CarMax Sold Me A 2014 Subaru Outback For $15K, Now 9 Months Later It’s Undriveable, and It Needs a New Engine and Transmission 

I bought A Chevy Aveo from carmax and within 2weeks it needed A whole new cooling system. Radiator and such. Maxcare took care of it for $100 deductible. Then the ignition system went out and maxcare fixed that. Pain in the neck but maxcare saved my butt.

The owner of the car ran it out of oil and blamed carmax? Lmao 🤣

Carmax is not at fault here. They arent psychic. The car was fine when they looked at it. You can NEVER be sure how how a previous owner drove and maintained their car. Buying used can save some cash but comes with a huge risk. People also tend to be oblivious and neglect their own vehicle. She had the car 9 months. How many times did she check the oil? Probably never. Obviously never had the oil changed either if the level was that low. Who is at fault on that? She is. For some reason people think they never need to open their hood. EVERY manufacturer will say in their owners manual to check fluids at least every 1000 miles. If you don't, sorry but that is on you.

First of all, missing from the article is the miles on the odometer. Secondly, she's complaining about a 11-year-old car. No oil? She never checked it. CVT not maintained? I call BS. Those CVT transmissions need little to no maintenance. Many Subaru models have the oil consumption issue. She should have done her homework. She also overpaid for this 11 year old car. carFax rightfully does t have any further obligations after the warranty expired.

I've had hassle-free dealings w/ CarMax - and I own a new Outback.

I would not have had the issue Rainbow had because among lots of trivia I know, I know that certain specific, easy-to-research models of Subaru have had oil, engine, and transmission problems. I would not have bought any of those w/o a substantial discount and an extended warranty.

It's hard to fault CarMax in this case, given that they offer an extended warranty. Were that not the case, I am confident that I could've gotten some satisfaction by contacting their top executives and two or three consumer and government agencies. A retired corporate customer service manager, I know how to tie most companies in knots.

Sounds like Twig does not know anything about cars and wants to blame others. 1 ) with ANY research she should’ve known it had a CVT and that those are troublesome in almost any application, and require more maintenance.
2) the article reads like you did not check the oil for nine months. The first thing you do when you buy a car is check the oil. And for a 10-year-old car you should be checking it monthly. How is it Carfax‘s fault that you blew your engine through negligence?

The opening paragraph is wrong.
It should say twig bought a new car without doing any homework. Twig did not research a CVT is a difficult transmission and does not have a long reliability life. Twig did not check her oil frequently. Twig expects an 11-year-old car to be a new car and magically fill itself with oil. What did twig do wrong?

What did you expect? Lots of comments here on how they bought a crappy car from Carfax. What would you expect when to say national conglomerate used car operation, very little actual verification of the condition of the vehicles. Cars that are not good enough to sell at a used Car dealership or reputable place end up the Carfax. You get the leftovers so why are you expecting filet mignon ?

Well she didnt changed the oil for 9 month lol, how its CarMax fault?

She did no due diligence on a ten year old used vehicle, no outside inspection done by a third party.
Apparently drove the car thousands of miles without checking the oil level.

Takes zero responsibility for her poor decisions.
Blames the seller.

Oof.

My sister bought a used car from Carmax. It ended up being a worthless piece of junk. The car ended up having several recalls that were never taken care of and then started having other problems. Come to find out the car had been in a wreck and Carmax never told her. I would never buy anything from them

