Carmax Sells a Total Loss Z06!
 

My father purchased an 08 z06, 3 LZ from Carmax a few weeks back. They provided him with a carfax (high-level, and missing the detailed history page) confirmed the manufactures warranty still applied and said it passed their "rigorous" inspection.

They sold it to him for around 52K. Black on Black with < 4k miles.

Okay, so this is where it gets a bit crazy. A few days after the purchase, he had problems with the TPS and the right side mirror. Since it was still under warranty, he took it into Chevy. The dealer realized the side mirror was an aftermarket part, not OEM and that there was overspray on the rear bumper (indicating a paint job was recently done).

When Carmax was called, they swore the vehichle was in "mint" condition and that if the car was in an accident, they would have known it.

Not buying it, the following day he went to get a second opinion the at a different Chevy dealership and paid for an full inspection (from frame to electrical). When he walked in, the dealer ran the VIN and discovered the vehichles warranty was "blocked" by GM. After further research, the vehicle was traced back to a Chevy dealer in Florida. That dealer was then contacted and they confirmed that the vehicle was a total loss due to a storm a few months prior.

Somehow, it was repaired and auctioned off where Carmax then purchased it and tried to resell the car at over 52K.

Although they admitted fault, the best they could do was try to offer to get him into a more expensive z06.

When he refused, and asked for the BMW he traded in, they returned it with a missing key.

Never did they offer to reimburse him for his expenses (400.00 inspection fee at chevy). Nor the missing key.

Today, he traded in the BMW for a new vette, but I thought I'd share this horror story with the folks on the forum so that that z06 doesn't get resold to someone else.


Here is the Carmax dealer he purchased from:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...x%2C+ir&aqi=g3

This is the dealer in Florida:
Suburban Chevrolet
2650 S Federal Hwy
Stuart FL 34994
772-287-3232

VIN:1G1YY26E885118640
08, CORVETTE Z06


Can you guys believe this!!??
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070709 - Update--email sent to corporate


071309 - Update--2nd email sent to corporate as I have yet to hear back from the original one I sent a week ago. Their website states they will contact you within 2 business days...looks like business as usual for CARMAX!
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Caveat Emptor! In spades, baby!

What ?? Carmax ripping off someone? Unpossible!!!

I'm surprised.....but I'm not surprised. It's amazing what goes on these days. Glad he got into a new one and hope he's happy with it. :cheers:

As long as CarMax has been around I have never heard of one good car they sold. There must be one car out there...:lurk:

carmax is horrible. Why would anyone buy a vette there?

Carmax or carwax ?:rofl:

Instead of listing the Chev dlr (Suburban Chev in FL), why not list the address of the Carmax dlr. The Chev dlr sold it at auction. I see no fault there. That's where lot rot usually ends up.

On the $400 loss + key: Check with the Clerk of Court in your county to see if you can file a small claims. If so, add total expenses such as your time by the hour (time off from work etc) on top of 400 plus the value of not having that key. Carmax will settle out of court or they will lose this one. Don't forget to call the newspaper advising all the dirty little details. You won't need a lawyer. It's clear cut to me just reading your OP. You did well on recovery so far. :thumbs:

Salient collusion that Carmax left out the DETAILS page.

The last Carfax I reviewed had ea page referenced to the others - page 1 of 4, 2 of 4, 3 of 4, 4 of 4.
There are details to the details. Buyers watch for this.

The VIN does not show a branded title, just a warranty block. Usually a total loss results in a branded title through DMV.

BTW, I bought our car from CM and it was a great transaction. :thumbs:

I am surprised that Car-Max behaved as described. I have sold two cars to them that they noted the vehicles had body panels replaced and they advised that they would be sending the cars to auction.

I have also had friends and relatives purchase vehicles from them with no problems.

I would call their corporate office and advise of the bad experience and provide them with your expenses, if they don't reimburse you then I would follow through in the small claims court as previously described.

I understand the bad taste in your mouth - - but why not hold their feet to the fire for a newer, better Z and run your own Car Fax before the deals done ?

Everybody loves to bash Carmax!...Are they perfect?NO...sometimes mistakes are made.But they did try to make things right...try that at your local stealership!

Here's one -- My 2006 coupe is from CarMax. Over two years ago, and its 100% good and exactly as they represented it to be.

I also know quite a few very satisfied CarMax customers, both Vettes and non-Vettes. I was very very happy with the service and the deal I received, and they will be my 1st stop next time I shop for a used car. Sorry you had such a bad experience.

Cheers,
Kent

come on, you could of bought it at Bill Heard

I have had some good luck with CarMax but it certainly varies from location to location

The title should have been branded rebuilt.

I always do an inspection for paint issues, panel alignment, etc. when I'm looking to buy a used vehicle.

