Review of Carmax Appraisal Process.

Or, You Won't Get Anywhere Near the Real Value of Your Car.

I was trying to sell my car first before I could get a new one from a dealer. Knowing how dealers always lowball you when you come in with a trade-in, I decided to take it to Carmax. They have a great reputation for no haggle prices, non-pushy sales staff and a general non-intimidating atmosphere. And, I’ve heard they were very fair in valuing your car and give you top value.

Full disclosure: I was not trying to buy a used car from Carmax, I was only trying to sell my car first.

First, the showroom is very clean, open and airy. All their employees wear these blue polo shirts and matching tan pants. There is rep that informs you of their process. However, this person isn’t the one who inspects your car. It’s is someone else. Also, you don’t get to watch over the shoulder of the appraiser (contrary to what the Carmax website says).

It takes about 15-20 minutes to wait to see your rep, then another 45 minutes for the appraiser to do the inspection. Budget about 1 hour for the complete process.

Everything was great except for the real reason you go there: top dollar for your car. They came in with a $6,000 price on my 4runner. I understand that my gas guzzling 4runner may not be high on buyer’s lists these days, but I saw some 4runners on their lot, the same year as mine that they were selling for $11 to 12K! Their inspection process rated my car as “good” with just two issues: a dented rim and some dents on the doors. Other reasons they gave were: their inventory system was no conducive to buying more 4runners and resale possibilities of my car.

I checked Kelly blue book(Kbb.com) and for a seller trading in a 4runner, my range was $10-11K (fair to very good). I understand that Carmax needs to make money but they didn’t even come close to the low end of the Kelly blue book low range. Couldn’t Carmax make money by offering me $9K or so?

My suspicion is that they’ll find something minor with your car, then highlight it and say that there’s something really wrong with it. Who doesn’t have dings on the doors?

In sum, I can’t recommend Carmax to sell your car to. Stick to Craigslist, classified ads or any of the numerous online classified car sites. Carmax is just like a regular dealer in trying to lowball you.

Pros: open process, free coffee.
Cons: Don’t offer you close to the real value of your car. Heck, they don’t even come close to the low range of Kbb.

Texas Roadhouse: $1.29 for toppings on a baked potato!

We really like the chain restaurant Texas Roadhouse (http://www.texasroadhouse.com/). They serve pretty big portions on most of the items on the menu. They also bring you rolls with butter free of charge. Restaurants that give you big portions get a bad rap (b/c they contribute to the obesity problem), but we never finish our entrees and instead enjoy the doggie bags we take home later. Besides, it's a good treat to have someone else cook and serve you food every once in a while.

We hadn't been there in a while so we were surprised with the extra charge for toppings on a baked potato, which is considered a "side" there. Let me back up, most Texas Roadhouse entrees come with 2 sides like vegetables, fries, rice, salad etc. Both of us got a baked potato + salad. When we were asked if we wanted a "loaded" baked potato (butter, sour cream and cheese), we said yes. We were really surprised that they tacked on a $1.29 charge for a "loaded" baked potato. The waitress did not warn us about this at all.

We didn't complain but will watch out for this on our next visit. Maybe we can take the butter than comes with our rolls and slather them on our baked potato, ha-ha.

I'm getting sick and tired of getting nickel and dimed for things that used to be included for goods and services (hello airlines?). What's next? Paying for ketchup and mustard at Mcdonalds?
(Tags: Texas Roadhouse review, toppings)