I'll start with a shout-out to Sarkis and Bob: you should ask for these days when you walk in or call! These are two of the best people to work with from a customer service standpoint ever. Their focus was making sure I got the best service, a car that I wanted, and the best financing possible.
Sarkis spent months communicating with me, and Bob helped close the deal while Sarkis had to cover phones. The hand-off was smooth, painless, and went very well.
Left with a 2016 Mustang with 2,200 miles and couldn't be happier.
Now the long review:
Let me be clear. CarMax employees are people. It seems there are some reviews by people who forget that and whine and cry when they didn't get their way. A lot of the one star views should be ignored, since the foot stompers forget they actually have to be polite to others. They also forget that they are buying a used car, so need to be sure to do their research beforehand.
That's where my story begins. I didn't do my research... I just had this amazing craving for a BMW 1 series. I test drove it and it was so awesome and fun... I couldn't believe it.
Sarkis mentioned I had no need to buy it today, that he could hold it while I did more research but I wanted to buy it NOW! He didn't pressure me, talk me into anything I didn't need, and didn't treat me with disrespect. He was simply amazing to work with. The process was smooth, I put the money down and bought the car.
Within a day there was a problem. Guess what! CarMax offers this AMAZING 5 day no-questions asked return policy. I texted Sarkis, told him what was up, scheduled a time to come in to talk to him and a manager and returned the car, no questions asked.
However, I did want to tell them what was wrong so they could get the car fixed and be ready to go for the next person! If you buy a USED BMW, Audi, VW, or Mercedes (because that's what CarMax sells... USED cars) I would highly suggest the Max Care plan.
Your best luck will be service at a carmax center. Get to know your car. Get to read up about used car reviews. Heck, a simple Google search of "used 2011 bmw reliability in 2016" would have saved me a huge headache!
Now: here is where it gets better. I spent about 5 weeks researching, reviewing, and monitoring the site. They have AMAZING site filters to find the year, and features you want. I Googled "most dependable used cars 2016" and started my research from there.
I also test drove new cars and used cars at other dealerships and shopped around. Remember people: this is a vehicle you are purchasing, not an iPhone! If you make a mistake because you insisted on a car, without doing research, even when your salesperson says "I can hold it while you read some reviews"...
Well guess what....That bad decision is on you, not CarMax. Your salesperson is there to sell a car that makes you happy because you want it. They aren't going to tell you "no" or hold your hand. But listen to what they say, tell them what you want, tell them what you've tried so far and they can help point you in the right direction.
Now, when I finally found something I wanted that actually wasn't at this dealership we did a transfer deal to get it there. It went smoothly and suddenly the car was available for me to test!
Drove it and fell in love.
Got something fun, reliable, with manufacturer's warranty (but still bought the CarMax warranty for extended service) and am one of the happiest people out there! Such a great buying experience. Thank you CarMax, thank you Sarkis, thank you Bob and the folks in the Business Office who all work together as one well-oiled machine!
Next car will be from CarMax and I hope by then one or both of these guys will be able to help me out! read more