Anything fishy like overspray, components that don't work, odors, irregular tire wear, etc. and I'm out of there.

I just don't think I could buy a used Z06 from CarMax.

I think this would be more accurate: 'Although they admitted fraud.'
:D

That's sad & shady!!!!

1) There was a missing page, and the buyer didn't ask the question "Where is the missing page?" before spending $52,000? I guess if you have never seen a CarFax, you might not know it is missing?

2) To the best of my memory, every CarFax I've seen has the VIN status on the very first page - the high-level overview page that was provided. If he saw page 1, he should have seen the VIN status. What happened? CarFax guarantees their results, so there might be some recourse if you can produce a "clean" CarFax on what is a branded title car.

I think the Florida AG would be VERY interested in that Florida dealership that sold the car and did NOT disclose the 'total loss', thus leaving the title unbranded. A simple phone call might prove interesting, as the State takes a fairly dim view of Title Fraud, especially at the Dealership level.

At any rate, its too bad your Dad had such a bad experience buying his Vette. Hope his next experience is better!

Cheers,
Kent

Interesting stuff above, and if the OP or his father were interested in pursuing the matter further, this might be the route to go. I've been dealing with CarMax off and on for over 10 years and never had a bad experience.

I see one of the posts above that states buyer wasn't exercising dlilgent caution, always a necessity. If Richie is right by the vin he checked (and I have no cause to doubt him), that car didn't leave the dealer in Florida as a total loss. Therefore, it didn't become a total loss until later by someone else's definition. How and why I don't know.

Maybe that tv ad about "CARFAX" where the salesperson tries to substitute car fox wasn't seen.....:thumbs:

Carmax professes "quality second to none" but the truth is that they regularly sell cars with poorly repaired previous damage. I wont go into detail about how i KNOW this, but trust me, carmax is no better than your average car lot. Theyre just much bigger.


Its all lies lies lies.

Carfax is a Joke.... Just another product being sold... Just something to give people a false sense of security... Many people think a cars entire history is on carfax, dont trust that... Get a qualified inspection done before you buy the car.

Suburban is the dealership I use and TOP NOTCH. They would not contribute to something unscrupulous although I would would bet CARMAX would. Suburban is a network of dealerships owned by one gentlemen. I understand he, himself, is a great guy. They are also very fair when it comes to warranty issues related to my modified car.

Thanks for sharing that horror story it is just plain disgusting how dishonest some people/businesses are.

Further proof that you get what you pay for. All these people on here saying used C6Zs can be gotten for cheap - here's one reason. :yesnod:

Good lesson to be learned.
No matter who you buy a car from always inspect before you buy.
Do the homework and take nothing said as gospel.
:flag:

:iagree:

I am not aware on many 08 Z's selling for 52K. He should have suspected something :willy:

Great due diligence!

Red Cell.:cool:

As someone else said, it seems that carfax is liable if they were listing it as a clean titled car. That is one of the few things you can actually use their worthless service for and supposedly be reimbursed. I must say I have actually never heard of a story where carfax made things right though.

Just an FYI...

Ohio's BMV has their own free version of CarFax. It only shows Ohio title history records. It can be useful to verify info you see (or don't see) in CarFax. I owned a car with an Ohio salvage title. It showed up as salvage using Ohio's search...but was clean according to CarFax! :eek:

Check out your own state as they may have something similar. Here's a link to Ohio's vehicle title search...

https://www.dps.state.oh.us/atps/titleinq.asp?mode=i

The Carfax page(s) missing should have been a warning sign, but just know that Carfax doesn't catch everything.
Even so, I would have run my own - they aren't that expensive, and then gone down to a local Chevy dealer with the VIN for further info. And there is no way I would buy a used Corvette w/o a pre-purchase inspection.

WOW.I stopped and looked at a 2008 vette @ Carmax in San Antonio out by UTSA...Ill keep driving by !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

car max Is poison.Thank god for there 5 day refund,they did give me $300 for my trouble.tommy

as much as it was a screw up on their part, the auction and the shady dealer that sold it at the auction are responsible also (for not disclosing prior damage, within a certain time they can still arbitrate it)
this is why at the auction you pay wholesale cause you really don't know what you get
if i was you i would complain, and write to one of the regions managers, and i can bet they will do the best they can to reimburse you
remember stay professional and complain, they will work with you

also remember at any other dealer, you would still be stuck with that car, they actually took it back and you got your trade back, so they are not 100% dishonest like you are making them out to be

I would never buy a car from Carmaxhttp://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...emotions/3.jpg

jmho...I would never buy a used sports car

We do alot of work for Suburban Chevrolet as they are right down the street in Stuart. One of our customers just bought a Camaro SS from them and it is FLAWLESS!! Even though the experience started off bad, glad to see there was a happy ending :thumbs:

Ain't that the truth... I would elaborate also that I would not buy a used Corvette expecting it to be perfect and easy driven regardless of what the owner says, just take a look in the tech/performance section. These cars are not Sunday drivers, well most of them aren't.

