Is it better to purchase a Used BMW thru a BMW dealer or CarMax

[unluky]

LOL - the drama............

I have bought cars from Dealers and a couple from Carmax. Why? Because they have a great car finder app and lets me find exactly what I want. You can go check the car out for 24 hours free of charge - so if you want someone to inspect it - you can do it right then.

If anyone here thinks ANY car dealer/reseller is on their side - they are smoking crack. It is 100% your responsibility to do your due diligence and check the car out. They also have the 30 day guarantee. I've had good and bad experiences with both. I do not do warranties - I think they are a complete rip off. The $ I have saved on never doing a warranty is enough to buy me a damn nice car by now - so I know I am $ ahead. I never let a car go until close to 150K and I have never ever in my 40 years of car ownership had a motor or transmission go out.

I had a car moved from CA thru Carmax once. It arrived and had a small minor ding that was not listed on the inspection. It was an expensive move to get it here and when I pointed it out to the rep I was working with - he was not happy either and they refunded my transfer money on the spot without me even committing to the car. They held it a few days while I thought about it and ultimately took it as it was a minor ding in a hard to see area and the car was still the closest thing I had found in many month of looking.

My experiences with Carmax were one when they were the new kid on the block and one many years later. They had certainly lost their "we try harder" attitude I enjoyed the first time, but I still found their super low pressure nice compared to my dealership experiences.

I don't think their is a bad place to buy a good car - you just have to do your part as well. If we are buying used - the responsibility is on us.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by unluky

LOL - the drama............

I have bought cars from Dealers and a couple from Carmax. Why? Because they have a great car finder app and lets me find exactly what I want. You can go check the car out for 24 hours free of charge - so if you want someone to inspect it - you can do it right then.

If anyone here thinks ANY car dealer/reseller is on their side - they are smoking crack. It is 100% your responsibility to do your due diligence and check the car out. They also have the 30 day guarantee. I've had good and bad experiences with both. I do not do warranties - I think they are a complete rip off. The $ I have saved on never doing a warranty is enough to buy me a damn nice car by now - so I know I am $ ahead. I never let a car go until close to 150K and I have never ever in my 40 years of car ownership had a motor or transmission go out.

I had a car moved from CA thru Carmax once. It arrived and had a small minor ding that was not listed on the inspection. It was an expensive move to get it here and when I pointed it out to the rep I was working with - he was not happy either and they refunded my transfer money on the spot without me even committing to the car. They held it a few days while I thought about it and ultimately took it as it was a minor ding in a hard to see area and the car was still the closest thing I had found in many month of looking.

My experiences with Carmax were one when they were the new kid on the block and one many years later. They had certainly lost their "we try harder" attitude I enjoyed the first time, but I still found their super low pressure nice compared to my dealership experiences.

I don't think their is a bad place to buy a good car - you just have to do your part as well. If we are buying used - the responsibility is on us.

The only issue is they charge more for their cars than on the open market and they do not negotiate on price, but they advertise "trust us" and it is why we charge more. But as you have stated you can't trust CarMax any more than any other used car dealership. Great they offer their no-hassle return policy, but they know 95% of buyers once they've bought the used car (and possibly traded in their old car - so they'll have no car if CarMax takes it back) are just going not deal with the hassle.

In the case of my Z4, I would have still bought the car but at a lower price that I would have negotiated. The worst position to be in is bringing in the car from an out of state CarMax dealership since the transport charge is non-refundable.

[unluky]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

The only issue is they charge more for their cars than on the open market and they do not negotiate on price, but they advertise "trust us" and it is why we charge more. But as you have stated you can't trust CarMax any more than any other used car dealership. Great they offer their no-hassle return policy, but they know 95% of buyers once they've bought the used car (and possibly traded in their old car - so they'll have no car if CarMax takes it back) are just going not deal with the hassle.

In the case of my Z4, I would have still bought the car but at a lower price that I would have negotiated. The worst position to be in is bringing in the car from an out of state CarMax dealership since the transport charge is non-refundable.

LOL - I hate that bullshit fake negotiating bullshit. It's all BS anyway. If you don't think they are marking it up so I can ask for a better price you are mistaken.

