Buying a car from carmax was the worst of all my car purchasing experiences.

I came in January 5, 2008 and purchased a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee. We did a held-check for $6000 and financed the rest.

The salesmen, Eric, didn't seem very familiar with the ins and outs of finalizing a sale. He had to ask his sales manager almost step by step as he took my insurance information and did my held check. Once we finished paperwork and all of that, we walked out to get our new car that, according to Eric, would be "detailed" while we were finishing up papers. I even made the comment of "wow, detailed in 45 minutes...that's awesome!" He told me then that there were several guys that tackled it to get it done. The car was ran through the automatic carwash and the floors had been vacuumed. The inside windows and interior were smudged and it was obvious the car had not been detailed, nor even thoroughly cleaned. I figured if that was the best they could do, oh well, I was just excited and didn't want to wait around nor seem picky, although looking back I should have.

Eric never made a follow-up call after he claimed he would.

The real trouble began on January 8, when I went to give the title of my totaled car to the insurance company and they handed me an affidavit to give to the license bureau for proof of value of the old car. I called the business office at Carmax and told them that I wanted to self-register because I wouldn't have to pay so much sales tax and wanted my money back at time of registering. They said that was fine.

Around January 10, I received a call stating that the inspection they had performed on the car had expired and they would need me to go get it inspected at my cost, or drive 25 miles (one-way) to Carmax and they would perform one free of charge. Due to my busy schedule with work and school, I was unable to return the call immediately, but when I did on 14th, we couldn't make a quick appointment that worked out for both me and the service department. Keep in mind Carmax is thirty minutes out of my daily routine and that is one way.

Meanwhile, we had begun to notice a few things that were bothering us about the car. First of all, it vibrated very noticeably while stopped at a stop-light. If you were to put it in neutral, it would quit. Second, there was a noise coming from the front passenger wheel area--it sounded like a bad strut. Also, the car was out of alignment. I also noted on my letter to the service department that I would like for them to "detail" it as they said they were going to in the first place and had not done. I finally arranged to drop the car off on the evening of Thursday, January 24 because I couldn't afford to wait around for all of these things. I left a note with a list of things wrong and also a copy of my insurance card and tax receipt because they said EVEN THOUGH I was going to self-register, they needed those things when they took the information to the DMV for me.

Saturday, January 26, since all the things wrong with the Jeep would take a while, I came and got a loaner. I was very pleased with the fact that they loaned me another Jeep and I must say Teri, in the service department was a very good communicator, she called when she said she was going to, she kept me up on the service that was performed and she was very understanding when it was time for me to pick my Jeep up on January 31st and I had the flu and had to wait a day and a half later.

Since Carmax was supposed to be performing the inspection for the registration, I had called the last week of January to see what DMV they would be sending my papers to. On January 30, someone told me that they thought the paperwork had been sent to the KC DMV at 13th and Cherry. When I asked why, they said they try to get it to the one closest to the customer. The girl I talked to asked if I wanted her to call KC DMV and make sure the papers were there. She did and got no answer, so she asked me if I wanted to just keep trying myself. I told her that NO, so she said she would keep trying and call me back. No one ever called. So, when I picked the car up on February 2nd, I asked where my paperwork was. The girl told me Lee's Summit. I said okay and we were on our way home. Since it was Saturday, I couldn't do anything about it. So, we got in our dirty Jeep with brush marks from the carwash and left. As soon as my husband pressed on the brakes, a sound like metal on metal came. By this time, I am still sick with the flu and have no desire to mess with your company anymore that day. About 15 minutes later, I called and talked to Brandon and told him that Lee's Summit was really way out of my way. He said to call on Monday, that the papers weren't in Lee's Summit, they were at the KC location, and he would let me know for sure. I called on Monday, February 4--the day my temp tags expired. Brandon told me that the papers WERE at Lee's Summit and he was going to go get them THAT DAY and he would Fed-Ex them to the location of my choice, which was Gladstone. I called the Gladstone location twice on Tuesday and they said they had not received my papers yet. I called Brandon, who THEN put me on hold to check the tracking number on the Fed-Ex package. After a few minutes he got back on and asked why I had wanted to self-register and I told him that I had an affidavit that stated the value of my totaled vehicle and it was going to save me almost $500 at the time of registering. Well, he told me that APPARENTLY the license bureau had gone ahead and registered the car for me instead of letting me self-register. He said that I could just take all the stuff to the license bureau and put in for a refund. So, I just went and got the tags and paperwork and went to the bureau where the woman told me HAD I registered myself with the affidavit, I would have just received the refund then. Why didn't we deal with this at the time of signing the papers. Eric new that my old car was totaled and it was worth $6000.

Now that you have read this novel, you can begin to see what a time-consuming inconvenience this whole experience with Carmax has been---aside my dealing with Teri. I am going to make a copy of this letter and start with mailing it to the GM of the Independence Carmax. I hope something can be arranged to reimburse me for all the time and inconvenience that I have experienced.

My husband and I bought a 2004 Mitsubishi Galant yesterday - between the time we inspected, test drove and then signed the papers the tires on it were changed from Bridgestone to a no name brand. They told us it was being cleaned for us, 30-40 minutes later they give us our car. Because it had started to rain outside we immediately got in and drove home not thinking we should inspect it again. After the storm we realized the tires on it were not the ones we saw on the car in the lot. We still have 4 days to decide and have put a call into the salesman but you have to wonder what else did they change? Anybody have this happen or heard of anything like this?

Upon day two of purchasing my preowned 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited with only 1,400 miles from the Boynton Beach Florida store I noticed my horn did not work. At this point I was disappointed with how Carmax touted its 140 point inspection. I was in fear that the airbag might of been deployed. I thought, if Carmax did not pick up on a non working horn what else did the inspector not examine. I called the sales manager to alert him to my dismay. Of course the sales manager offered me to bring it to the service department... stating that maybe it was a fuse. Out of lack of trust and keeping my best interest at hand, I brought the car into a Chrysler Dealer for an inspection... knowing that I had 3 more days in which I could return the car. The Chrysler dealer saw that the horn was tampered with. The Chrysler technician found the horn was not working because of a ground wire.

This is a typical example of learning a lesson over again. Never let your guard down when it comes to purchasing a preowned car. Why would a consumer trust the accuracy of the car inspection preformed by the seller. The car buyer always needs to get an independent inspection. CarMax should not tout it 140 point inspection as being the cure all... it reads more like a scam. Their no haggle price is a nice concept, their showroom and salesman are a pleasure to work with... but those 3 positives can not make up for faulty inspections.