Question on Buying from CarMax

[NucEngr]

I will preface this post (and probably a few of my next posts) with the fact that I am new to this Forum area and am looking to learn as much as possible about what to look for in buying a Porsche Boxster, what are the "right" questions to ask, what have been frequently seen problems, etc. I have not bought a high-performance car like this before, and I'm looking to probably buy within a year or two.

That being said, I was wondering if anyone had any experience (or knows anyone who does) with buying a used Porsche via CarMax. If so, how knowledgeable was the dealer staff? What about warranty support? Service experience? Anything else that you can think of that would be helpful? Thanks.

[fasterjames]

Carmax is a great place to buy a car if you are looking for a positive experience and good clean cars. They are friendly, have good customer service, and have tried to distance themselves from the mainstream auto dealers. If a car is on their lot it is in great condition.

That being said, they are not Porsche specialists and will not/cannot place a Porsche through the same certification as a PPI done by a Porsche store. Carmax may have a million point inspection but it still won't identify any issues as well as a trained Porsche expert. They may however let you take it to a Porsche store for a PPI at your expense. You'd have to talk with their sales managers about that.

When it comes to price, if you can negotiate and/or possibly put up with a not as positive of an experience (at a non Porsche store), you will always get a lower price elsewhere. If you don't, you got screwed.

I didn't buy mine from a Porsche dealer but I imagine the benefits are well worth the price: service, loaners, overrides for out of warranty issues, etc.

[Topless]

I got mine from Carmax. It was a very clean 1 owner car with a perfect dealer service history. I looked at 6 other pp cars and 2 other dealer cars and this one was the nicest by far. The sale was quick and painless and I paid cash (retail price). I am not one for extended warranties but I took advantage of the "5 day return no questions asked policy" and had the car PPI'd by a local Porsche specialist. He agreed it was a keeper. I could have bought a lot of cheaper P.P. cars... sometimes you get what you pay for. I have not been disappointed.

Carmax is a good choice for a fast, low risk, retail car purchase. I would use them again. Make other arrangements though for service and warranty. They know zero about Porsche, around here at least.