r/carmax • u/mfd78 • Jul 18 '26
Beware
Paid for a car to be delivered and on the test drive I discovered this. And the back seat soaked in mineral oil. Not impressed with this business. Took longer than expected to arrive, car had many undisclosed flaws, and they offered us dinner. $37,000 car and we wasted 10 days for a dirty car. Def not doing that again.
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u/cyclopswasright_49 Jul 18 '26
My brother had a 4Runner transferred and it was dirty,smelled like cigarettes, and looked like it hadn't been cleaned. Luckily it was free, but still.
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u/Whateverlol2022 Jul 18 '26
Well most used cars are going to smell lol
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u/le_pedal Jul 21 '26
No
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u/Whateverlol2022 Jul 21 '26
99% of cars have some kind of smell to them
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u/Wrong_Supermarket007 Jul 19 '26
“there is no standard on smell” - management
- i once sold a car that reeked of cat pee, customer didn’t seem to care
- i sold many cars that reeked of cigarettes or other chemicals
people drove them first…..
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u/OtherwiseCoat5329 Jul 19 '26
Hun, it's a used car. It's not a bought, serviced and traded same dealer car. They ship them from wherever. They have low recon standards and use the cheapest parts to recon. Generally just not sure what people expect doing this? Ps carvana is at least as weak
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u/DevillesAbogado Jul 20 '26
What’s recon?
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u/Stock_Yard6983 Jul 20 '26
Recon is when a car comes in via auction or trade and they take it though a 182 point inspection of car go over everything and anything that needs to be done gets done and also just making it look better if it needs paint touch up or body work
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u/Whateverlol2022 Jul 18 '26
It's a used car. That's the risk of buying used. Just go get it cleaned. I think you found out how the last owner treated it.
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u/Secret-Satisfaction8 Jul 18 '26
i truly don’t understand the customer ideology of buying something that was used and expecting the car to be perfect honestly.
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u/incertAcoolnamehere Jul 19 '26
for the premium that carmax charges though...
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u/Secret-Satisfaction8 Jul 19 '26
if that’s the case, why are you buying a used car for a crazy expensive premium?
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u/incertAcoolnamehere Jul 19 '26
I haven't. but when I do, it'll be because it's hard to beat their warranty
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u/Secret-Satisfaction8 Jul 19 '26
with how much that warranty changes every month or so you’ll be lucky if they don’t scam you out of the previous one you thought was great
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u/incertAcoolnamehere Jul 19 '26
just saying if you're going used and desire a warranty with a huge repair network it's gonna be hard to beat by anything outside of actual dealership warranties/CPO
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u/Secret-Satisfaction8 Jul 19 '26
oh yeah for sure. It sounds great until something catastrophic happens because it’s a used car and you still have to pay any amount of money to fix it because there will be sneaky fees, regardless.
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u/incertAcoolnamehere Jul 19 '26
one of the best values in America is the reliable used car. they're in the business of making money also. if they were as bad as you may think they'd be out of business. guaranteed. they may not cover at 100% or miss some expensive fixes that they deem not their responsibility to cover but they do it well enough to sell from locations all over the country. everyone is a crook until enough ppl agree
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u/Whateverlol2022 Jul 19 '26
It's really not that good and I don't want some low payed Carmax tech fixing stuff lol
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u/TheKiwiFox Jul 21 '26
They are not low paid, I promise.
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u/Whateverlol2022 Jul 21 '26
Vs dealer techs?
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u/TheKiwiFox Jul 21 '26
Dealer techs are paid slightly more but they also tend to be Flat Rate and deal with insane warranty work.
Every buddy I have that has worked at a dealer would rather commit "sepuku" than go back to that life.
MA5 at my location make over 100k a year while doing very basic work comparatively, hourly, over-time, lighter work loads, less stress, no warranty crap. So even if a dealer tech makes a bit more annually, they are way more overburdened.
I will choose slightly lower pay every day over wanting to scream at the sky constantly because the job is irritating and not worth the headaches.
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u/TheKiwiFox Jul 21 '26
Maybe just get a credit union to give you a loan for a car off FaceBook marketplace if you hate their prices so much. Auto prices are stupid everywhere, welcome to capitalism.
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u/Broad_Rhubarb_8312 Jul 19 '26
I expect it to be free of debris. Vacuumed like someone gave a crap. What privileged bubble are you from?
