my DD from them. Super easy, no pressure. Sure, they try to add on stuff like service plans and extended warranties, but otherwise no hassle.
As someone who worked for Car Max for a while, check the car over REALLY good before purchase.
I don't understand people who want to haggle.
Just sell me the damned item and STFU.
I'm already interested in it and if I'm in the shop, then the price is fine already.
I bought a car from CarMax and enjoyed the experience, very low pressure, but it is definitely no-haggle.
Their entire business model revolves around the fact that they can relocate any car to a market where it’s more likely to sell. I have seen them drop prices a few times but it’s a rare occurrence.
It is possible to find vehicles for an asking price roughly equivalent to what you could haggle another dealer down to, which is why I bought my last Accord there, but I got lucky in that I wanted a niche vehicle (6-speed coupe).
Stefan said:I don't understand people who want to haggle.
Well...they are priced above most dealers around here (who do in theory negotiate). Especially for the mileage on it.
The price wasn't as bad as the fees they were going to add to the price +$1450. I noticed they assumed it was going to Lithia Springs, GA. Changed it to SC and the fees dropped to $550.
Everything is no-haggle if the buyer wishes it to be.
How big of an area do they get inventory from? If I go to a Car Max in Memphis, is it likely to have cars from the rust belt?
In reply to Stefan :
With a used vehicle I like the ability to haggle for one big reason: I'm going into it with "here's what it looks like from the pictures and the price seems reasonable", but I'm going to look it over carefully and may end up finding a few things that need attention that weren't mentioned (or in some cases the seller didn't even know about) where I'd want to see if they're willing to work on the price a bit based on the new information.
I like CarMax, sold them my OBS truck cause everyone else wanted to pay me less than them. I would also totally buy their warranty, I have had GREAT experiences with them
NermalSnert said:How big of an area do they get inventory from? If I go to a Car Max in Memphis, is it likely to have cars from the rust belt?
Car Max can pull nearly any car from any of their stores, there are exceptions. You can see the transfer cost on their website. I was very much wanting a 2012 NC Club a few years ago and was looking at everything they had. Also they do take trade-ins and hit auctions, so its possible to get a rust belt car.
Yes they are no haggle for purchase, they do a bit of "let me talk with the manager" for trade-ins. We bought a Grand Caravan R/T from them a few years ago, great experience, and it didn't take all day. After 2 days of driving it, the CEL came on. We called them, they said bring it back, they have a 7 day return policy. Our Credit Union check had arrived earlier in the day and they hadn't processed it yet. The car return was no more difficult than returning a pair of pants. We handed them the keys, they handed us our check. I'd buy from them again.
They can seem overpriced compared to local dealerships for run-of-the-mill cars and SUVs/trucks, but they also can get some more obscure inventory and have it shipped to your door for a fairly reasonable price.
Example, I had been keeping an eye on G37 sedans, particularly manuals. Their automatics were all overpriced to me, but there we quite a few manuals that would pop up on the website for a decent price while none were showing up at other local dealers.
So it all kind of depends...
The price, though, is no haggle. Maybe if you found it was in need of certain repairs they would perform them, but that is about the only way I could see you getting $ off the price.
Stefan said:I don't understand people who want to haggle.
Just sell me the damned item and STFU.
I'm already interested in it and if I'm in the shop, then the price is fine already.
People love to think they got a "deal" and that they got "special treatment" when they actually didn't get those things at all.
We've bought a couple cars from CarMax and have had good experiences. Certainly wasn't high pressure.
I agree with Stefan on this as I'm not a haggler in general.
Thanks for the comments.
We purchased our ATS from CarMax last year. The sales portion was easy and smooth as I remembered from last purchase in 2007. They happen to have a manual ATS when no one else had one. We also purchased the extended warranty. It paid for itself when the touch screen decided to commit seppuku.
The car still had 6 months of factory warranty when purchased it. Cadillac and CarMax fought over who was responsible for the engine mounts and vacuum system when it failed during the first month of ownership.
As a former employee, the "no haggle" bit is 99% true. The exceptions I've seen are cases where a vehicle was transferred in for a customer, and wasn't as advertised (missing options, higher mileage, etc). In those cases, a price adjustments can be made.
As everyone else has said, KMX cars are priced roughly $1000 higher than competitors. Their margins are the envy of the industry.
In reply to calteg :
They earn those margins by making the car buying and selling process as painless as possible. I sold a car to them and not only was the price better then I could have gotten on a trade-in, it took all of 45 minutes.
Have bought and sold with them. No pressure, fast and folks were pleasant. First time I questioned price - no go was the answer - and didn't get any BS explanation about why. As with any used car - check em out - caveat emptor.
On the other hand - visited a Mazda dealer a few years back to purchase The Answer and their night time sales manager wanted to educate me about why they could not lower their price (from sticker) and the need for profit. Next day I got a call from the day time sales manager apologizing and asking if we could come back in. Told the guy thanks but bought our car last night from one of their competitors and apparently they were happy with the profit from the sale.
jfryjfry said:Everything is no-haggle if the buyer wishes it to be.
There is no business on earth I hate more than car dealers. And I absolutely hate haggling. But I will do it anyhow because even a hundred dollars I can take away from those motherberkeleyers is worth it. Not because I can't afford to pay whatever it is they're asking. And not on principle. I know they're still "winning" no matter how hard I haggle. It's been dumb luck that my last two cars I had specific requirements that were only met by new cars. I would prefer to buy used, generally.
Carmax in my experience is definitely a bit higher priced, but does have possibility to find some unusual cars. And not having to take a shower after dealing with all the sleaze of traditional dealers is almost worth it.
I fail to see how no haggle could possibly be a problem with someone. If they are charging above market for a vehicle, and you don’t want to pay it, don’t buy it!
Dealerships can be a time suck nightmare and many people actually value their time and sanity. Carmax clearly realizes that and it is a business model that appears to be successful.
looked hard at Carmax when I bought my Land Cruiser. Was very appealing to be able to source something from down south, have it delivered to my local guy, and go out to pick it up some night after work and would be pretty painless. Could have run a Carfax easy on any of the LCs they were selling to confirm they were down south their whole life, and by the time I paid for gas, food, and lodging for me and the wife unit their transfer fees were even money. I didn't pull the trigger for a few reasons:
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