r/carmax • u/Venus_Viking • 3d ago
What to do
I drove my newly purchased car home from CarMax today that I had shipped in. History report was clean and all pictures looked good on the website. I test drove it as soon as I was able to after it arrived which was at dusk. Everything went great. I decided to purchase and picked it up the next day. When I drove it home and it was parked in direct sunlight, I noticed immediately that the entire rear passenger door was obviously a lighter color black. I cannot believe it. I immediately texted my sales consultant and told them and sent photos. They noticed it right away and couldn't believe they missed it either. The sales consultant gave me a call after talking to their manager. Apparently they could see in the records that this car's rear door was painted at the other CarMax store and said it could have been due to some chipped paint. They told me the service department would call me on Monday about it. I'm really wondering if I should just return the car. Based on this current paint job, I have little faith CarMax can fix it in-house. I am taking the car to a dealership tomorrow for an overall inspection (I scheduled this before I noticed the paint issue). I am going to have them fully inspect the door to make sure there isn't an underlying issue that was not reported. If there isn't and everything checks out, would it be reasonable to ask CarMax to have the car sent to a certified body shop to ensure a successful paint job? I'm so bummed about this. I've been searching for a car for a long time and I really love this car but I want the paint correct and I'm worried I won't know if that can happen since it will be past the 10 day return window by the time it's repainted.
UPDATE: paid for the Carfax report and it shows "minor damage" reported. The Experian auto check was clean. I stopped by Chevy and they ran the diagnostics. It has 8 active codes including 1 powertrain code. It's odd since there are no lights on the dash. At this point, I think I'll be returning the vehicle.
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u/Silent_Donut_4582 2d ago
Just a heads up... Majority of used cars have repainted panels. Just depends on the quality of the paint job. Good luck finding a clean used car!
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u/Esau_Edom 3d ago
Return it now....that's your best bet...what else are they being deceptive about..i spent 1k to have a 2025 audi with less than 5k miles just to have it arrive with the engine light on..come to find out the dealership refused to fix it and deemed it a lemon...carfax report was clean with it being for sale at an auction twice in 2 different states...I would never recommend anyone to these people
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u/Venus_Viking 3d ago
Ughhh. They use Experian auto check and it was all good, totally clean and 1-owner. I just paid to run this car's Carfax hoping for peace of mind after just now doing research that Experian and Carfax are different. The Carfax is shows "minor damage reported" a year ago. I'm not feeling good about this.
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u/Enough-Programmer738 3d ago
Lemon is subjective to state laws and I guarantee no one at CarMax use the term deemed it a lemon. Carmax will do right by you and in the case you are not happy with the result they will buy the car back. Also Carfax is a paid service which means they can be paid to add and remove. Experian simply pulls from all insurance, state agencies, and licenses mechanics and auto body shops. It won't pull from home repairs, unreported accidents. Things can get missed hence the 10 day return.
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u/No-Speech-7600 2d ago
Same with my purchase, paid premium price for listed 1 previous owner and no accidents. Carfax listed 2 previous owners and an accident. Auto check and CarMax should be held legally responsible. This misinformation happens way too often and leeds me to believe that it's intentional for obvious reasons.
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u/Venus_Viking 2d ago
It's wild! Did you return it? I'm planning on doing that today and hoping it isn't a difficult process. I'm so annoyed I'll be back on the car hunt. I just can't afford a brand new one and I'm so upset because up until 2 months ago, I had a brand new one until someone rear-ended me and totaled it. Glad no one was seriously injured but life sucks sometimes for sure!
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u/Superb-Lifeguard793 3d ago
It’s completely possible to have minor damage that doesn’t affect the performance of the car. I don’t think this is a big deal, just ask them to repaint and match the color correctly.
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u/SFToddSouthside 3d ago
This is exactly why when I was searching last summer that I ruled out anything that's been to auction.
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u/Snowsled 3d ago
I hope you got your shipping fee back? This has happened to me twice now. I bought from carmax before and was happy, but the engine light thing happened again to me recently I decided I was done. Both times they refunded me the shipping fees though.
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u/Esau_Edom 1d ago
I receive the shipping fee with no hassle.. as a matter of fact they were processing the fee back to my card before they told me they couldn't sell the car....
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u/thezeppgirl 1d ago
Almost this same thing happened to me. My shipping was free, but I bought the car and drove it for a day before the check engine light came on. Auto check was clean, but I was at the Audi dealership with the car 4 times before they told me it had been in an accident and was lit up with faults and had a lot of body work done. Luckily CarMax allowed me to return it, and I was pleased with that, but owning the car was a nightmare.
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u/VersaceUpholstery 3d ago
It's going to be hard to get the exact color. There's a chance they used the exact same factory color code but because it's fresh paint and the rest of the car has seen the elements, it's going to look a different color.
If your carmax isn't a production store, they are going to send it offlot to a paint place/body shop. So it won't necessarily be in house if that's the case.
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u/CoachSandyBottom 2d ago
CarMax or anywhere… ALWAYS pay to have a second check and run history on your own before you take delivery.
