CarMax

Let's start with the trade-in/appraisal process:

Pro: You get a fair and expedient offer online which is usually higher than their competitors.

Con: There is no negotiation or "wiggle room" when you get to the dealership. This is a set and non-negotiable offer until it's expiration date (and they will remind you of this if you question it).

Car buying experience:
Pro: The associates are friendly and knowledgeable, no matter who, or how many, help you with the process. Your progress is saved in their system in case you need to come back again. The facility is very clean and their prices are lower than most used car dealerships, if not the lowest.

Con: ...."or how many." It's unlike a conventional dealership purchase where you deal with the same person from start to finish. If there is a hiccup with financing, the car is not ready, anything, you're coming back and each time you'll be seen by someone different.

Overall, it was a positive car buying experience, but the business model takes some getting used to. And, the bow on your car is a nice touch (not a metaphor - see photo). I'm an old guy, so please keep that in mind as a filter for this post.

I loved being able to wander the car lot at my leisure and sit in any & all vehicles I wanted to. Not having a salesperson follow me around was GREAT!! When I was ready to test drive someone was readily available. Not having to haggle on price made the sales process smooth. CarMax is definitely the way to go! Thanks, Glen!

We had such a pleasant experience with Carmax and although there were some unforeseen hiccups along the way with the cars we ended up choosing, ultimately we got exactly what we needed after the third try. First two tries were electric vehicles that just didn’t end up working out for us but with their generous 30 day & 1,400 miles (I believe) return policy- we were given a lot of confidence! Great location and very accommodating staff. Everyone who we spoke with over the phone or in-person during our car buying journey were fantastic! 100% recommend. If they don’t have what you're looking for, one of their other branches might and will get it to you quickly and for free (at least that was our experience). Thanks again guys!

The Johnson’s

I was very pleased with the overall service, speed with which they got all my paperwork done, friendly staff, quick valuation of my trade. Great purchased car, an immaculate VW Arteon at what I felt was a fair price. Carmax was a great experience which I would recommend to others.

I had a great experience at CarMax last weekend. I sold them my 2020 Toyota Prius Prime. Appointment at 9 am and walked out at 10 am with a check in hand for the amount they quoted me online a couple of days prior. The service was excellent. Jake made sure I knew what was happening, that I was comfortable in the store and was very quick in processing all of the paperwork.

Meghan was so patient and kind through the whole experience. I completed an online sale offer and was given the exact amount in store. Carmax is a reputable business and we will be telling all of our friends and family about them for our future car buying or selling needs! Thank you!

My experience was good. Found the car I wanted online, shipped from Arizona. It arrived and took it for a test drive. Finished the drive and decided to purchase. From there it's fairly straight forward with documents and what not. Small snag when looking at insurance info, but that was partly due to how country financial formatted some documents. I had insurance ready to go with an already quoted policy. Whole process was around 2 hours with the place mostly empty.

Im long-winded and wordy, so TL;DR: This team is awesome, you want to work with Jason Fairbrother, and his supervisor Colby Edney is amazing! Other honorable mentions, all amazing. Buy from them. The no commission model takes a lot of the pressure off.

So the events that brought me in were beyond stressful. The last year of my life has been rough. So when i sing the praises of the several individuals who helped me over this past month, please believe me that these guys bent over backwards to help me. Especially a few specific people, but they all went above and beyond in customer service, purchasing, registering, and parts.

First off, for almost 10yrs ive been driving a 2013 Dodge Journey. I loved it. Best car I've ever owned (have not had this new one long enough to know yet). I was a hair's breadth away from being debt free when my transmission died. So after confirming that it would cost more than double its value to repair, i started researching my budget, cars, and who i could get a loan from. I was primarily looking @ CarMax and Enterprise Car Sales.

So after some research, all the cars in my budget that i actually might want from Enterprise were on the east coast. $3k-5k just to bring them out west, and that's before the purchase of the car itself. So off to CarMax i went.

I walk in, im greeted, some basic info is asked for, and then im directed to the waiting area. After a few mins, Jason Fairbrother comes up and introduces himself. If you follow my advice, call ahead, and work your schedule around to work with this guy. Zero pressure, he listened to my needs, my stress, my disabilities, everything. He even explained that their location does not do commission. They have team-wide sales goals and internal competitions for bonuses, but he isnt pushed to sell me the most expensive thing on the lot in order to put food on his table. He then showed on their website the cars on their lot (not 3000miles away requiring thousands in transfer fees). We talked pros and cons of all of them. He didnt sugar coat anything. He was real. We narrowed down to 2 to go look at and potentially test drive. Because of my disabilities from the army, one got eliminated based on how low it was. I wouldnt be able to get in and out over and over again without pain. So that only left one. Beautiful color. Ended up getting it.

