Is It A Good Deal ?

Tina A. from Texas shared her story with us earlier today:

I just recently had an awful experience at Carmax in Austin, Texas (North location). I first contacted them via the internet and a sales consultant emailed me right away: Kris Santoscoy. I knew the exact car I wanted and there was no other like it in the state. I went to the lot during lunchtime and test drove it. I wanted the car right away - I filled out some paperwork and got approved. I went back to work and started the process of getting my insurance and proof of income. I faxed those to Kris the next morning and arranged to pick up my car that day.

He got all the docs then called me a few hours later with “bad news”. He told me that overnight, their staff was moving cars around me and one of their employees wrecked two of the cars on the lot, one of them being mine. He said that they do not sell wrecked or damaged cars at all and that it would have to be sent to a wholesaler. I was devastated! I arranged to go to dealership that same day and talk with him about my “options”. I was hoping to see the car, get a more thorough explanation and verify that I was not financially responsible for the car (I had not signed the final paperwork yet, so I was pretty sure that was the case).

I get there, and Kris is gone. Another sales guy helps me and glosses over the wreck issue entirely - steering me towards choosing a new car. I smell something fishy so inquire further: “can I see the car?” “does this happen often?” “Can I see the paperwork to make sure I’m not liable?” etc. He finally says “well….maybe the car was not wrecked” - I am shocked and say “MAYBE??” - he says “maybe it was sold instead and he didn’t want to tell you” WHAT?????? I demand to know all the details of what happened to my car either way. He finally confesses “yes, it was sold”. The manager finally comes over and admit that Kris lied to me….the car was never wrecked. Kris failed to do the paperwork/process on his end and that first evening, the manager sold the car without knowing I had a claim on it!!!!!!! I was SHOCKED!

He was very apologetic etc…. He said he could cover the transfer fee for another vehicle outside Austin. I requested they cover the transfer fee for ANY car in the nation and they refused. The most they would over was $200 - basically inside Texas. I said the LEAST they should do is let me find the exact car - no matter where it is - and get it to me. They would not offer me more than the $200 transfer fee. I left and ended up buying a car from another dealer.

BUT, I later found out from the dealership down south - that it is easy to “lose” a car that you are interested in because everyone is looking at that same car online and anyone, anywhere could be staking their claim on it….so it’s first in line so to speak. Apparently, it is often the case that a customer is interested in a car and test drives it, and at the same time elsewhere, someone is starting the paperwork on that same car. They don’t appear to have a great system for “claiming” a car. In my case, my sales guy was incompetent and I was out time and trouble - and betrayed in the process.

Looking for a used car? Get a FREE VIN check at AutoCheck®.

RICHMOND, Va., Jan. 17 /PRNewswire/ — One month after the launch of expanded online vehicle search capabilities, CarMax, Inc. the nation’s largest retailer of used cars, reports the top ten vehicle features searched for on carmax.com in December.

“People told us that generally they know the options that are important to them, but often don’t know which vehicle makes and models offer them,” said Ann Yauger, director of carmax.com. “Now that people are able to search by feature, it’s interesting to see what they are looking for most frequently.” Yauger continued, “People want new technologies and we see that reflected with navigation systems ranking higher than ABS brakes and cruise control.”

Top Ten Vehicle Features Searched
Ranking Feature
1 Leather Seats
2 Navigation System
3 Sunroof
4 3rd Row Seat
5 Seat Heater(s)
6 ABS Brakes
7 Cruise Control
8 Manual Transmission
9 TV/DVD
10 Power Seat(s)

In December 2007, CarMax launched a new, innovative approach to the way consumers conduct vehicle searches on carmax.com based on research and customer feedback. The new vehicle search enables consumers to search based on a wide array of criteria including price, mileage, type, popular features and other options without having to first select a make and model. Another unique benefit allows online car shoppers the opportunity to combine the options they want.

Online shoppers can use the carmax.com website to search the company’s inventory of more than 25,000 new and used cars. The website showcases each vehicle with multiple photos, the no-haggle price, and information on features, options, fuel economy and customer reviews. In fiscal year 2007, carmax.com averaged more than four million visits per month. Additionally, approximately 70 percent of in-store customers visited the website before coming to the store.

Looking for a used car? Get a FREE VIN check at AutoCheck®.

If you think Carfax offers an accurate vehicle history report, think again. The $20 you spend to buy a Carfax vehicle history report, which is supposed to show title problems, flood damage, odometer issues and many other problems, might be a big waste of money. Thousands of people around the country have bought cars with clean Carfax reports and have found out accidents didn’t show up in the carfax report, odometer was rolled back or the car has a previous salvage title in another state. Many, many people find out things that would have steered them away from their purchase, but now that they bought the car it’s too late.

One man went to trade in his 2003 Jeep Cherokee and when the dealer pulled up the Carfax on his car it showed a severe accident with a possible salvage history. Truth of the matter was he was involved in a minor accident, so minor he was able to drive it to the body shop. No major damage or anything… but Carfax reported inaccurate information and the dealer ended up paying him $5000 less because of this Carfax report. He even tried fighting it, he sent a thirty page report from the body shop with pictures, names and numbers of everybody who worked on the car and the insurance adjustor information who all declared the Carfax had reported the accident incorrectly, yet Carfax refused to change the information.

Carfax claims its “the most trusted provider of vehicle history information”. There is one place you’d figure Carfax would get most of its data from, insurance companies. Believe it or not, but Carfax doesn’t receive any records about wrecked vehicles from any insurance companies.

You might say, what about their Buyback Guarantee, which is supposed to protect you in case the Carfax shows inaccurate information. Well truth of the matter is Carfax since starting the program has only bought back roughly 9 cars ! Just two years ago a class action lawsuit was filed claiming the company doesn’t have access to police accident data in 23 states. Remember there are 50 states That means in about half the states in the US, Carfax has no police accident data. Two of the biggest states motor vehicle departments, California and Texas, verified that they do not provide unique VIN number information to vendors.

As a car dealer myself I’ll say this… personally I think both Carfax and Autocheck suck. A good percentage of accidents or major problems don’t even show up on Carfax reports. Nothing beats a good inspection and if you need some help bring a mechanic or knowledgeable friend. If I had to pick between Carfax and Autocheck, I’d say Autocheck for one reason and one reason only, Manheim Auctions, the largest network of automotive auctions in the world, which is where almost every used car passes through at one point in their life only reports more so to Autocheck then Carfax.