The Unforgettable Dilemma with CarMax

Once upon a time before I knew the value of a dollar, I thought car buying was an enjoyable and exciting experience. I envied car buyers. Perhaps I too wanted to share that experience and bask in the glow of being a car owner.

My first vehicle of choice to go under my name and credit was a Silver 2003 Chevrolet Impala. I made this purchase back in April of 2006. Such a heaven-send, (at least I thought) 26,300 miles, clean, sexy, navy blue cloth interior, extended warranty package all for only $13,500 - could've sworn the angels were watching over me. I dreamed already of picking up my girlfriend in my new ride - with us riding off into the sunset, but I was wrong. Late that Friday night it rained, and rained and rained. Fierce storms woke me up in the dead of the night at the sound of a STRIKE as I peeped out the window with a grin - admiring my new ride parked at the curb. Way ahead of myself, I envisioned a new name for my ride, "Paula," I chanted staring out, "For now on it's going to be just me & Paula."

Back in January 2007 I begin to experience some problems with "Paula." On my way home from work one evening, Paula's temperature needle was inside of the red zone (the car was overheating.) Desperate to figure out the cause, I pulled over immediately on the side of the highway to investigate.

"What the hell's wrong with this damn thing?" I growled thru the sounds of the evening commuters passing by. No smoke, no burning smell, no coolant leaking, nothing. I sat a few moments to let it cool off, hoping it was just something silly - like a rabbit caught in the motor or a deer pissing in my gas tank. I started Paula up once again and hoped it was just a glitch. Nope! Paula would overheat again after just 3-4 minutes of idling. I turned her off and flopped back into my seat.

"Damn... why is this happening?"

1^st trip to CarMax (Late January something)

I couldn't put my finger on it at the time, but I figured it was probably something so serious that it would have to be repaired instantly. Luckily, I managed to get the vehicle home safely that cold night after stopping and going for nearly 4 hours on the side of the road. The following Monday morning, I had the vehicle towed into CarMax so they could diagnose the problem; luckily I had my extended warranty coverage on it. By the end of the week CarMax called me to say Paula was ready. They said it was a problem with my thermostat - the thermostat was "broken so the vehicle was tricking me into believing that the car was running hot."

"Oh, okay......."

Paula and I tried to come home that night and guess what... it overheated again.

2^nd Trip back to CarMax (Early February something)

On Saturday, just one day later, I had the car towed to CarMax so it could be fixed yet again. It took their service team an entire week to diagnose and fix the problem. On Friday, February 9^th 2007, I got a phone call telling me again Paula was ready. I wanted my car back so bad so that I snuck out of work early just to make sure to get to CarMax before they closed. This time they admitted to "accidentally putting a warped thermostat in the car," so that's why it didn't work right the first go around, "but it should be good now."

3^rd Trip back to CarMax (Sitting in the parking lot; Same exact day and time as 2^nd)

I went out to the parking lot and gave Paula a start, she started right up. But she overheated once again and this time the engine was knocking severely. The motor shook abruptly; it sounded like somebody had dumped a bunch of paperclips into it. I stormed back into CarMax immediately and demanded to see a service manager. Considering it was after hours, management couldn't help me but vowed they would keep the vehicle and try to work at the problem. Vividly hot and pissed off, CarMax tried to meet me halfway by offering me a rental car, which they call, "a loaner vehicle." Not only was the loaner lacking finesse and style for a young cat like myself, I highly doubt an older person would've taken this monstrosity.

Another week or two passed by, a Thursday or Friday before I got a call from the service management asking if, "one of the service guys can take my car home overnight to make certain it'll run right before they give it back to me." The next day, I got a phonecall from management. CarMax told me that they were, "100% confident that my vehicle will run properly now and that I shouldn't have any problems." Again, that was just a lie, as the only consistency with CarMax's service has been their inconsistency and incompetence.

My vehicle was not ready.

..............

4^th trip to CarMax (End of February to Mid March something)

So here we are, another week into this foolishness, the 4th time I've had to get service on my vehicle. At this junction, I was already thinking of selling Paula and getting rid of her before it was too late. Paula was beautiful, but I got the feeling that CarMax sold me a dud - so I wanted out of the situation entirely. On the 4^th hit & miss visit at CarMax, the same scenario happened once again. I even tried reselling the vehicle back to CarMax, but to no avail. Again they offered me a loaner vehicle (Mercury station wagon) and brought Paula back into the shop. This time they said the head gaskets were warped and they would need 2-3 weeks to fix Paula. Upon realizing the severity of my problem, CarMax threatened to not fix the seals and charge me for the work ($2200.00). Eventually, I won the argument with a few phonecalls to corporate. The gaskets were finally fixed and Paula was out of the shop within the 2-3 weeks. I never paid the $2200.00 because they realized that the vehicle had to be fixed because of my extended warranty plan.

With Paula now out of the shop and finally appearing to run right, I begin to have doubts about the relationship. I thought of a Paula as nothing more than a lemon. Within the last few months she had spent more time at CarMax than with me. The love was no longer there and I begin to distance myself from the joy I first felt when we first met.

5^th trip to CarMax (early July something)

Sitting at the traffic light, Paula began to shake uncontrollably as the "Check engine" light came on shortly after. Disappointed and angry, I had Paula towed to CarMax once again to try to figure out what the problem was.

"You're spark plugs needed to be adjusted, I think..."

"You think?"

That wasn't it... weeks later, it shook again, and again... and again... I decided I had enough of CarMax's bullsh*t. Despite threats of having my warranty coverage expired if I take it to a different shop, I did it anyway. I took Paula to Meineke on one cold December day and they diagnosed and fixed my vehicle.

So now what?

I got rid of her a**, that's what! I accepted my loss, I accepted the fact that Paula was a piece of crap and that CarMax had stuffed me with an invaluable & unreliable car. I became desperate to get rid of the Impala before it was too late. I couldn't believe how a vehicle that only had 44,000 miles could be so useless and such a dud. In another week, I would go on to sell the Impala and purchase another vehicle from a different dealer - so far so good. I am not the type to tell you guys where to shop for a car, but I want to be honest with my readers and say that CarMax may not be a good choice. The following link below is more than enough proof of other consumers who have encountered similar problems with CarMax. Please pass this along and spread the word.

http://www.ripoffreport.com/searchresults.asp?q1=ALL&q4=&q6=&q3=&q2=&q7=&searchtype=0&submit2=Search%21&q5=CarMax