Just recently got my GTI appraised at a local Carmax and wanted to let everyone know of my experience as some my find it somewhat useful. So first a little bit about my car:
2010 Black GTI, 4-door PZEV DSG
18" Detroits
Standard plaid cloth seats
bi-xenon headlights
monster mats
trunk liner
26,500 miles
Still have 1 worry free service maintenance left.
Condition: Good. Paint is still shiny and not dull, no mechanicals, and not modded. Dash has slight fade, but overall good condition and interior fabric is still good and not faded in addition to no tears or anything.
Negatives: Slight curb rash on one wheel (damn kid that ran into the street and I had to swerve not to hit him!); weird little dot ding right under driverside door handle though no scratch; random light scratches on door panels from people opening their doors and walking by; inner felt lining on door slightly worn (never knew why felt was used ugh...lol). The driver side monster mat is worn due to my office work shoes; lastly car has some of the ever so dreaded black swirl marks which is most noticeable on the B-pillar panels, but overall swirls are slight nonetheless.
Did a quick run on Edmunds and based on the Clean category, it returned a Trade-In-Value of $18,860. Based on KBB's Very Good classification, the TIV is $18,972 and $18,222 for the Good classification. Based on the descriptions of each classification, my car is right in between. So after the appraiser inspected my car, he came back with an offer of $18,500. Not too shabby and is about just what I thought and hope it would be. Overall, I'm very satisfied with the offer. Based on my research I've done, it seems that Carmax marks up their vehicles, or at least their GTI's by 16 to 20% and this offer is consistent. If I end up selling my car to Carmax, I'll keep a tab on it and update this post with the listing price. Other people I know whom have sold their cars to Carmax have also gotten slightly above the KBB price. The trick is to just be really honest with the condition of your car.
Overall, the process was pretty smooth. I had to wait for a bit (didn't make an appointment), but once the appraiser was free, the whole process took about 30 minutes. I, along with the appraiser and rep walked to my car, the appraiser looked at the exterior and interior while verbalizing everything, and once he was done, we went over what was found and wasn't found. After that, the appraiser when to his database to pull up the national auction, selling price, etc...of the GTI. While he was doing this, I just chewed the fat with the sales rep for about 5 minutes before I was forwarded the offer.
Overall, I wasn't hassled into buying a car or felt pressured to do anything. The rep did ask me why I was selling the car, but again, no pressure. So it was a good experience and only took 30 minutes. :banana:
EDIT: Forgot to mention that the usual protocol calls for the appraiser to take the car for a test drive (with the owner allowed of course), but since my car is still under warranty, the test drive was not needed, because if there is anything wrong, it can just be corrected under warranty.
2010 Black GTI, 4-door PZEV DSG
18" Detroits
Standard plaid cloth seats
bi-xenon headlights
monster mats
trunk liner
26,500 miles
Still have 1 worry free service maintenance left.
Condition: Good. Paint is still shiny and not dull, no mechanicals, and not modded. Dash has slight fade, but overall good condition and interior fabric is still good and not faded in addition to no tears or anything.
Negatives: Slight curb rash on one wheel (damn kid that ran into the street and I had to swerve not to hit him!); weird little dot ding right under driverside door handle though no scratch; random light scratches on door panels from people opening their doors and walking by; inner felt lining on door slightly worn (never knew why felt was used ugh...lol). The driver side monster mat is worn due to my office work shoes; lastly car has some of the ever so dreaded black swirl marks which is most noticeable on the B-pillar panels, but overall swirls are slight nonetheless.
Did a quick run on Edmunds and based on the Clean category, it returned a Trade-In-Value of $18,860. Based on KBB's Very Good classification, the TIV is $18,972 and $18,222 for the Good classification. Based on the descriptions of each classification, my car is right in between. So after the appraiser inspected my car, he came back with an offer of $18,500. Not too shabby and is about just what I thought and hope it would be. Overall, I'm very satisfied with the offer. Based on my research I've done, it seems that Carmax marks up their vehicles, or at least their GTI's by 16 to 20% and this offer is consistent. If I end up selling my car to Carmax, I'll keep a tab on it and update this post with the listing price. Other people I know whom have sold their cars to Carmax have also gotten slightly above the KBB price. The trick is to just be really honest with the condition of your car.
Overall, the process was pretty smooth. I had to wait for a bit (didn't make an appointment), but once the appraiser was free, the whole process took about 30 minutes. I, along with the appraiser and rep walked to my car, the appraiser looked at the exterior and interior while verbalizing everything, and once he was done, we went over what was found and wasn't found. After that, the appraiser when to his database to pull up the national auction, selling price, etc...of the GTI. While he was doing this, I just chewed the fat with the sales rep for about 5 minutes before I was forwarded the offer.
Overall, I wasn't hassled into buying a car or felt pressured to do anything. The rep did ask me why I was selling the car, but again, no pressure. So it was a good experience and only took 30 minutes. :banana:
EDIT: Forgot to mention that the usual protocol calls for the appraiser to take the car for a test drive (with the owner allowed of course), but since my car is still under warranty, the test drive was not needed, because if there is anything wrong, it can just be corrected under warranty.
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