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Amusing video, and obviously done in good humor, and surely he wasn't really thinking they would give him $4,200 for a 21 year old Jaguar?
I was a little shocked at $1,200 because the car looks to be (near) immaculate, as the owner described. (except for that unkempt trunk!). I thought maybe $2,000, maybe even $2,250. I figured they could at least double their money and sell it for $5K.
It's not a VDP, but it is an XJR, but it is a 1998 and is 21 years old, although it is very low mileage for the year, but CarMax doesn't specialize in "older classics". And maybe it hasn't had the timing chain tensioners replaced, and maybe there's a couple of things that need attention, or need to be replaced etc. etc
The perception of our unheralded gems on display here.
It's just CarMax doing what they have always done - lowballing your car and selling you used cars at new car prices. I don't know why he even wasted his time. There was a dealer not far from me recently selling a 1998 or '99 XJR for around $8k. CarMax really has no shame. Imagine selling this X308 with an asking price of say five thousand and somebody would show up and offers you $1,200.
It's just CarMax doing what they have always done - lowballing your car and selling you used cars at new car prices. I don't know why he even wasted his time. There was a dealer not far from me recently selling a 1998 or '99 XJR for around $8k. CarMax really has no shame. Imagine selling this X308 with an asking price of say five thousand and somebody would show up and offers you $1,200.
Ermmmm they're a business that needs to make a profit ..
I saw this on Facebook and immediately thought he needed to find a hobby, a job, or a girlfriend. Wasted a lot of time, he should have known he was going to be lowballed (for all the reasons noted above -- mostly CarMax isn't into wasting their time selling really old luxury cars that nobody but a few nuts like us would want when they can sell ten Hyundais in the same time and space).
Also, they probably knew he wasn't serious when he brought it in with trash in the cabin and trunk -- "Let's fill the square and get this dude out of here!"
I think that the whole thing was a gimmick to come up with some "content" and reinforce the whole stereotype of Jaguar depreciation. All 20 plus year old cars are worth very little in trade in or direct sales to a dealer. Only an enthusiast would consider buying an older Jag. Truthfully, most buyers would never consider buying an old Jaguar, Mercedes, BMW, they know that upkeep and repair would be much higher than on a Honda and Toyota or Lexus for that matter. When I'm daily driving my X300 I feel that I am "flying the flag" for the marque. Seeing it out and about might help to suggest that purchasing a new Jaguar wouldn't be an entirely crazy idea. They are viable vehicles.
Predatory loan sharks claim they need to make a profit too. Doesn't make it ethical.
Not really the same is it?
One locks you into payments you can't afford,
The other gives you an offer with no obligation, not happy with it don't sell.
Someone has to pay for the huge buildings, employees, time for said employee to go over your entire car and test drive it.
Not really the same is it?
One locks you into payments you can't afford,
The other gives you an offer with no obligation, not happy with it don't sell.
Someone has to pay for the huge buildings, employees, time for said employee to go over your entire car and test drive it.
Your overhead is not my problem. Neither is CarMax paying an employee fifteen dollars an hour. That's all it roughly takes at most to inspect a car. So what we have here is an eight thousand dollar car and they offer $1,200. $6,800 will pay a lot of employee hours.
I heard from a guy who regrettably sold them a late model Infiniti SUV and a week later the truck was for sale on their lot for ten thousand dollars more than they paid him. Yes, that is unethical. I don't care how much overhead or employee hours they have to pay.
Even our very nicest X308s are not quite there yet. Someday, maybe . . . but probably not since they were not considered exceptional from the beginning.
...what we have here is an eight thousand dollar car and they offer $1,200.
It's only an eight thousand dollar car if you sell it for eight thousand dollars. If you willingly CHOOSE to sell it for $1,200, then that makes it a $1,200 car. If the person you sell it to resells it to a willing buyer for $10,000 (good luck with that), then that same car becomes a $10,000 car. None of that has anything to do with "ethics". It's the marketplace being the marketplace.
It's only an eight thousand dollar car if you sell it for eight thousand dollars. If you willingly CHOOSE to sell it for $1,200, then that makes it a $1,200 car. If the person you sell it to resells it to a willing buyer for $10,000 (good luck with that), then that same car becomes a $10,000 car. None of that has anything to do with "ethics". It's the marketplace being the marketplace.
And he choose not to sell it for $1,200 meaning he agrees with me that it is realistically worth well north of that. It's called being reasonable. If I walked into a dealer and offered twelve hundred on this same exact car I'd be laughed out the door. So no, it isn't the marketplace but the CarMax business model. Have ever looked at what they ask for any given car compared to regular dealers? They're always at least ten percent higher.
Now tell me how it is ethical to mark up a late model SUV by ten grand because you washed it and vacuumed the carpets?
I paid $1,000 for my 1998 in 2016. Was that "unethical"?
These are old 4-door sedans that are hard to resell. If a dealer offers a low-ball $1,200, its because they really don't want to buy it. That has nothing to do with ethics, just simple economics.