What is a used car worth? It's worth EXACTLY what someone will pay for it. You want a cheaper price with Carmax? Wait and if a car sits - then they will reduce the price till it sells. But they know what a car is worth which is why if you have ever tried to buy a car on there - especially a well optioned one - it gets reserved within days if you do not reserve it first. They have sold millions of cars and have millions of data points and will move a car anywhere so they have a nationwide customer base. If you think it is worth less and I am willing to pay what they are asking - who was wrong?

And the transportation charge is refundable if they didn't tell the truth about the car. I bought 2 BMW's from them (one being a Z4 ironically) and the one I brought from the farthest was the one that they didn't disclose something I specifically asked about and they refunded my $ on the spot. My Z4 was 2 states away and the exact combo I was looking for and they brought it to my local one for like $200. I would not have driven a 10 hour round trip for $200. And I wound up buying the car, so I would have had to get it home anyway. I love I can have them bring it to me and I find it fair they charge to do so based on distance. But I get people who don't.

This is why I love they let me reserve the car - so I can take the VIN and request a window sticker from the mfg. and run my own carfax (even though they supply their own version) and make up my mind before I move it to me without fear it will be sold while I ponder.

None of them are perfect - but when you weigh out the pro's and cons of each - I find just as much to not like about dealers as I do about Carmax. For people who want a free soda and a chance to argue about the price for a week - dealers are your options for sure. My priority is to not deal with the "dealership shuffle" and get the exact car with the exact options I want. I remember an option I didn't get FAR longer than the $800 extra I might have paid for it.

Luckily we have both options and we can choose what is important to us. Nothing better than too many options!

[Phillies8008]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

they do not negotiate on price

In fairness, for many people that's a feature, not a bug. It's one of their major selling points – if you're a guy who likes or least doesn't mind haggling, they may not be the best choice for you. But a lot of people, myself included, despise the whole kabuki associated with buying a car and will gladly pay a bit more to avoid it altogether.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by Phillies8008

In fairness, for many people that's a feature, not a bug. It's one of their major selling points – if you're a guy who likes or least doesn't mind haggling, they may not be the best choice for you. But a lot of people, myself included, despise the whole kabuki associated with buying a car and will gladly pay a bit more to avoid it altogether.

Sadly...

[Phillies8008]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Sadly...

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Your sadly is my happily. We all choose to pay for things that have meaning for us, and paying a bit extra to avoid a miserable situation is well worth the money for me. I assure you that there are things that others pay for that I see little or no value in, but that doesn't mean they're not worthwhile for that person.

What's sad is that the large majority of dealers make buying a car so odious that people will pay extra to avoid dealing with them. A manufacturer-direct model can't come quick enough (but it probably won't).

[jkoral]

One disadvantage of CarMax (and Carvana) is BMW Ultimate Care (3 years/36,000 miles) is not transferable to subsequent owners -- it's only transferable if the vehicle was sold by an authorized BMW Center.

I knew this and still bought my 2025 430i xDrive Gran Coupe from Carvana last fall. First experience with Carvana or CarMax (except I sold a car to CarMax 5 years ago when they offered more than my BMW dealer for trade-in).

The door to door experience is one of the nicest features (and not dealing with a salesman). For small surcharge, delivered to driveway and took my trade-in (2022 X3), but my preference would be buying at the dealer. I just couldn't find a spec close to what I wanted within 1000 miles. And with the trade-in, not worthwhile for shipping both ways.

Got the PPI from my BMW independent within the first 7 days and decided to keep it.

Note: Be sure to pull the build sheet for the VIN. Even BMW dealer CPO cars can be ZRD - Daily Rental (all the CPO cars I were considering were ZRD, which was something new I learned) -- didn't want a loaner, but still bought it.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by Phillies8008

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Your sadly is my happily. We all choose to pay for things that have meaning for us, and paying a bit extra to avoid a miserable situation is well worth the money for me. I assure you that there are things that others pay for that I see little or no value in, but that doesn't mean they're not worthwhile for that person.

What's sad is that the large majority of dealers make buying a car so odious that people will pay extra to avoid dealing with them. A manufacturer-direct model can't come quick enough (but it probably won't).

Light heartedly I'll say, "To choose not to negotiate is in itself a negotiation"...

Yup, one can say that about most anything.

