So I got my 2010 premium loaded GT (except sunroof & nav) with 22000 miles appraised at Carmax today just to see the 1 year depreciation. Their quote was $21k. My car has no damage, perfect condition, and slightly high miles due to a long HIGHWAY commute. The "expert" who appraised it was in his early 20's...needless to say, if you want fair value, never sell to Carmax. A dealer offered me 27k for a trade-in at 12k miles. The 5.0 is cool but I still know the value of a quality car and powertrain like the 2010 has. Boo Carmax!

 

CarMAX used to be pretty fair but they have gone downhill and usually offer less than auction price for cars.

I had a 2006 Focus ST (loaded) and after 18 months they offered me $7500. I had SVT Wheels on it and they said that dropped it a bit. They wouldn't tell me how much. I eventually "pulled" out of them that their "final" offer with the stock wheels and tires would be less than $9k. The car stickered at $22k. I paid just a little above $17k. I eventually sold the car myself for $12.5k. Yeah, $5k more than they offered. On a FOCUS.

The BEST thing about Carmax is you can drive a ton of different cars (all day long). I've never bought from them either but have been "in the process" a few times. Just never felt the deal was that great.

 

If they did not offer lower than auction price, they would not make any money, and go out of business...

 

Bottom line: a dealer will not and can not give you what your car is worth. They need to give you less in order to make money on the deal. Perhaps Carmax is paying less than they could, but they're in business to make money. The best bet is to sell the car yourself.

 

My wife brought her car to CarMax and had it appraised after I spent an afternoon detailing it.

The thing is spotless with 65k miles. Looks as good as it did when we bought it..with a couple of rock chips and one small door ding.

Exactly KBB "good" trade in.

AHHHH..NOOOO!

 

Carmax is doing just fine.

Dealers USED to recommend you take your car to Carmax and sell it there because they could offer more for your car than the dealer. Not so much any more.

So now you get the same (or worse) than the dealer AND a no haggle (arguably HIGH) price on the cars you want to buy from them. Their new cars are actually priced pretty competitively and from what I've learned from some of the folks who work there, not really what they want to sell. Apparently they sell a small fraction of new cars compared to the used cars where they'll make WAY more profit.

I don't particularly dislike Carmax. I think their business model is great. I just don't think I would ever a) sell a car to them or b) buy a car from them. Just not for me. But I can definitely see where it suits a larger majority.

 

KBB on my car is 6800, Dealer final offer was 6500 and Carmax offered 7000. I sold the blower seperately, though.

 

What people don't understand about used cars is how demand in the area and auction prices set trade-in pricing. You could have a car bring $2-3K more in another area of the country because of it easy.

 

FYI, CarMax quoted my 2010 Mustang GT Premium manual tranny (16k miles) at $22,000 yesterday.

 

How much was it new? $33k?

 

A local dealer started at $26,000 and I got him up to $28,000 for mine about a month ago. It's a 2010 GT Premium Auto, Glass Roof, Electronics Pkg with 4K miles. It stickered for $38,515 (I paid mid 34K) when I bought it last August.
I was going to order basically the same 2011 version and I wouldn't have had any negative equity but it still wasn't worth it to me. But I still can't throw away that $750 coupon that doesn't expire until July 6th.

 

That's about the MSRP ...I bought it for less than that, however.

 

Still plan on bringing my 05' there before going to the dealer. It can't hurt. I saw they were selling a 05' vert with 15k or so miles on it for over $20,000. I thought that was pretty jacked up. I'll be happy with 12 grand in my pocket. Mine has 39k miles on it.

 

Heck for $12k I might buy it!

 

Carmax offered me 13K for mine. Not quite what I wanted for it but we'll see what the dealer offers when (if) my car arrives.

 

So your '10 GT doesn't have the glass roof or nav, so a new one just like it can be purchased for about $27K right now with the big discounts and rebates to clear them out. If I wanted to buy a used 2010 GT knowing that I could get a new one for about $27K right now, I'd probably be hard pressed to want to spend more than $22K or $23K for a used one - especially if it has 22K miles on it already (my '07 GT only has 23K miles on it right now). I think most people would want the same kind of deal as me. So, if I were a dealer looking to take that car in on trade, I'd expect to pay less than I expect to sell it for. IMO, $21K is a very fair bid considering IMO it'll only sell for $22K to $23K tops. Therefor, Boo cmanatam!!!

 

yep. deprection on a new car is killer. gotta pay to play. some ppl its worth it. to some its not and would rather get a 1-2 year old low mile car and let someone else eat that big first depreciation.

 

What's crazy though is used car prices are way high at the moment. You can get a new car for less then low miles used versions of the same car.

For instance I was looking at a 2010 Taurus SEL for a daily driver. The used prices were higher then what I could pickup a new one on the lot for.