CarMax San Gabriel Valley/Duarte

I bought a 2004 Pilot a month ago here. My salesman, Tim, knew exactly which loan to submit me for because I had no job and bad credit but a big down payment. He had me financed with no problem in minutes. A few days before I went to Carmax Burbank for a different car but with the same down payment and the saleswoman there did not do the same thing. The car was purchased in 2 hours and I was driving home. I bought the warranty tey offer which is a great bumper to bumper extended through their company. They have a 5 day return policy. I opted to return my car on day 4 to pay for the warranty in cash so as not to finance it at the very high interest rate I bought the car at. The return was also easy and everything was done in less than an hour. A month later now, I have found a few things wrong with this 2004 that seemed to have slipped past their extensive reconditioning program. I took it in with odd complaints a dealer would normally say they couldn't duplicate. They addressed them all and even gave me a loaner SUV for my babies to fit in while I waited the few days for the parts to arrive. GREAT STORE! Great customer service! And there's a play room for the kids! *Avoid the coffee!! It is terrible!!!

Don't believe CarMax's 30-day warranty! I have just bought my 4th car from CarMax. I have dealt with them since they first started operating in Duarte, CA. Initially, they were a great company. My last experience means I will never use them again. I bought a RAV4 which has a serious problem with the sound system. I have been back to the dealership 5 or 6 times, trying to get them to acknowledge the problem. All I got was a runaround. So, I went to Al & Ed's Autosound, where the problem was immediately acknowledged. I got a quote (at dealer's cost) for the repair. I took this document back to CarMax, and after another delay, was finally informed that -- since the car was still under warranty from Toyota -- CarMax would do absolutely nothing about this issue. It had to be handled through Toyota. So, I have wasted hours of time -- that I didn't have, since I am a busy professional -- and still have a defective car. No one gives you the straight story. In order to get the information given above, I had to cut through the mindless iteration of "canned" language and ask very specific, "yes" or "no," questions. Even then, it was like trying to pry open an oyster. And, when I asked to speak to either the service manager or the manager of the dealership, I was told that no one was on site at the dealership for the entire week! I certainly couldn't run my business that way. Avoid this company. They have degenerated into rip-off artists.