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If you’re planning to sell your used car, you’re lucky because it’s a seller’s market. But what if you want to sell your car without the hassle of dealing with a private party or a dealership? In that case, selling your car to a third-party retailer like Carmax, Carvana, or Vroom is easier and more profitable. In fact, a recent study shows that Carmax pays out the most.

Carmax had the highest average offer for used cars

This table shows the average offer from each site - Carmax, Carvana, and Vroom
This table shows the average offer from each site – Carmax, Carvana, and Vroom | FinanceBuzz

The team at FinanceBuzz, a financial advice website, recently conducted a study to compare offers on over 100 different vehicles from three used car retailers – