Carmax/MaxCare - Thoughts?

[Dmauldin]

I know this has been discussed in many different ways and in several different contexts, but I am hoping some AZers can chime in once again for what might be the newest Carmax/Warranty thread.

I am looking hard at purchasing the following:

IMG_6815.jpg

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As you can see it’s a fairly loaded 2016 A6 with prestige, s package, black optics.. $67k MSRP

I’m looking at paying $28,998 to Carmax for the vehicle. I know that is on the higher end of the price spectrum for the same car with similar options/mileage. Here are my questions:

1. Pay the Carmax no haggle premium for the car and hope the premium has the value of a strict Carmax vehicle buying/inspecting program?

2. MaxCare warranty for the following prices shown in photo or another extended warranty instead? (All opinions on extended warranties are welcome especially for this particular vehicle - 3.0 and zf8 probe pretty reliable). (We’ve all seen Demuro’s story)

IMG_6817.JPG

3. Has anyone had experience negotiating the price of the warranty at Carmax?

4. Advice on how to find a local shop that will be on my side when filing claims? I.e. mods/tune on car but they help to ensure warranty stays intact and repairs are done, given they aren’t obviously caused by said mods/tune.

—- —-

Thank you to everyone who comments on this to help out a fellow Audi nutcase.

Couple things for context:

I owned a B7 A4 and over 40k miles (65k-105k) had the extended warranty I purchased pay out half of the warranty cost.

I recently bought a 2016 a6 2.0 (regrets, lol) with 35k miles and adamantly declined all up sales, including warranty, at the Audi dealership. (Truck hit me and totaled, hence why I’m in the market again so soon).

So I’ve seen both sides, in some ways.
If I was buying another 35k mileage Audi I probably wouldn’t have thought about it.

50k plus starts to make me nervous.

Let’s talk about it. (:


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[jessepilot]

Good looking car!

I’ve got no experience with CarMax, their warranty, or what premium you get from purchasing from them.

However, I think you may find better warranty pricing for Troy Dietrich, who sells the same coverage provider as Audi Pure as well as Audi’s previous provider (Fidelity).

For reference, I got a 10yr/100k platinum coverage for my 2018 3.0T for $3600. Troy’s contact info is below, and I think you’ll find lots of great experiences with him from AZ members.

Troy Dietrich
Factory Discount Warranty
Toyota & Ford of Greenfield
Fathers & Sons Audi & Volkswagen
Tel. 413-772-0989
Fax. 413-774-2247
Web. http://www.FD-Warranty.com
Email. [email protected]

[Audibot]

The only experience I have had with a Carmax warranty is secondhand from a buddy of mine. About 10 years ago he bought a 2008 Acura TL Type-S A-Spec from Carmax. Well, whoever owned it beforehand did something that buggered up the clutch, and he had gone back to them 3x for them to look at/adjust before he said screw it and had them buy it back. This took place over the period of maybe 2 years.

So they seem to be pretty decent. I could never stomach the upcharge myself though.

[SeattleiteA6]

I watched a Doug DeMuro video about him getting a Range Rover at Carmax and got the warranty and essentially got the car rebuilt piece by piece. If I ever find a car that I like at a Carmax (tried a few times, never could find one in good enough shape) I will absolutely buy it and the warranty and drive the piss out of it worry-free. My problem with Carmax has been the cars are often roughed up pretty good. I'm ok with higher mileage if the PO has taken decent care of it.

[Dmauldin]

I watched a Doug DeMuro video about him getting a Range Rover at Carmax and got the warranty and essentially got the car rebuilt piece by piece. If I ever find a car that I like at a Carmax (tried a few times, never could find one in good enough shape) I will absolutely buy it and the warranty and drive the piss out of it worry-free. My problem with Carmax has been the cars are often roughed up pretty good. I'm ok with higher mileage if the PO has taken decent care of it.

What made you feel like the cars were roughened up?


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[Dmauldin]

Good looking car!

I’ve got no experience with CarMax, their warranty, or what premium you get from purchasing from them.

However, I think you may find better warranty pricing for Troy Dietrich, who sells the same coverage provider as Audi Pure as well as Audi’s previous provider (Fidelity).

For reference, I got a 10yr/100k platinum coverage for my 2018 3.0T for $3600. Troy’s contact info is below, and I think you’ll find lots of great experiences with him from AZ members.

Troy Dietrich
Factory Discount Warranty
Toyota & Ford of Greenfield
Fathers & Sons Audi & Volkswagen
Tel. 413-772-0989
Fax. 413-774-2247
Web. http://www.FD-Warranty.com
Email. [email protected]

I sent him an email through his site. Is he back around? Heard about some trouble reaching him in 2019.

Thanks for the suggestion.


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[SeattleiteA6]

What made you feel like the cars were roughened up?


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By no means speaking for all Carmax's or anything, but the few Audi's that I looked at were great from 10ft away, then as you got closer it was clearly banged up pretty good. Micro-scratches inside, really bad touch up paint on the bumpers, scuffed leather, just general stuff like that. I once paid $500 to have Carmax ship a 2017 S6 to Seattle's Carmax after pouring over the pictures and feeling good about it. Was so disappointed when I saw it in person.