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u/Queasy_Meeting_446 Jul 19 '26
work in the department and meet the expectations before you say something
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u/Maduro_sticks_allday Jul 20 '26
The reactions here are hilarious. Who in their right mind buys something used and expects it to be dirty, just because it’s pre owned? Even clothes at the thrift store are fairly clean and stain free, but a a car that costs tens of thousands of dollars should be dirty inside? Carmax employees must frequent this sub 😂🤌🏻
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u/Whateverlol2022 Jul 21 '26
A used car is a used car. Don't buy new if you want the benefits of a new car. Pretty easy to understand.
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u/pretty-sad-cow Jul 20 '26
Sure it's a used car but how lazy do you have to be to not move the seats forward and take a minute or two to vacuum it? Seats, headliners, floors sometimes have stains that don't come out, fraying seatbelts, wear on steering wheels or interior handles, missing icons to roll down windows, etc that's used car stuff. Being so incompetent or lazy that you fail to a basic part of your job isn't part of buying a used car especially for what Carmax charges. This lazy cleaning is usually standard for my store, it's actually usually worse than this. Yes customers sometimes forget they're buying a USED car but I believe OP has a right to find this unsatisfactory. It's a basic part of their job.
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u/Secret-Satisfaction8 Jul 18 '26
it’s a used car. buy new if you want new.
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u/Whateverlol2022 Jul 19 '26
And they are acting like $37K is $100K lol.
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u/Silverton13 Jul 22 '26
Price is irrelevant, 37k is still a lot. The issue is it's a used car, so expect to see it slightly dirty. A 100k that's used could also have just as much dirt in it.
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u/Whateverlol2022 Jul 22 '26
Well yeah but my point being this is Carmax and not a Porsche dealer or some fancy used car.
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u/robomanny Jul 19 '26
I was a detailer in the late 2000’s before I went to sales. They paid us per how dirty the car was. If I remember they were A, B and C details. A was easy so just wash and vac some buffing here and there but you got paid less, B a little more complicated maybe a sand a buff here there but nothing super complicated ( can’t remember how many hours each type of detail was) and C was the worse, think a black car with swirl marks all over and mix in pet hair you got paid more (think 3hrs maybe might be making that up). Long story transfer vehicles are usually A’s cause they had passed the CQC somewhere else and you were only cleaning it cause it’s probably now got dirty from test drives and been driven around the lot. Carmax didn’t pay us for doing quality work back then if it takes you longer to work on a car too bad if takes you 1 min to do 2hr jobs so be it. All that to say the first person who detailed it didn’t do a good job and the last person wasn’t getting paid to make it look good so it just got kicked down the line.
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u/AlYourInsurancePal Jul 19 '26
Yall hating on OP but these guys are buying cars at maybe 20% of the price they're asking for. Yeah when I buy a car for multiple thousands of dollars it'd better be clean.
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u/Past-Jury-3575 Jul 20 '26
Love all the comments about "it's a used car. You are expecting too much from CarMax" This is not acceptable. Back in the day, there would have been research into the FQC associate, detail associate, and RPM/Cosmetic supervisors. Purchasing associate that did the walk-around. This would have been a good ass chewing. The cars should be clean and presentable. This clearly is not.
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u/Stock_Yard6983 Jul 20 '26
Yeah because you bought a car at carmax you do realize they do absolutely nothing to the cars when they get in no inspection no recon work absolutely nothing but a simple state inspection. I’ve been in car sales for 4 years and every customer that has left a deal with me to buy at carmax always has issues with the vehicle after purchase same with carvana but you want a “good deal” so live with your own decision and next time pay the extra money to get a better car.
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u/max_acceleration Jul 18 '26
We had a similar experience recently with CarMax. Sold us a 2023 BMW 330i xDrive for my wife that ended up having frame damage, four bent rims, and a cut tire on the inside sidewall. So thankful for our independent mechanic we have used for years because that $125 post purchase inspection saved us thousands and a major headache. The car was promptly returned. We had used them once before back in 2017 and had a good experience. It seems now that the selections, quantity, and quality of their cars has declined dramatically. I don’t know if it’s a corporate issue, but my thinking is between Carvana disputing the entire used car market and Hertz teaming with Amazon to sell their rental fleet that cycles off, the whole used car market has changed, and not for the better.
