Is this process easy? How much time does it take to get a quote from them, under an hour?

It's easy, takes about an hour or so.

Be prepared to get low-balled if you have a decent vehicle. it seems the nicer the vehicle, the lower their offer.

I have a 2001 Ford F-150 single cab, with about 180K miles. I was going to check their offer to see if it was worth not having to deal with selling it to someone else/shady craigslist people.

If you're in Austin, Henna Chevy advertises to beat a CarMax written offer by $500.

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It's easy, takes about an hour or so.

Be prepared to get low-balled if you have a decent vehicle. it seems the nicer the vehicle, the lower their offer.

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I actually got lowballed by the VW dealer when I bought my Jetta last year. I was trading in an 09 VW GTI with low mileage, and the dealer was below CarMax by $3000.

Never hurts to get an offer. Their number is good for a week or a set mileage limit.

i actually have never been lowballed by Carmax. Had an 09 ford truck i sold 2 years ago. every dealer didnt want to give me more than 22k for it, i tried to sell it myself for 26k
carmax gave me $25.5k

I guess i should of tried a different Carmax then.

When i was considering getting a diesel, i went to Carmax to get a value on my truck. They offered $24,000. The dealership i was thinking of buying the diesel from wanted to give me $28,000. Didn't end up buying. Fast forward 20,000 miles and 6 months, i took my truck in to get another appraisal from a dealership and they offered $26,000.

I guess it just varies based on the market and the dealership.

It depends. I was lowballed by CarMax - got a better $ figure from the dealership on trade than they offered.

I suspect their offer is dependent on their current inventory and demand, as well as the actual value.

I'm in car sales and for the most part, texas direct beats car max offers 9x out of 10

Is that dependent on buying from Texas Direct? If so, complete deal-breaker.

No. The offer is usually better. In my case I've shopped both twice for two different sales. Both times were $500 higher.

Texas Direct is required to beat a CARMAX offer by $500. Let them appraise it first, then if it isn't $500 higher show them the carmax offer.

Values you get from dealers have so many variables. If buying a new car, they can show you a high number but then hold back money they would have taken off on the price of the car you are purchasing, which in the end is the same deal. If you are trading it in, dealers will often times use your tax savings to offer you a lower value.

As far as carmax goes, if they have a high inventory of the unit their offer will be lower. If the car has anything aftermarket on it, they will not keep it for retail sales, it will be sold at their onsite dealer auction so the offer will be lower.

OP, what is your trade?

Carmax beat TDA on two separate vehicles of mine. TDA might match or beat the carmax value eventually, but they will low ball you and make you do the legwork first.

When I was looking to sell my 05 GMC Z71 with 140k on it Carmax lowballed me.

I sold it for 3K more than what they offered to a guy on Craigslist. Sold within a weekend, which makes me think I might could've gotten a little more had I been willing to wait.

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When I was looking to sell my 05 GMC Z71 with 140k on it Carmax lowballed me.

I sold it for 3K more than what they offered to a guy on Craigslist. Sold within a weekend, which makes me think I might could've gotten a little more had I been willing to wait.

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This is because of the mileage. When carmax gives a lowball offer it is often because it will be leaving them. Their prices on cars they plan to keep is higher.

That makes sense.

I was pretty shocked that I got what I got, actually.