CarMax Costa Mesa Cos

“I had a great experience selling my car at CarMax. Agnes Janchoi was professional, kind, and very helpful throughout the process. Everything was straightforward, efficient, and transparent, and the final offer matched the online quote exactly. I really appreciated how smooth and stress-free the experience was. Highly recommend working with Agnes!”

“I recently sold my car to CarMax and the experience was surprisingly fast, smooth, and completely stress-free. The whole process was transparent with no hidden fees and zero pressure, which is very different from traditional dealerships. The staff was professional from start to finish. They inspected my car and gave me the final offer in less than 30 minutes — and the offer was actually higher than what I expected. What impressed me most was that CarMax doesn’t play games or lowball you. They don’t nitpick small flaws to push the price down. Everything they check is clearly explained, and the price you see is the price you get. Once I accepted the offer, I got the check right on the spot. The entire process was extremely smooth. I used to think selling a car would be a hassle, but CarMax made it feel almost as easy as trading in a phone — simple, honest, and fast. If you want to sell your car quickly without wasting time negotiating or dealing with uncertainty, CarMax is hands down the most reliable and hassle-free option I’ve found. Highly recommended!”

“Cristian Perez from the Costa Mesa location was amazing! We truly believe that a great sales representative makes all the difference in the experience! We left a different CarMax location disappointed, and decided to make one more stop to look specifically at ONE car we had in mind. Found it. Loved it. Financed it. And drove home just a couple hours later. Thank you for being so kind and so helpful!”

“I’m highly disappointed with this location. I wanted to like my experience, but the negatives have far outweighed the positives. Positives: 1. The sales team was great. 2. They did cover a radiator leak. But here’s what really happened: 1. The service department is disorganized and unreliable. 2. I paid $42,000 cash for a truck that had been in an accident (this was disclosed and shown on the Carfax), and I was told all repairs—including paint—had been fully handled and the truck was back to street-legal condition. Not even close with the paint job. The paint is now torn and peeling down the side. Since it’s past the 90-day mark, they refused to do anything. 3. There are water stains on the interior roof—backseat area I’ve never even sat in. This is what broke my trust completely: I paid $3,700 for the extended warranty. The service center said my alternator was about to go out (not that it had failed). They told me it wasn’t safe to drive, so I had to leave the truck there. It sat on their lot for 3 months while the part was on backorder (which I understand isn’t there fault). When it finally came in, it was an aftermarket part—and it didn’t work. I asked to take my truck back while waiting on the correct part—they said no. They gave me a loaner, but it couldn’t leave the state or tow anything. I had to rent my own vehicle for work—cost me $1,800. CarMax reimbursed $600. The service manager kept telling me to send in receipts and said I might be reimbursed for the rental, but after weeks of trying to get through—and my calls not even being answered by the front desk anymore—I escalated it to corporate. Only then did Julio finally call to say I’d be getting reimbursed. Even after that, it took weeks and another follow-up call before I actually received the check. After I moved to Utah, I called the Costa Mesa CarMax to get an update on the part. They told me it was still backordered. I asked them to update my address so the part could be shipped to Utah once it arrived—they said there was nothing to update. Then, the very next day, they suddenly claimed the alternator was in stock and had already been shipped to Utah. When it arrived, it was the same exact faulty aftermarket part they had already tried months earlier. CarMax in Utah had the correct alternator installed within a week. Julio Garcia, the service manager, dragged this process out for 8 months. I couldn’t get a return call until I went to corporate. Then it took weeks just to get a partial reimbursement check that barely covered a quarter of what I had to spend out-of-pocket—while they had my truck. I would’ve saved time, money, and 8 months of stress if I hadn’t bought the extended warranty at all.”

“THANK YOU CARMAX!!!! …& God most importantly…. But yes thank you CarMax! Thank you Miguel, Kyle, & Sugar at the Costa Mesa location!! You three made my experience the most memorable car buying experience ever. The first night I came in was a little rough… I had my 2 year old twins (bad idea😆) and I have never bought a car before. I just showed up with legal binding documents, money and a lot of hope. The employees at CarMax not once made me feel shameful about my kids causing a ruckus. Unfortunately at that point I was ready to tap out but wouldn’t you know they were open the next morning on the 4th of July to allow us to finish the deal!!! Simply amazing… they worked diligently with us as they kept pushing information in and out of their system allowing this to become a dream come true for me and my family! They understood particular parts of my situation and reiterated all of that to the lender and made sure we walked out with the first initial car we chose that worked within our budget and reassured us that if we couldn’t there was so much more to pick from. I love their 10 day exchange policy where if within 10 days I don’t like my vehicle I can come back in and refinance on a different one of my choosing. That’s the biggest part for me, because you never know and I like the security of that option. This store deserves an award for all that they do. Thank you from the Santiago Family!! **HERES AN UPDATE** This is for the Service Center, not the Salespeople at CarMax. I believe I could have done better by doing a test drive and allowing my husband to do a full check on the inside of this vehicle. The oil had never been changed with my vehicle, nor had the spark plugs or any of the 3 filters within the vehicle. My husband had to do all 3 because my car started running a little off, grant it I drive a lot of highway miles to work. The oil looked as though it had never been changed since the first original owner, and the 3 filters had detailed signs that they have never been replaced and it was necessary that the spark plugs needed to be replaced as well. It was obvious the only thing the service center did was replace the windshield wipers… and that was it. Kind of disappointing considering the fact that the service centers one and only job is to make sure everything was top notch before I drove off with this car- and not by just the way it looks on the inside. They could have even put two new tires to match the back new tires but they didn’t do that so I’ll have to replace those soon too. These are the things that truly matter because the value of a car like this can go down immensely had something happened. Yes I’m still happy with my purchase but when I look back on other peoples reviews I see exactly what they are saying when it comes to this kind of stuff.”