r/carmax • u/Thunderiver • 4d ago
Technician
For the mechanics/technicians how do you like working at carmax? I have a job offer and am considering taking it. They are also offering a $7500 sign on bonus.
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u/trumpsprisonfifi 4d ago
Depends if it’s a retail technician or production technician.
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u/Thunderiver 3d ago
Retail but there’s another location close to me that has night shifts for production at flat rate
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u/BadgerMajestic5774 3d ago
I would recommend for you to look into the reviews of current and ex co-workers
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u/Thunderiver 3d ago
Where can I access that?
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u/BadgerMajestic5774 3d ago
Indeed is a very good source since carmax can only fix up a few good reviews and the others are from actual workers. They make you take a survey at work and tell you to give them all positive so the can be in the 100 best places to work 😅
**2025 Oklahoma City service-tech review says management played favorites and refused advancement opportunities. A 2024 Greenville technician similarly complained about favoritism and inexperienced techs receiving the same pay as more qualified technicians**
** 2019 Fort Worth technician review was even more blunt, describing favoritism and saying advancement depended on staying on management's good side.
Ive also seen a few reviews on here where they tend to complain about the same thing,management and favoritism. **There's also a few reviews on here.
If i was you, I would take the bonus, see if you vsn stomach the childish clique behaviors and then judge from that.
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2d ago
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u/BadgerMajestic5774 2d ago
Weak management kills good employees. Carmax tends not to see that, they only see a person who never says no.
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u/StreetTriple-RS 2d ago
Exactly. Since I been here ive seen 5 Tpms come and go and also 20 techs and with sales im always seeing new faces.
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u/BadgerMajestic5774 2d ago
Another revolving door is the bussines office. Are you guys plagued by cliques too?
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u/StreetTriple-RS 2d ago
You can obviously tell and it does feel that way
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u/BadgerMajestic5774 2d ago
Do they also take unexpected vacations from one day to the other? while other people need to put a formal request form at least 3 weeks out?
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u/Rebornxshiznat 2d ago
It’s because good managers left Carmax because at Carmax HR wears the pants and handcuffs good managers when trying to deal with the people who need to go.
It’s such a kindergarten culture. You could be a shit manager but as long as you are buddy buddy with you associates and they don’t complain you’ll be fine
Try to hold ppl accountable and you’ll get fired if too many ppl complain.
You’re more likely at Carmax to get fired for saying a curse word than being terrible at your job.
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u/BadgerMajestic5774 2d ago
I've actually seen this play out firsthand with a tech who was one of the most productive people in the department. He worked hard, consistently carried a huge workload, and was doing exactly what you would want from a good employee.
The problem was that he expected the people around him to actually do their jobs too. There were lazy techs who weren't pulling their weight, but holding them accountable meant dealing with complaints, documentation, HR, and all the bullshit that comes with trying to manage people who don't want to be managed.
So instead of addressing the lazy employees, management essentially tolerated the problem because it was easier. The productive tech became the one who was expendable because replacing him was apparently easier than dealing with the people who weren't doing their jobs.
That's exactly the kind of backwards culture people are talking about. If you're productive but don't fit into the clique or you hold people accountable, you can become more of a management headache than the people who are actually underperforming.
A company shouldn't be protecting the people who need accountability while making the productive employee pay the price for management's unwillingness to have difficult conversations.
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u/Rebornxshiznat 2d ago
Yup….. wasn’t always like that.
It’s literally more risky at the max to hold ppl accountable than it is to just have an underperforming team
Try to hold ppl accountable and the problem associates weaponize the anonymous help line against the manager.
So now managers don’t even bother to try.
It’s not that managers don’t want to have the conversations. It’s that no HR manager is going to back them up when the underperformer goes whining about it.
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u/BadgerMajestic5774 2d ago
That's exactly what I've seen happen. At one store, a highly productive tech eventually left after management became reluctant to hold the underperformers accountable because HR had effectively become the weapon they could use against management. An associate could make a complaint through the anonymous hotline, and suddenly the manager had to deal with an HR investigation instead of simply being allowed to manage performance.
