I've both bought and sold cars to CarMax. Overall I've had a positive experience though not without some drawbacks... The Good; Clear upfront pricing and business practices. Both when buying and selling, CarMax is up front about price (no haggle, and they honor what they advertise). The sales people offer extended warranties on purchases, but don't 'hard sell' them (note, like most others offered by car dealers these are 3rd party insurance products, not actual warranties). I've also felt that the prices they've offered on trade-ins and cash purchases of my vehicles have been fair and in line with market pricing. They honor their word on what you are getting and what you are paying. Doesn't sound like much, but in car sales to me that is everything. The Bad; While CarMax's business practices and philosophy are certainly a breath of fresh air (compared to traditional used car dealers) their customer service is less than stellar. When attempting to sell my vehicle I initially arrived without an appointment. I was turned away, being told they were too busy and they scheduled me for an appointment the following week. However when I arrived for my scheduled appointment I still wound up having to wait nearly an hour and a half before a representative could assist me. When I asked if they could send me a text or call when they were ready (as I had other things I could be spending my time doing other than waiting around a dealership for hours) they stated they couldn't and seemed uninterested in concern over the value of my time. Also, I find it very difficult to get a hold of the local CarMax location via phone/email. All calls and communications go through a centralized office who then almost always says 'I can't assist with xyz, let me try to connect with the local store'. Annoying. read more

I came in to purchase a vehicle at 5:30pm. The store is open until 8pm. I had 3 vehicles on my list that I was deciding between. I quickly test drove the first two (returning to the dealership in less than 10 minutes each time). When I asked about the 3rd, I was told that it was too close to closing to allow me to test drive the third car (it was 6:15). The salesperson told me that I could come back tomorrow and drive the third car. When I told him that we live an hour away, he simply said "oh, well come back when you want." I left and went to Keeler and purchased a car that evening. read more

lowball offer on trade, overpriced vehicles with high miles and low quality. Multiple cars viewed had transmission issues. The set price is to scam. They offered no extras such as Car Matt or anything to negotiate. This business thrives on people fearing human communication. It gets two stars instead of one because of the friendly staff. read more

This place is absurdly bad at selling cars. Every individual person is polite and helpful in the moment, but nobody will EVER follow up on anything. Did he say he would call in the afternoon? No, and he's grumpy that you called to ask. Have you ever bought food from a vending machine and something went wrong with the machine and your bag of chips hung up, not quite dropping down, teasing you in full view but of course the faceless machine can do nothing to help you. That's this place - a vending machine. It would be less frustrating if, in fact, there were no people there so you wouldn't be fooled into thinking that anyone could possibly help you. I ordered a car from another location and it was delivered quickly to Albany. Great. I arrived without an appointment, they acted like I was putting them out, but since I refused to leave they eventually found an unenthusiastic person named Brandon to give me the keys. Drove the car, loved the car, but it had one issue that needed to be corrected. Told them I'd love to buy the car once that was fixed. No worries. A few days later, an employee confirmed that the car was ready for purchase. I drove to Albany (more than an hour from home). Ten minutes away and got a call that the car was NOT in fact even in their lot, it was elsewhere being repaired. The caller offered to comp the fee I had paid to ship the car. Ok, fair enough. Let me know when it will be ready to pick up, please. No word.... no call.... I stopped by the place repairing the car and was told that CarMax had dropped it off days ago and had specifically said that the repair was not rush. Great. But don't worry, employees from around the country will call you at regular intervals to prompt you to purchase the car. I had three employees promise that it was ready to pick up, that it was onsite, ready to go. But it wasn't. Repeated calls to find out when this car would be repaired and ready to purchase. No follow up. I finally got a request from corporate to review my "purchase" which I had not been able to complete yet. I left a similar review there and got a call back from a manager Mo. He apologized and then actually called me when the car was ready. Once Mo was on the job everything went smoothly, and I completed the purchase. I would not go back. read more

