CarMax sold us car with structural damage — now refusing buyback. What are our realistic options in California?
Location: California, SF Bay Area
My girlfriend and I recently bought a used BMW m550 from CarMax in Fremont, California for 42k. Six months later we decided to trade it in for an M2. A preliminary online appraisal was for 29k. So we get to the store and we’re waiting around for about 40 minutes while they give it their “official” appraisal. Finally two guys show up, sit down and start talking about how they found a “re-weld” on the frame and were we ever in an accident? No, we weren’t. So apparently Carmax missed the weld and sold us a car with frame damage. The guys seemed pretty nervous and kept talking about how they were going to “make this right” etc, which they said *might* involve a complete buyback of the car at its original selling price of 42k.
Great. Awesome. And after surveying reddit, it looks like Carmax indeed guarantees against frame damage etc and will generally buy back any car under these kinds of circumstances
Anyway, a week later after “talking to senior management” they get back to us with the “great news” that they are willing to buy back the car at our preliminary online appraisal rate of 29k. Wow. Awesome. I told them no, you can buy back the car at 42k and they said they’d talk to “senior management” again. The next day they come back with the same offer, 29k. I told them they were breach of contract and that I would be taking legal action.
So am I doing the right thing? Wasting my time? Any suggestions would be helpful.