[schoettt]

I'm looking for a 328xi or 328i coupe with manual transmission with black interior and silver trim. They are the only place that has one and its 500 miles away. They can transfer it for $299. Is carmax good to deal with?I have never bought a car from them.

[onebadmofo]

You do realize you can always change the trim right?

[schoettt]

Yes I realize that and have found a black set on ebay for $700 and silver for $1000. I would do that if I found one at a good price. The problem is finding one with a manual transmission

[StevenY.]

Originally Posted by schoettt

Yes I realize that and have found a black set on ebay for $700 and silver for $1000. I would do that if I found one at a good price. The problem is finding one with a manual transmission

An alternative to buying new trim is vinyl wrapping the trim yourself.

Example
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=690972

[schoettt]

I thought about that but would rather have the silver trim.

[grassfeeder]

500 miles....road trip it! there's nothing like finding exactly what you want and enjoying it the entire drive home!

also - if they really wanted to sell - have them waive that "transfer fee"

[PR3CI5N]

I've never bought a car from CarMax but I did sell them my 2007 E90 335i. They were easy to work with and they definitely have a large selection of vehicles. $300 is a lot of money to transfer a car but after gas and food etc, picking it up wouldn't be too much cheaper.

You can most likely find the silver trim you're looking for on this forum within a month or two so don't let that be your deciding factor between the two cars. That's more of a want item, not a need item. If the local car is everything you want besides the trim, I'd buy that one.

[monza2t]

Originally Posted by grassfeeder

also - if they really wanted to sell - have them waive that "transfer fee"

good luck with getting anything waived at Carmax. They are a one-price place, the asking price for the car or fees is not negotiable. They really dont care if you walk off.

I have bought 3 cars from them and really love the no B.S. experience. If I think the price is fair I can take it home without any crap with negotiations. The only thing I would say about them I dont like is their financing is not very competitive, so finance at a CU or someplace else if you can.

One other thing I love about Carmax, instead of an inventory of 25 used BMWs at my local BMW dealer, I can choose from 1,615 of them... with 63 being M3s (as of right now when I checked...). Their transfer fees are no greater than having a car shipped via an independent car hauler...

[schoettt]

Yeah, I havent really found one locally that has a manual transmission. The one that I can get from carmax is an 08 328xi coupe with 42k miles for $21,988. Is that a good price?

[schoettt]

Since they dont negotiate the price will they negotiate the trade in price?

[CruzS4e92]

I bought my car from Carmax in Lancaster, PA in July. They shipped the car from the one in Hartford, CT for $100.

They did the credit scan, loan approval, etc etc over the phone and I was there for probably less than an hour to pick the car up. Excellent service and extremely seamless process. Car was in fantastic shape. The balance of the factory warranty expired in December, I purchased an extended warranty from them through 125k that I can use at shops of my choice, although there is a deductible of $1000 I think. So I'd only use that for something big-ticket (knock on wood). The cost was negligible with regard to the monthly payment.

In short, I'd recommend. Good luck!

[CruzS4e92]

Originally Posted by schoettt

Yeah, I havent really found one locally that has a manual transmission. The one that I can get from carmax is an 08 328xi coupe with 42k miles for $21,988. Is that a good price?

Sounds a little steep. I paid them around $25k for my 09 with 21k miles like 7 months ago

[schoettt]

Thanks for all the info.

[Meeni]

Originally Posted by schoettt

Since they dont negotiate the price will they negotiate the trade in price?

No, they make you a straight offer, that last for 2weeks or 1 month I don't remember. You then can try to sale for more on your own, or just turn in the keys before the deadline if you don't succeed. Their offers are usually not so great, but never a full ripoff like what sometime you get when trading in.

[asus389]

In my experience carmax low-balled me as a seller. They offered about 3k less than I ultimately sold the car for. As a buyer, they did seem to have quite a selection. What is the quality of their cars in general? Do they have a rep for having cars that are consistently good/bad?

[CruzS4e92]

Originally Posted by Meeni

No, they make you a straight offer, that last for 2weeks or 1 month I don't remember. You then can try to sale for more on your own, or just turn in the keys before the deadline if you don't succeed. Their offers are usually not so great, but never a full ripoff like what sometime you get when trading in.

you can return the car within 5 days, no questions asked, full refund

unless some disastrous harm befalls it, i believe

either way i love my car, i'd say go for it dude

[CruzS4e92]

Originally Posted by asus389

In my experience carmax low-balled me as a seller. They offered about 3k less than I ultimately sold the car for. As a buyer, they did seem to have quite a selection. What is the quality of their cars in general? Do they have a rep for having cars that are consistently good/bad?

my mom bought an isuzu Trooper from them before that was like 2.5 years old, the limited model. (this was in 95 in Atlanta, i believe they originated in the south). Car was beautiful and never gave her any problems. This was the reason I considered them, as opposed to a dealership (plus space gray + coral + sport + 6mt + 21k miles). i mean i would have eaten the $100 transport cost were the car not desirable, but it was. they actually had a space gray DCT e92 m3 on the lot too that was gorgeous but about $20k north what i wanted to spend that day

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Sold my 2006 Acura TL 6 MT to them for $5,500 more then the BMW dealer offered on a trade. Easy to deal with was in & out in less then an hour. Car must have shipped because I never saw it advertised locally.

[schoettt]

Bad news is they were around $3000 less on my trade than I needed. Good news is the car might be a cpo. When I click on the autocheck it says:VEHICLE IN DEALER INVENTORY (COLOR REPORTED AS BLACK)
CERTIFIED AS BMW APPROVED CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED VEHICLE. Is there any way to find out for sure?

[ChasVS]

Originally Posted by schoettt

I'm looking for a 328xi or 328i coupe with manual transmission with black interior and silver trim. They are the only place that has one and its 500 miles away. They can transfer it for $299. Is carmax good to deal with?I have never bought a car from them.

Yes, did all of that. Paid to have a car transferred to look at it. Didn't like it and wasn't pressed to by it. Then found one I liked and the purchase process was easy. They have the no haggle price which is competitive with local dealers. They press pretty hard to buy their warranty, but when I said no they dropped to pitch.

All in all a decent experience. Not something I can normally say about regular dealer experiences I've had over the years. I'd definitely do it again if they had a car I was interested in!

[ChasVS]

Originally Posted by asus389

In my experience carmax low-balled me as a seller. They offered about 3k less than I ultimately sold the car for. As a buyer, they did seem to have quite a selection. What is the quality of their cars in general? Do they have a rep for having cars that are consistently good/bad?

They buy cars outright and tell you up front that you probably won't get what you may get if you trade it in with a regular dealer on a new car deal. The Buying and Selling transactions are totally separate. You can sell them your car without buying one from them.

Essentially they give you a bit more over wholesale value of your car. With a regular dealer you really never know the value of your trade-in because the more they give you for your trade-in, the less they discount your new car.

I sold them a car once and was happy with the deal. Fast and easy and walked away with a Check in about an hour. Sure, I could maybe have gotten a little more from a private sale, but the time effort and risk of that wasn't something I wanted to deal with.

[kihun]

bought mine through car max. price was little high for my 07 335i but it only had 26k mileage. however they are really good to work with and they only have good cars there.. from what i saw.