I have a lease that is ending soon. Carvana and Carmax have offered $23.5 and $24k in trade - based on my truthful answers to their lengthy condition questionnaires.
What experiences has you all had with these offers? Does the online offer value stick or do they play games and lower it when they see the car in person?
It's been a few years since I did it, but I sold two cars to them and it was smooth sailing both times.
Carmax did me solid on the online quote. After inspection, they were only $200 less than the online quote. I was expecting them to deduct more given a few of the vehicles needs.
Carmax won't beat you up too much, I've never dealt with Carvana.
The KBB instant cash offer however, is at the opposite end of the spectrum. It's solely designed to get you into a traditional dealership so they can point out all the flaws and offer you less
I helped a friend sell a car to Carvana and they were right on the money despite some flaws with the car. If you meet their requirements for what they're looking for they sure seem to want that car.
I have sold a few cars to carvana. They stuck to there online quote every time. I don't think they even looked at the car before cutting the check and loading it on the truck.
I've sold cars to both. Carvana is more convenient since they do home pickup and instant transfer to your bank account once the vehicle is picked up. The last few times Carmax had a much higher offer so I sold there, just had to wait a while for all of the inspections, paperwork, etc.
One thing I noticed at the business counter in Carmax a few weeks ago was a sign saying they would not purchase from certain lease holders. I don't recall which ones and if that was only specific to certain states. If that didnt come up during your online questionnaire, might be worth checking with the local Carmax before driving over if you wanted to go that route.
Don Fip said:One thing I noticed at the business counter in Carmax a few weeks ago was a sign saying they would not purchase from certain lease holders. I don't recall which ones and if that was only specific to certain states. If that didnt come up during your online questionnaire, might be worth checking with the local Carmax before driving over if you wanted to go that route.
AIUI there are certain leases that you can't sell the car in the middle of them. Tesla was one of these for a while.
In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :
I think there are/were some leasing companies that would insist that only the person on the lease would be able to purchase the car at the pre-agreed price at the end of the lease, and they'd reprice cars if a third party was doing the buyout. I know that was introduced during Covid, and if that's still the case now that prices and values have normalized somewhat.
In reply to BoxheadTim :
It's still the same for a few manufacturers. They wouldn't "insist" it's how lease contracts are written. They just started to enforce it.
Another Carmax approval - no deduction from the online sight-unseen offer. I was at the end of an Acura lease in covid-crazy 2021, their offer was $3k over the lease buyout. Perhaps I contributed to the current policy LOL
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