I wanted to buy a used car and had researched three different models (one each from three different manufacturers) to look at. Not wanting to visit multiple dealerships, I looked on the CarMax website and saw they had a lot of what I wanted. Granted, some were likely in different locations but I thought it was worth stopping in to talk to them, let them know what I wanted, discuss financing, figure out how ordering a vehicle from another location worked, etc. We came on a Thursday afternoon around 2PM. It seemed pretty dead, and upon walking in were warmly greeted. When we said we were looking to buy a car, the two woman behind the desk sort of looked at each other and said they couldn't help us now. If we came back in 90 minutes someone could talk to us. Having our toddler with us, wandering around the lot for that amount of time was a deal breaker. I asked about returning the next day at the same time, and was told they were booked solid but I could return Saturday morning at 9AM. That too was a deal breaker. We left without even having the opportunity to talk to them. I don't know if they only work by appointment; if they were short-staffed that day; if you are supposed to buy the car online first and just go and pick it up; or if they don't care. But it was unlike any other car dealership I have ever been to, where they go out of their way to help you (or at least and sell you a car)! read more

The worst. This is the closest location to me even though I live over 50 miles away. I'm selling my friend's car who is ill and in hospice. She can't go herself so I called the location to explain the situation and to ask exactly what I needed. They told me a list of things including a Power of Attorney, which I have. I drive the hour and change to my appointment, only to be told that my Power of Attorney was no good because it was a copy and not an original. I explained that they never said on the phone that it had to be an original. Hospitals, banks and investment firms have all accepted the copy, but CarMax's rules won't allow them. What a waste of time. Avoid this place like the plague! read more

Terrible service, like the feature of being able to buy cars out of state. Sales reps are terribly unmotivated. Dealt with 5 people, and 1 was actually good at there job. read more

So I wrote a review a few years ago without having an actual buying experience. I was not impressed. I needed some information and I received a lackluster experience. Very canned. Very automated. And not very personable. Fast forward a few years later. A friend convinced me to give them a try. This time I was serious about actually trading in my car and making a purchase. I was met by a very young lady. Most of the employees are kids in their early 20s who lack customer service skills. Very cold. You can tell they make $19/hr and no commission and really couldn't care less if you bought a car or not. They're still getting paid. The young lady went through the motions and answered all my questions. Passed me on to another dry personality guy who appraised my car. He gave me a value and I ordered my new car. Which you have to pay for the delivery. Non refundable. He never mentioned that the appraisal expires. He told me about the app and text program. Everything at CarMax is automated and very sterile. No personality. CarMax tends to sell cars like a vending machine. Also any time you call for information, you get the national call center. Even if you THINK you're calling the local branch. Then they reroute you to the local office after a very long wait. Always. Now I'm monitoring my app to see if the car arrived. I get updates here and there. It finally arrived and it said someone will call me. No one called me. So I called them. I was told I could do "express check-in" only to be told later that my appraisal had expired. I'll need to physically visit and have my car reappraised. I'm very unhappy at this point. I go in. Have my car reappraised. They honored the original value. Did my credit app. Told me to get insurance cards. Replace my vehicle on my insurance. The whole process. Only THEN was I asked "do you have the title to your vehicle". No. I forgot to bring it. This is not a first for me. I traded and bought many cars in my life. And many times I did NOT have my title. Other dealers either allowed me to bring it back in a few days. Or say don't worry about it. We'll order it for you. Not CarMax! Oh sorry. "We can't finish the process without the title" WHAT?? I Did all of this. Wasted ALL this time. And now you can't proceed because of title?? Then THAT'S the FIRST thing you should say before I transfer my insurance. Do a credit application. Put all of my personal belongings in bags to move to the new car. Etc. i had to call GEICO and get my original car back on in order to drive it off. And I'm steaming mad. I'm at the point that I don't care about the delivery fee. I really don't want to do business with this company. No one cares enough about service. Very pathetic service. Nice people. No customer care. At all. This was my review from a few years ago. I should've known: "I haven't even been to CarMax before. But after reading the reviews and seeing your canned prewritten responses, is enough to show me that your service is below what I expect from a company. Your responses should be a direct response to the complaint,. Not some computer generated response and a customer care email address." read more

