CarMax, Carvana or ???

[bassman]

Anyone use either of these companies to sell a car?  I have a leased vehicle that ends in July 2022.  Thinking about selling it to one of these types of companies in the next month or so and be down to one household vehicle until new/replacement vehicle arrives (ordering new one sometime this week) in 2-3 months.  Down to one vehicle should be no problem for a short period.

So, do I exercise the purchase option with the finance company and then sell the vehicle to CarMax, Carvana etc OR do I just work directly with them and let them work with the lease finance company (assuming they will do this) to clear the title and pay me the excess?

I've checked online with both companies and their numbers are higher than my purchase option price.  CarMax offer is higher by about $1K BUT I have to take vehicle to one of their locations for final evaluation and payment.  Carvana comes right to the door with a truck to cart it away after evaluation and payment.  Both would end up with a $3-4K net profit for me to use towards a down payment on a new lease.

Never considered using one of these options in the past and wonder about possible issues/pitfalls that might be hiding in the bushes waiting to bite me.

Appreciate any input - both good or bad.

TIA !

[NautiBrit]

I just sold a 2019 Jeep Cherokee. Carvana low balled me by over $3K, Carfax gave me a reasonable price, but I didn't follow up with their recommended dealerships. I ended up trading it in on a new truck and getting a fair trade-in price.

[hubcapsc]

We bought a car from Carmax not long ago and got an offer on another car from them some number
of years ago. Their value is in ease, I think. They buy at wholesale and sell at retail...
I would absolutely consider buying from them if I was in the market and they had
a car I wanted.

-Mike

[Oldfishguy]

Recently went through this with my son.

Every state is different on sales tax but your going to want to check how it applies in each case.  First call the dealer you leased from and tell them you are considering buying the car upon lease end.  That price has already been set on onset of the lease.  Next, ask the dealership if they have an interest in buying the car from you at lease termination.  In this case, you will probably not have to pay sales tax for buying the car and then selling it to the dealership.  Now, if you sell to someone else you may have to pay sales tax in the exchange.  Best of luck.

[JimC]

I sold a leased 2019 Ford truck to Carvana about 6-8 months ago.

My lease end buy out was about $28,000 after adding TAXES and HIDDEN dealership FEES
Carvana offered me $36,665 (due to low miles and shortage of Ford trucks being made.)

In order to capitalize, I had to buy the truck with cash, wait for the Department of Transportation to make sure the truck was paid for, then wait for the title to come to my home.  The longest wait was Ford Leasing, and then the State Wisconsin due to covid, (they had no office hours or walk in traffic). It took almost two months to get the paperwork worked out, and the title back so I could contact Carvana again and set an appointment for the appraisal to be verified in person.

The Carvana part only took a few days. You do have to take a dozen pictures and send to them, plus copies of the title before they will do the in person check on the condition to make sure the price they quoted was good.

All in all, I am glad I did it, had I turned over the lease, I would have gotten nothing instead of almost 8K. I have heard of people that had Carvana do the legwork with the leasing company, but I don't think they will do it with all leasing companies.

PS. Check with the company that holds the lease, or your dealer, there was a clause in my lease that said that anytime within 2 (maybe 3) months of lease end, I could not sell the truck to anyone but the dealer I bought it from, or buy it myself.

Jim

[cookiedough]

both carvana and carmax low balled me 5K on my trade in 2017 tundra.  I got my asking price 32K trade in at a milwaukee wi dealership this past November on a new 2021 tundra.

IMO, both buy wholesale or more like auction pricing very low and expect come resell to get near new full msrp on used vehicles.  I went into local carmax on 2 year old subaru crosstrek they had on lot about 30K or so miles near outta warranty and wanted 22K NO haggling on price sticker is what you pay,  when same car brand new 2 years newer woulda been 23.5K out the door. NO thanks.