Selling my car (not privately) - companies that do this?

April 8, 2021 12:00 PM

I have a 2011 Nissan Versa with 101k miles. It's in good condition, but needs some work on the front suspension. The thought of selling it privately gives me significant anxiety, so I thought about selling through CarMax or a similar place. I'd love to hear experiences from MeFites that have sold in this manner.

I have social anxiety and also get nervous when I have to negotiate anything, so I think selling the car privately is not for me. When I plugged the car info to Edmunds.com, a CarMax offer came up. I hadn't thought about that, so I'm wondering if this might be the appropriate forum for me to sell this car.

Aside from some much-needed cleanout/detailing that I will take care of, I plan to sell as-is. I have the title and the car has been paid off for 3 years now. I'm not looking to buy another car, as I am being given a newer SUV by a family member, and my living situation prohibits me from storing 2 vehicles.

In the past I have driven my cars until they died, then donated them, so I have no experience in getting rid of a functioning vehicle that still has good life in it.

What is the process/experience like with companies like CarMax, Carvana, or other companies that buy used cars? I've read previous AskMes, which were helpful, but most had to do with selling privately or selling-then-buying.

Thanks!

posted by sundrop to Travel & Transportation (20 answers total)

About 9 years ago, I sold a Honda Accord to CarMax. I'd decided it was time to get rid of my car and had no interest in trying to negotiate anything about it. It's no-haggle, so you take their offer or leave it. The time savings and stress-free experience might be worth a lot (it was to me). I think you can schedule a free assessment with them.

From what I recall, I drove to CarMax, they inspected the car, gave me a quote of how much they'd pay, I then thought about it for a few minutes, and decided to go for it and walked away with a check. It felt pretty uncomplicated and I have no regrets about going that route to sell the car.

Hope this is helpful. Good luck!
posted by wicked_sassy at 12:14 PM on April 8, 2021

I've done this. I was honest about the car, they (carmax) made an offer. It was pretty close to KBB for dealer trade in as I recall. It was worth my time and aggravation on a car to sacrifice a few hundred to just have it gone. A+, would do again.
posted by bfranklin at 12:15 PM on April 8, 2021 [2 favorites]

I had a fantastic experience with Carvana a little over a year ago, right when everything was popping off. I got way more than expected for a Fit, but maybe they knew about the discontinuation. With COVID just ramping up in my area I had to drive to them instead of having them pick up the car.
posted by supercres at 12:17 PM on April 8, 2021 [1 favorite]

CarMax, yes. Have sold them three or four.

I was less enthralled with Carvana, because it wasn’t until after I accepted their offer and uploaded all my documents including driver’s license that they said they couldn’t do anything for 3 days. At that point, I took it to CarMax and had my money in a couple of hours. I requested Carvana delete my unneeded docs, never heard from them again, so I still don’t know if they did.
posted by sageleaf at 12:47 PM on April 8, 2021

Do the cleaning before you go in. 6 years ago I got a quote from Carmax, not having cleaned it first (because I figured they would only dock a small amount since cleaning is cheap)-- that was not true. I knew their offer was low, so instead I very easily sold the car privately for maybe 1k more than they offered, to the very first person who answered my craigslist ad; and that was probably less than it was worth, too (I was leaving the country and really had to sell by a certain date). Even for Carmax, they're going to be influenced in what they offer you by surface-level things like "is the car currently clean".
posted by nat at 12:54 PM on April 8, 2021

I've sold a car to carmax and bought a car from carmax. They take a significant cut, but there's no haggling or upselling and the employees have been good at their jobs and able to make decisions on their own, quickly. For me, it's well worth a thousand dollars not to have to put up with bullshit car people. I'll almost certainly return to them next time.
posted by eotvos at 12:57 PM on April 8, 2021

I offered my car to Carmax (a ~10 year old Toyota Yaris with similar mileage to your Versa, ran great but had been badly rear-ended in a crash a few years back), they offered me like $300 for it, I said no thanks and took it home and sold it to the first guy who came to look at it off Craigslist for I think $1200. Basically, yes Carmax is a very easy option but the ease wasn't worth $900 for me. But it was nice to have Carmax in my back pocket as a sort of baseline.
posted by mskyle at 1:03 PM on April 8, 2021

I also have social anxiety, and sold a car to Carmax within the last year. The process was shockingly easy. I made an appointment, brought a book, sat in the corner and read while they inspected my car. They called me up to the counter, gave me my offer. I had three no-pressure options: say no, think about it (they will guarantee the offer for a set number of days), or say yes. I said yes, and sat in a different corner and read while they did some paperwork. I then signed a bunch of stuff with a freshly disinfected pen (they were very observant of COVID protocols), and walked out with a check. I do remember them asking if I was looking to buy a replacement vehicle, but I said no and there was no pressure after that either. I also remember that they told me what was about to happen at every step, with time estimates, which was awesome.

