I worked with Agnes at the CarMax Costa Mesa location, and she was incredible from start to finish. What should have been a straightforward payoff turned into a complicated situation involving multiple companies, delays, and a lot of back-and-forth. Through all of it, Agnes stayed on top of everything. She was responsive, patient, and actually took the time to follow up and get real answers -- something that was not easy to find elsewhere during this process. She even went as far as contacting my lender directly to confirm payoff details and keep things moving, which ultimately helped me get everything finalized. In a situation that was honestly frustrating and stressful, she was the one person who made it feel manageable. If you're working with CarMax, ask for Agnes. She gets it done. Thank you again -- truly appreciate the help. read more

CarMax - Entrance - Used Car Dealers Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

So far so good! Purchased a car here earlier this month. Did a trade in of my previous vehicle that I got here in 2015 and to my surprise they took it back for more than i thought with the condition my car was in. Carmax generally takes more for your cars than Carvana btw. I was able to walk the parking lot and look at cars with my dad at ease. When dealing with someone at Carmax, we were met with Winston. He made the whole process go smoothly and was friendly and funny. Trade in assessment took 45 minutes, if that. We were done with the paper work and financials on our next visit when we brought the car to actually trade in. Overall, my new car is sworking great and under manufacturer warranty. Happy with my purchase from this Carmax. Lots of options of cars online and to test drive at this lot. Highly Recommend! read more

My parent and I are enrolled in the Replace Your Ride program, and I spent over a month searching for a decent Toyota RAV4. We finally found one at CarMax. We visited on Saturday, signed the paperwork, and ran a credit check. However, the interest rate they offered was too high. We asked if they could hold the car until Monday so we could return with financing from our own bank, and the salesman agreed to keep it for us. When we returned on Monday with our bank's approval, they told us the car had been sold to someone else.They don't even care after that,they just advise us a different car. Please be careful with CarMax; they prioritized a quick sale over their promise to us, likely because the Replace Your Ride program takes a few months for them to receive the funds. We now only have two weeks left before our program voucher expires, leaving my family in a very difficult situation. read more

CarMax - I ask them 1 more time cause i see our order car got post up on there website again to sell - Used Car Dealers Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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Came here on 12/17/24 to buy a truck. Checked in and after being ignored for almost an hour, we left. I had a great experience here last time. This time not so much. Update: I did get 2 missed calls from a no ID phone number, they didn't even leave a voicemail. read more

CarMax - Thank you Claudia for be an awesome salesperson!! - Used Car Dealers Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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Terrible management, sales, and service. Extremely poor experience from start to finish. I was sold a black 2017 Hyundai Tucson for $17,000 with multiple serious defects that should never have passed inspection: Heater did not work Passenger door would not open from the outside Driver's window did not work Engine shook badly I brought the vehicle back within the 10‑day return window. At that point, I was told I could return it, but if I would allow them to fix it first and then test drive it before deciding. They agreed to make an exception--but that never actually happened. Instead, it took over 20 days just to order parts and schedule service, which effectively removed my ability to return the car. Because I still needed a reliable vehicle, I felt forced to exchange it for a 2022 Hyundai Sonata for $25,000. That exchange process took over 5 hours. The very next day, I came back simply to remove the extended warranty, and that process took another 4 hours. Staff seemed visibly upset with me for requesting it. Instead of merely removing the warranty, they re‑ran my credit and processed an entirely new purchase contract, without clearly explaining why. They also took the vehicle keys, and I am still not sure what was done to the car during that time. Now, the 2022 Sonata shakes when approaching 60 mph, a problem that did NOT exist before. At this point, I have zero confidence in the dealership's inspection, repairs, or honesty. I just need a safe, reliable vehicle. I am taking the car to another facility for inspection, and if this issue is not resolved immediately, I will return it and take my business to a legitimate dealership. I strongly advise others to be extremely cautious when buying a vehicle here. 04/17/26 update: I had an extremely frustrating experience with CarMax Costa Mesa, and I strongly recommend avoiding this location. After purchasing my car, I noticed issues immediately after driving off the Costa Mesa lot, despite having no problems during the three days I drove it beforehand. When I later took the car to CarMax Buena Park, they confirmed that all four tires were unbalanced and that the engine cover was missing a latch. The Buena Park technician even said it made no sense that all four tires suddenly became unbalanced--yet that's exactly what happened after Costa Mesa handled the car, with no reason whatsoever to need my keys or the car. What made this worse is how CarMax Costa Mesa handled the warranty removal. I was held there for three hours, asked for my keys, and forced to redo paperwork I had already completed just one week earlier for another vehicle, which took only 20 minutes and did not require my keys. The inconsistency alone is alarming. It honestly feels like retaliation over the warranty I chose to remove--money they lose when customers opt out (bonus 300$). Whether it was pettiness or incompetence, something was clearly not right. To top it off, the attitude was unprofessional. When Alma, the manager, approached and referred to my situation as a "problematic purchase," I was shocked--especially considering they sold me a car that needed immediate fixes. The salesman Calvin also had me redo the entire process despite me clearly explaining that I had just done the same thing the week before. Nothing about this experience inspires trust. Conclusion: CarMax Costa Mesa wasted my time, mishandled my vehicle, and treated me poorly as a customer. If you're considering CarMax, I highly recommend Buena Park or Irvine instead. Do not go to Costa Mesa. read more

