Took Carmax 45 days to fix a transmission problem that turned into an engine and cooling system problem. Somehow one little issue became a major car overhaul with a nine page invoice, that luckily the warranty covered everything but $50. The bad news is, that was 19 to 12-18-9 and now the car is going back 3-30-10 for the exact same issue. Cannot get an appt that Carmax won't cancel, my contact Lonnie Frazier will not return calls, and I am scared of what they will do to my car this time and it is financed, so I cannot go buy another car I am upside down on this one and it is not worth anything to trade in, since it does not run and is currently sitting in front of my house while I beg rides off of friends and family to get to work or school. I would never buy another vehicle from Carmax and tell everyone I can about the horrible service.

The Regional Mgmt in Atlanta is awful! The HR manager sexually harrases every female he meets! He is currently dating the regional business office manager even though it is completely against the rules. their affair along with his harrassment has been reported to corporate, but they decided to turn a blind eye to it. the regional mgmt are intimidating, so only a few people have come forward. everyone knows that if you complain about their mgmt, you WILL be fired! i think people need to get the media involved since the corporate offices refuses to take care of these issues in atlanta and the carolina's...

I purchased my vehicle from CarMax in April 2008. Since then my vehicle has been in the shop 10+ times for extensive repairs. I was sold an extended warranty and told that CarMax would be able to fix my car for $50 per visit. CarMax doesn't have the expertise to fix my Saab. Why sell cars that you are not able to repair? I have tried tiresly to contact someone at CarMax to help me fix my problem. I finally reached the operational manager who has told me they can do nothing. He says that the mechanics can fix the Saab although they can't diagnose it in the first place, they are currently attempting to change my PCV valve with instructions that I have sent to them off line. There mechanic admitted to my husband that he has no idea how our pcv valve operates so he thinks it is running fine. They changed my oil and returned my car to me claiming it ran fine and the oil pump, water pump and the head gasket were bad. I had to take it to the dealership for a full diagnosis. How can you claim to be able to work on a vehicle if your mechanics change the oil on a car and don't notice that the same vehicle is leaking oil at the time?!? Now they have washed their hands of us, they claim no liability, the car is just needing maintenance due to age and milage. I have never heard of a car needing a new head gasket at 80, 000 miles. Below I have documented all problems and interactions with CarMax to date. Do yourself a favor, don't purchase a vehicle from here.
My experience with CarMax
Summary of 2003 Saab Maintenance
Date Event
4/2008 Purchased Saab from Va Beach CarMax
7/15/2008 Dealership: CarMax
Problem: Check engine light on
Result: Instructed to take vehicle to Saab dealership, we were told that CarMax could not fix the problem.
7/21/2008 Dealership: Saab Dealer
Problem: Check engine light is on
Result: Replaced ignition cassette and changed spark plugs
8/28/2008 Dealership: Saab Dealer
Problem: SID display bland and SES light on
Result: Replaced SID display and replaced brake vacuum booster
1/23/2009 Dealership: Saab Dealer
Problem: Check engine light is on
Result: Replaced thermostat
3/5/2009 Dealership: Saab Dealer
Problem: Theft system light is on
Result: Replaced siren
10/27/2009 Dealership: CarMax
Problem: car clunking when hitting bumps
Result: diagnosed as strut assembly
*Took car home to await parts
11/9/2009 Dealership: CarMax
*Return to fix struts
Result: Struts were not the problem, wrong diagnosis. Ordered control arm bushings.
*Took car home to await parts
11/17/2009- Dealership: CarMax
11-25-2009
*Return to install control arm bushings
Problem: Car is rattling
Result: Air conditioning compressor replaced
*CarMax was unable to change the control arm bushings and the Saab was transferred to Suttle.
12/08/2009- Dealership: CarMax
12/10/2009
Problem: Car is still making noise when hitting bumps
Result: Car is evaluated and diagnosed as no problems exist. We were instructed that key battery needed to be replaced and told it must be done at the dealership; CarMax was unable to change it.
*Oil change and tire rotation completed-Upon pickup we noticed that the car had not been reset. After trying to reset the car we were told that the car would have to be taken to the dealership to be reset. The next morning the shop tech called to inform us that the car would not reset because the key battery was dead. CarMax changed the key battery (the same battery that we were told had to be changed at the dealership) and the car reset.
Due to the holidays we had to drive our car on vacation while it still made noise and ran horribly.
1/4/2010 Dealership: Saab Dealer
Problem: Car still making noise
Result: Replaced head gasket, water pump, oil pressure switch, front crank seal, oil pump and o-ring. Instructed that “PCV valve needs to be replaced ASAP” and 4 new tires are needed.
*CarMax diagnosed the car as fine, changed the oil and rotated tires and never noticed any of the problems above.
1/29/2010 After numerous attempts we finally contacted a manager who was willing to help us. We were instructed to bring our vehicle in for service and told that the PCV valve and head gaskets would be replaced.
1/20/2010 Dealership: CarMax
Problem: Ongoing complaint from October 27, 2009. Car continues to make the same noise and PCV valve needs to be replaced per the Saab dealership.
Result: Car diagnosed as fine. We are informed by CarMax that the vehicle does not have a PCV valve rather it has a PCV tube? CarMax stated that the car runs fine and no noises were heard.
Despite numerous attempts to contact CarMax corporate management we have had no response regarding what can be done about the car we purchased. We have tried to give CarMax every opportunity to correct the situation.
1/21/2010 Dealership: CarMax
• Sales Manager set up an appointment for us to drive the vehicle with him and the Operations Manager at 4pm
1/22/2010 Dealership: CarMax
*Showed up for appointment with the managers, the sales manager was at lunch and the Operations Manager was not at the store. This letter was left for the Operations Manager in his mailbox.
Result: Drove Saab with a mechanic who instructed us that the noise may be the vehicles axle or the wheel bearings. PCV valve still not diagnosed while mechanic felt the problem while driving he informed us that he doesn’t know what he is looking for in the part because he is not educated on how it functions.
1/22/2010 CarMax Corporate
Problem: Called to speak with someone in regards to our vehicle. We tried to obtain contact information for someone that can help us with our problem. We were once again directed towards the elusive Operations Manager at CarMax Newport News, Va. The customer service representative has assured us that the Operations Manager will be contacting us in the morning.
1/23/2009 CarMax
*Finally spoke with the Operational Manager who instructed me that there is nothing that CarMax could do to assist. They could not take responsibility for every customer that had repairs from aging and mileage being put on their vehicle after purchase. I am not an expert but unless I am drag racing I don’t think a head gasket should blow on a car that has 80, 000 miles on it.
Result: CarMax is attempting to change PCV valve for $96.14 for the part and $20.70 for labor. If the car has to be transferred to Suttle, CarMax will be paying the difference.