Could I have gotten more in a private sale? Probably. Would I sell through Carmax again? Absolutely. Especially with my particular form of social anxiety.
posted by okayokayigive at 1:04 PM on April 8, 2021 [3 favorites]

I sold my old Honda Civic to Carmax back in 2012. We were moving and could only have one car at our new place. It was a painless process and they offered pretty much exactly what KBB said they should.
posted by shesbookish at 1:05 PM on April 8, 2021

Carmax was super easy. We did it a few weeks ago. And got more than expected for our car that needed some serious repairs. Call them about openings or slow days because their mechanics got busy on weekends here so they couldn’t fit us in a few times for appraisal. But otherwise, they looked it over, we signed some paperwork and signed over the title and got a check.

Everyone was masked. The signing area had plastic shielding. We got a new pen to sign with that we could keep.
posted by Crystalinne at 1:45 PM on April 8, 2021

Last year CarMax had a calculator on their site that would tell you how much they would give you for the car - assuming their assessment of the condition matched yours. I used it to force a dealer to match it when I was trading a Corolla for an SUV.
posted by COD at 2:42 PM on April 8, 2021

I wouldn't do Carvana again. It took weeks to get our tags, so our temporary tags expired, and we had to raise hell to even get them to issue a replacement temporary tag. COVID certainly must have been a factor, but they were very cagey about everything.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 4:59 PM on April 8, 2021

I am introverted and don't love dealing with strangers, nor haggling, but I sold a car last fall and found the process fairly painless. I got quotes from CarMax and two local dealerships. The process was the same with the local dealerships as it was with CarMax: bring the car in, let a mechanic briefly check it out, let them test drive it, and they make a written offer that is good for N days.

In my case, the CarMax offer was by far the lowest, far below KBB. I am glad I didn't just go with it.
posted by Flock of Cynthiabirds at 6:00 PM on April 8, 2021

My CarMax experience was similar to others. It was very simple and easy and I got more money than I think the car deserved in the condition it was in. I'd argue how easy they make it to sell them your car is the reason why these companies have become so dominant in the used car markets.
posted by dis_integration at 6:50 PM on April 8, 2021

I had a distinctive car and live in a tiny town, so I feared selling it locally because I didn’t want to see it at the grocery store or, when it inevitably would need expensive repairs from the distant dealer, to have people muttering about how carmicha sold whoever a lemon. So two years ago I made an appointment at the CarMax 3 hours away near Big Airport, completed the transaction in time to Uber there to catch my flight, and then flew back to Small Airport near home.

All this back story is to let you know how accommodating CarMax was about scheduling the consultation and then completing the transfer paperwork quickly. Did they lowball me because my circumstances indicated I would accept their offer and wouldn’t be buying a car? Doubtful as the offer aligned with what KBB and other tools said to expect. Like others said, I just sat around reading in various waiting areas until it was done. It was more stressful wondering why the hell my Uber driver was circling the lot instead of picking me up.
posted by carmicha at 1:20 AM on April 9, 2021

Count me as another who was satisfied to be slightly lowballed by Carmax in exchange for the convenience. In our case, though, we also knew the car we wanted to buy was on their lot, and we planned for a trade-in. For what that's worth.

We also had one day left before the emissions test was due on our 2010 Sonata, and that check engine light wasn't going anywhere. It was a relief knowing we wouldn't have to deal with that hassle.

If you're at a place in your life where the convenience of not having to deal with strangers is something you're willing to pay for, I'd recommend it.
posted by armeowda at 11:54 AM on April 9, 2021

Response by poster: Hey thanks everyone! Lots of great advice and experience expressed here.
posted by sundrop at 6:26 AM on April 10, 2021

I just sold my car to Carmax yesterday. It could not have been easier. It was a 2015 Sonata turbo. I entered the information on their website. It gave me an estimated offer, which I thought was decent as I had researched estimated trade-in values for some time. Their offer was a good deal higher than the dealer's offer where I bought my new car.
The whole process took a couple of hours. They gave me what their offer was, I signed the title, took a check, and left.
Given how easy the process was for me, I would look at using them again when the time comes to sell the car I just bought. The numbers may not be as good, but I would investigate simply to not have to deal with selling it on my own.
posted by jtexman1 at 7:25 AM on April 10, 2021

Response by poster: Hey! Don't know if anyone is going to see this, but I have an update! Plugged in the info on the car, got an offer from Carmax for $3,100. Made the appointment, went to the nearest Carmax and left about an hour later with a check for the offered amount. My Carmax rep was awesome.

Here is something weird, though. I previously plugged in the car information and got an online offer of $2,800. Since I was not ready to make the appointment, I let the offer expire. When I was ready to sell, I plugged in the same information and the offer was $3,100. This was a little over 3 weeks later. Glad I waited, I guess?

Thanks to everyone who chimed in here! Your experiences and advice were very helpful to me in a stressful situation.
posted by sundrop at 10:02 AM on May 16, 2021

previously plugged in the car information and got an online offer of $2,800. Since I was not ready to make the appointment, I let the offer expire. When I was ready to sell, I plugged in the same information and the offer was $3,100

Used car market is crazy right now. An old mechanic called me asking to buy my Honda out of the blue
posted by dis_integration at 10:49 AM on May 16, 2021