Does CarMax Negotiate the Price?

CarMax says that buying a car from them is stress-free. Many customers have found this true, making them rave about this car dealership. You may be wondering: does CarMax negotiate the price of their cars?

CarMax does not negotiate the prices of the vehicles they sell. It is one of the few car dealerships that practice a no-haggling policy for their vehicle prices. Their reputation for selling non-negotiable prices for cars is solid.

While there is no way you can haggle with the selling prices of their vehicle, it does not mean that you cannot negotiate the cost of their car dealership services so you can get some monetary discounts.

Read on to learn more about CarMax’s vehicle prices, whether you can negotiate with their car prices, and the essential details you need to know about it.

If you want to buy a vehicle from CarMax, you should understand that you can’t negotiate their vehicle prices. Is CarMax negotiable?

They have a solid reputation for having non-negotiable vehicle prices. Surprisingly, they are still a popular car dealership. However, that does not mean you can’t get price concessions some other way.

By exploring some of CarMax’s car dealership selling prices and policies, it is still possible for you to get some monetary concessions when you purchase a vehicle from them. You can consider these financial concessions as discounts on your car purchase because, ultimately, they are.

You can get certain benefits from CarMax’s no-price haggling practice. For one, their pricing policy will ensure you know what to pay. It will also reduce the length of time that you need to spend in the company.

If you want to avoid the stress of price haggling with a sales agent, you will welcome this policy of CarMax. However, if you relish wrangling for your purchases, you won’t be pleased with it. Most people don’t love to haggle with prices, especially for big-ticket items like cars.

What Can You Negotiate with CarMax?

I’ve mentioned that even if you can’t haggle with the vehicle prices at CarMax, there are still some ways you can get financial concessions on your purchase.

That is if you want to save on your purchase. And who doesn’t want that if it’s still possible?

The thing is: you can still negotiate some aspects of the overall price of a vehicle at CarMax. Here are some things you can negotiate with this car dealership:

1. Terms of Financing and Interest Rates

You won’t be able to enjoy a discount if you buy a vehicle from CarMax in cash. The price you will pay is the sticker price for the car that you want to purchase. But that’s if you have the cold cash to pay for it.

However, if you don’t pay with cash but with a financing company like a bank where you’ve been working all these years, you will undoubtedly get monetary concessions – through financing terms and rate of interest.

Although CarMax has an in-housing facility, it still works with several second-party financing partners. This is a way to go to the negotiating table with CarMax to get a friendlier interest rate and financing term to pay for the vehicle you intend to buy.

2. Warranty Extension and Protection

Most car dealerships also make money on the warranty of their vehicles. How? They include the price of the warranty, especially for extended warranties, on their financing terms.

Most car buyers who get their cars through loans are unaware of this practice.

This is where you can get a “discount” on your car purchase at CarMax. I’m not saying an extended warranty is a bad idea. They are good, especially if you are financing your car purchase.

However, you can save on this sale by buying your warranty coverage from your insurer, not CarMax’s. Before you buy, shop around first for the best-priced warranty coverage in the market.

Again, does CarMax negotiate the price? Carmax has a “no haggle pricing” policy, so it’s impossible to negotiate CarMax’s price.

3. Trade-in Value

There’s a special algorithm that CarMax uses to set vehicle trade-in prices, the same way it does with its sticker prices. This advanced algorithm allows this company to quickly give trade-in quotes to their clients online – even without seeing your vehicle.

If you are unhappy with the trade-in value they gave you because you have information proving it’s worth more, you can ask them to re-evaluate their quote. CarMax personnel could be willing to adjust the amount based on your supplied information.

However, if CarMax refuses to increase your car’s trade-in value, you can still get the amount you want. Instead of trading your car with CarMax, you can trade it with a private buyer.

If your buyer agrees, then you’ll have more money. It will effectively reduce the amount of the loan that you will get from CarMax.

An alternate option is to sell your vehicle on the open market or use your vehicle as collateral for a new loan if the vehicle is no longer mortgaged.

