anybody done this recently? are they close to the kelley blue book price? any room to haggle with them or is a take it or leave it? does it make a difference if they think you are also buying a car from them?

any hints or advice would be appreciated.

they use the blue book as a guide, the process is quick and painless...

i once sold them a car for $250. true story

I've done it before. They'll give close to Kelly Blue Book, but expect them to look very closely, and they will deduct for dents, evidence of wreck, etc. It's the same price whether you are buying from them or not. They will not haggle. They give you a written offer, and that's it - take it or leave it.

I donated a vehicle to The Bear Creek Shelter in Harris County a few years ago. The vehicle was supposed to have been auctioned off for charity after I released the title & registration to them. They never switched out the license plates and 3 years later I get parking tickets mailed to me in Corpus because the the vehicle was neither auctioned nor the tags changed out and redistributed to a new owner.

I've sold to them as well. You most likely could get a little bit more if you sold it on your own but a lot of times the hassle of doing that isn't worth the price difference.

I also agree that the process is pretty quick and painless, especially if you have the title in hand. I don't believe they will negotiate with you. It's pretty much a take it or leave it offer and it doesn't matter if you buy from them or not.

I would actually advise NOT to buy from Carmax b/c you can usually do better elsewhere but I had a good experience with selling to them.

I recently sold a car to carmax as well and got more than what I was expecting, it was a pretty easy and painless process.

I'd recommend doing it through other dealerships if you don't mind spending a weekend to get the best price possible.

Are you trading in to buy a new car?

If so, just go around from dealership to dealership getting an appraisal.

You can often get at least KBB if not higher if your car is in great condition and you make it look all nice before going in there.

Another tip I use is lying out your ass to a dealership what another dealership is offering you. Say you're offered 8k at a dealership, tell the other dealership they offered you 10k. Give names and dealership names and show business cards. Be firm with it and make it be known if you get said price you are willing to buy from them. They'll definately work with you if they want your business. If they don't budge, walk away and try the next one. Somebody will take you up.

Remember, dealerships are willing to bite the bullet with one customer because they know they'll easily rip off 20 other customers who are intimidated by the whole car business.

It's all about negotiation.

I've had friends who had no trouble and got a fair deal. Personally, I took a vehicle to them just about a year ago and they didn't even enter the correct model of my car. As such, their estimate was about $2K lower than it should've been (and what I eventually got on a trade-in). They wouldn't hear it when I pointed out the error, either.

we are just trading it in for money, we were given a 2004 malibu with 9000 miles by my grandparents. it is quite nice. we are just trying to sell the old car (2000 mit. eclipse spyder conver.) for our upcoming hosiptal bills (baby on the way in august). thanks for the help yall

Get your quote from CarMax, take it to your dealer where you want to buy a car. If he won't give you value for your car, hock it to carmax and just buy the dealer's car outright. Typically the dealer will give you carmax's price and it'll be simple / easy trade. Been there, done that.

Sell your car to the dealership you're buying the new one from, and you'll save in taxes.

It wouldn't hurt to get your ride appraised at Carmax for a little bargaining power.

Go to whatever dealership has the vehicle you want to buy. Take a look at the first pencil, but don't even worry about your trade during this time. Do your research beforehand on what you should be paying for the vehicle you're trying to buy, before you negotiate anything else. It was always easy for me to move numbers around the four-square, when people only really worried about trade-in values. Once you get the bottom dollar on the vehicle you're trying to buy, then it's time to talk about trade. If they hit you at $10k and Carmax is at $12.5K, tell them you want $15K for your ride. Your goal is to try and get them to beat, and at the very least, match the Carmax offer. **Do not show them or tell them about the offer until you've tried everything and they're not at the offer.** Oh, and don't get caught up in the Bluebook value, because it doesn't mean ****. I used to tell people to call KBB, their bank or whoever gave them that crazy price, and see if they wanted to buy their vehicle.

What blauser said

[This message has been edited by ba05 (edited 6/11/2007 10:43p).]

Stay away from buying from Carmax. There are much better deals to be had, unless you like paying retail markup, just so you don't have to bargain.

exactly what blauser said.