I have never bought from Car Max, but I have "shopped" the website. Seems to me that, in exchange for a less confrontational sales experience, you pay a higher price. Sort of like Saturn's sales approach.

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

Less confrontational and a guaranteed reconditioned vehicle to as new condition as possible.... Less risk.

People who don't want to do their homework with PPIs and vehicle history reports, and haggling, this is the perfect place for them.

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

How so? Either way, you are trusting someone to tell you the truth about the condition of the vehicle you are purchasing. I could sell you a car and tell you that it is reconditioned to as new a condition as feasible. Doesn't make it true.

Either you do your homework or you might as well prepared to get raped. If it doesn't come to pass, you are lucky. If it does, you are mentally prepared.

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Adam Smith's business theory of; "many sellers, many buyers," makes Carmax a welcome seller.

I used their benchmarks of pricing comparative used MBs, when buying my used MB elsewhere recently.

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'06 E320 CDI
'17 Corvette Stingray Vert

You might do a little research on carmax and see how strange their policies are for used cars. Its more like buying a house with the rigorous inspection along with Walmart's anything goes return policy and new car like warranties.

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

anyone here have experience with certified pre-owned from a dealer? The Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna both have programs.

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Steven
1989 260E (276K miles)
1995 E320 (50K miles)

My Odyssey is a CPO (or whatever Honda called it back then), although I've now had my '03 for almost 7 years. Since it was for my wife, I wanted something that had been gone through top to bottom and with a warranty because for me time is a more valuable commodity than money. We've got a couple local Honda dealers with good reputations, that might be a determining factor for you.

I'm going to put some bonus money aside this year and pick up a current generation Odyssey CPO next year. Our experience with our van (which wasn't the heartiest generation but fit our price range and has served us very well) and the dealer has been satisfactory. I wouldn't hesitate to go that route again.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

CPO is a good way to go for a lot of people. Many (most?) are off-lease vehicles that didn't get bought out. If you are financing, there are typically very good interest offers available through dealers. If you have good credit, it may not be worth the CPO deal, the only advantage at that point is the warrantee, which can vary by make.

Some CPO "processes" are pretty lame, while others reach pretty far. I just bought a BMW, had the option to get it CPO'd or just used. It was not worth the difference in cost, and it is still under factory warrantee. YMMV.

Carmax is a business - they need to make money like any other business, Don't expect a screaming deal from it as either a buyer or seller. Someone else mentioned that dealers can make money on both sides of a trade in -- sale price and trade in value, so there is more negotiating room there. Carmax only does one at a time, so if they can't make the margin on the buy process, its unlikely they'll take the car.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

You can buy off lease 1-3 year old 15k-35k mile CPO S550's for 50%-40% off and they will finance them for 1.99% and offer a better warranty than new. 7 years or 125k miles.

Slightly used is a nice way to go.

A MB dealer in MA has a 2012 S550 with 11k on it for $72k, original sticker was probably $105k. Put half down, finance the other half at 1.99% pay it off in three years, and for the price of a lease you own a 4 year old car that will be under warranty until 2019.

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2006 CL500
2009 C300 4matic
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200