I would like to know the rest of the story on this. 08 Z for 52K??? First dealer didn't catch the warranty block??? Come on. :willy:

when small isn't
 

I agree with the Small Claims Court approach. I doubt you will get your time reimbursed, but any actual out of pocket for inspections that discovered the problem, a new BMW key, etc. should be a snap. One, they won't want to send someone to spend a good part of the day in court. Two, they would lose if they did. Be fair and you will get your out of pocket back.

The good news is the BMW was still there. Neighbor traded a car to a Ford dealer on a new car that had undisclosed paint work. They made no attempt to give him any grief on the new car that wasn't. Caught is caught and they weren't about to make it worse. But his trade was already gone.

I am simply stating the facts. Really, it all comes down to Carmax screw-up and them not doing their homework. How hard is it to run a freaking vehicle history before you sell a car. I mean, this isn't the 1st car they (Carmax) have sold.

It took me all of 5 seconds to call Freedom Chev in SATX to confirm what the dealer in CA told my father. And another 2 seconds to look at the bottom of the print out for the Florida dealerships contact info to give to my dad.

Not sure what happened to the car when it left the dealer (in Florida), but, they DID know of the total loss.

This is exactly why you should "Trust but Verify" when buying any car. I would have contacted a 'shark" lawyer and sued the wheels off of them. If they were not open to making it right with you they deserve exactly what the court would dish out! :ack:

One point here that many missed:

Upon any purchase of any vehicle that is supposed to have a factory warranty,

RUN THE VIN thru the dealership.

There are crooks everywhere. My friend took his Pontiac Grand AM (this was 15 years ago) to a Pontiac dealer with a good rep for their body shop. His wife had tried to drive through a dump truck. Among other issues, the hood was buckled. He told the body shop he wanted a new hood. When he came back to pick up the car, it looked good, but he lifted the hood and then called for the owner of the dealership. He showed the owner that the shop had billed insurance for a new hood, which is what he wanted. However, he had scratched his initials at an undamaged part of the old hood, and lo and behold, his initials were also scratched in the new hood at the same place!
He asked the dealer if this wasn't a miracle worthy of Ripleys, and the dealer asked him what he wanted. My friend said he would settle for a new car and $5,000 cash. The dealer said "what color?"
While my friend could probably have extracted more from the dealer (since the dealer had committed fraud), 18 months later all the dealers outlets were out of business.

I spoke with the Fla dealer yesterday (whom is STILL excellent) and the damage occured in their parking lot following a tornado (they think) that hit their property. A few of the cars were purchased and used in one of the Terminator movies/shows. How one of them ended up in the hands of CARMAX is beyond their knowledge. They are the best service dept I have ever dealt with:thumbs:

I have been looking for used Z06s. CarMax is now OFF my list:cheers:

a lot of their vettes come in from private owners and one can get a good deal
that is why they give you a 5 day money back guarantee, but it, have it checked out, if something is not peachy return it
simple as that
also you have to look at the amount of cars they sell nation wide, compared to what one dealer does, there will be some missed cars or errors

Remember, CarFax only reports what is reported to them! If a damage claim is handled without the insurance company getting involved, OR a police report was not filed, it WILL NOT show up on CarFax. It is NO substitution for a careful, qualified inspection of the vehicle before you buy! Also, if the reportable CarFax incident was recent, it might not yet have made it to CarFax!

I looked at a Corvette at Carmax (stands for max price) years ago and a two year old, used Corvette was priced the same as a new, discounted Corvette. Don't know why anyone would buy a car from them.

:eek::eek::eek::rofl::rofl::rofl:

perfect reason why I buy only new high end performance cars.

Not true. In most states, there is a Damage Disclosure section in which the seller of a vehicle *must* by law reveal if there has been single-incident damage to the car over a certain amount ($3000 - $5000, in most states) or if they know that the car was ever titled as rebuilt, salvage, etc in this or any other state. This is where CarFax gathers much of its "clean title' report info... the info doesn't depend on people sending the info to CarFax (who would ever take the time to do that!), CarFax gathers the info from the State DMV, as well as insurance companies, etc.

So, if the seller wishes to commit a crime, then in that case, it might not be on the State-issued title that the car has been in a serious accident. But if the State has the title as 'dirty', so will CarFax.

However, we all agree that CarFax is no substitute for your own due diligence. But, its a good START to your research, and I still wouldn't buy a car without getting a CarFax report first.

Cheers,
Kent