Is It A Good Deal ?

The top ten searched vehicles on Carmax for 2008 are:
Honda Accord
Honda Civic
Toyota Camry
Ford Mustang
Nissan Altima
Chevrolet Tahoe
Ford F-150
Toyota Corolla
Toyota Tacoma
Nissan Maxima

I’m not a fan of Carmax, but it definitely shows you what people are looking for when they go to Carmax.

If you’re looking for complaints about Carfax check out: This Site

Based upon Carmax’s first quarter earnings report Carmax makes an average of $2564 per car and they reported an average of $2,801. From my experience in the car industry I can tell you that recently dealers have been making less and less.

Our dealer generally makes anywhere from $1,000 to $2,000 per car so with some research you can most likely get a better deal than you can find at a Carmax dealer.

Financing your next car can really help you to get into the car you want. Not many people these days can afford to purchase a car outright and so they rely upon alternative methods of financing. However with so many different financing options available to you, just how do you know which ones are the best for you? Are there ways in which you can lower your financing costs and if so how?

Lowering Your Car Financing Costs
If you are looking to lower your car financing costs then there are a number of things that you can do. It all depends upon what type of finance you are applying for. If for example you are applying for a hire purchase agreement, you could lower the monthly repayments by paying a larger deposit.

This is also the case for many other types of car financing. The more money that you can pay up front, the lower the loan costs will be. Also by understanding the different options open to you, you can then make a more knowledgeable decision about which method would be the cheapest for you. If you choose a hire purchase agreement it will be secured upon your car. This means that if you fail to meet repayments, your car will be taken away from you. For this reason dealers will often offer you a lower repayment fee than an unsecured loan would for example. So by making the right finance choice, you could save money.

Another factor that will determine which type of finance you choose for your car includes how long you will be keeping the vehicle. If you like to change your car regularly then you would be better off taking advantage of a personal contract purchase agreement. That way you lease the car for up to three years and then you choose another one. If on the other hand you want to keep your car for as long as possible, you should choose one which will last you for years.

You should ideally look around at the different options for car financing. You can get finance from dealers, banks and brokers. Each has their own advantages and disadvantages and it is important to be aware of these before you apply for any type of finance. Shop around for the best deals and that way you will not get ripped off.

Overall you do have a large number of options when it comes to car financing. That is why you really do need to do your research to find out which option would be better suited to you. Once you know what you are looking for, it is then that you can start to look for the best deals to suit your needs.

Are you thinking about selling your car? If so then there are a number of things that you need to consider. How much will you sell the car for? Where will you advertise? What form of payment should you accept? You also have to be aware of the possibility that your car could be stolen by thieves who pose as potential buyers. Selling a car is definitely not always as straight forward as it should be! Here you will find out everything you need to know to make a successful sale.

Things To Consider

The main things that you need to think about when selling your car include how much you will sell for, what documents you need and where abouts you will advertise your car. Generally you have two main options as to where you can place an advertisement.
Firstly you have local newspapers and car trade magazines. These are usually the best option as they are browsed by thousands of local people. Your other option is to sell online. As time has gone on, more and more people have realized the benefits of selling through auctions websites such as EBay. I’d also recommend listing your car on Autotrader.com. As well as these two options, you can also place a “For Sale” sign in your car. You never know who might see your car out on the streets, never hurts to try.
The main problem that you will have when selling your car is who you sell to. What you may not realize is that there are many people out there who want to take advantage of you. Thieves in particular often target used cars. They pose as potential buyers and then they steal your car right from under your nose. To prevent this from occurring you should never leave the keys in the ignition and you should never leave potential buyers unsupervised with the car. Also do not accept checks or cashier’s checks whenever possible as they can bounce. If you do take a check, try to come to an agreement where the buyer does not get the car until the check has cleared.

As well as checking that you are selling to the right person, you yourself have to have certain documents to hand. You should have the title for the car to show the buyer. Without a title you might not even be able to sell the car. Also make sure any liens on your car have been removed before selling.

Overall selling a car can be hard work. However if you are careful and if you do plenty of research to determine how much to sell the car for then you should end up having a smooth transaction. Also if you need to sell really quickly and just want to get it off your hands two great options are a free listing on Craigslist.org or selling to Carmax. Remember selling to Carmax probably won’t give you as much as you’d like to get, but it’s a process that takes about 30-60 minutes to sell your car. If you have trouble selling your car, don’t know how much to sell for or where to list it for sale… always remember you can e-mail us at So@IsItaGoodDeal.com for free advice.

Carmax recently reported a fourth quarter 48% drop in profits. Carmax also estimates an average profit of $2500/car, which means if you do some work you can find a car for cheaper than what Carmax is selling it for. Trust me I’ve been in the car business for many, many years and I know the margins on cars and Carmax is definitely on the top end.

So if you’re looking for your next car and need some help, click on the free advice link above and e-mail me for free car advice.

I just had a few people asking for pricing on cars so I did a quick search on the usual websites like Cars.com, Autotrader.com and Craigslist.org. I compared the prices I found from reputable dealers to those of the same model, year and mileage vehicle that Carmax was selling. Here is what I found:

Carmax: 2002 BMW 325i with 36k miles $18,998

Other Dealers: Not only were other dealers listing 2002 325i’s with 30-39k miles for thousands cheaper, but you could find a 2003 with the same mileage for under $18,998.

Moral of the story: Shop around, because Carmax can be severely overpriced sometimes.

If you’re thinking of selling your car to Carmax and would like a second opinion on the price they quoted you or just a general idea of how much you should be selling your car for… e-mail us at the “Free Advice” link at the top of the page and we’ll e-mail you back with free advice.

Don’t let Carmax rip you off!

Just because Carmax claims they do a 125 point inspection on every car they sell, it doesn’t mean every car they sell will be reliable and without problems.

Read the following story about a guy and his problems with Carmax: Read It Here

I was researching the Carmax website for selling my 2004 truck. They claim to use the Kelly Book in order to get a ballpark figure. I asked the salesman how accurate the Kelly book figures are and he said they aren’t off by much but that they really don’t go by those figures, just the “MARKET VALUE” of the truck. I told him that using the Kelly book sounds like a way to get people into the store if they don’t use those figures. He agreed with me and wondered why himself. When I got the appraisal results after waiting 45 minutes, their figures were $5700.00 less than the book value. Thanks Carmax for making me drive 95 miles one way for nothing!

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