[Dmauldin]

By no means speaking for all Carmax's or anything, but the few Audi's that I looked at were great from 10ft away, then as you got closer it was clearly banged up pretty good. Micro-scratches inside, really bad touch up paint on the bumpers, scuffed leather, just general stuff like that. I once paid $500 to have Carmax ship a 2017 S6 to Seattle's Carmax after pouring over the pictures and feeling good about it. Was so disappointed when I saw it in person.

Ah, that sucks.

I think the interior of this one was nicer than my other a6 and that’s not saying much because the other A6 just had some weird like melt spots/indentation blemishes on the cup holder cover..

Exterior had some very minor scratches and scrapes and the normal scrapes on the underside of the front bumper (from parking blocks because the car does sit a little low).

I test drove it and felt like the steering/suspension was different and handled differently than my 2.0T of the same year...

Might just be because I’ve been driving my girlfriends Ford Fiesta for a few weeks.. lol


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[A665]

I sold cars at Carmax years ago. Much may have changed since then, but when I was there:

- There is no such thing as negotiating any purchase price or warranty value.
- They will buy almost any car, and in any condition, from an owner.
- Cars acquired beyond a certain mileage or condition will be turned around and sold to wholesale buyers in weekly auctions rather than being put on the lot to resell to consumers.
- Many cars are sprayed to some degree onsite before being offered for sale. Some of the paintwork is low-quality and obvious when inspected in person. Buyer beware.
- The inspection process before they offer the car for sale is reasonably good, if not great (aside from occasional paintwork issues).
- The warranty coverage is good, but if a car needs a lot of care under warranty, it's still a headache in my book.

Definitely carefully inspect and drive any car before you commit to buying it. Good luck!

[Dmauldin]

I sold cars at Carmax years ago. Much may have changed since then, but when I was there:

- There is no such thing as negotiating any purchase price or warranty value.
- They will buy almost any car, and in any condition, from an owner.
- Cars acquired beyond a certain mileage or condition will be turned around and sold to wholesale buyers in weekly auctions rather than being put on the lot to resell to consumers.
- Many cars are sprayed to some degree onsite before being offered for sale. Some of the paintwork is low-quality and obvious when inspected in person. Buyer beware.
- The inspection process before they offer the car for sale is reasonably good, if not great (aside from occasional paintwork issues).
- The warranty coverage is good, but if a car needs a lot of care under warranty, it's still a headache in my book.

Definitely carefully inspect and drive any car before you commit to buying it. Good luck!

Thanks for the insight. I did drive the car; and it felt pretty good. Like I said, it’s hard to tell after driving a Ford Fiesta for a couple of weeks because the quality leap is there, regardless. No noticeable problems while driving, though.

Prestige model comes with automatic rear window shade - not sure what the purpose of this is for........ :)


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[christianb5s4]

I feel like my car is a direct comparable to yours, since I bought my 2016 A6 with 50K miles (same options as you, prestige, only thing mine has above yours is driver's assist) from Carmax in January. The listing price was identical to yours too. Make sure you ask them to take a longer test drive since most Carmaxs tend to have their go to loop which is normally a fairly short drive. Bring an OB2 scanner to read any codes and thoroughly inspect the car (mine was missing a small underbody panel, I bought a new OEM replacement and Carmax reimbursed me).

Looked long and hard into the MaxCare and determined it's not worth it for our cars, these are very reliable and rarely have issues. So I decided to take my chances and opt out of the warranty.

[Dmauldin]

I feel like my car is a direct comparable to yours, since I bought my 2016 A6 with 50K miles (same options as you, prestige, only thing mine has above yours is driver's assist) from Carmax in January. The listing price was identical to yours too. Make sure you ask them to take a longer test drive since most Carmaxs tend to have their go to loop which is normally a fairly short drive. Bring an OB2 scanner to read any codes and thoroughly inspect the car (mine was missing a small underbody panel, I bought a new OEM replacement and Carmax reimbursed me).

Looked long and hard into the MaxCare and determined it's not worth it for our cars, these are very reliable and rarely have issues. So I decided to take my chances and opt out of the warranty.

You gonna tune or add any mods?


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[Dmauldin]

Still hoping to hear from someone who had MaxCare on a C7 or C7.5 A6


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[crafty]

I have purchased several cars from Carmax, partly because of their return policy and max care. 3 days to return, 7 days to get anything fixed (including some degree of aesthetic, this is probably discretionary, but I never had problems getting stuff fixed including redoing leather on seats, replacing buttons with holes in them, etc. that weren't shown in the pics I used to make a shipping decision).

I would do the same thing you did, but even "cheap" Audi's are expensive to fix. One thing I do see is that the prices have gone WAY up vs. the last Carmax car I bought, like those prices are 2 or 3 times as expensive as what I paid for a C6 S6 (the v10). I also bought one for C6 A6, 2007 CLK63 AMG, B6 S4, and a couple of others. In each case the warranty easily paid for itself and then some, and I only kept the cars for a year or so (back when I whored around). I think the C6 A6 was over $10k worth of work for under $2k warranty, and that was with $50 deductable ($100 if not brought to a Carmax shop).