Sold a Car! It was fast, easy and quick! I highly recommend selling your car to them. read more

CarMax - Used Car Dealers Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

I have tried for 4 days to get into my Carmax account. I made 13 phone calls to different offices that each sales person/manager has given me. So far no one is able to help me unlock my account except for Miguel who finally arranged to ship my car. I picked Carmax because it seemed easy. It has been a f\very frustrating experience. read more

I walked in and a nice employee showed me around 6 different cars to choose from . Very good experience compared to Irvine

My cousin brought me to this location as it was close to Huntington Beach. I was particularly interested in a couple vehicles that were according to their system in LA & Burbank. The sales floor was muggy & had a melange of OLD SPICE & BO in the air. Not sure if it was staff or a customer's BO that permeated the sales floor air - but it did. The staff was nice. I was help by a salesperson named Oscar who was helpful even though I didn't find the vehicle I was looking for read more

Fast. Also reliable. The people were friendly there. Go there to sell your car. It gooood.

CarMax fixed my challenger on the dealership warranty I had. So although they didn't cover my rental it didn't matter because they covered the car expenses for the parts and service to fix it and they even finished a day earlier than expected! I regionally bought my challenger here and it was a no hassle easy approval and I've been satisfied ever since then. Their customer service has been over the top throughout them servicing my car to handling my payments to making changes. Just awesome! read more

Decided it was time to sell my car as we want to start a family and need to upgrade. We didn't want to haggle trading in my car as we are unsure which new vehicle to get. My partners past experience with carmax has been great so we decided to make a visit yesterday. We were greeted nicely by receptionist and was kindly referred to business office as we already out evaluation online and received an offer. Was very to check in and the process was explained well. Took about 30 min for them to check the vehicle and we were greeted by a Linda who confirmed our quote and the amount to be offered. We accepted offer and began working with Linda on paperwork and signing. Linda was simply amazing. Very kind and personable. She explained the process clearly and made us feel welcomed and thanked us many times for choosing their location. I would recommend this location to all friends and family nearby read more

CarMax - Goodbye Civic. Great memories. - Used Car Dealers Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

I purchased a 2015 Jaguar F-Type R from CarMax Costa Mesa on April 3, 2025. After the purchase, I discovered the tires were from 2014 (DOT code 2614) -- meaning they were over 10 years old. Tire manufacturers recommend replacing tires every 6-10 years regardless of tread, especially on high-performance vehicles like this. This is a serious safety concern and should have been caught during their inspection process. I had to replace all four tires myself immediately. I reached out to my sales rep Ian twice after the purchase and received no response. When I finally got a reply from CarMax, they said they only go by tread life, not age -- which completely ignores industry standards and safety guidelines. I also purchased the MaxCare warranty and expected a higher level of quality control and accountability. Very disappointed with the lack of response and responsibility. I wanted to believe in the CarMax buying experience, but this has made me second guess their process and commitment to safety. read more