[AlpineSwift]

Originally Posted by jkoral

One disadvantage of CarMax (and Carvana) is BMW Ultimate Care (3 years/36,000 miles) is not transferable to subsequent owners -- it's only transferable if the vehicle was sold by an authorized BMW Center.

I knew this and still bought my 2025 430i xDrive Gran Coupe from Carvana last fall. First experience with Carvana or CarMax (except I sold a car to CarMax 5 years ago when they offered more than my BMW dealer for trade-in).

The door to door experience is one of the nicest features (and not dealing with a salesman). For small surcharge, delivered to driveway and took my trade-in (2022 X3), but my preference would be buying at the dealer. I just couldn't find a spec close to what I wanted within 1000 miles. And with the trade-in, not worthwhile for shipping both ways.

Got the PPI from my BMW independent within the first 7 days and decided to keep it.

Note: Be sure to pull the build sheet for the VIN. Even BMW dealer CPO cars can be ZRD - Daily Rental (all the CPO cars I were considering were ZRD, which was something new I learned) -- didn't want a loaner, but still bought it.

This is my first BMW that's had Ultimate Care included in the purchase (thanks previous owner for the handoff! ). I haven't had a need to use it yet since I'm only just over 3 Months into ownership. That said, after living with my '04 M3 for just under 4 years prior to selling last summer, I'd have to crunch numbers before letting that slip by as part of a deal. I'm sure your specific situation made more sense to skip it, but damn is it nice not having to worry about consumables for a change.

The Carvana sales model looks really good on paper especially from a convenience stand point, but I've heard nothing but horror stories in dealing with them post purchase. It sounds like yours was fairly smooth overall and I'm sure there's plenty of other success stories out there, but I just can't for the life of me give up buying a BMW direct from the source or an approved dealer. I've done too many outside of the dealer network and they've all (but 1) had some kind of drama attached to them that's been my problem to deal with as a result. My 335 was the exception, I picked that up from a Toyota dealer that had it on trade for a Prius from an older lady that babied the shit out of it. If she knew what it became afterwards, she probably would've lost her mind.

[Phillies8008]

Originally Posted by AlpineSwift

This is my first BMW that's had Ultimate Care included in the purchase (thanks previous owner for the handoff! ). I haven't had a need to use it yet since I'm only just over 3 Months into ownership. That said, after living with my '04 M3 for just under 4 years prior to selling last summer, I'd have to crunch numbers before letting that slip by as part of a deal. I'm sure your specific situation made more sense to skip it, but damn is it nice not having to worry about consumables for a change.

The Carvana sales model looks really good on paper especially from a convenience stand point, but I've heard nothing but horror stories in dealing with them post purchase. It sounds like yours was fairly smooth overall and I'm sure there's plenty of other success stories out there, but I just can't for the life of me give up buying a BMW direct from the source or an approved dealer. I've done too many outside of the dealer network and they've all (but 1) had some kind of drama attached to them that's been my problem to deal with as a result. My 335 was the exception, I picked that up from a Toyota dealer that had it on trade for a Prius from an older lady that babied the shit out of it. If she knew what it became afterwards, she probably would've lost her mind.

We've purchased one car from Carvana and it was ridiculously easy and went off without a hitch. That being said, there are certain models/classes of cars that I would choose not to buy from them, such as BMW, Jaguar, etc. We bought a Suburu Crosstrek which is one thing; an M340i or an F-Type is another.

If you notice, as opposed to CarMax they don't offer their extended warranties on every car they sell. For instance, you can't get on on the aforementioned F-Type. While you could conclude that they just don't want to be on the hook for luxury/high-performance vehicles, it also infers to me the possibility that they don't have all that much faith in state of the cars they sell.

We bought that Crosstrek fairly early in Carvana's life – I think they've kind of gone more towards the "pump-em out" strategy since then and I'd be a bit more hesitant to buy from them these days.

[Turbanator]

Based on the condition of many vehicles I've heard people online admit they give to Carvana, I'd probably never buy from them unless there are detailed maintenance records or it's an extremely rare car. Seen many people say Carvana never even started their car when they came to pick it up for a sale.

[Phillies8008]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Based on the condition of many vehicles I've heard people online admit they give to Carvana, I'd probably never buy from them unless there are detailed maintenance records or it's an extremely rare car. Seen many people say Carvana never even started their car when they came to pick it up for a sale.

