CarMax Escondido

“My experience with Carmax was very positive. I had few days to sell my car before moving, and Carmax Team made it seamless, easy and fast that I was able to make the decision immediately. I had done my homework before the appointment and knew the process elsewhere and estimate of the car pricing. Thank you Carmax Escondido CA for making my car selling process painless and pleasant.”

“Appointment was easy to setup. Rep was professional and knowledgeable. Sold our Prius on the first day visit. Simple and no hassle experience.”

“I was coming into the dealership with pre-approval from my credit union. So I'm feeling very confident. Also I did the same thing 8 years ago with Carmax and the relationship went smoothly. So why not this time? Found a car sales person not pushing me into anything except a Carmax extended warranty. But that's his job and money maker. The vehicle of choice was a 2024, 7k miles Mazda CX 30. On manufacture warranty no extended warranty needed. Next after my down-payment finance. This is where things got messy and frustrating. Carmax now doesn't want to title the car to the credit union on paper until they receive the check. Weststar's underwriter won't send the check. Meanwhile I have discovered a few issues with the car. No GPS card 😢 So no navigation. I'd never left the lot when I discovered this issue. Went back inside to Hector my sales person to let him know. Oh I'll contact service with a work order and follow-up with you via email. That was a week ago still haven't received that email. I had to contact a manager to get things accomplished for the service order. To much stress. Last time working with Carmax..”

“Carolina L was really nice and helped us find a car in our budget that we loved and decided to buy! She is welcoming to all people, LGBT safe, down-to-Earth, funny, and has great customer service skills. When I originally test drove the car we wanted, I heard a weird noise with the gas pedal so I asked her about it, and never once did she make me feel like i was crazy or annoying for feeling worried...she immediately said that if I had a safety concern, she would put an order in to have a mechanic look at it right away. I was relieved over this because most sales people would have brushed me off, but not Carolina. Thank you so much for helping us find a car we love! Next time we need to buy, we will come here again. You should ask for Carolina Lopez when you come, too!”

“I spent a lot of time searching for my next car purchase and found the car I wanted at CarMax. I reserved a 2019 Lexus 570 at a dealership approximately 5 hours from me. I arrived early in the morning and they had the car ready for me. The online pictures did not disclose all the dings especially the ones on the lower front spoiler which were rather large. The car also had a fairly strong tobacco odor. The purchase process was fairly easy compared to your regular car dealer that surprises you with add ons and miscellaneous fees. The only option is if you want the extended warranty or not. The inspection report showed everything checked out and most notably the tires were replaced. The new tires are the cheapest no name option available. I'm currently trying to verify if they meet the minimum ratings for speed and weight as recommended by the manufacturer. The manager promised me a full tank of gas and said as the car required premium fuel they would use premium fuel. The salesman confirmed he had it filled with premium fuel but CarMax I later found out only has regular 87 and not high octane fuel on site. The manager addressed this later. I believe the salesman was just being lazy and didn't want to go offsite to get premium fuel. Will it kill my engine? Obviously not but it did build distrust with the CarMax brand. I brought the car home and took it to a couple shops for free inspections. The inspection found leaky front shocks which were not identified in the vehicle inspection report and the rear brakes close (4/32) to the limits CarMax sets for replacement (3/32). My car is at CarMax now and they claim it's 6/32 which is not accurate at all. Again this builds distrust with CarMax brand. Carfax and Lexus service records show major services were deferred and never completed. My car has now been with CarMax for over 7 days for inspection and replacement of the shocks and service of the AHC system. I was told they are ordering OEM parts from Lexus for the shocks and hydraulic fluid for AHC system. I was initially told that they would send out the car for AHC service. Then that they would service in house and lastly that they didn't have the correct programming and need to send it to Lexus. My AirTag confirms the car went to Lexus today. My gut says they tried to do the AHC service but failed and sent it to Lexus to do it properly. I have no way to prove that but I'm happy that it's at Lexus for this service. CarMax claims they inspected the systems that have the deferred maintenance and everything looks ok and nothing needs to be done. How do you inspect differential fluid ? Did they send it to a lab to check the viscosity ? It can't be done. My distrust makes me believe that the only reason they replaced the shocks is that I had pictures of the large leak on one of the shocks. If not they would claim it was "within limits" What I've learned so far is that the buying process is easy. Make sure you do your due diligence as CarMax does a very superficial inspection and very little to recondition a vehicle. The focus is on what the lay person can see like the tires and wash/ detail. They don't truly recondition a vehicle so that it's trouble free. Be prepared to spend money to get caught up on deferred maintenance if you plan on keeping the car for many years to come. I do want to mention that James the manager at the Escondido store is very helpful. He did extend the 10 day return because the car is being serviced. He did give me an allowance for detailing due to tobacco odor. Part of me just wants to return the vehicle back to CarMax but I realize any used vehicle will have its issues. I've also invested a significant amount of my time to purchase and get iinspected and service this vehicle that I don't want to go through that again. My new to me car has been with CarMax service longer than I had a chance to drive it. Let's hope all is ok when I get it back.”