I found a car I wanted in Hartford, CT 3 1/2 hours from me Friday night around 745. It was transferred free the next day after cancelling another car I found. I was instantly approved with less than favorable credit. Prior, I called at 8pm EST and someone answered the phone right away. Both guys I talked to were very personable and helpful when it came to understanding the MaxCare warranty and payment structure. I don't know what everyone else's problem is with this location but I had no issues. Looking forward to picking up my car in the next day or two. I'll be back for an in-person service review. read more

Great car buying experience, no hassle, can reserve cars and after buying a car they cut me checks for a few minor fixes after the fact!! Highly recommended car buying experience. Easy, fair trade in, go for it! read more

Mixed reviews. Was great when selling 2 cars, they paid above blue book. Awful at buying experience with a car they said service techs went thru.....they did NOT. Brought car to dealer as check engine light was on. Found multiple problems. Luckily Carmax has 30-day return policy. Yep, returned. If they had agreed to replace $7,000 brakes, would've bought it. They did not change oil, air filter was so plugged dealer mechanic had to vacuum it all out while replacing filter. Unacceptable. 1 star as could not leave 0. read more

The buying g experience was seamless, and a little lengthy before my girlfriend got the car. I wasn't clued in on every aspect of her purchase but from what I saw it was legitimate. Drove the family there and waited as long as I could before I had to go to work. Eveything seemed good until this morning when i test drove it and noticed the odometer read 105,600k. It was advertised at 65k in the ad and it says the same on the bill of sale. Instead of wasting time going back and forth with these people were gonna sue, report them to the AG and make a complaint to the state that holds their license. ​What they did is fraudulent and intentional. See you in court. read more

Lazy Staff, that could care less what problems you have with your car. Very corporate and dishonest people there too, they love to tell you one thing and it end up not being true or just not giving you enough information and then you're standing there with your hand on your dick. read more

If I could leave zero stars, that would be a few too many. The concept of CarMax on a grand scale is a good one...but as with anything else, it's all in the execution that matters. Said, this location is unresponsive, deploys questionable tactics and simply is plagued by apathetic support. I've never been so disappointed in service and sales support in my life by a car dealership - the little schlock shops that wholesale auction cars do it better than this car store. Absolutely dreadful experience. read more

Ordered a vehicle from Va. it was shipped to NY. Friday a woman called to set up my test drive for Saturday. Then, on Saturday, I'm told it needs to be inspected and inspection only happens during the week. So Monday is about over and I go by to see what the heck is going on. Still not inspected! They've had the vehicle a WEEK! I could get it inspected at the local shop in 15 minutes. They said the vehicle would be ready 18-23. Tomorrow is the 23rd. Update - got a text about test drive tomorrow so, we shall see. read more

looked into a car at CarMax Albany, got prequalified ended up finding something better else where. a month later I get an email saying carmax's bank had denied my loan, without approval they ran a credit check. never even looked at a car. if you want to buy a car online one word. Carvana. read more

I recently sold my car to carmax. I used the online process, which was intuitive and very easy to navigate. I got an online offer within minutes and was pleased with the iffer. When we went to carmax to complete the process, Carlos was excellent in his job. I would highly recommend carmax ! read more

Came in for an appraisal and the only reason I'm not giving 5 stars was the wait time. I showed up 15 min early and ended up waiting a total of 45 min (so half an hour later than apt time) BUT they offered me exactly what I was hoping for on my car and didn't low ball me!!! Maybe it's since COVID has died down and the market is going back up? Maybe my appraiser Ed was just a very kind sales person and helped me out... EITHER WAY I definitely recommend you try these guys if you need to sell your car!!!! read more

Absolutely hassle free process to sell my car. The online quote was straightforward. Amanda assessed the car when I brought it over and honored the online quote, and I walked out, check in hand, an hour later. I would recommend them. read more

CarMax - 2011 Buick Enclave - Car Buyers Near Me - Albany, New York

The absolute worst car purchasing experience ever. If you are looking to be insulted and disrespected then this is the store for you.