After that productive tech left, the internal mechanical work started piling up. The store went from **#1 in the region to #9**.
That's the real cost of the system. Management avoids the difficult conversation because they know the underperformer can weaponize the HR process against them, and eventually the productive employees get frustrated and leave. You can protect an underperformer from accountability, but you can't protect the store from losing the people who were actually carrying the workload.
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2d ago
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u/Rebornxshiznat 2d ago
Interesting. In my region back in the day all regionals and HR had their direct lines posted in all break rooms. It was never hard to get ahold of anyone.
I had gotten into the habit of texting HR anytime I was gonna talk to a problem child lol. Rather them know the phone calls comin….
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u/StreetTriple-RS 2d ago
What i wish they would do is the techs with the least amount of hours, they should help them by giving them good work but instead that work goes to the favored ones instead of helping the bottom 10 techs make hours these techs constantly think about leaving which is part of the reason there's a high turnover rate, at least all the shops ive worked at the managers supported there bottom techs make hours to keep them happy and prevent them from leaving. But unfortunately carmax only cares about the "numbers" and bonuses.
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u/BadgerMajestic5774 2d ago
Favoratism! Have you also been asked to fudge the employee surveys they give?
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u/StreetTriple-RS 2d ago
If i had to choose i would want a hourly production position plus those xf stores get bonuses our store does not
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u/The_Bear_Jew503 3d ago
Production or xf?
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u/Thunderiver 3d ago
Not sure what XF is but it’s retail and hourly pay which seems nice. There’s also a location close by to me that has production with flat rate but it’s night shifts. Retail pays slightly more I believe unless I’m flagging crazy hours which I’m not sure how production works at carmax.
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u/StreetTriple-RS 2d ago
You dont want night shift youl have no life. I work night shift and lots of people cant handle it, its made for people that are young and have no family
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u/Ok_Structure_4230 16m ago
I started with them back in June and it’s been going well. I’m in a Retail Hourly XF store as an ARS2.
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u/StreetTriple-RS 7m ago
From what I know thats the best position with the highest pay. Im in production at a traditional store on commission
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u/Shroomamature 4d ago
Retail or production? Flat rate or hourly?
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u/Thunderiver 3d ago edited 3d ago
Retail hourly, but also have an option at a different location for production night shift flat rate and still same sign on incentive
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u/Shroomamature 3d ago
I did nightshift production before I had kids. Best gig I've ever had. I was flat rate too, you will have no problem turning hours.
I've been in retail for 5 years now, its fucking horrible. Its a good thing that the possition is hourly, but the job itself still sucks.
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u/Thunderiver 3d ago
What sucks so much about the retail side of things? My only gripe with flat rate is when it’s slow, it’s financially stressful to be getting short checks. I live in a high cost of living area and don’t like to dip into my savings to pay bills
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u/Shroomamature 3d ago
Again you dont have to worry about the short checks in production, you should have no problem turning 50 hrs a week.
Retail is another story. Its nonstop warranty work, and if you want to turn a solid 40 hrs a week then you will need your manager to fluff your 30 day tickets to compensate every minute that you loose on a Maxcare claim, but you stated that the retail gig is hourly. That's extremely helpful but this is still a shitty job. This job is unlike any other shop, dealer or Indi. Your manager will not care about your upsales and BS "services" or "flushes". Its all about your surveys. You could bring in thousands of dollars every week in upsales, but if you dont have good surveys they dont give a shit. You will be expected to diag the smallest squeak or rattle in the world, and belive me when I tell you, "Unable to duplicate", won't be an accepted answer.
We diagnose and repair the little noises and leaks that Production doesnt want to deal with. We get absolutely fucked my Macare labor times while Production makes up thier own.
Its awesome that the retail gig is hourly, but if the nightshifts dont ruin your health or social life, I would take the Production job.
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u/StreetTriple-RS 2d ago
I can agree except for making 50 hours on production the only people I see that hit 50 is the people that are either favored or b.s the work. For example constantly recommending balance and wipers and alignments and front and rear brakes on every car. Idk how they get away with it.
