CarMax

For over 2 months I watched a vehicle in a Carmax office in Hickory NC. It was a 2005 Chevrolet Trailblazer EXT and fully loaded with only 41K miles. It was beautiful. In September, on a Thursday, I saw that it had been transferred to the Greensboro NC store. That day I called and said that I would be by first thing the following morning (Friday). I went that morning and test drove the vehicle. I even drove it to AAA and had them look at it. AAA told me that the rotors were no good and the back tires looked bad. So when we (myself and the sales representative) got back to the store, these things were, again, addressed. The sales rep told me that they would take the vehicle back to the service department and have them put it on the lift and take a look at it. Within 30 minutes, they supposedly lifted the vehicle, looked at it and had "fixed" the rotors (keep in mind, I didn't know that they actually fixed the rotors at this time, since they did not tell me). The tires, they said, were perfectly fine and was within "State requirements". While we were waiting for paperwork and other stuff, my original sales rep had to leave and we ended up with a different sales rep. While with this new sales rep, the tire issue was brought up. During this debate, a manager came over and said that we should go look at the vehicle together. He looked at the tires and said that indeed they were within "State requirements". So at this point, we decided to not get the vehicle since they did not want to work with us on the tire issue. During that weekend, my husband and I talked it over and decided that we were not going to let a "good vehicle" go because of tires. We figured that we would just buy new ones within the year. So on Monday (3 days later), we went back to Carmax. While we were driving there, I called to make sure the vehicle was still there. At first they told me it was sold. Then when we showed up at the store, they told me they found the vehicle. So at this time, we're doing the paperwork and went to look at the vehicle again. During inspecting the vehicle, we noticed that the two back tires were going flat, especially the passenger one. The sales rep (a 3rd different one) said that they would get that "fixed". So we did the paperwork and then took the vehicle off the lot. On Wednesday (5 days after the first day I drove it), I went back to Carmax to drop off papers. During this time, I had them fill up the tires again. I also spoke with the original sales rep, who informed me then that they actually fixed the rotors and that after we had returned the vehicle back to the lot, they had to put air in the tires. I told him that this was strange because it meant that Friday the tires needed air, Monday the tires needed air, and now Wednesday the tires needed air. I was told at this point, that the problem was probably a result of them taking off the tires to fix the rotors. So not being a vehicle technician, I believed them and drove the vehicle home. Now a couple of days go by, and on Thursday we go by Carmax because again, my tires are going flat. The tires air pressure was at 15 and it's suppose to be 35. So they tell me then to bring it back the following morning, only when I explained how it's only been 1 1/2 weeks since we bought it and this was the 4th time filling up the tires. So Friday morning at 7:45, I went back to Carmax. I sat there for over 3 hours, until someone finally came to me and said that they would have to give me a loaner vehicle because the parts would not be in until Monday. Then they tell me that all four tires are going to be fixed. Not to mention that they also found a brake line that was backed up with fluid and it needed to be replaced. So not only did I have a problem with one thing, but now I had a new problem which was actually serious! And the problems with my tires; three had a licking valve stem, three had erosion on the sides, one had a hole in it from a nail (which was the back passenger tire) and one of the tires had erosion on the outside. Keep in mind, they supposedly replaced the front tires with new ones before we bought it. So I asked the Service Manager why did this happen and how could it set in the Hickory lot for over 2 months and no one notice this? I also asked who does the 127 point Inspection? I get told that he would take care of it and that he would speak to someone in Charlotte NC. So while they are getting my loaner car ready, I went to speak to the manager. The Sales Manager that was on the floor was a complete idiot. I started to tell him what my problem was and before I could address any real concerns, I was directly passed back to the Service Manager, since "it wasn't a sales problem" anymore. I told him that I had already spoke with the Service manager, I wanted to speak to the Manager and he did not understand why I would want to bring anything to his attention. I told him that I did not understand how it was seen by his own employees that there was a problem and no one addressed it. He then asks me "well you're getting your problem fixed, aren't you?" That was the answer, "well you're getting your problem fixed, aren't you?" But yet, they are going to give me the "we stand by our 127 point inspection" bull. So I asked who does the inspection and the Sales Manager tells me that he doesn't even know anything about my vehicle but he's sure that it will get taken care of and that he's been there for 8 1/2 years. Once I get the spill of how long he's been there and how he's going to call the Hickory NC office, I knew that he was going to pass the buck. So after this I drove off in my loaner vehicle. At home, I called the Hickory NC office to see if they had spoken to anyone about my issue and guess what? NOPE they had not. I explained what happened and they said that someone else does their "120 point inspection" and that without my "Stock Number" they couldn't look up anything. So that phone call was a waste of my time. So I remembered that the Service Manager was going to call Charlotte, so I figured I would attempt this. I call the Charlotte NC Carmax office and spoke with a Service technician. He tells me that they do not do the 120 point Inspection and that I need to call the other Charlotte NC office located in Pineville. So I call the other office and speak to the Service Technician there. She tells me there that they do not have a service station at this department and have to ship their vehicles to the other Charlotte office (the first office that I called). She also gave me some important information. She said that the so-called 120 Point Inspection should have been done in the Hickory NC office (but remember, they ship their vehicles off to another place too) and that once the vehicle was transferred to Greensboro NC Office, they would do an inspection too. She also gave me the Corporate Office number (Customer Relations) [protected]. She also understood my problem and said that she understood that the tires are getting fixed but agreed that it is the point. The point that someone did NOT do their job in the first place. So I called the 800 number and she gets my information. She tells me that they are going to investigate the issue but wanted to make sure that the problem got fixed. I told her that I should have known better since I read the reviews about the Greensboro NC Carmax, and her comment was "yeah but at least most of those people's problems got fixed". I asked her about a guarantee that this problem would not happen again, especially when they were just patching up my tires and not putting new ones on. She never mentioned anything about a guarantee, instead just asked if the Greensboro office was fixing my problem. I again, stated to her, yes that they are fixing my vehicle but where is my guarantee that this won't happen again and that it's the point. The point of my problem is that someone did not do their job! My point is that we saw a problem in the first place and they refused to fix it. My point is that if they had never taken the time (the forth time) to look at my vehicle, I would have never known about the Brake line being messed up. My point is that not only did one place not do their wonderful 120 Point Inspection but another place did not do an inspection either! My point is that by someone not doing their job, it could have caused us to have an accident. My point is that it's not just my life that could have been in an accident, but my 9 year old son, my 2 year old daughter, my 2 month old baby boy and my husband. These people don't give a ###. All they're worried about is a sell. The worst part about the whole thing is that I mentioned this to everyone in the beginning. And I was nice! I never once yelled, I never cussed at them, I never got pushy, I never did anything to cause an issue to where they needed to be mean back. I was so nice to them and they still did not give a ###. Being nice to them did not pay at all. So after all this, I called the NC Department of Transportation office who gave me the Greensboro D.M.V. office number. Here I can file a complaint towards the Service department. I don't know if anything will get done with any of this, but I hope that someone takes the time to listen. Carmax is not a good store! They do not take care of you like you think. Trust me, I did not believe the reviews either! I thought that it was just unfortunate mishaps that I wouldn't get, but I'm now the one sitting here writing a review for myself. Avoid Carmax, it's not worth it!