I had a Camaro SS shipped for a test drive and potential purchase. Was informed that the test drive was limited to 10 minutes which would have only allowed me around local 30mph streets. Had to get managers approval for a longer test drive. Took the car to interstate highway and at 60mph and higher the car shook and shimmered. My compliant is this car was approved for sale with a serious problem. If i had not pushed for extended test drive i would have been sold a defective vehicle out the door. After my experience i believe their vehicles DO NOT get the low speed/high speed inspection and should not advertise it meets or exceeds high standards for quality. I would not recommend purchasing a vehicle from CarMax. read more

Totally bad experience! Got a jaguar shipped fron PA. It only takes 5hrs from there to NY. It took a week then the inspection took another week. Finally got to test drive the car was dirty! They call me in on sat. Knowing the bank is closed and say my pay off letter from the bank isn't good enough smh. Woman was very nonchalant like she didn't care. So carfax lost another sale. It was my birthday and they couldn't even work with me. Completely trash! Make them sit on those cars! read more

I would not recommend anyone use CarMax to purchase a used vehicle. The people there are very nice. However, the cars are junk. The first car I bought had a transmission problem from the day I left the lot with it. I returned it and got a second car. I had that car for only 11 months and the engine was shot. I will never buy a car from Carmax again. it was a complete waste of my money.. They did not help me in any way to deal with my second junk car. Do yourself a favor and avoid CarMax. read more

I highly recommend CarMax. It was a very favorable experience. Staff is friendly and patient, and estimates are accurate and fair.

We saw a car online that we liked and called and were given an appointment to test drive it at 6:30pm. We came in at 6:20 and were told to wait. They didn't get to us until 7:05. We were then told that we couldn't test drive the car because company policy doesn't allow for test drives after 7:00pm. We explained that we had made the appointment for a test drive for 6:30 and had to wait 45 minutes to be seen but were told that we would have to come back the next day. She gave us an appointment at 6:00 the next day. We came in the next day and by the time it was 6:40 and we were still wait we ended up leaving. read more

Where do I start ? The fact that they never knew when the car would be ready? The fact that they couldnt take the tire locks off and held up the sale for days and i had to repeadly change my plans to pick it up ? or the fact that the their was a coolant leak in my car 7 months after i bought it that ultimately ended with me needing a new motor . Very unhappy with my Carmax pucrhcase this time around . read more

I started out ordering and purchasing a car from Carvana. I started in Jan. 22 and never received the car. I waited through 8 delays and excuse after excuse. They even registered the car and I even got the title but no car!! Terrible experience. I would suggest that you never even consider Carvana!!!! I decided to try Carmax. I work 6 days a week and have no time to look for a car except at night. after looking on line and finding what I was looking for I called and talked to a salesman Mike R. He was awesome!! He answered all of questions and concerns. He was patient as I was hesitant to try again on going online. I decided to try one more time. I had the car shipped as it was not local. They said 14-21 days. It showed in 7 Nice!! I set up a appointment to purchase it. All the financing and paperwork were done before I went. Flawless!! The day I picked up my new car I was greeted by Nakhil in the Albany NY location and he was super!! he took care of all the paperwork and showed me my new car. It was as smooth as it should be and better!! I would suggest if you are looking for a car consider Carmax as a awesome option. The car I ordered is better than expected and advertised! Thanks for all your help and a great experience!! Dave M read more

CarMax - Car Buyers Near Me - Albany, New York

I have watched a family member go through 1 year of unprofessional service from all managers in the sales and service department. They sold a truck that they knew had a problem and signed a contract that it would fix it. They passed all work on to another dealership that couldn't fix it. Carmax is doing what they do best, Stahl and ignore. read more