I had a great experience with Joanna. It could not have been easier. I decided I had to have a car on Saturday after my bank closed. Joanna was a great sport about all of my questions and help me secure financing with zero down and a 5.99% interest rate. I was able to leave with the car less than an hour after my test drive. Jesse in finance was great and helped me sign all the necessary documents without trying to sell me a bunch of extra things. I usually hate buying cars, but this was quick and painless. I'm sure everyone that sells here is great, but if I were you, I would definitely make a point to ask for Joanna P. Thanks again. It was a pleasure. read more

CarMax - Joanna hooked us up with a great little work car. 5 star review coming. - Used Car Dealers Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Run from CARMAX! I've purchased two vehicles from them in the past two years, and it's been an absolute nightmare! We bought an Infiniti with an extended warranty, and after driving it less than 5,000 miles, the headlight went out. The dealer (AutoNation) tried to charge us around $3,000 to fix it, claiming the warranty wouldn't cover it because the previous owner had repairs done by a third party -- which supposedly voided the warranty they sold us. CarMax said it wasn't their problem. AutoNation said it wasn't their problem. So we're taking them to court under the Consumer Protection Act. They literally could not care less. The second car I bought was for my daughter. The windshield liner was coming off while the big yellow bow was still on the car congratulating us on our purchase. They just tore it off and promised to get us a new one. Wouldn't you know it -- I still can't get them to address that issue either. I once called their service department once a week for four weeks, leaving a voicemail each time. Not once did anyone call me back. We even sent a letter to corporate, and -- surprise, surprise -- no response. I am absolutely flabbergasted by the lack of customer support. I just want to shout it from the rooftops: CARMAX is awful!!! read more

I went with my buddy last night to buy a car. He had it in express (not sure what means since we were there for over an hour). Was looking through his car and I told him dude your tires are fucked up. The front right had 3 literal chunks missing from it. The front left had plugs in it. All 4 were dry rotted. A salesperson or tech came out to see it and he said and I quote *that's california standard, they do not need to be replaced*. I almost went off on the guy but it wasn't my deal. I had to walk away. Wtf kind of service or dealership is that! I would will never buy a car from carmax seeing how they treated my friend on a very serious safety issue. read more

Gianna in scheduling is professional and kind and made scheduling so very easy. This is the exact person that Carmax wants on the phone with their customers. Well done Gianna, thank you! read more

Attention: Dont bring your car to this location. The third party vendors ans or employees will take your car for a joyride. I left my car on a Tuesday morning, picked it up Friday afternoon with an additional 450 miles. They did not take any accountability. Just brushed me off. Note that the vehicle smelled like alcohol when i picked it up. read more

I have been actively trying to purchase a car through car max under their 3 day financing option which I had walking in a draft check from my bank which is not good enough! This process is suppose to be easier than they are making it bc they want me to finance the car through them for a ridiculous rate! I am to the point of wanting to drop the car off!! read more

CarMax - Volvo XC90 - Used Car Dealers Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

April and Skye in the service department are AMAZING! They are so friendly and helpful. They truly go above and beyond for customers.

Came here to test drive some cars and see what make/ model car I prefer. I brought my partner along for a second opinion. And to keep me honest so that I didn't buy the very first car I test drove hahaha Anyway, I just bought a vehicle from another CarMax location. They failed to inform me that they didn't have the title / pink slip for the vehicle I purchased. I financed the Range Rover. Had the Rover for a little over one month. And they just called me this week to tell me that they wouldn't be able to obtain the pink slip. Okay, well that sucks. So naturally, I no longer wanted the Rover. It doesn't make sense to make payments on a vehicle to never have the title for it. I came to the Costa Mesa CarMax to try to find another car. I explained the situation that had happened at the other location, and they said they could help me find a car that they have the title to. Perfect! Unfortunately, it did take a little bit of "undoing" to do the buyback process with the down payment and the first month payment already paid. CarMax had to get two managers to sign off on the buyback and then undo everything from the bank. I know it was a lot of work to do. And I am thankful they went through all the hoops to fix this. Marty was our sales guy and he was great. Very nice and knowledgeable about each car. He allowed us to test drive as many as we wanted. We did all the test drives and knew which car was our favorite. He is an honest guy and is very kind. Go to Marty! PS. Make sure they have the title/ pink slip before buying/ financing any vehicle from a dealership. That way you avoid the headache! read more

