Our experience with CarMax

Sit back, folks.  I have a story for you.

Let me preface this story by telling you that many of our friends and relatives are fans of CarMax.  That's why we decided to look at cars there after hitting a few other places first to find out exactly what sort of car we wanted.  We were looking for something with good gas mileage, and something Cliff, with his arthritic bones, could drive for long distances without discomfort.  Also, thanks to Cliff's preference, it needed to be white.  I know, right?  Also, we didn't want a car payment, so we had a price range in mind.  

The first car the pleasant salesman showed us something that was priced right, and Cliff thought it would probably do.  When we got out of the car, there was another car right beside us that was a 2018 and had very few miles on the odometer.  Unlike the first one we tried, this 2018 Nissan Sentra was white and in like-new condition.  It cost more than we had intended to pay, but after test-driving it, we both really liked it.  It even smelled brand new!  The ride was smooth as silk.  

"Well," I said, "if the payment were small enough, I'm sure we could handle it."

We went inside with the salesman.  I asked him what kind of interest their loans charged.  He said if we had good credit, we could get 3.99%; nobody has cheaper interest than that, he said.

We do have great credit, but our credit union often has better interest rates than most other sources.  We told him we wanted to go there and see what they could do.  After doing a credit check, the loan lady said because the car was so new, we could get 2.99% interest.  We took a check to CarMax and were told we could pick up our car the next day.  We also took care of details like property tax, which CarMax does for their customers, and the paperwork we'd need to insure the vehicle.  

Then we signed some papers, and agreed to return the next day to pick up our almost new car,  We went back to the booth where our salesman did business and were chatting with him while we waited for them to tell us our car was ready when someone on the intercom called his name.  He disappeared through a door and was gone awhile.  When he came back, he said as they were washing the car and getting it ready for us, the transmission totally stopped working.  However, they would take it to Nissan and get it fixed.  At this point, we weren't only disappointed, we were also a little wary of these people.  Were they feeding us some kind of line?

I asked the salesman how long a wait we'd have; he thought probably two weeks.  On the way home we went to our insurance man and set up the insurance on the car.

Two weeks passed and we heard nothing, so after another three days, we called CarMax.  Guess what?  There was more wrong with the car than the transmission:  There was a bent frame, something wrong with some "pan" (what do I know about cars?), and I don't know what all else.  They would either let us find another car, or give us back all our expenses so it would be as though we had never bought the car.  

Easy for them to say, but we had to see the insurance folks in hopes they could fix the mess we'd created.  Thankfully, even after two weeks, they were able to get the car off our insurance.  So another waiting period began, and two weeks later we'd heard nothing.  Had they paid off the loan?  Had they taken care of the three-year warranty we'd paid for?  

Thursday I got a call from a lady at CarMax:  She asked if we'd received a lien release.  "I haven't received anything at all," I told her.  "We didn't even bring that car home."

Apparently communication isn't one of CarMax's strong suits.  They don't even tell their employees what's going on!

Today, finally, we are at peace with this whole mess.  Nobody called me to let me know what was happening with the money we'd left with them, so I called and talked to the manager.  He assured me they had the lien release and had returned the money for our three-year warranty onto the credit card we had used to pay them.  By the way, our son said the car should have still had a factory warranty as new as it was, so we shouldn't have had to get any other warranty.   

All's well that ends well.  But these people have no communication skills at all!  As I said, we know lots of people, our son included, who love Carmax.  We don't.

And honestly, after a month of waiting for a paid-for car that didn't materialize, at this point I'm ready to keep traveling in our old Mercury, which is almost old enough to be considered a classic.  Who needs a new car?  

OK, we'll probably look around for a car at some point, but when we find one we like, the deal had better go smoothly.

Just color me thankful, because this story could have ended in worse ways.