My experience buying a car from this Carmax was a mixed bag to be sure. This isn't my first time…read morebuying through a Carmax. It's a fine option for a person who doesn't really need to be "sold" a car, rather someone who has done all their own research on what they want to buy, has a price in mind, and just wants to go get it without too much hassle. There are some advantages to buying here, like the ability to bring it back within 10 days for a full refund, and not having to haggle. If you like the price, you buy the car, if you don't, you move on.
Disadvantages of course, are pretty much that the salesman is not super motivated to sell you a car, and is therefore not going to be very knowledgeable about whatever car you roll up about and want to look at. This is fine for me, I knew what I wanted, and I got it.
It wasn't without difficulty however. The specific car I wanted had to come in from Georgia, which I paid a transfer fee for. It was supposed to take 3-5 days, it ended up being over 2 weeks. This left us short a car for awhile, as we had already given up the other car based on their timeline. They did refund the transfer fee, so that made it partially right, but I say this to not take their word on their timelines.
My second complaint, is that the transaction took WAY TOO LONG inside Carmax, especially given I had already filled out most paperwork in advance. The person helping us seemed pretty new, and she kept having to get up and ask other associates questions. She also was not very observant, we were pointing out things on the screen that she was missing. She really should have had someone looking over her shoulder to help, as she was not ready to be on her own.
Finally, it's a good thing I advocated for myself and knew to check for certain things. Our new car is a plug in hybrid, and the car was supposed to come with a charging cable. It was not in the car anywhere, but with a little persistence they gave me one from their service center.
Carmax does do a thorough inspection on the cars they sell, and actually, the independent shop I brought the car to said they've not had many problems with Carmax missing things. In my case that held true, their Volvo certified mechanic found nothing wrong with my car mechanically, and said it appears to have been well maintained and serviced. He did find a very small windshield chip, which Carmax fixed free of charge without any complaint.
Would I buy another car from Carmax? I would, but I am someone who just needs someone to facilitate the transaction, I'm savvy enough to know the car on my own and do my own research. I wouldn't recommend Carmax as a place for the inexperienced buyer.