I am looking to get a new car but before i trade it in i want to know if i can get a better deal selling at Carmax. Has anyone sold a car to Carmax before?

 

Generally no but it never hurts to ask. In general you will get more money if you go private party.

 

It also depends on if your state gives tax credit for trading it in at the dealer where you're buying a car vs. selling it to carmax. Carmax's offer would have to match your tax break at the dealer you're potentially trading it to if you want it to net out.

If that's complicated in words... I'll use the following example.

Dealer Offers $25000 trade in allowance (if your state has 10% tax and allows for a tax break with trades) then Carmax would have to give you at least $27,500 to make it an even value of trading it at the dealer for $25,000.

Again, that's only if your state allows for tax only on the difference between a trade and the new car.

 

The only time that a trade in is a good idea is if you are really lazy, or the tax break mention above works out in your favor.

If you are selling a TSX I would post it up in the FS section of these boards. Honestly TSX's are like gold, they hold their value amazingly well and you should be able to move it without a second thought.

 

Good info I am going to try to list as private sale but i know is going to take longer to sell it. Thanks!

 

i have sold 2 cars through CarMax... i wasnt buying another car at the times, so dealer trade was not an option... i think CarMax is a more straight forward deal than dealer trade though... cause usually a dealer will seem like he's giving you a good trade-in value, but he wont give you the best price on the new car your buying from them... so it can get complex... CarMax offer's are valid for 15 or 30 days... so get a CarMax offer, then go to the dealer and see what they offer, but make sure you get a good deal on the car your buying...

you will get more money by selling it as a private party sale... but the benefit of CarMax is that you can have the entire sale transaction done within 30 minutes of walking into the place... and you get paid right away... you dont have to deal with with advertising, or being available for test drives, etc...and if your car isnt in good shape, you wont have to deal with the buyer calling you and hassling you about things he finds wrong with the car... basically you give up some money for convenience...

 

tried to help relative sell a 04 g35c last summer/fall
carmax best offer was 25k, but they didnt want to sell
so i went the private party route, did the ads, autotrader, everything
but the best price offered was 23-24k thru private party. car was superclean, low miles - but the color was a blue that is not that popular. another possible reason was that there were great dealer incentives for a new coupe last summer... so in the end, carmax's offer was the best for the used car. but they ended up not selling.