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Very careful with Buy MaxCare from them. I paid almost $5000 for MaxCare and when my car has issue and I bring it here and they told me there is no fee and deductible as you have a max care., they hold my car 3 days and after that a few times call finally they told me, we could not find issue and you need to come and pick up your car. When I came to pick it up, they asked me to pay almost $100 for diagnostic!!! read more

MARCDALINE! She's the best. Two weeks ago I had my car breakdown on me in the middle of a very very busy intersection on my way to work. I needed a car ASAP. Me & my boyfriend went to carmax without an appointment & immediately Marcdaline greeted us when we walked in & took us on as her clients. She went over & beyond. I was very overwhelmed & anxious about everything. She took control & made help soothe me. I had no idea what I wanted as a car all I had a was a budget. She asked me what were the necessities I wanted in a car & started listing things off for me to help me figure it all out. We ended up landing on an Acura RDX, a car which wasn't even on my radar. I fell in love with it at the test drive! She's the best. Working with her didn't feel like going to a car dealership & working with a salesman. She's not pushy or over the top 'sales person'. I felt like I was shopping with a girlfriend. I cannot say enough positive things about Marcdaline so if you're looking for a car & end up at Carmax in Costa Mesa I highly highly recommend you make an appointment with her. You won't regret it. Thank you again Marcdaline for all your help & for checking up on me & the car even now two weeks later. read more

very bad service. they charged extra money to fix small faults on the car. but they didn't do it. and they didn't give me the charging cable because my car is electric. when i asked they said someone else came to get it. but except me no one will come to get it. read more

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Thank you, Oscar for your support and changing out my vehicles and assisting me with my new ride. Great job. And additional gratitude for April L. in the service department for assisting me with minor change requirements to my new vehicle. Her voice is exuberant and friendly demeanor on every phone call which makes waiting for your car, seem easier. Reggie in the maintenance department explained what was done with a bright smile, which was so nice also. Great job and I'm so glad the experience has been extremely nice. Fingers crossed my used car continues to be a blessing read more

Needed to sell a car and went to CarMax. Absolutely amazing experience! Friendly staff and got the price that estimated as well. The process is very easy. You go through a series of questions online, schedule an appointment, it will give you an offer code, show up to CarMax with code, scan bar code and enter your offer code, they will test drive the car and you wait for the appraisal. Once paper work is done they will let you know the price and issue you a check. Same day! The entire process took about 1.5 hour but worth it! DMV paper work done as well with check in hand. The staff was awesome! Extremely accommodating and everyone had a genuine smile. I would high recommend CarMax. read more

CarMax - Used Car Dealers Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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Definitely never doing any business with CarMax they tried to give me way below what my car was worth. I ran the the Carfax and my car was valued at $15,000 and they only tried to offer me $8,400. I tried Carvana, did everything online even scheduled an appointment to bring my car in and after a quick inspection they offered me 10K for my car! Definitely very satisfied with Carvana DO NOT recommend CarMax to anyone. read more

Expressed concerns about the Costa Mesa CarMax service department's handling of my vehicle under warranty. After returning my car just six days post-purchase in October 2024, we didn't get it back until January 2025, facing delays and excuses. After raising issues with Customer Service and how unsatisfied we were with the quality and lack of repairs, they promised to "make it right" However, in June 2025, the car broke down again, leading to a $6,000 repair estimate from the dealer. I visited them on June 24 to discuss options, and they promised a follow-up, but I have yet to hear back. This lack of communication reinforces my concerns about CarMax's reliability, and I will not recommend them due to their unfulfilled promises, lack of BBB accreditation, and tendency to provide temporary fixes instead of lasting solutions. read more

Terrible service and communication from sales to service department. Sold me a car that had issues that they didn't fix or properly acknowledge. When I bring it in to get it fixed they don't give me an estimated fixed date or communicate at all. Since they couldn't fix the issue, they brought it into Toyota to fix it and communication with to Toyota and CarMax is terrible. Now they're keeping it in the shop as long as possible so the warranty expires. read more