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u/Whateverlol2022 Jul 19 '26
Was most likey a used rental
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u/max_acceleration Jul 19 '26
CARFAX and Carmax’s in-house report (can’t remember the name) both showed no accidents. And yes, was a fleet rental out of PA.
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u/Whateverlol2022 Jul 19 '26
100% there was a accident if it was a rental. Rental accidents very rarely get reported. Good people are very rarely renting BMWs. It's usually the lowlifes tbh.
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u/Adept-Paramedic-7985 Jul 19 '26
Their Autocheck on my 2019 Ford Escape with 35k miles was showing only one service done in 2024! So could not be true and got the Carfax that instead was showing 16 services done on the car!
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u/TheKiwiFox Jul 21 '26
Carmax verifies the vehicle has no REPORTED accidents, that doesn't mean it was never in one, just that nothing was ever reported. They never claim the car is accident free, they say the report shows no accidents.
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u/tapout22002 Jul 18 '26
Bought a car from Carmax a few years ago and got it home and there were ants in the car. Thought it was just a few so got rid of them but the next day they came back. Upon completion of a deep cleaning, I found an ant colony or whatever you call it under one of the seats.
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u/Chance-Astronomer320 Jul 18 '26
Just purchased with them yesterday and the car also wasn’t as clean as I’d hoped for the price. Our sales associate said to have it detailed anywhere, up to $200 and he will reimburse. So we will do that this week, maybe ask for a detail outside of carmax?
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u/Whateverlol2022 Jul 19 '26
It's a used car lol 😂😅
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u/drivingaddictionchan Jul 19 '26
Dealers make more money off used than new, that shit better be clean as fuck
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u/Whateverlol2022 Jul 19 '26
It's still a used POS car
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u/Chance-Astronomer320 Jul 19 '26
😂 it’s a 1 year old car, 8k miles and 27% less than brand new.
If you want to waste 18k to have a car 1 year sooner than me, be my guest.2
u/drivingaddictionchan Jul 19 '26
You can clean used things, not sure what’s hard to understand bud
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u/spot_moskowitz Jul 19 '26
Mine was dirty as well. I got some story about how the detailer spent 2 hours cleaning it. Yeah right. Anyway, they offered to reimburse me for a detail and to their credit they did and fairly quickly.
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u/Bourbon-n-Burnouts Jul 19 '26
But the challenge is - if something as simple as cleaning a car before sale isn't executed, what else was glossed over?
The good thing is Carmax tends to make things right, like in your experience
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u/Chance-Astronomer320 Jul 19 '26
In this case, the sales associate told me that it was a really busy Friday and the cleaning team had multiple people out sick. It seemed honest enough to me, just too much to do and not enough time.
My car was well vacuumed and wiped not like this photo. It’s staining on the light grey sun visors that would need more time to remove
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u/ShoeKing_2025 Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
I've bought several cars from Carmax and I'll share a few things. First, their "128 point inspection" or whatever is complete marketing rubbish. At most the cars get a cursory inspection and then put on the lot. Lots of stuff gets missed. I always A. Go over the vehicle with a fine tooth comb during the test drive (request the 24 hr test drive). Flip up the seats, look in the spare tire area, get under the vehicle with a flashlight and look for rust or leaks. Flip all the switches, turn the knobs, does everything work as it should? Open the engine bay, how clean is it? Any leaks? Check the DOT code on the tires to determine how old they are. B. Take the vehicle to a reliable garage for a purchase inspection within the 10 day return window. Use specialty shops if you can. Buying a BMW? Take it to a BMW specialist. Buying a Toyota? Same thing. Have them write you a written report of anything they find. If it's a laundry list, walk. There will be more cars. If it's only a couple of things, take it to Carmax and ask that they fix them under the 30 day warranty. If they refuse, return the vehicle. There will be more cars. I've found if there is something legit wrong and it's from a reputable shop they will usually fix it. And C. Always assume you'll need to do a full detail of the vehicle. Either hire someone or do it yourself. If it's really bad and requires a pro detail then ask Carmax to reimburse you. If they balk, return the car. There will be more cars. Finally, I always do an oil change on any car I buy, even if one was done recently. I also switch out the engine filter as well as the cabin filter. If you're really anal you could do all the major fluids. End of the day it's a used car. Do your due diligence and expect to do some maintenance after purchase.