I'd think they'd have to start it to get it on the trailer to bring back – the car being able to start was the single requirement when we traded our existing car for the Crosstrek they delivered. It wasn't a rigorous examination, lol.

I've since sold another car to them (without buying another) and they did at least test drive it. In fairness, it was in pretty good shape for a 14 year old car. I suppose they could've done some sort of mechanical check when they took it for the test drive, but if so it would've been a very quick one – if the guy was gone 15 minutes it was a long time.

[azmiller1976]

I am sure they work for some for some vehicles, the X5 unicorn I am looking for most X5's are priced high and do not have trailer hitches. So I am giving up on that platform and just hitting up the dealers, the AutoTrader, CarGurus do not pick up Trailer hitch category consistantly especially on vehicles that were just posted and with the X5 unicorn I am looking for I have to do everything manual, its really getting old BUT it is productive because I find 3 out of 5 X5's with trailer hitches that way and not the search engine method, unfortunately. Thank you for your input much appreciated!

[Phillies8008]

The problem with any of those sites is that they're dependent on the dealer correctly and comprehensively listing installed options. I've always found that it's extremely iffy for any dealer that doesn't primarily sell the make you're looking for to do anything close to this, and even if it is a dealer for that make it's still something of a crap shoot. You're basically stuck looking at pictures, hoping that they post the window sticker*, or checking VIN decoders (for BMWs, at least) to try and figure it out. It's frustrating.

*The actual sticker. I've found that Monroney labels can be inaccurate or incomplete.

[azmiller1976]

Very good point, and thats scary of the Sticker is inaccurate, because that is what I am doing, all those tasks you mentioned. Its really frustrating when the vehicle you finally find, has limited Carfax information if any, and the X5 is being sold at a NON-BMW dealership. What do you do, all I can think of is get that PPI done and hope they aren't in bed with the dealership. I have an eye for issues on vehicles having worked on trucks and some cars from the 80's and 90's but todays car, good luck. Thank you for your input!

[Phillies8008]

Originally Posted by azmiller1976

Very good point, and thats scary of the Sticker is inaccurate, because that is what I am doing, all those tasks you mentioned. Its really frustrating when the vehicle you finally find, has limited Carfax information if any, and the X5 is being sold at a NON-BMW dealership. What do you do, all I can think of is get that PPI done and hope they aren't in bed with the dealership. I have an eye for issues on vehicles having worked on trucks and some cars from the 80's and 90's but todays car, good luck. Thank you for your input!

I rely on the pictures when I know what options I'm looking for*, like the button on the steering wheel for adaptive cruise control, VIN decoders so I can verify options that may not be visually obvious, and a PPI from a mechanic that I choose and trust. If the PPI is being done in another state or whatever I'll go off of Google reviews as well as asking for any recommendations in forums, Reddit, etc. If it's a BMW it's also useful to find the local BMWCCA chapter's facebook page or whatever and ask in there.

At some point you can only do what you can do, so you just have to decide what level of uncertainty you're willing to accept for a particular car. You save money buying used, but you also assume a level of risk. Ain't no such thing as a free lunch, lol.

*The one that really drives me nuts is a HUD. It's pretty much a deal-breaker for me, and it's astounding how many dealers just completely ignore it. It's somewhat rare that they take a picture were you can definitively see the projector, extremely rare that they'll actually show it in action, and I've found they'll leave it off of the list of the car's features more often than not. If they list the option packages the car has you can be pretty sure, but that's a big "if," particularly if it's a non-BMW dealer. Ugh.

[azmiller1976]

That pretty much fits me as to where I am at. The PPI is my concern. Going to the local BMW chapter and finding out a good PPI is smart, I like that, just getting burned out, I've been at this for several months now. A 2023 X5 came up at a Land Rover Mission Viejio the other day, their site has misinformation on their website on the options per the VIN on Bimmerwork; wheels, Hands Free Tailgate, that has a Trailer Hitch, who knows what else and are not returning my questions to provide BMW service records. Looks like an X5 with a lot of work a BMW dealership didnt want to do to bring it up to CPO and ditched it in an auction. Really sketchy feel all away around so am passing that up. Thank you for the insight, and great idea on the PPI issue, I will definitely have to consider doing that looking at BMW Chapters like you mentioned!