***BUYER BEWARE*** CARMAX claims to sell cars "GUARANTEED TO BE FREE OF FLOOD OR FRAME DAMAGE" But I bought a car here on June 5th and was told that I "could not take it to my mechanic to be looked at until after I purchased the car." That should have been a RED FLAG, but I trusted them when they said I could "RETURN IT WITH NO PROBLEM WITHIN 5 DAYS." I took it to my mechanic the morning after I bought it and was informed that THE CAR HAD BEEN IN A FLOOD. There was RUST ALL OVER the driver's side seat and around the gas pedal... and the car was less than 2 years old!! I returned the car and received my refund check a week later. The Manager of Carmax called me to "follow up on my concern." He told me that "their mechanics tore the car apart but couldn't find any evidence of flood damage." I asked him if they looked under the driver's side car seat, and he said, "Yes, but they said that any rust was due to normal wear and tear, like people spilling drinks or wearing wet clothes in the seat." You've got to be kidding me!! Carmax just protected themselves by setting up a situation where they can claim it's "my word against theirs." But who are you going to trust, the company trying to sell you a car or an unbiased mechanic with over 25 years in the business?! Carmax is committing FRAUD by selling cars that they KNOW are FLOOD DAMAGED... yet, they can "get away with it" because the titles appear to be "clean." I've filed complaints with both the Better Business Bureau and the NY State Attorney General.... I hope Carmax is held accountable for this FRAUD! Don't be blinded by friendly customer service or the appeal of "no haggle pricing." Do your homework, get your car checked out, and lastly... take my advice, YOU DON'T WANT TO DO BUSINESS WITH A COMPANY THAT SELLS FLOOD CARS AND DOESN'T ALLOW YOU THE CHANCE TO FIND OUT BEFORE YOU'VE BOUGHT THE CAR!!! read more

This is my recent experience with Carmax. I found a truck I wanted online. Applied, uploaded all docs, got "approved", pay a transfer fee, and waited for my truck to be delivered to a closer lot. My truck got deleted ahead of schedule, although I had to call in and find this out for myself ( do your own leg work because they are way too big of a company to stay on top of every customer- no big deal though). Once they inspected my truck they called me in to test drive. This is where it got sticky. I was told on the phone with the online team that everything was set. Just show up, bring physical docs in with me, sign and drive. NOPE. Found out it was just a pre approval. Had to go through it all again. They read my docs wrong and said my income didn't match up to what I stated on the app (I am self employed). Because banks only use some deposits, not all (wtf???) I had to get creative to show more income. So I did. But now I had to wait three weeks until my next bank statement came out. basically everything that the online team told me and verified was complete BS. They really have no training and have no idea how to look/ review docs. Once I weeded through all the BS it was great. Mark Stryker was my sales guy. He and the finance managers at the physical lot were stellar. But I did put a total of about 12 hours into this purchase. Bottom line is don't call. Find a car you like online and go in. It will ultimately save you hours of headache. read more

We made an appointment to sell our car at 3 pm. Arrived ten minutes early and waited until 3:30 pm to be seen by anyone. After 45 minutes of them looking at the car, putting the offer together and drawing up the paperwork they suddenly discovered that we needed a notary and none was on staff. I don't buy and sell cars every day and even I know that a notary is required to sell a car. If we had known they wouldn't be able to complete the deal we wouldn't have wasted three hours of our Saturday to bother with Carmax, we would've used Carvana instead. We had traveled the whole way from Philadelphia (long story but the car we were selling was being repaired near Albany) so their solution for us was for us to call all the Carmaxes in New Jersey and Pennsylvania to ask if they had notaries on staff and to drive 2 separate cars (the one we'd driven up there and and then one we planned to sell) 3+ hours to another Carmax. They offered to top off our gas, but we had literally just canceled our car insurance on the car we were selling during our 2 hour long wait. We had to call a mobile notary in the area, drive 10 miles round trip and pay them $100 to notarize the title then return to Carmax to sell the car. When we got back to Carmax they told us the notary signed the title in the wrong spot. Carmax refused to cover the cost saying they had filled our tank of gas - when they actually just added 1/4 tank of gas to the car we were selling them, so they filled their own tank of gas. This is absolutely ridiculous and unacceptable. Will never use Carmax again. After three hours here it still hasn't been resolved and we may have to drive the car we planned to sell all the way back to Philly after this whole ordeal. read more

Received an Online appraisal to sell my car, tried to schedule an appointment online, not able to select a date. Called to make an appointment and was told no appointment was needed simply show up before 7:30 pm. Took a half day off of work, drove an hour and was told they weren't taken walk-ins. I explained that I had called and drove an hour to get there. The man at the reception explained they had 4 call outs and were booked solid for a week. He explained he can try to help me but it would be a 2 hour wait. I understand today's issues with staffing but that is no excuse for poor service. Don't make an offer if you don't have the staff to service customers. This was the Albany, NY location read more

