Carmax offer--too good to be true

I was interested in getting out of my '19 Tacoma lease 10 months early. I got an offer from Carmax for $3000 over the buyout price. I took the vehicle to Carmax, and they inspected it. I thought the deal would be done on Monday, but they required some papers from Toyota Finance to be faxed.

The fax didn't arrive on Monday. By Tuesday they had the fax, but claimed the forms were for a buyout from the lessee, not a dealer. They told me they would have to talk again with Toyota.

Today the business office manager called and said they could not go through with the offer. According to him, "Toyota is putting up too many hoops for us to jump through."

IDK, seems like a weak excuse to me. Toyota was made it sound very simple on the 3-way call we had on Monday. I think someone higher up decided the offer was too generous and killed it.

It's not a huge deal, cause I still have the truck and don't need to get out of it right now, I was just intrigued with the idea of getting a new one. We'll see what other options are out there.

 

Pay it off then sell to carmax

 

Carmax is a reputable company. I have sold them 6-8 cars over the years by just walking in, receiving a very fair offer, and walking out with a check in hand in 45 mins to an hour.
Their offers are market driven so I have heard stores in some areas seem to pay more than others.

My sister-in-law's family have purchased all their vehicles from them for years (probably 25-30 vehicles) and have never been anything but pleased with both the cars and their service.

So if anyone is giving you the run-around here, I would put my $ on that's it's Toyota, not Carmax.

 

Toyota Financial and your Toyota dealer make bank on lease returns. Lease buyouts also involve a lot of paperwork due to the amount of parties involved. It wouldn't surprise me that the manager at Carmax wouldn't want to deal with a potential paperwork mixup due to Toyota financial and be stuck with a truck he couldn't sell until it was cleared up.

You might be able to negotiate a better deal on a new vehicle from your dealer before your lease is up. We traded a 17 sr5 4runner for a 20 trd off-road 4runner with 4-5 months still remaining on our lease. Inventory was a lot better back then, but things could change in 5 months. BTW, any dealer Toyota or another brand can do a lease buyout before your lease is up. Also, car values have increased quite a bit due to the production shortages from the global pandemic. If you have another vehicle in mind go ahead and test the waters. You might be surprised at what you're offered.

 

There's been some changes recently on how car manufacturer's are handling lease pay offs. Car manufacturers use lease returns to re-stock their used car inventory, including CPOs, or they will send them to auction. Previously you could get a pay off amount and that would be the same for buying it as the leaser or if a dealer bought it. With the current shortage of new and used cars, manufacturers are changing the rules since people are selling their leases to CarMax, Carvana, Vroom, etc.. That creates a shortage of used cars within their inventory. Car manufacturers are now making it harder for leasers to sell to dealers by having a separate price for the leaser to buy it vs a dealer. It makes sense that CarMax is having issues buying it. I think Toyota knows the value in their Tacoma lease assets now and will make dealers jump through hoops to buy them direct from people leasing.
Your best bet is to buy it, than sell it to CarMax yourself.

 

I've tried to deal with Carmax, several times, but something always kills the deal. Few years back, had them bring in a Mustang GT500, car had a very noticeable "shimmy" in the front suspension. Bad tires, or worse. Manager wanted me to buy the car, take to an outside shop to diagnose the issue, and offered $100, max, toward the repair.....true story. Last Summer, the wife was deciding between a Tacoma and a Ridgeline. We had local store bring over a Ridgeline from a store in next state over. They call when it arrives and we go take a look and first thing we see is that it is filthy, inside and out. Granted, this was a store to store swap but the truck had not been detailed, at all. Opened the tailgate and then the under-bed trunk and there was an old BBQ grill and other trash, including an empty milk jug.....so much for their comprehensive inspection process. Salesman tried to convince us to hang around while they detailed it.........LOL. I told him if they missed something as simple as making sure the storage area was clean, no telling what else they missed.

