Tuesday, March 25, 2008

My Car Max Experience....SO FAR

In the almost 11 years that my wife and I have been married we have gone through cars. It is almost embarrassing. The longest we have kept a car is five years with 85,000 miles on the car. The shortest amount of time we have had a car is 6 months. Bought little car...here comes second baby. TRADE IN!!!

Anyway, I dread the car buying experience. I can't stand the back and forth stuff.
1. Let me go see my manager.
2. The "keep the keys" trick used acting like it takes two hours to assess a vehicle. TRAPPED
3. The sometimes LAGGING Finance department. Have waited 2 hours for "my turn" on a
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.

There are others but you get the point.

When we bought the car at Car Max on Saturday I was taken back a little by the HIGH interest rate. I learned from the salesman that typically people who shop at Car Max have some credit challenges and they have to use their prime lenders. They did give us three business days to go find a better rate. My salesman said....GO...you can beat this almost anywhere with your credit score. I thought for a moment....isn't that like a person working at McDonalds telling the customer to go to Burger King because their food is better? I digress.... Well I did go out and find a better deal. My payment went up 8 bucks but I knocked a year off the loan. WHOOHOO!

Well today I had to take the paperwork over to Car Max to show them my new loan. The guy working behind the desk took my paperwork and these were his comments.
1. WOW! You got that APR? I wish I had YOUR credit!
2. Sir, give me 30 seconds and I will have your forms to sign over to the new loaner.
3. You have an excellent loan company.

It took a grand total of 10 minutes ( I was expecting the usual...one hour at least that you get from other dealership.)

4. That's it sir is there anything else I can do for you? Have a great day and enjoy your new car.

VERY POSITIVE EXPERIENCE........

Tomorrow is a big test. I take the car in to have it DE-SMOKED. They said I would have a loaner car. We shall see. So far I have become a big fan of how Car Max handles their business. I know other dealerships are out there that operate well but what I have enjoyed about this experience is the "just the facts" approach. It is what is and you can take it or not? They leave you alone when you need to talk and they know when to pipe in to help you make the best decision.

Keep it up Car Max.....I have friends looking for cars and I will definitely send them your way.

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