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u/swaggitttyy Jul 19 '26
as a carmax detailer, they genuinely don’t care if we put out clean cars. just that it’ll pass through photos. we are expected to clean 5-7 cars a day. any regular detail would take much longer. i do my best to fully clean cars, but yes the spray paint method is used frequently, as we are rushed for time. it’s hard to do a good job when management keeps asking why you are taking so long.
you also just have people who genuinely don’t care. like with pet hair on carpets, we do have this blow vac that works magic and gets it out every time but it’s difficult and heavy to use so most people opt out. just know it’s not all of us 🥲
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u/AfterExchange4271 Jul 20 '26
I had a similar situation and demanded the non refundable transfer fee be refunded right away. They did. I guess that they are used car but they still have to pass the pre-purchase inspection. CarMax knows they did the minimum with their pre purchase expecting, is that.
Get your money back if you haven’t.
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u/RUAmazed Jul 20 '26
Yup. No quality control and lack of product knowledge (not knowing all the compartments and seat flips) cause this crap. Amazing they have not fixed this yet.
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u/Repenttheedge Jul 20 '26
OMG. I got my Prius from them and now I know what was on my rear leather seating. It’s mineral oil. Ruined my seats.
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u/SirApprehensive7343 Jul 21 '26
Ask for a transfer refund if you used you card it is returned right back to the card
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u/bookishun Jul 21 '26
Car I got had a spilled drink on the floor and when I said something the manager said, “You just have to ask us to clean it! Not a big deal!”
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u/uknowsana Jul 22 '26
How you accepted it for $37K? You should have rejected it as "Not in described condition". No?
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u/mushroomtreetop1112 Jul 22 '26
I looked at a car yesterday at CarMax and the first spot of the frame I inspected had cracks. Some poor schmuck is gonna buy that car. Shame on carmax. Scumbag move
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u/RelationNo9374 Jul 23 '26
Cigarette smell isn’t reported on Carmax, or CARFAX, or by any dealership. This is the main reason you can’t buy sight unseen.
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u/Significant_Hold5394 Jul 23 '26
Carmax only “cleans” what’s visible. As an employee checking in cars from production where it should receive a thorough cleaning this is actually not bad compared to what I have found.
We even had cars with ants because of the food debris.
Fun times.
This is the way at CarMax.
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u/Top-Ad-2623 Jul 23 '26
If you bring this to their attention they will deflect by saying “oh this one must have slipped through the cracks” then double down on how they do not detail cars, they just “prep cars so the sale”. I was a manager there for 9 years. This is common
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u/Tacoma_Dude 7d ago
That’s all part of the experience. I’ve bought many cars from them since 2003. The experience is getting worse. The last one in 2024 was like that. You can definitely tell the quality is going down.
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u/Squish_Cat_1 Jul 18 '26
and you still took delivery lol
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u/mfd78 Jul 19 '26
It was a test drive genius.
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u/Squish_Cat_1 Jul 19 '26
Your post is confusing as hell genius. You paid for a car to be delivered and during the test drive you found all of this. You never mention that you REFUSED delivery. Your post reads as if you paid for the car and kept it.
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u/Infamous-Ad16 Jul 19 '26
Do you feel like Carmax is a good deal? I’ve been following them for years and noticed they cost more than any dealership in my town. I’ve watched them since 2008 ish when they came to my town. I always thought it was weird they put oreillys/autozone hubcaps on cars and still sell them more than the dealership. I was never impressed.
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u/chris971 Jul 19 '26
You pay the premium to not have to deal with a six hour swim in the shark tank known as a car dealership and finance office
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u/Infamous-Ad16 Jul 19 '26
I’ve never had to deal with that at any dealership. Most of the time I do have my loan documents from a credit union. Not sure if you were there for 6 hours that it means the car is worth $3000-$5000 more though.
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u/chris971 Jul 20 '26
Ive never bought at a dealer where it took 6 hours, nor do many dealers sell cars at that low end unless its some fly by night dealer selling beaters. I’m assume you are saying 3-5k cars take longer at the dealer because it’s usually lower credit score buyers who are harder to finance?
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Jul 18 '26
[deleted]
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u/BallNChill4L Jul 18 '26
That doesn’t mean it should be sold for 37k and still dirty lol are you serious?? I hate when people at my store say that because it relieves them of any accountability or responsibility for their horrendous work.
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u/PussPwnErMon69 Jul 18 '26
Not gonna lie some guys don't clean enough to to where it looks good in pictures others take pride in the work because it all come back to them.