I placed a request to have a car transferred from Costa Mesa to Los Angeles. My mistake was doing this over the phone instead of in app, I guess in the age of AI and technology we should just do stuff ourselves and not trust people to handle things accurately via phone. Unfortunately, my reservation/request was not saved and the car was reserved my someone else and eventually bought. I was gaslit and laughed at on the phone by an employee when following up. I know carmax records calls so I asked that they check the phone long and find out if I was indeed told that I was supposed to confirm the transfer via email on my end. The representative had the audacity to even laugh when reading the privacy terms to me before telling me that he checked the tapes and his colleague did tell me I needed to confirm the reservation on my end. I don't believe this, I'm 28, my memory is sharp. I was told that I would receive a tracking link, not that I needed to confirm the request on my end. All that to say I ended up purchasing from a respectable dealership. I would rather spend my money where employees and customers alike are treated well. Happy to not be supporting a customer that lays of 350 people via a pre recorded call. Although the phone customer service is p*ss poor, no one needs to be laid off like that and without timely updates about severance. My heart does go out to a kind sales rep I spoke to on the phone after this mistake CarMax made with me, her name was Vanessa Calderone. The employee that was laughing while reading the rehearsed privacy policy, his name was Sage I believe, do so much better please. read more

I had never been to a CARMAX dealer before. I had heard a lot about it though, and how much more money you could get offered here when looking to sell your vehicle. And it is amazingly true! No matter what exterior condition your car is in, whether your car has been keyed all the way around, and has been parked in the sun for 7 years and the paint has deteriorated big time, as long as it's internally in good shape, you will get a great offer for your car. The staff here is very professional too, and they even offer coffee, and full sized bottles of water while you wait. It is best to have an appointment, but you can just walk in. It does get busy on Saturdays and Sundays, so you should expect to spend a couple of hours here. And while you're waiting, you can check out the many brands of cars they have for sale, and also get your vehicle serviced. This really is the best place to sell your car, if you don't want to go through the time and work that it takes to sell it privately. It's a one stop shop if you're looking for one. read more

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Two drivers in the family, finally and lovin' the new car! Wonderful experience at Carmax. This is my second purchase of a Carmax car. My first was back in 2013 and I remember it being so easy and that little Ford Escape ended up being the best car that I ever owned (until I got T'ed be a kid on a cellphone). Because of my first great experience with Carmax, I returned for a second. This time, my child was looking to purchase. As I am recently widowed, I was stressed about the process, not having someone to help us with important decisions. Hard on my kiddo too, purchasing a car without her dad. But hoped for the best and was not disappointed. We had made an appointment earlier to test drive a car and were met by Tyrus, our sales rep and I was thrilled with the service we received. He had the car clean and ready for us and after a test drive, we fell in love with it and began the purchasing process. I think it's a benefit, he had a daughter and could tell we were going at this on our own. Have to say he was like a "stand in dad" for my kid. He made the process quick and simple and when he handed over the car, he reassured us we could call anytime for help with car issues or anything that could arise. A+++ service. Other pros: facility was clean, as well as the bathroom. Don't know the guy's name that processed our paperwork but he was supersweet too. Good experience all around and when we are ready for an upgrade, Carmax will always be the first call we make. Many thanks to Tyrus! read more

CarMax - Used Car Dealers Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Got to test drive the STI for 24HRs which was amazing btw. But Gus the salesman's was very unprofessional. He was not happy that I decided to not purchase the car and was giving me attitude. He slammed his keyboard, said "a have a great day" & proceeded to go on his phone. Made me feel really uncomfortable. I honestly don't know how a man with that type of behavior can be employed since 2018. I'll be taking my business elsewhere. read more

CarMax - Used Car Dealers Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Very positive experience with CarMax in Costa Mesa vs the terrible one we had in Buena Park. We got a super chill and helpful rep Balkar who helped me exchange a car I got a day before to a better one. This was last year but just had to share how great it was. They also copped us some In n Out! Highly recommend read more

