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Carmax still only sells used cars, don't they? I want a no-haggle dealer for new cars, especially if they sell economy cars like the Nissan Versa and Chevrolet

Carmax still only sells used cars, don't they? I want a no-haggle dealer for new cars, especially if they sell economy cars like the Nissan Versa and Chevrolet Spark.

PaulHoule 8y ago
I had the hardest time getting a Honda Fit when I wanted one this summer. Everybody wanted to push me to buy an S.U.V. though... I'm not sure if drivers really want S.U.V.'s or if carmakers really want to sell them.
- christophilus 8y ago
  It’s the latter, I think. SUVs are more profitable than cars.
  - crooked-v 8y ago
    From what I understand, SUVs generally count as "trucks" rather than "cars" for regulation purposes, so they don't need to meet the same efficiency standards. I'm sure that's a big part of it.
    - PaulHoule 8y ago
      See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax
    - argonaut 8y ago
      That's not necessarily true anymore, and is pretty inconsistent. Most crossover "SUVs" (which are the best selling segment of cars in America), for example, are classified as cars.
- pfranz 8y ago
  I was looking for one a few years ago and had a difficult time. I was told they had recently changed manufacturing plants--the Mexico plant that used to make Fits was making more HR-Vs because they have better margins. Since Fits were now coming from Japan there was a backlog. Maybe what I had heard was just a rumor, because it was definitely a few years ago and this recent article makes it sound like it hasn't happened yet. [1] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-honda-production-mexico/honda-mulls-moving-u-s-bound-fit-production-to-japan-from-mexico-sources-idUSKCN1N01C6 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-honda-production-mexico/h...
sndean 8y ago
They have new cars, but it's a pretty small percentage (looking now, it's ~300 new vs. ~8000 used), and it appears to be only Toyotas (?). So that's a good option if you're interested in new versions of Toyota Yaris or Corolla, at least. Edit: I had the default 250-mile radius setting on. It's ~500 new vs. ~60000 used. Still looks like it's all Toyota, though.
- amyjess 8y ago
  And they don't have any in my state. Well, almost any. Searching 2019 models only, there are exactly _two_ in 250 miles. A Jeep Cherokee and a Corvette Grand Sport.
skywhopper 8y ago
Some brands/dealers are no-pressure. My wife had very good luck with a Mini dealership in 2014. My impression at the time was that that was part of their corporate approach to sales. I have no idea if that's still the case, but it was pain-free, pressure-free and all very easy. All the features were a la carte. There were packages, but you could also order each feature individually if you preferred. Individual dealerships and salespeople certainly prefer the in-person pressure-oriented sales model. But offering a showroom and online custom-ordering would certainly make _me_ more likely to buy vehicles more often. As it is, I drive my cars into the ground until I don't feel I can trust their reliability for my typical trips any longer (luckily I _do_ trust my mechanic), but it's usually a few years after I start thinking about replacing them. If it was truly easy to do, I would probably jump a lot sooner.
smacktoward 8y ago
Honest question: why? Cars’ rapid depreciation makes a gently used car a much better buy than a new one in just about all circumstances. And CarMax does thorough inspections and provides solid warranties for cars they sell, so you don’t have to worry about “used” equaling “unreliable.”
- pps43 8y ago
  Asymmetric information. The buyer has no way of knowing whether the car was used gently, which results in market for lemons. CarMax has no incentive to fail a car at inspection. They'd rather sell it to you and if it breaks, fix it under warranty. But for you a broken car might mean ruined vacation or road trip.
  - max76 8y ago
    CarMax has incentive to fail cars at inspection before they purchase the car, or to use the inspection results to adjust the price they pay for the car. The price of fixing a car under warranty can be higher than the difference between their purchase price and their sell price.
    - pps43 8y ago
      You also need to multiply the price of fixing a car under warranty by probability of the car breaking before that warranty expires. CarMax only makes money on the cars it sells, so as long as there is a decent chance the car will break after warranty expires, it still might make economical sense to do it.
  - smacktoward 8y ago
    CarMax gives you a free history report on the life of the vehicle to date, including how many owners it's had, any accidents it's been involved in, any recalls it's been included in, registered odometer readings over the life of the car, and so forth. (Details here: https://www.carmax.com/articles/free-vehicle-history-report-walk-through https://www.carmax.com/articles/free-vehicle-history-report-...) If you don't trust CarMax to give you an accurate report, you can buy a separate one from a third party like Carfax (https://www.carfax.com/vehicle-history-reports/ https://www.carfax.com/vehicle-history-reports/) to confirm the details. > CarMax has no incentive to fail a car at inspection. They'd rather sell it to you and if it breaks, fix it under warranty. Any car you buy from CarMax can optionally be covered by their "MaxCare" extended warranty, which lets you choose a deductible and then obligates CarMax to pay the remaining cost of any repairs to the vehicle beyond that deductible. So if you set the deductible at, say, $250, and then you get the vehicle home and discover that the transmission is shot, the worst case scenario is you're out $250. CarMax eats the rest of the cost. Car YouTuber Doug DeMuro bought a Range Rover from CarMax with this type of coverage a few years back. He paid $3,899 for the extended warranty, and CarMax ended up paying out $16,925 on warranty repairs over the six years he owned the car. More details here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3jA55TJboA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3jA55TJboA
ENOTTY 8y ago
I'm aware of at least one Carmax that is also a Toyota dealership, which they sell no-haggle. I think some dealership chains are also no-haggle (e.g., Fitzgerald Auto Mall)

Carmax still only sells used cars, don't they? I want a no-haggle dealer for new cars, especially if they sell economy cars like the Nissan Versa and Chevrolet Spark.