 

I worked as a lot attendant in my younger days and knew several people who worked in detail. You'd be surprised how nice a turd polishes up on the used car lot and how many people would never have any idea of what kind of shape the vehicle was in beforehand. I've seen brand new cars filthy also. Showroom cars are the worst with everyone touching them and getting in and out with their dirty feet. So this isn't Carmax specific, but you definitely hit the nail on the head. Quality used cars can be found, but buyers really have to do their research and know what to look for and what they're buying.

 

Keep the Tacoma,problem solved.

 

Carvana ... no bs ..Carmax is one of those places that tell you they will give you this much for it and if they don’t get a high enough bid on it then make up bs to get out of it . Like every other car dealer they post it on a site to get the highest bid .

 

I bought mine as a lease buy out that a GMC dealer bought. It took a long time to get title in hand from Toyota financial.

 

What are you talking about, them getting a bid? You've obviously never sold a vehicle to Carmax.
You walk in, tell them you are interested in selling your vehicle, their appraiser looks at it, drives it and gives you a price. If you agree with the appraisal, they cut you a check and you are out in usual less than an hour.
There's no bid involved.

 

You don’t know what you are talking about every dealer does it . Why do u think it takes forever for them to come back with a offer . They post your vin on a national site for car dealers yes including carmax and they base your offer on the highest bid they get from other dealers so they can make money . You think dealerships just buy your car and sell it ? They would go broke if they did that . Do your research before making comments of stuff u obviously have no clue about.

 

I could pay it off today but then I would owe a ton in sales tax on the buyout. (Unless you sell it to another private buyer and complete the transaction within 10 days.) Sales tax here is 5%, and fees and title are a bunch more. It could take weeks to get the title in hand, and that seems like a huge hassle and risk.

If a dealer pays it off to resell there’s no sales tax.

 

I will say I’ve bought 2 cars and my fiancee bought 1 through CM, and it was a painless and pleasant experience. I had them give me a bid on an ‘03 BMW Z4, and it was $2000 less than I eventually sold it for.

The offer was excellent, it’s just the follow-through and communication that is subpar. The “fax delay” and back and forth phone calls suggest to me they wanted to back out of their offer.

 

Exactly
.. I'm going through the same thing. Carvana offered me more than my payoff on the wife's lease.
I just paid it off waiting for the title.

 

We are not discussing every dealer, we are specifically discussing Carmax. By the way, how many cars have you sold to Carmax? I just checked and I have sold them 7, and pretty sure they sold all off their lots. But then I not selling them JUNK, which I'm sure they pawn off on another dealer.

As far as forever to come back with an offer, I don't believe I've ever waited more than 15 minutes for their figure. The longest part is waiting for them to cut the check. As previously stated, the entire process has never taken more tan an hour, typically about 45 minutes.

Pretty obvious you have never sold a car to them as you don't the process. Perhaps you should follow your own advice regarding making comments about something you know nothing about.

 

Carmax offer free drive in appraisals, but does not guarantee they will buy it.. expired tages, out of state titles, missing out of state titles.. also some lease are different. there is customer lease buyout and dealer lease buyout. some lender will charge more for dealer to buy out the lease.. i know im there competitor.. And toyota lease buy out is one of the easiest lease to buy out. just need a odometer statement sign and done. i think they just overprice your truck and wanted to back out.. or they found frame damage at final inspection (accident or body mount chop)...

 

This right here. Tax in my area is almost 10%. Then with the DMV being a shtshow due to Covid, you'll be waiting longer than usual for the title.

 

not 100% correct. you already paid tax when you bought, loan or lease. they wouldnt tax you again. some banks will charge tax to dealer to buyout. (example- US bank)

 

Depends on the state, some collect with the lease payment and only for that payment value, others you owe sales tax on the purchase value, upfront no less, and even though it's a lease you may simply return.

It also depends on the state if you owe sales tax on the entire value of the next vehicle purchase, or only on the difference in value from the vehicle you just sold, and within a certain number of days between sale and purchase.