Like the author, I too was in the auto repair industry for nearly 30 years. I ran four independent shops and worked in the service departments of four major brands. Not to disparage this Subaru owner's issues, but I saw countless examples of this. Nowadays the majority of people never check the basics of their vehicles and put the blame elsewhere. Fluid levels and tire pressures low because they never check them between services. Even now retired from the industry, I sit as a customer hearing scenarios like this play out.
My regular service rep at the dealership I purchased my latest vehicle knows I was in the industry and we have a great relationship. Two years ago I was in for a service. She told me to sit in the waiting room and pay attention to a conversation she was about to have with another customer. Basically, this customer's engine was done for at 40,000 miles with no record of even a single oil change:
Rep: Did you service the car somewhere else? Because I can't find records of any services done at all. It needs a new engine and without any records of service, the warranty will not cover it.
Customer: "Service it?! What do you mean service it?! My salesman never called me to say I had to service it!!"
A few months ago, a Toyota Tacoma page randomly came across my Facebook feed. The post showed a picture of the display in a 2024 Tacoma indicating low oil level at 13,500 miles with the author stating: "Here I am at 13,500 miles with a low oil warning. It was just serviced at 10,000 miles. If it only need servicing every 10,000 miles, why should I have to check the oil in between?"
People will put a $1200 phone in an $80 case with a $30 screen protector, and coddle it like a newborn baby, but don't even attempt to care for a vehicle they're spending tens of thousands of dollars on. Then when it breaks: "It's not my fault!!"
It's 2025. By now most every adult should know not to trust a car dealer new or used. If it's a used car and you were told "We did a 125 point inspection and changed everything!!" don't trust that. If you're comfortable with the vehicle, buy it and get all the fluids and filters changed immediately. Even if they did these services, they used the cheapest fluids/filters possible to maximize their profits...

You bought a 10 plus yr old USED car! W.T.F. do you want? A lifetime warranty/guarantee? You want an extended warranty, then buy one?!? I drive older, used, outta warranty vehicles & when they break - I PAY OUTTA POCKET TO FIX THEM. That's called cold, simple reality. Wake up, get a grip & figure it out already.

I had the SAME problem, I bought a car and within 12 months it’s now unsafe to drive. Within 7 days my transmission had to be replaced and for 8 months straight it was in their service department cause I kept telling them I think there is engine problems. They told me I was just hearing normal wear and tear of an older vehicle, it wasn’t until one of there team members appraised it and told me the car was worth nothing cause he thinks it has major engine problems, that was when they listened, I thought it was fixed but nope 45 days later same problems. Engine problems. It’s parked, and I’m trying to negotiate with them, but they will not respond. I think they take advantage of people who are just trying to rebuild their credit as well I don’t trust them with it comes to confidential documents. During one of my visits to Carmax service department, they gave me another customer information I gave it back to them and they crossed out the customer’s name and wrote mine and gave it back, the paperwork was all his vehicle info not mine. All I want is for this matter to be made right. I feel discriminated against, and undervalued as a person and customer.