Now, somehow i ended up having my ex-wife's name on my title. He gave me the powers of attorney that i needed in order to sell the car, and explained the entire process. I got her signature the next day, and then went back the day after. Jason was not there, but Colby Edney, his supervisor, was.

Now, Colby is a freaking beast. I mean that in all the best ways. This guy addresses everything. He is generally aware of the sale his guy made, only had to fill him in on minor details. Authorized me to get new wiper blades a week after getting the car, and then authorized getting a replacement air filter to hold onto until the one installed (car said it was at 49% life) was done.

The icing on the cake was when Colby listened to me about my veteran plates that I had paid double for because the state of Washington DoL was stupid. He then took down a bunch of info and emailed another department. Instead of ordering me new plates Colby and another guy, Jake (not from statefarm) did the behind the scenes work to transfer my old plates to the new car! No extra work for me at all. To be clear, this is not their policy, he probably broke a couple rules, but he made one disabled veteran extremely happy. I had hoped to get some of the registration money back, but i am completely satisfied with what he was able to get done. This review is only delayed because I was waiting for the paperwork to arrive allowing me to use my veteran plates on the new car.

Finally, there was Jake. He was behind the scenes, never actually met him, but he and Colby did the bulk of getting my plates transfered. Damn near actually bent over backwards for me. You want to buy from these guys!

I was treated with the utmost courtesy. I knew exactly what I wanted and the sales associates had my car shipped in a timely fashion. I drove the car for a week and had a slight concern with the tires/wheels/alignment. I brought it back and it was inspected and tested. they re-balanced the tires and there was no problem. The service tech was courteous and solved the issue immediately. I would recommend CarMax to anyone looking for a vehicle

I had great experience, it was stress free and after months of research, got exactly what I was looking for. I will definitely return for future purchases.

Ray Pham is the person you want to speak to when getting your next vehicle.
Direct, resourceful, helpful and honest.
Got my family in the car we WANTED quickly and professionally. Highly recommend Ray.

I am a first time buyer at CarMax and let me tell you, what an amazing experience! We had the pleasure of working with Meghan and she was above and beyond with her service! Make made the process so easy and fun, I can’t say how helpful she was! 10/10 great experience! We love our new car!

After a rough transition of car trading with another place CARMAX! Was amazing I first went in and they were very open and honest about how trading/sale works and the negative equity and such and then let me look over a few option and made assure they could hold and I could come back the following day when I had my ducks more in a row of my choice and such and when I went back I worked with Emma it took 2 days due to me still not having my ducks in a row and she and the manager were very nice and willing to explain the process in dept and held the car again for one additional day and when I arrived back it was like I never left everything picked back up with Emma and was such a smooth process and to me it was definitely a great experience as car buying is beyond stressful and exhausting as my kids were cranky at times everyone in the store at this location was very understanding and patient overall great experience thanks emma! And CarMax team behind her!

This is a very nice car sales center, and that is not easy to find. You can actually buy a car without all the high-pressure sales. Buying a car should be exciting and fun, not a stressful situation. Their prices are competitive, and actually, some of the best prices I have come across, which is a cherry on top!

They have a huge inventory, especially considering they will ship cars from other CarMax locations around the country to the location of your choice. There is no charge for vehicles shipped within the local metro area, which makes it so you don't have to drive all over town to test drive the car you are interested in.

Thank you for making the car buying experience something to look forward to and not dread. 😊

I have only purchased a car from a dealer two other times (2004 and 2015). This was by far the easiest and most clean-cut transaction for purchasing a vehicle I have ever had. See one you like? Click on it to test drive/purchase. Need to get financed, it was a snap (online as well). I arrived at the Vancouver, WA location and was done with paperwork in about 45 minutes to an hour then drove away. Vehicle was in the exact condition it was advertised. Invoice given for financing purposes was exactly what was charged. They didn't try to upsell me, they didn't bother showing me other vehicles. I knew what I wanted and getting it was incredibly simple. I will recommend CarMax to anyone I know looking for a vehicle.

Great experience! Our salesmen was Owen bell and he was awesome to work with. There were no hassles what so ever. He was very knowledgeable and made it easy and simple for us. Best experience I've had buying a car.

Purchased a car 4 year old car there 2 years ago and still very happy. Then went there two weeks ago to sell my SUV to them. Got a really good price for it. Definitely more than dealerships. Great experience overall.

I was impressed with the selling experience. The online offer was honored at full value. The sell was simple and the entire process took less than an hour from arrival.

Great place to buy a used car. No haggle, no pressure. Meghan was awesome to work with!

If you are going to get a vehicle get it here. No funny business. Very polite and caring. Any issues they will fix. I have bought three vehicles and this was the best experience at any dealer. They price the vehicles very fair. And the 90 day warranty that comes with the purchase with no extra charge is phenomenal. The manager Joe Herrera went the extra mile