S2000 owner gets a surprisingly fair offer from the unique dealership.
In most cases, selling a car like a clean Honda S2000 to a dealership is an exercise in compromise for the owner, but CarMax isn’t like most dealerships. The company deals in all sorts of vehicles and they are completely transparent with their buying and selling practices, so it has become a popular option for someone looking to unload a car or buy a new-to-them car for a good deal.
In the video above, YouTuber Machi Chavez took his 2007 Honda S2000 to a local CarMax outlet for an appraisal and the offer is impressive. In fact, it turns out to be too good of an offer for him to refuse, leading him to sell his sleek sports car to CarMax.
The Introduction
The video begins with Chavez explaining that he never has time to drive the S2000, so he sees no point in keeping it. He posted it on a few websites and, predictably, he received a bunch of terrible, low-ball offers. One guy insisted that the car was only worth $9,000 while the best offer received was $16,500. Mind you, the Kelly Blue Book price for this car ranges from $21,000 to $26,000, so the offers were borderline insulting.
As a result, Chavez decided to take his Honda to CarMax. Having heard that they offer fair value for nice used cars, he shined up the S2000 and headed to the dealership for an appraisal. His car has AP2V2 wheels and it is completely stock inside and out, with just over 45,000 miles on the odometer. Sounds like a catch, to us.
CarMax Appraisal
While Chavez doesn’t film the appraisal process, he returns from his meeting to show us the offer of $19,000. That is a couple grand below the low end of the KBB value range, but with it being higher than any other offers, he decides to take the deal.
For a low-mileage, stock 2007 AP2, the value sounds a touch low, but, hey, as they say, cash is king.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