If you get a better price for your old car in any of these ways, it will pay for the cost of the new vehicle. You could consider that as getting a discount on the price of the car you buy from CarMax.

4. Services and Repairs

There’s another way to get monetary “discounts” when buying a vehicle from CarMax. A used car typically will have something that needs to be serviced or repaired. While they may say the car is in tip-top shape, it is still not as good as a brand-new vehicle.

There will always be something that needs repair or service. This is where you can negotiate its sticker price with CarMax. You can work out a deal with the company to take care of the repair. Or you can convince them to lower the price based on the repair costs that it needs.

If CarMax doesn’t budge in that area, you can always go to the tires. You can ask them for new tires, which usually cost several hundred dollars. There’s nothing you can lose but everything to gain if you try.

What Benefits Can You Get By Not Negotiating with CarMax?

You would think you will be on the losing end if you cannot negotiate the price of a vehicle with CarMax. That could be the first impression. However, if you will consider it more closely, you will see that there are certain benefits you can enjoy with this practice.

Consider this: there are more than 9 million car buyers of CarMax who have given away their rights to negotiate but thought that it was worth it because of the following benefits:

1. Sure Guarantee

Most legitimate car dealerships give guarantees to the vehicles they sell. But with CarMax, you can get more than just the typical guarantee. For instance, you can test drive the car you want to buy for 24 hours before paying for it.

Then if you decide to buy it, you will be given a 1,500-mile or 30-day return period if you are not fully satisfied with it. This means you will be fully refunded your money if you decide to return the car.

But that’s not all. After 30 days, you will be given another 4,000-mile or 90-day limited warranty on the car. That’s enough to give you peace of mind with the vehicle you buy.

2. Comprehensive Car Inspection

CarMax performs a comprehensive inspection of a vehicle before it sets its price. The things they discover during the vehicle inspection are used and inputted into their computerized algorithm to give a fair and accurate asking price.

This company performs a 125-point inspection to see the vehicle’s problems that cannot be readily seen on the surface.

Everything that happened to the vehicle, like being in an accident, being flooded, or damage on the structure, will be seen, disclosed, and accurately reflected on its price so you can determine if it’s worth your money.

3. Free Report of Vehicle History

CarMax is very picky about the vehicles offered to them. They are proud of the vehicles they sell. Can you negotiate with CarMax when selling a car?

They won’t just sell any vehicle that comes their way. They offer a free history report of their vehicles. You will know everything about the history of the vehicle you want to buy.

So, if you don’t want to spend more time in CarMark than you should, you could refer to the vehicle history report and be assured that what you read there is reliable.

You can review the report before test-driving the vehicle. Many car buyers choose a car, then read its history report, and decide to buy it before they even come to the office of CarMax.

4. Huge Inventory

There are more than 200 CarMax locations in the United States. For sure, they have a particular car that will tickle your interest. This car dealer is not particular about any car brand, make, or model. There are so many options for you in their vehicle inventory.

CarMax is continuously buying more and more cars. Their car selection constantly changes. If you can’t find a vehicle that suits your style and need, keep searching. You are bound to locate a vehicle that you will surely like.

5. Fixed Commission

At CarMax, the sales commission of the salesperson is fixed. It is not dependent on the price of the vehicle that is sold. The commission earned will be the same for the salesperson, no matter what.

If they want to earn more money, they have to sell more vehicles and not jack up the price of the car they sell.

It’s not like that in a typical car dealership where every salesperson wants to make the most money from a particular vehicle that is being sold. They intend to make more money on a vehicle than it is worth.

In Closing

You cannot negotiate the selling prices of vehicles at CarMax. This company is one of the few that practices a no-haggling policy. They have a solid reputation for selling non-negotiable vehicle prices.

However, while you can’t haggle with the selling prices of their vehicle, there are ways that you can negotiate with their dealership services to get some form of monetary concessions. You can negotiate their car prices to get what you can consider a “discount.”