Avoid at ALL cost! I purchased a minivan on Friday 07/18/2025. I chose Carmax because they are a large company with mechanics and services on site. I was shown a carfax report with 0 accidents and a clean history. I mistakenly assumed that the vehicles sold here would be safe. WRONG! I drove the minivan and it started shaking uncontrollably and the brakes did not work. The entire minivan was scared for their lives. Thankfully the freeway was empty and I was able to let the minivan coast and get to a stop. I had a mechanic look at the vehicle and he said it was involved in an accident and there were major suspension issues. He said we were lucky the car didn't fall apart. I don't even want to think about what could've happened. I was well within the 10 day return period so immediately got the vehicle back to the dealer. NO ONE seemed to care or show any empathy. It almost felt as if they are used to mechanical issue returns. I brought up the clean carfax to the sales manager and he didn't really seem to care. He explained it away and said some people go to shops that don't report repairs. So what's the point of a carfax? And does Carmax not inspect the vehicles they are taking in and selling as safe to consumers. A woman with kids at that! Once the return was processed I asked the check in area hostess if there was anyway to assist me in sourcing a vehicle from another Carmax branch. I was met with attitude and the feeling that I was interrupting a gossip circle. She rudely replied I would just have to go to another branch as they would charge to transfer. This type of treatment after a whole van full of people could've lost their lives due to Carmax's lies and negligence. I at least expected some assistance in sourcing a new vehicle or maybe an offer of sharing the cost of transfer since I was basically sold a LEMON. I will definitely be pursuing legal action. Shame on you CarMax read more

Update: Carvana gave me $900. Still not sure why Carmax would quote 1800, then claim the EV battery was in bad shape and lowball us $550 in person. A new 2015 Nissan Leaf had estimated range of 84 miles. Ours had 60-70 on a full charge. Normal for these cars. Surely a dealer would know this. Disappointing, as I drive another car purchased from Carmax, which was a good experience. read more

First time shopping here. We were not in the market for a new car, but our truck developed a terminal mechanical that would have cost the value of the vehicle to repair. I did an online appraisal and got a $5400 as a fair condition with mechanical issues return. At this point we were willing to take anything we could get for it. We figured with the issues, we'd be lucky to get $1500-2000 for it. We looked online at the inventory and my wife found a few models that she was interested in. We made an appointment the next day. We were able to drive the truck to the dealership. They took the keys to process the appraisal. The first of the 2 cars she reserved were there waiting for us in the service bay for us. We drove those and saw online they had a 3rd model she was interested in. By the time we got done with the 2nd test drive the unreserved 3rd model was ready. She really liked this one. When we completed the test drive and returned, we were told the appraisal was completed. Like I said above were expecting to be lowballed, they laid the appraisal infront of us and said the only issue was the high mileage, but the appraisal was $7000. We took it. Paperwork was a breeze. Only took about 1 hour from selling the truck to financing the new car. We did notice a paint defect on the door after they washed the vehicle. I checked the website and it wasn't there when the pics were taken. We pointed it out, the detailer tried to clean it, said it was the paint....they issued a repair order for it. They did repair the paint as well as a couple spots on the hood we discovered after getting it detailed a few days later. Unique process of buying a car. No haggling, no high pressure sales, no scammy hidden price manipulation. We probably paid a little more going this way, but we got way more in trade in than we expected so it evened out. Everyone was friendly. Questions were answered without trouble. Process was smooth and expidited. read more

Antoine and Ibraam were awesome Sales reps. They helped us get the 2024 used EV Tax Credit forms squared away for our brand new Tesla! We love it so much. read more

CarMax - Our Tesla at CarMax. Nicely wrapped and perfectly ready for the road. - Used Car Dealers Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Antoine and Ibraam know how to navigate us through the complex process of buying our Tesla and demystified Tax rebate. Detailed oriented and seamless service with them and colleagues Jesse, Michael, kyle and Linda who all helped us have a seamless transaction. We preordered and for pickup we were in and out within 1.5 hrs. This is my first and only car dealership review. Give them a bonus for excellent and standout customer care and service. read more

This is the 2nd time I sold a car to CarMax. Great experience both times. Agnes in the Business Office is efficient, friendly and is definitely an asset. read more