Part of what was good about the extended warranty is that you can get a refund if you cash it in early, it can be prorated based on use, etc. which is nice if you frequently change cars. Not sure if the terms have changed but you might want to look into that if it is important to you.

With those prices though, OUCH, now you gotta look at common failures for the C7 and price to repair, make sure that there isn't an extended warranty campaign that would pay for that thing anyway, etc. Also, if you are financing, look at how much interest you are paying to include in your value calculation. It might just work out to put that $5-$6k in the bank :D. Now I see what DeMuro was talking about, the days of the bargain Maxcare warranties are over :(.

The one thing that was nice is that I never had problems with the Carmax warranty company paying for whatever... no BS or trying to get out of it or denying obviously valid claims.

[Dmauldin]

I have purchased several cars from Carmax, partly because of their return policy and max care. 3 days to return, 7 days to get anything fixed (including some degree of aesthetic, this is probably discretionary, but I never had problems getting stuff fixed including redoing leather on seats, replacing buttons with holes in them, etc. that weren't shown in the pics I used to make a shipping decision).

I would do the same thing you did, but even "cheap" Audi's are expensive to fix. One thing I do see is that the prices have gone WAY up vs. the last Carmax car I bought, like those prices are 2 or 3 times as expensive as what I paid for a C6 S6 (the v10). I also bought one for C6 A6, 2007 CLK63 AMG, B6 S4, and a couple of others. In each case the warranty easily paid for itself and then some, and I only kept the cars for a year or so (back when I whored around). I think the C6 A6 was over $10k worth of work for under $2k warranty, and that was with $50 deductable ($100 if not brought to a Carmax shop).

Part of what was good about the extended warranty is that you can get a refund if you cash it in early, it can be prorated based on use, etc. which is nice if you frequently change cars. Not sure if the terms have changed but you might want to look into that if it is important to you.

With those prices though, OUCH, now you gotta look at common failures for the C7 and price to repair, make sure that there isn't an extended warranty campaign that would pay for that thing anyway, etc. Also, if you are financing, look at how much interest you are paying to include in your value calculation. It might just work out to put that $5-$6k in the bank :D. Now I see what DeMuro was talking about, the days of the bargain Maxcare warranties are over :(.

The one thing that was nice is that I never had problems with the Carmax warranty company paying for whatever... no BS or trying to get out of it or denying obviously valid claims.

Did you ever mod your cars?


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[crafty]

Did you ever mod your cars?


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Yeah I did, but not major mods. I tuned the S4, but that was a while ago(like 10 years), before Audi started getting really hard-assed about it, also it was NA 4.2 so the tune didn't really do much unlike a turbocharged car. I think I did APR where I could disable the run with vagcom which I always did before bringing it in... I would look but I don't think it matters since things have changed so much. Car max would often take my cars to the respective dealsers since they didn't have the capability to diagnose or fix the harder stuff, and pretty sure as soon as Audi flags the car as tuned, the third party can deny warranty too. Because of that I am looking into piggy back tunes that can be uninstalled and are undetectable as they don't modify the ECU I think?

[Dmauldin]

Yeah I did, but not major mods. I tuned the S4, but that was a while ago(like 10 years), before Audi started getting really hard-assed about it, also it was NA 4.2 so the tune didn't really do much unlike a turbocharged car. I think I did APR where I could disable the run with vagcom which I always did before bringing it in... I would look but I don't think it matters since things have changed so much. Car max would often take my cars to the respective dealsers since they didn't have the capability to diagnose or fix the harder stuff, and pretty sure as soon as Audi flags the car as tuned, the third party can deny warranty too. Because of that I am looking into piggy back tunes that can be uninstalled and are undetectable as they don't modify the ECU I think?

Yeah, I’m looking for the same but as far as I can tell you’re basically just running the risk.

And I’m not willing to risk voiding a $4k warranty.

If it was $2k I’d probably risk it, but you’re not going to find a bumper to bumper extended for these cars for $2k unless your deductible is also $2k, lol

RIP


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[Dmauldin]

Yeah I did, but not major mods. I tuned the S4, but that was a while ago(like 10 years), before Audi started getting really hard-assed about it, also it was NA 4.2 so the tune didn't really do much unlike a turbocharged car. I think I did APR where I could disable the run with vagcom which I always did before bringing it in... I would look but I don't think it matters since things have changed so much. Car max would often take my cars to the respective dealsers since they didn't have the capability to diagnose or fix the harder stuff, and pretty sure as soon as Audi flags the car as tuned, the third party can deny warranty too. Because of that I am looking into piggy back tunes that can be uninstalled and are undetectable as they don't modify the ECU I think?

Yeah, I’m looking for the same but as far as I can tell you’re basically just running the risk.

And I’m not willing to risk voiding a $4k warranty.

If it was $2k I’d probably risk it, but you’re not going to find a bumper to bumper extended for these cars for $2k unless your deductible is also $2k, lol

RIP


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