Poor payment relative to the industry standard - Sales and Service CarMax Employee Review

1.0
Feb 1, 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Non college educated sales person can make $80k if willing to grind out 70hr work weeks and put up with dictator iron fist style manaqgement.

Cons

Poor quality vehicles. Managers use intimidation and demeaning tactics on sales consultants. Appraisal process/crew/training is a joke. Inventory crew are 18yr old kids spending their whole time screwing off instead of cleaning cars. Tech bays have some great techs, but the TPM's and LGM's are too worried about budgets to approve paying for needed repairs. Techs get lazy because nothing gets approved. Cars keep coming back without getting fixed. Service writers take all the crap end of the poor front end and get paid 1/3 of the industry standard while working more hours. They burn out and the only survivors cheat and rob the newbies writers/techs. Customers return the cars as a result (5 day return policy) and the sales person loses their commission. Commission stucture is flat with no change since mid 90's (company inception). Sales people burn out and settle for $12 per hour (base in Cali). Sales people start snaking deals from each other to make ends meat. Rivalry begins and internal groups are formed. High school drama stems and lead to feuds. Management watches with no action and are all part of the evil mentioned above. Everyone sleeps with everyone. A majority of sales managers were just the worst of the worst and excelled at lying, cheating, sleeping or stealing from/with coworkers. This led them to high sales, popularity and promotion. They continue with clicks and hand deals to their cohort. The underscored triple bottom line: Poor quality vehicles sold after "CQI" Certified Quality Inspection.

Explore other reviews about CarMax

5.0
Mar 2, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Communication, acknowledgment, recognition, growth, benefits

Cons

Work life balance as a sales manager is difficult when you have smaller children

4.0
Jun 13, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The perks of working at CarMax are quite extensive. Associates are offered an aggressive 401k program, Stock Purchasing Plan, in store discounts on sales and service, access to the CarMax Wholesale system, excellent healthcare, plenty of PTO, and at my location we are given as much OT as we want. My coworkers are generally good people, that I enjoy being able to work along side day in and day out. Management is very understanding in regards to calling out sick family emergencies, and schedule requests.

Cons

Despite doing the work of 5 people, and very politely asking for a raise management will not give me more than my 3% annual raise which is the single biggest let down. The bonus change of 2025 being labeled as "exciting" was straight corporate gaslighting unlike anything I've ever seen. Since the start of 2026, as of this review being written we have lost 7 associates largely due to pay, and I am soon to join those associates. Management from the store level up to corporate needs to understand that to retain their top performers they need to be compensated like a top performer. Some members of management are cliquey and moody which is very frustrating to deal with. Quality of Management varies wildly from store to store as well

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