I mean, as far as a used vehicle warranty goes, the CarMax warranty is one of the best that comes standard. Most places offer 7 days or maybe 30 days. 3 months or 4000 miles is really good. The first thing you do when looking at a used car is bring it to get an inspection by a mechanic who works on these cars, whether that be a dealership or an independent shop specializing in those cars. As soon as she got it, she should have done that (or do that before you even buy it). And then her opting to not get the extended warranty is completely on her. That's the gamble you take. You hope nothing happens to the car and hope that saving the money is the best option. Many cars don't need that extended warranty, or at least don't need repairs requiring the same amount of money as the warranty costs. But when you have a major issues come up, that's when you wish you bought it. Something you should ALWAYS do is assume when buying a used car is assume that maintenance hasn't been done. Change the air filter, spark plugs and cabin filter. Replace the coil packs. Get the transmission fluid drained and refilled (don't flush it ever). Do an oil change. Do a coolant flush. If you have a differential, get that drained and refilled. Inspect the suspension and all bushings and bearings and replace as necessary. You have to assume that nothing was done, or at least done recently. It affords you some peace of mind knowing all this stuff is fresh and new. A little extra money up front will typically ensure that it'll last. And all engines will burn oil. Some burn a little, some burn a lot. A 10 year old car is going to be worn, and it's oil consumption will be higher. But not having any oil on the dipstick doesn't mean it's out of oil. The difference between the upper and lower marks is 1 quart on most cars. And most cars take anywhere from 4-6 quarts. The only way to know how much is left is by draining it out. But with any new to you car, you should be checking the oil level with every gas tank fill up. After a few tanks, if it's still looking good, check it like once a month or every 4 fill ups. If it gets down to the halfway mark, top it off (about ½ a quart). But now you have an idea on how much oil the engine consumes, and you should be checking it at least once a month moving forward, and topping off as needed. I really don't feel bad for people when this happens though. A simple Google search will tell you what you should do when buying a used car. She just trusted CarMax blindly. And it sounds like she didn't actually do any maintenance to it (although she said she did). Transmissions and engines rarely just fail. They almost always show signs of issues long before they get to the point where they need to be replaced or rebuilt. So I don't believe her claim of doing maintenance on it, because these issues should have reared their head when the maintenance was being done. Maybe she was taking her car to those quick-lube shops instead of a legitimate shop. They always try to upsell customers based on mileage, and she likely just told them no. But they don't specialize in a specific car or brand, and they don't have the training to properly inspect or repair major components. She's trying to save face by saying that she did maintenance, but she obviously didn't check her oil regularly and never noticed any issues with the CVT, which has noticeable issues long before they need to be replaced. And blasting CarMax on social media isn't right. They offered her an extended warranty (that was declined) and provided her with an industry leading used car warranty (only time you find better is certified pre-owned cars, but those are usually only a couple years old, fresh off a lease or rental program). The car could have easily been professionally inspected at any time, which wasn't done. So sorry, this is on you for it. You took that gamble by not getting it inspected and by not getting the extended warranty. You lost that gamble unfortunately. That's the choice you made though. Now you need to be an adult and pay for your mistake.

I feel for the purchaser, but oil, water and maintence are part of every vehicle owner's responsibilities Ifcproper maintenece are not performed even the most reliable cars will fail prematurely.

A 2018 Dodge Durango. I purchased the extended warranty about 70000 miles added before warranty was out. Had a auto start problem in the warranty period and Carmax repaired. Now I only have it serviced at Dodge dealership.

This is why I don't own a Subaru. They are prone to oil leaks, timing chain issues and many other problems.

Everyone knows that Subarus use oil, and you have to check your own oil, no matter what you drive. And they aren't going to tear apart a transmission just to "check" it. Also, where was this done? Local reputable mechanic, or some quicky lube place?

Buy a used car, drive it 9,000 miles then cry because the oil was low because you never checked it in 9 months.
Then try to shame the seller for something you didn't do. Clever.

The only reliable thing CarMax has done, is ripping off customers, by overselling nearly 100k miles worn cars for near to new prices.

The same thing happened to my son. CarMax wouldn't touch the car, luckily the extended warranty finally paid for the new motor after giving my son the run around. My son said he is thru with CarMax.

So did you ever check the oil in 8 months? Someone like like you should never own a car ever!

$15000 for a 2014 Subaru Outback? Somebody didn't do their homework before buying. I paid $12000 for my 2015, 5 years ago.

I’ve purchased about 5 vehicles from CarMax over the last 20 years. The only one that I didn’t get coverage on didn’t have issues that weren’t factory related. My latest car had multiple, extensive issues after two years. Maxcare more than paid for itself in repairs. I even received a credit for car rental.

Why didn't she have the car inspected herself? Second that's along time without a oil change.

I bought a 2014 Cadillac srx vehicle from CarMax in 2017. It had 20,000 miles on it. I now have 60,000 miles on it. I don't drive a little t as you can see. That's only 40,000 miles in 8 years. I had to have the piece that controls heat, ac, radio and all other info replaced after 5 years. Other than regular tires and maintenance that is all I have ever had to do to the car. I keep it in garage and it still looks like a brand new one. I would go back to CarMax.