Dirty cars at my local Carmax

[Finklejag]

I stopped at my one of my local Carmax dealers yesterday because I feel it’s the best place to check out multiple makes and models in one place. I wasn’t planning to test drive anything but wanted to sit inside the cars and see about hip and shoulder room, etc. There is three Carmax dealers in my metro dealer and I stopped at the biggest one. I would never buy a car from them because of their inflated prices. The one thing that stood out was the shape of the interiors of the cars I sat in. They were all dirty, with dirt marks on all the plastics, stains on the pillars and headliners. Most had greasy marks on the switch gears, just gross! All the cars had a funky smell also. These cars were all three years or newer also and they look like they were worked hard and put away wet.

When I sold my 2019 VW Alltrak to Carmax in 2021 it was in pristine condition because that’s the way I take care of my cars. I guess Carmax just puts the cars on their lots as is these days? They have time to place their decal on the rear and print up a window sticker, but that’s it I guess.

 

[I<3oil]

It ain't just Carmax. I saw some vehicles on Cargurus a few weeks back with dirty floor mats, food, etc. People be gettin lazy yo.

 

[WylieCoyote]

The closeup pictures that Carvans takes . Crumbs around the shifters... Lazy lazy lazy.

 

[mrsilv04]

They feel that they don't have to do a full detail anymore. It'll eventually sell without it, in whatever condition that it happens to be in.

I always tell the salesman to make sure to have the vehicle fully detailed before I take delivery of it. I've yet to be disappointed.

Honestly, I'd rather see it undetailed, as it shows pride of ownership (or a total lack of it) by the previous owner.

 

[Ausfahrt]

I stopped at my one of my local Carmax dealers yesterday because I feel it’s the best place to check out multiple makes and models in one place. I wasn’t planning to test drive anything but wanted to sit inside the cars and see about hip and shoulder room, etc. There is three Carmax dealers in my metro dealer and I stopped at the biggest one. I would never buy a car from them because of their inflated prices. The one thing that stood out was the shape of the interiors of the cars I sat in. They were all dirty, with dirt marks on all the plastics, stains on the pillars and headliners. Most had greasy marks on the switch gears, just gross! All the cars had a funky smell also. These cars were all three years or newer also and they look like they were worked hard and put away wet.

When I sold my 2019 VW Alltrak to Carmax in 2021 it was in pristine condition because that’s the way I take care of my cars. I guess Carmax just puts the cars on their lots as is these days? They have time to place their decal on the rear and print up a window sticker, but that’s it I guess.

 

[Nick1994]

I had the same experience. I was selling a car to CarMax a couple months ago and while waiting I went to go sit in some other cars to check them out. Dirty and every one of them smelled disgusting. I’m thinking that they must shampoo them, not very well, but then roll the windows up and let them sit on the lot.

Awful smelling cars every one of them.

 

[redhat]

One thing that comes to mind is maybe they don't want to carry the detail staff over head and only prep a vehicle when sold.

Which still stinks. It'd turn me off to want to buy a used car that is dirty.

 

[Speedy3861]

I would suggest that properly detailing cars is almost an art form. People skilled in that are likely difficult to find and hire. Adding to that the shortage of people actually willing to show up, work and produce a quality work product. Carvana is production and turnover based, finding motivated people and paying them adequately to retain them is probably the cause of their problems. JMHO

 

[2013ecof150]

Haha I remember going to look at Carmax about 10 years ago. It had a sticky glob of what looked to be ketchup on the headliner!

 

[andrew_j]

I believe they detail at end in case they sell car off to another dealer or auction .

 

[odie]

See this with car dealers such as Chevrolet , Toyota , Honda , etc.. Have traded in cars cleaner and sold not long after .

 

[Zee09]

I had a local new car dealer not do proper dealer prep on anything. I made mention of it..
They get away with what you let them.

 

[PF52]

I believe they detail at end in case they sell car off to another dealer or auction .

And/or they don't detail them until an appointment is made for someone to come look at a specific car.

 

[Finklejag]

I believe they detail at end in case they sell car off to another dealer or auction .

This might be true because you can buy from any Carmax and ship it to another Carmax dealer in the US.

Carvana is production and turnover based, finding motivated people and paying them adequately to retain them is probably the cause of their problems. JMHO

Their problem is buying high and selling low. Their whole purpose is to launder money or something.

 

[meep]

I paid Carmax to ship a v-series Volvo in for a test drive. It was mechanically perfect, but it 200% reeked of closed-window cigarette smoking. I asked if they would clear that up for me to consider purchasing, and she said they would only attempt it if I buy the car. I asked her if that seemed reasonable and she agreed that perhaps it wasn’t, but they simply would not guarantee it to be odor-free. I thanked her and said then this isn’t the car.

I would have probably been fine with it- I have worked out these smells before, and there were other reasons I decided against that one, but the smell easily pushed that one out of the running.

I did end up buying something else from them. They painted 3 panels and did a fabulous job with it. They also missed about $3000 in broken door, lock, sunroof and other electronic parts, and they fixed all of it completely under their warranty. I do recommend our local one.

 

[CarDoc66]

Carmax pricing is ridiculous. My daughter got a better deal on her used 2021 330i at the BMW dealer…..and it was spotless when she picked it up. They pick up and deliver with service and they do a beautiful job cleaning it when they are done.

 

[dfarr67]

They feel that they don't have to do a full detail anymore. It'll eventually sell without it, in whatever condition that it happens to be in.

I always tell the salesman to make sure to have the vehicle fully detailed before I take delivery of it. I've yet to be disappointed.

Honestly, I'd rather see it undetailed, as it shows pride of ownership (or a total lack of it) by the previous owner.

That directly translates into care and maintenance for me.

 

[mrsilv04]

Went and looked at a 'Centennial Edition' 2018 Colorado yesterday. One local owner. Same Chevy dealer sold it new and had it traded back to them... and they had done most of the service work.

For starters, it had been smoked in (not cigarettes... smelled like someone had smoked a pipe in it to me)... but none of the interior had been cleaned or detailed. They didn't even try to get the smell out of it. Still had OE tires on it at 62000 miles. Both front seats had busted seams in the leather. One front tire had a chunk missing out of the inner edge of the tread (looked like it had gone over broken glass). Hood was already starting to develop blisters under the paint (rust) on the leading edge. Passenger side had been repainted for some reason (not shown on CarFax) and the body shop left crap in the paint instead of taking the time to do it right... and it already had a 10" long light scratch in the newer paint that someone tried to hide with some touch up.

Dealer was offering NO warranty at all, since the GM drivetrain warranty had expired at 60,000 miles.... even though they sold it new, did nearly all of service work, and then took it back in on trade. What a joke. I didn't even take the time to drive it, since the salesman came out without even bringing the keys with him. I just thanked him for his time, and left.

I'd always wanted to see one of these 'Centennial Editions' in person. This was clearly one of those cases where the longer I looked at it, the worse that it got. I can easily write that dealer off for any consideration in the future.

 

[odie]

Had to clean all the inside windows thanks to the film you find on them from the factory . Usually the dealer does it .

 

[4WD]

The closeup pictures that Carvans takes . Crumbs around the shifters... Lazy lazy lazy.