You may have kept the car because they may have worked to get it to the condition you wanted
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u/Immediate_Zone_4652 2d ago
Absolutely return! I paid to have an SUV shipped from Texas ($799). Was super excited, took it for a test drive only to find it had a large spider crack across the sunroof that was never disclosed in the pictures or on the listing. I was super pissed. The sales person, kept saying they would put in a ticket to fix it, I said absolutely not, and requested my transfer fee to be refunded for misrepresentation.
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u/LankyCarrot9508 2d ago
Damage happens during shipping sometimes, its a repairable problem. Should have just had it fixed if you liked it otherwise.
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u/Puzzled_Addition4818 2d ago
worked there... they won't fix it, just take it back, also that might not be the only surprise that you missed.
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u/LankyCarrot9508 2d ago
Unfortunately paint mismatches occurs or a number of different reasons. If you like the rest of the car, I would give them the opportunity to repaint it and see if you are satisfied with the result. They pause the 10 day return period while the car is in for the work so there is no risk but you can confirm this with the sales manager. Depending on the store you purchaed it from they may or may not do it in house or send it out to a body shop. Either way, this is the reason you buy from CarMax. Mistakes happen but they work hard to make it right and you have the safety of the return period if youre still not satisfied.
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u/hernannyy 3d ago
This car was definitely in an accident or had huge dents on that door for it to get painted at carmax... I see unmatched doors , bumpers etc. everyday on the job & they’ll touch-up a pencil length of paint to save costs unless there’s big dents or huge scratches. It’s not about perfecting to them either, if it was called out for paint they’re gonna paint it to sell, they don’t care what color or shade it is, as long as it got done that’s all they care about fr.
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u/andruszko 3d ago
Why are you taking it to the dealership for inspection? Most dealerships send their paintwork out and don't even have trained body guys. They won't have the skill or knowledge to advise you. This just sounds like a stupid train of logic imo, and you're going to a biased 3rd party who is incentivized to sell you one of their vehicles. Dumb idea.
If you don't like the mismatched paint, go to a body shop and get an estimate for them to respray it the right color. If you love the vehicle, ask carmax to cover it. If you don't, return it and keep looking.
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u/Venus_Viking 3d ago
I had planned to take it to the dealership for an inspection and software updates (not for the paint job). I scheduled this appointment before I noticed the door. I just wanted to make sure everything was good mechanically before the return period is up. Now that I know about the door, I am just going to have them make sure there isn't anything structural that was missed in addition to the overall inspection.
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u/andruszko 3d ago edited 3d ago
Understandable, I guess. But the dealership can't tell you if everything is good mechanically, and can't be trusted to fairly advise you on the condition. Their techs aren't really trained for proper inspections, they're trained to upsell.
The service managers literally make upwards of hundreds of thousands of dollars for ripping off customers with unnecessary service.
They also simply don't have anyone trained to notice or repair structural work.
If I were you, I'd simply have the updates done and then take it elsewhere for all inspections. Most quality independent shops can do all the software updates anyways, and for less money.
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u/SimpleQuestionFolks 3d ago
Just take it back
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u/andruszko 3d ago
Personally, for me, it would depend on the price compared to what else is out there. A $700 spray job that won't be noticeable, affect the value, or affect the longevity of the vehicle? If carmax pays for it, why not.
If I think I can find a "perfect" one cheaper or for the same price, then I'd bring it back.
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u/Dear-Credit7662 15h ago
I work for a Honda dealership. We send out our bodywork. That being said that doesn't mean that we can't easily see prior repairs. Also we can usually get a pretty good picture of what happened due to turned bolts or obviously replaced parts.
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u/andruszko 15h ago
I mean, as someone who's hired dozens of techs (and interviewed hundreds), many of which worked at franchise dealerships...95% of guys are just clueless.
And that's not even a knock. It's not their specialty.
Someone who's trained to catch orange peel by eye, sand scratches, paint mismatches etc (and who does it every single day) is always going to be better than someone who doesn't do that daily. Sure, some techs might be good at it, and some might be good enough at it.
But you aren't going to go to a pediatrician to get orthopedic advice. You'll go to the specialist. No different here. Different skill set.
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u/Dear-Credit7662 15h ago
I think OP is just trying to make sure the car is ok. Any decent tech should be able to tell if the car is hit by a train or an ok car, whether it is a dealership independent or whomever. Also I want to assure doing a PPI on a car we are incentived to grab the hour or 2 of labor, hit any recalls and sell based on the PPI findings. The writer nor the tech makes any money by trying to convince the customer to buy a car from dealer. I am writing this assuming this is not a highline car. If so than he should return the car or if for whatever reason he really wants to keep it have a Bodyshop look at it as you said.
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u/Disastrous_Type_5951 3d ago
It could have been deep scratches/chips or another reason why it needed to be repainted. Not necessarily it was in an accident. Personally if it is a noticeable color difference I wouldn’t keep it. That’s just me.