Went to Carmax, am I getting a good deal?

I took my car to carmax today. I currently have a 2003 Ford Focus with about 126K miles on it.

They appraised it at $1,500 which seems good to me, but I don't know anything about cars.

I want to get a 2012 Fiat 500. I forgot to have him write down all the info, so I can't remember stuff like the interest rate, but I would be paying about $272 per month for 6 years.

The salesman was trying really hard to get me to buy the warranty. I have always heard that car warranty's are a bad idea, but I don't really know why.

Do not go to Carmax! They are the worst. They sell you overpriced used cars, claiming they are certified pre-owned. Let's face it, who are they really trying to fool with that anyway? $272 is not a bad monthly payment, but you do not want to be paying on a car for 6 years. You never know what may come up, especially in a used car. They do their own financing, which generally makes the interest rate higher on the loan. Dealers outsource the lending to banks, which enables them to find the lowest interest rate based on your credit. $1500 is a good offer on a 2003 Focus. I traded in the same car with around the same mileage (don't remember exactly how much), and was only offered $1000 from Carmax. That was before my A/C and other small things broke on it. At the dealership, I was offered the same amount, even with all the mechanical issues.

I'm currently on a 6 year loan for my car, and now have to look for a second car for my family. I still owe too much on the car to trade it in, and we need a bigger car within the next few months due to our rapidly expanding family.

My advice is to just take your time and definitely do your homework. Purchasing a car is a huge commitment, and you don't want to be left doubting if you made the right decision.

No carmax is the worst place, even worse than the dealers. Their cars are good, but way overpriced because they do an inspection, detail & clean their cars…

So they offer you So LITTLE because they're going to need to spend money to clean it up & get it prepped.

Go to a fiat dealership & try to find a used 500, or just do a private party sale which will get you the most money…

272 @ 6 years is not something you want to pay off.

Too much and never finance more than 60 months(5 years)

My advice would be to sell it either on the open market, or directly to a Ford dealership. Then use the money as a down payment on your FIAT. (The 500 is an OK car, but if you like your Focus, then at least test-drive the Fiesta. I find it more substantial and you're not paying for the "cute factor" the way you would with the FIAT or the MINI.)

Carmax does deliberately lowball you on your trade in order to get you to buy one of their cars; then, suddenly, they're more willing to deal… I was offered $5000 under residual for a Ford Fusion, which was a very popular car at the time.