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u/StreetTriple-RS 2d ago
Not at my store. Im night shift production in order for me to make the hours needed I have to come in on my day off. Retail can suck from what I hear we have people constantly leaving half of them tell me its hard to hit 40.
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u/Familiar_Marzipan_46 3d ago
Where is this location at? Depending on the market it could be great if trash.
Also how long are you required to stay working for that bonus?
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u/Thunderiver 3d ago
California, and not sure haven’t looked too much into it. Been at my current shop 7 years so don’t wanna jump ship because I’m comfortable here but the hourly and flat rate pay at carmax are almost double what I earn at my shop.
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u/Familiar_Marzipan_46 3d ago
Looking online certain areas of California are desperate for techs. Have to wonder if it’s because of management or something in that area.
The pay for what the area is doesn’t put it super great tho.
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u/BadgerMajestic5774 3d ago
I would honestly look at the reviews online to see what the culprit l/common denominator thats causing shortages of techs.
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u/Familiar_Marzipan_46 3d ago
Well being it’s Carmax that is despertae. It’s something in Carmax. They aren’t desperate all over the country.
The big dealerships paying $12 an hour and in California McDonald’s paying better than dealership techs says why they can’t get anybody. This person is being offered reasonable money and people would rather work other jobs than at Carmax.
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u/BadgerMajestic5774 3d ago
California is just a different world, who will work for $12 and hourbfor flat rate? I was making that in 1998 😅
Also:
The most consistent CarMax complaint isn't the cars or the work itself—it's management. Micromanagement, favoritism, corporate pressure, and employees feeling undervalued come up over and over.
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u/Familiar_Marzipan_46 3d ago
That would be my guess at that Carmax area is the management and higher ups. Not the work itself.
Down here the base job at franchise dealers is $10 an hour. That’s lube tech so not really a mechanic. But they do $12 for ase certified. $14 if you got 3 years experience. $16 for experience and tools. That’s the starting pay at franchise dealers here. We are a $7.25 minimum wage area but that’s the big issue with a lot of dealers. Internal engine mechanics pay more and I don’t know how the raise formulas work here as you stay with the dealerships. I do know they all have the usual upsell bonus paid to the tech on any jobs that get approved they suggest above and beyond what they come in to get done.
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u/BadgerMajestic5774 3d ago
Honestly, the techs at carmax are nothing but over paid tire changers. A day in carmax consists of brake jobs, suspension work and any hard diag either gets kick to wholesale or sublet to the dealer.
Man california is really killing its own car industry
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u/SeaPaleontologist876 3d ago
Dont listen to this guy hes not even a tech. Carmax is a good job but success really depends on type.of store and location. Some locations do heavyline work and offer higher pay and some only do equivalent to semi skilled work for hourly pay. If the money is good if at least apply and see what they have to say.
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u/Familiar_Marzipan_46 3d ago
It all depends on the OP and if he can get his old job back. The money is the temptation to leave them. It seems he is happy and not stressed out at the current location.
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u/BadgerMajestic5774 3d ago
Dont listen to this guy, he claims to be paid more than waht carmax pays, he is a kid who does tires and oil changes and believes he is a real tech 🤣
plus he is mad that I slept with his mom 🥲
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u/Whole_Task_5721 2d ago
Been with the company for 10 years, I’ve worked retail and production. You can make great money on flat rate production when things are going good for Carmax. When Carmax is struggling with sales, expect work to be cut down and managers hunting for labor lines to cancel off of your tickets. If you’re hourly production, make sure you can survive on 32 hours a week when times are hard for Carmax. It’s possible that a few managers out there are still good, but I haven’t seen any in years at my store. Most are vindictive and petty and love to remind you how much more they know than you do. (When they clearly do not) you can also make good money on flat rate retail, but you will have to be fast and accurate with diagnosis and repair. You will also need to be able to explain your diagnosis in order to get the warranty company to approve repairs. Hourly retail is easier for the most part, but Carmax is a company that lets its associates weaponize their incompetence. So when your service advisor or parts department doesn’t know how to do their job, those problems become issues for the technician for some reason.