CarMax Langhorne

If you only read the first sentence of this review, know this: if my truck broke down in the CarMax parking lot, I would gladly pay for a tow truck to... take it somewhere else before I would let them work on it. I purchased a 2014 Silverado from the dealership in December of 2017. Due to some errors and delays on their end, it took three full months and several phone calls for me to able to finally register my truck--a process I was expected to take care of within 30 days. I understand that issues happen, though, and the dealership eventually handled things and made it right, so I never complained. A month later, however, I changed my oil for the first time to find that the threads in the oil pan were completely stripped. This was caused by whoever completed the last oil change using a heli-coil (a cheap, temporary fix for a stripped drain plug) and over tightening the plug, leading to the pan being stripped. After paying for a cab to the auto parts store for a temporary rubber plug, wasting eight quarts of oil to drive the truck to the shop, and getting a loaner vehicle for three days, I was finally able to get the oil pan replaced so that my truck would be drivable. Following this, I spent nearly another month calling the dealership and eventually CarMax corporate in an attempt to be reimbursed for the oil pan repair, which cost me just shy of $900. I never asked for money for parts or transportation, just for a repair that their service center caused. After a month of following up on phone calls and emails, though, CarMax told me I was out of luck and that I could kick rocks. The simple truth is that this issue was CarMax’s fault. One of two things happened: a) This was caused by a prior owner/shop and CarMax never bothered to change the oil despite claiming they did and putting their own oil change sticker in the window; if they had, they’d have noticed the stripped pan immediately. Representatives at both the dealership and corporate have insisted that they perform an oil change on every vehicle. b) One of the technicians at CarMax used a heli-coil to attempt to fix a leaking plug and wound up stripping it. I’ve been told by both the dealership and corporate that a heli-coil would never be considered a good fix, yet that’s still what I found under my truck. I’m sure some of their technicians do good work, but whoever worked on my truck is either inexperienced, lazy, or both. When I initially called, the dealership claimed that based on my mileage I must have already changed the oil somewhere else and that perhaps another shop performed the faulty fix. However, I receive monthly emails from Chevy’s OnStar service that prove I changed my oil exactly on time and not before; I maintain my vehicles meticulously and attempting to blame me as the customer for a problem they caused is, frankly, just poor business. Once I pointed this out, the dealership questioned me as to why I brought my car to a local shop to replace the oil pan rather than to their dealership in the next state over. Given the trouble I’d had with getting a check for registration and the fact that this issue existed on my truck that came from their dealership, I think a person would have to be insane to tow their truck 40 miles back to CarMax just hoping they would reimburse the tow. The simple truth is that this issue never should have existed on a truck coming from a dealership of this level. The fact that they can charge tens of thousands of dollars for a truck without even servicing it properly before putting it on their lot is deplorable. If they had reimbursed me for this necessary, preventable repair and done right by me as the customer, I wouldn’t be writing this in the first place. As it stands, though, all I can do is share my experience and hope that someone else sees the way these people do business and shops for their next vehicle elsewhere.