PaulHoule 8y ago

I had the hardest time getting a Honda Fit when I wanted one this summer. Everybody wanted to push me to buy an S.U.V. though... I'm not sure if drivers really want S.U.V.'s or if carmakers really want to sell them.

christophilus 8y ago
It’s the latter, I think. SUVs are more profitable than cars.
- crooked-v 8y ago
  From what I understand, SUVs generally count as "trucks" rather than "cars" for regulation purposes, so they don't need to meet the same efficiency standards. I'm sure that's a big part of it.
  - PaulHoule 8y ago
    See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax
  - argonaut 8y ago
    That's not necessarily true anymore, and is pretty inconsistent. Most crossover "SUVs" (which are the best selling segment of cars in America), for example, are classified as cars.
pfranz 8y ago
I was looking for one a few years ago and had a difficult time. I was told they had recently changed manufacturing plants--the Mexico plant that used to make Fits was making more HR-Vs because they have better margins. Since Fits were now coming from Japan there was a backlog. Maybe what I had heard was just a rumor, because it was definitely a few years ago and this recent article makes it sound like it hasn't happened yet. [1] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-honda-production-mexico/honda-mulls-moving-u-s-bound-fit-production-to-japan-from-mexico-sources-idUSKCN1N01C6 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-honda-production-mexico/h...

sndean 8y ago

They have new cars, but it's a pretty small percentage (looking now, it's ~300 new vs. ~8000 used), and it appears to be only Toyotas (?). So that's a good option if you're interested in new versions of Toyota Yaris or Corolla, at least. Edit: I had the default 250-mile radius setting on. It's ~500 new vs. ~60000 used. Still looks like it's all Toyota, though.

amyjess 8y ago
And they don't have any in my state. Well, almost any. Searching 2019 models only, there are exactly _two_ in 250 miles. A Jeep Cherokee and a Corvette Grand Sport.

skywhopper 8y ago

Some brands/dealers are no-pressure. My wife had very good luck with a Mini dealership in 2014. My impression at the time was that that was part of their corporate approach to sales. I have no idea if that's still the case, but it was pain-free, pressure-free and all very easy. All the features were a la carte. There were packages, but you could also order each feature individually if you preferred. Individual dealerships and salespeople certainly prefer the in-person pressure-oriented sales model. But offering a showroom and online custom-ordering would certainly make _me_ more likely to buy vehicles more often. As it is, I drive my cars into the ground until I don't feel I can trust their reliability for my typical trips any longer (luckily I _do_ trust my mechanic), but it's usually a few years after I start thinking about replacing them. If it was truly easy to do, I would probably jump a lot sooner.

smacktoward 8y ago

Honest question: why? Cars’ rapid depreciation makes a gently used car a much better buy than a new one in just about all circumstances. And CarMax does thorough inspections and provides solid warranties for cars they sell, so you don’t have to worry about “used” equaling “unreliable.”

pps43 8y ago
Asymmetric information. The buyer has no way of knowing whether the car was used gently, which results in market for lemons. CarMax has no incentive to fail a car at inspection. They'd rather sell it to you and if it breaks, fix it under warranty. But for you a broken car might mean ruined vacation or road trip.
- max76 8y ago
  CarMax has incentive to fail cars at inspection before they purchase the car, or to use the inspection results to adjust the price they pay for the car. The price of fixing a car under warranty can be higher than the difference between their purchase price and their sell price.
  - pps43 8y ago
    You also need to multiply the price of fixing a car under warranty by probability of the car breaking before that warranty expires. CarMax only makes money on the cars it sells, so as long as there is a decent chance the car will break after warranty expires, it still might make economical sense to do it.
- smacktoward 8y ago
  CarMax gives you a free history report on the life of the vehicle to date, including how many owners it's had, any accidents it's been involved in, any recalls it's been included in, registered odometer readings over the life of the car, and so forth. (Details here: https://www.carmax.com/articles/free-vehicle-history-report-walk-through https://www.carmax.com/articles/free-vehicle-history-report-...) If you don't trust CarMax to give you an accurate report, you can buy a separate one from a third party like Carfax (https://www.carfax.com/vehicle-history-reports/ https://www.carfax.com/vehicle-history-reports/) to confirm the details. > CarMax has no incentive to fail a car at inspection. They'd rather sell it to you and if it breaks, fix it under warranty. Any car you buy from CarMax can optionally be covered by their "MaxCare" extended warranty, which lets you choose a deductible and then obligates CarMax to pay the remaining cost of any repairs to the vehicle beyond that deductible. So if you set the deductible at, say, $250, and then you get the vehicle home and discover that the transmission is shot, the worst case scenario is you're out $250. CarMax eats the rest of the cost. Car YouTuber Doug DeMuro bought a Range Rover from CarMax with this type of coverage a few years back. He paid $3,899 for the extended warranty, and CarMax ended up paying out $16,925 on warranty repairs over the six years he owned the car. More details here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3jA55TJboA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3jA55TJboA

ENOTTY 8y ago

I'm aware of at least one Carmax that is also a Toyota dealership, which they sell no-haggle. I think some dealership chains are also no-haggle (e.g., Fitzgerald Auto Mall)