Anyone have any first hand experience or knowledge about selling a corvette outright with CARMAX? They say that they give a fair offer but do they really if you aren't buying a car from them just selling yours. Is this the typical lowball wholesale appraisal? At this time I am not seriously thinking about it but it has crossed my mind a time or two. Thanks!

 

Carmax - the buying experience is the easiest there is. But for selling, they'll give you a typical lowball, low blue-book offer.

 

I sold a car to them, not a Vette but to them it makes no difference.

They are not going to give you anywhere near what you can get privately. As long as you know that you'll be fine. They have to stand behind what they sell, pay the salesman and overhead so they deserve to give you less.

I got a price for my car then went to make my best deal on a new car. After the deal was made I asked them to give me a price for mine if I want to trade it. They offered $1000 less than CM quoted so on the way home I stopped at CM and sold it to them. I know I could have got more for it had I went through the hassle to do it myself but I chose not to.

 

 

Everything said is pretty much true. I sold cars there for almost 2 years.

 

Got more for trade at dealer for my Dakota....

 

Carmax gave me $9500 for my 05 Ranger.
The Dealer where I bought my new GMC offered me $7000...

They will not give you what you could possibly get from a private sale, but for me it was not worth the hassle to get maybe $1000 more to get phone calls from strangers at 9:00 at night and waiting around on the weekends for people to show up...

 

I would love to post a response as I work for CarMax, but I have to be very careful not to give confidential information. However there are a few things I can tell you with out getting in trouble.

The offer is truly a wholesale market offer, we make no secret of where the value comes from. What does this really mean to you. If you have a Corvette the best time to sell it to CarMax is now. The wholesale market for Corvettes is highest from April to June, it is the same for any sports car. Of course we Corvette owners do not really want to sell our cars right now because the weather is great, so instead we wait until September or October. But who wants to buy a sports car, particularly a convertible or targa top going into winter... No one. So you get a value lower than you'd expect starting in August. The offer is lower because a sports car will sit on the lot longer during the winter months, a dealership would be better served stocking traditonal sedans and coupes, as well as SUVs. Another factor to consider is new model years start to appear in August, yet another deteriment to used cars value. With almost every new model year there is more power, or a new technology that makes the new car more desirable, converesly a used car less desirable. How many people would like to have an 08 with the new interior package, and how many people look for C5s that are 2000+ because of the additional features, Active Handling, HUD display, etc? When you account for all of these factors it is obvious why a Corvette, or any car, depreciates at such a rapid rate. Economics, more importantly, supply and demand are what creates the value for car. And don't forget Corvettes are a mass produced car now, it is not like in the 50s, 60s, and 70s.

To address the people who feel I am one sided, I should also say that TODAY I gradutated with a degree in accounting with an emphasis on economics so I feel I even have a little more insight.

In closing, I wish my Corvette was worth more and held its value a little better, but I also accept the facts mentioned above. I'll leave you with some advice that smart buyers already know, Don't buy new. In fact when buying a Corvette look for one that is three to four years old and you won't experience a lot of depreciation. That is how I bought my first vette at 25. I bought a 98 in 02 by putting about 10k down, paid $300 a month. Two years I sold it and got about 12k back. I don't consider about $220 a month a lot of money to enjoy the ownership of a vette. Now to get one more celebration margarita .

 

And one more piece of advice. Never buy a new car that is used by rental car companies (Ford Tarus, Chrysler Sebring, etc.), you will lose your *** when you want to resell it.

 

In 05 I brought a used 05 dodge ram for 16k. My wife almost kicked my a** because it took up the whole driveway. Someone told me to go to carmax and they will give you a good price for it. I paid 16k and a week later they offered me 10k . The kicker is that there was an 04 with alot more miles on it going for 17k.

 

Thanks to all of you for your thoughtful responses, it is really appreciated.