CarMax White Marsh - Now offering Express Pickup

After visiting 3 other Nissan Dealers in the Baltimore area and one in Rockville, my wife and I were very distressed at the buying experience. We very much wanted to take advantage of the CARS (cash for clunkers) program, but were really put-off by the attitudes of the dealers that we visited. To be honest, we have some flaws in our credit-history, but felt that with being able to use the $4500 clunker voucher, we would only be financing less than $10K on a $14K car and should be able to get credit. Before the recession, we were considering buying a used car and had financing offers in the 12 to 15% range with $2k down on a $10k car. Apparently, the recession and banking problems have really tightened up lending requirements. Our credit scores have improved since then, and we were looking at 30 to 40% down on a new car but could only get offers of 20% or worse interest. 2 of the 3 dealers refused to give us a yes or no decision on financing after 3 to 4 days. If they were not going to finance us, that is OK, just let me know so I can make alternate arrangements. The one dealer that offered us financing tried to hide hidden fees and extras that would have inflated the purchase price of the vehicle by $1994. Carmax was the complete opposite of those experiences. They let us know within 20 minutes that the financing was going to be a problem. I respect them actually submitting my application to lenders and getting back to me with options. I wanted to avoid getting a co-signer on the loan, but decided that the deal with the CARS program was worth the extra hassle (and indebtedness that goes along with getting a loan with a co-signer). I have always been a bargain shopper and actually like the bartering aspect of buying a car, but I have to admit that CarMax was very fair with its pricing. They applied the factory rebate even though the MSRP sticker and the Carmax sticker did not show the rebate. I wound up spending $1500 more than I really wanted to spend, but getting much more car for the money. I was ready to spend $12900 on a car with auto, a/c, and no other options. For the extra $1500, my wife and I decided to go with the better model with power windows/locks/mirrors, larger engine, alloy wheels, factory radio, keyless entry, cruise control, upgraded interior trim, etc... - a much better value. I like that they gave us options on which model we could choose. I am very glad that the salesperson (Mike) was willing to take the time to go over several models with different packages and even went to the trouble to price out several different packages along with the rebates offered so we could make an accurate and informed decision. Unlike the salespeople at the other dealerships that we visited, Mike spent over 4 hours with us, making sure that we had the opportunity to ask all the questions that we had and taking time to answer them directly. He was with us from the moment we walked in the door and stayed with us until he handed us off to the loan manager. Never did he go away and make us wait or take on other customers who were nosing around the more expensive cars on the lot - something that we experienced at all the other dealerships. Everything at Carmax was straight-forward and honest. No attempts were made to 'upsell' us into buying 'paint sealant' (an $800.00 dollar wax-job that you can get at your local carwash for under $30.00) all the pricing was up-front. There were no hidden fees or unexpected 'shocks' in the financing office. The loan manager was careful to explain everything and make sure that we understood everything we were signing and gave us options on the term and interest rates of several types of loans. The paperwork process was relatively quick and painless. All-in-all, Carmax Nissan at White Marsh was a great buying experience and the total opposite of all the other dealers that we visited in the area.