CarMax reviews

Due to CarMax only selling used cars, the customer base is wide and some of the customers can be unsavory. I have had more rude customers than I can count. It seems that even though CarMax has a specific process, customers treat consultants and a true, slimy, used car salesman. In the business office and auction offices you have to deal with an EXTREMELY fast paced workload and simple mistakes can cost the company a lot of money, so naturally they crack down on all things compliance.

Where do I begin. The company is way below the industry standard in pay to its associates. All departments are not monitored equally and sales consultants are put under a microscope. The inspections of the cars are terrible and they often don’t even get cleaned before going to the front lot. A lot of cars hit the front lot with mechanical and cosmetic issues that don’t meet company standards. You must read from a script when taking phone calls and the calls are recorded which is fine but management will listen to it to insure you are reading your lines. They still want you to be an “individual” though. Please explain to me how that works. The offers on appraisals of customers cars are very inconsistent to which buyer is appraising the vehicle or how if the buyers are meeting their numbers. I’ve seen so many unrealistic offers and it’s sad that some customers have no idea. The no-haggle pricing is often too high and the condition of the vehicle is not taken into account most of the time. This makes sales very difficult. We offer financing with several great lenders but CarMax auto finance kicks out a lot of the other lenders offers for customers with great credit only to give them an obnoxious rate. This leads to outside financing which will often lead to a loss of a warranty sale because they will find one cheaper with their finance company. That leads me to the commission. The commission for selling a car is the same as selling a warranty. This is often unfair as some cars have extremely low miles and a long factory warranty still standing. Makes it tough to sell and also some warranties cost up to a third of the cars overall cost. Good luck and I had an extremely high close rate on warranties. They give bonuses in the form of candy and they hand out awards you can’t show or present on your desk. They required we remove them. So why hand out the award for your hard work if you can’t show it? The morale of the employees is extremely bad. Especially in sales. The management is very robotic and is always over your shoulder. Feels very much like a traditional dealership in that aspect. The customer service after the sell is terrible. Expect customers to complain to you after the sell and threaten to return the car because the service department did not contact the customer for a repair on a car. The service department is among the worst. The General Managers have an extreme disconnect from employees. They don’t walk around the store. They often just sit at their desk and never leave the confinement’s of the building itself. They need to be more hands on and see how all Departments are functioning. Not just sales. The Companies computers are terrible. Quite possibly left over Circuit City computers. They always freeze up. The chairs are as old as the store and there aren’t a enough to have two in each cubicle. Detail uses window cleaner for all detailing because the company can’t invest in cheap quick detailer. The lot is never organized. The dealership stays open until 9 despite all others being closed. People are shocked we are even open and no one comes after seven. They have a tracker on the front door but obviously don’t pay attention to them. If they did the store hours would change. Constant video training which is unrealistic, repetitive, and non productive toward helping in real sales customer related objections. Showroom cars are even dirty. That’s how much attention to detail this company has. You will have to split sales with other employees despite the fact they may not have done any work to get sale. They could of called and left a message and that garners a split according to policy. Absurd. You don’t get paid on a customers trade in despite going through the appraisal process and doing the work for it like any other appraisal. I have many other issues I could go on for pages. My recommendation is to use this job as a stepping stone to progress and gain experience to get a career. This is a job not a career. If you don’t have any formal education gain experience and still find a better sales position if you have the ability. Don’t stay forever and allow the brainwashing of this company make you believe this is the best you can do.