I've never written one of these before, but man, my experience with CarMax was one of the most frustrating buying experiences (or lack thereof) I've ever had, so much so that I feel an incredible urge to share it with the broader interweb public. From what I've read below and elsewhere it looks like many can commiserate.

I honestly wasn't really expecting a lot from CarMax. I look at it like a thrift store - what you buy is what you get. Used is used. Here's the story (or tome as it turns out):

My truck was totalled so I had to act with reasonable haste. I found a car that I really thought I would like, an Audi wagon, only problem was that it was located in Illinois, and I'm in Ohio. Slim pickins for a manual transmission and AWD around here right now, at least in my price range, so after much deliberation I decided to have it transferred. This was a crucial mistake. Once I paid that transfer fee, it's like they really thought it was a done deal. Customer service went out the window.

I requested the transfer on a Monday. My sales rep said he would call me with an update on it's estimated arrival. Ok, cool.

By Wednesday evening when he still hadn't called me, I called him. He said it should be arriving by the weekend. He'd call me with an update. Sounds good.

On Sunday, after not hearing from him, I called the main number just to check on its status. I was told that only my sales rep knew the status of that particular vehicle and he was not in. They could not look it up for me. Awesome.

The following Monday, when he hadn't called by 11:30am I called him yet again. He informed me it in fact had arrived sometime over the weekend and was there when he arrived that morning. He said he was planning on calling me. At this point I was told I could not see the car until it went through another inspection but that it would be ready to see and test drive on Tuesday and that he would call me to let me know.

By 4pm Tuesday I hadn't heard anything and decided to head over to the store as I was anxious to actually see the car and wanted to do so when there was still a shred of daylight left. "Oh, I was going to call you. Bad news, your car won't be ready until Wednesday. I noticed a rattle in the exhaust pipe when I drove it today. A bracket needs to be installed to hold it in place. It should definitely be ready by 6pm tomorrow. I'll call you tomorrow to let you know the status."

By 6:15pm on Wednesday he still hadn't called. Yet again I had to call him and he told me that it would not be ready after all. That the service had not been completed but that it would be ready for me on Thursday and he would call be by noon. Man, I have to admit that I was totally unamused by this point. Not so much that the car wasn't ready, which was frustrating in and of itself, especially since I was driving a rental car the entire time, but that I couldn't get a phonecall to tell me this. Four times I was told he would call, and not once did he. I gotta admit, he heard it from me at this point. "I promise I'll call you tomorrow". Sure. And really, how long does it take to install a bracket anyway? Three days? Fishy.

During this entire time, I was constantly searching for other cars. That Thursday morning, I went to check one out and take it for a drive. At noon, CarMax did actually call me - to tell me: "Really bad news, your car won't be ready after all. It needs a whole new exhaust system, as it was botched the first time we did it." I just had to laugh: "No, MY car (a Subaru) is sitting right outside my car dealer's office, as i just wrote him a check for it. Good luck with YOUR car's repair though." Eating that transfer fee was well worth not ever having to deal with those guys again. If it was this difficult to buy a car from them, i couldn't imagine if something actually went wrong with it.

Carmax took 5 months to send me my title - only after I phoned
We were approaching the payoff date for our van so I phoned Carmax to confirm the payoff amount and the expected time frame in which we could expect our title. At the beginning of June I spoke with a nice woman named Ruth at Carmax. She told me the pay off amount, updated our address, and assured me that our title would arrive 4 weeks after our last payment. We made our final payment and waited...and waited...and waited. As things go, I got busy and assumed that my spouse had received the title and filed it away. Then recently (November) I was looking through our van file folder and noticed that we had not yet received our title. I phoned Carmax and went through the phone menu, found out that we had indeed paid off the van, and that the title had not yet been mailed to us! It was explained as an "oversight, " as the customer service rep chuckled. I told her it was nothing to laugh about - what if I had wanted to sell the van? What poor customer service! She promised the title would arrive in 7 days. We'll see if they can get their act straight this time.

I prefer to purchase my cars from individuals and this experience with Carmax reinforces my reasons for avoiding purchasing vehicles from used car dealers.