If I could give fewer stars, I would. It takes days to get an appointment and then when you arrive, the cars that you have reserved for a test drive are not on the lot. I could never get the first salesman, Brandon, who I dealt with (and who was at least polite) on the phone. I had reserved a car that I had taken for a test drive and wanted to buy if the repair dept could get the AC and heat to work. Brandon emailed me to say both were working but when I came in, a male sales rep I'd never dealt with in my first visit insisted I test drive a Subaru rather than the Honda Civic I had reserved and wanted to buy. The Subaru conked out on Wolf Rd 15 mins into the test drive. I was alone and it was 40 degrees outside and windy. When I called the store, the nasty salesman and the mgr were unreachable. One woman got on the phone and angrily told me that Carmax had no tow trucks but someone would get back to me by phone "eventually." At no point did anyone from Carmax in Albany call, text or email to ask if I was in a safe location or give me an estimate of when I could expect help. After an hour of waiting, I called the Carmax Albany number again after an hour and got someone in Atlanta. I asked him if I should call AAA to get towed back to Carmax since I was afraid to abandon the car on a busy main road. He urged me to do so. He got the Albany manager, John, on the phone and John immediately disconnected the call before I even got to say hello. An hour and 15 mins later, the nasty sales rep finally shows up to jump start the Subaru. He and some woman with him screamed at me for daring to call AAA because AAA might have hurt the car if had towed it. No apology. No appreciation that I was using my AAA membership to do them a favor. The misogynistic, meanspirited, creepy salesman yanked the door open and ordered me out of the car. He felt I should have stood outside in the cold and in the traffic. These are truly horrible people. read more

I purchased a car from CarMax Albany on Wednesday March 17, 2021. Before leaving the dealership I asked the sales rep what the warning on the dash meant. It said low battery. She said it was the key fob. I find out from the Land Rover dealership it means the car needs a battery. I call CarMax on March 19, 2021 to see if they will replace the battery for free and they said its not covered. I asked why would you sell a car with a dead battery. They then said I could bring the car in for service in three weeks. Still not offering to do it for free. Well you only have 30 days to return the car if you don't like it. I can't drive a car that indicates the battery may go dead. So I will fix the battery and determine if I will keep the car. CarMax Albany has terrible service and I have purchased from CarMax in VA and MD in the past. NO MORE CARMAX for my family. read more

RUN FAR AWAY THIS SCAM IN DISGUISE! I came here and was lied to about a transfer fee and down payment. Then when they had their error all the drugged out opioid manager could say is I apologize. Na homie do something about like your employees just said nonsense to steal money from me. So if you looking for a spot to purchase a car with your hard paying money I suggest you avoid CarMax it's like pulling teeth and everyone slow I almost thought I was in a scene of the walking dead. read more

I had the best car buying experience at carmax. I'm so happy with the jeep I bought. And they appraised my trade In at a much higher price than I thought it was worth. My sales associate Brittany Schultz was so helpful and knowledgeable. I will definitely be buying my next car from carmax and I would and have referred everyone I know that is looking for a car. read more

Not enough staff to complete menial work. They leave truckers sitting in the back lot for hours on end with no communication whatsoever. Nobody cares. If you complain, you will literally get laughed at. read more

Great experience, all dealers should sell with that kind of efficiency! Saw a car it was a fleet car in Maine, I paid $99 to ship to Albany. The car has 30k miles on it and still manufacture warranty remaining and it was at least 6k less than local dealer. The person we dealt with was Brittany and she was knowledgeable about the process and it went quickly. I will also purchase my next car from them. read more

BE AWARE THEY ARE UNDERVALUING VEHICLES INSULTINGLY BELOW THERE TRUE FAIR MARKET VALUE. No better then a gold, and silver pawn shop. Just wish I knew the opposite definition of Price gouging. (Besides rip off artists) No wonder why your Better business score is hovering above 2.0 in customer satisfaction. read more

My car needed the A/C fixed. I was expecting several hours or even having to leave it over night. Well an hour after I drove it in for service I drove out with the A/C blasting beautiful cold air.Travis was very nice & explained what was wrong. I gave him a virtual hug. read more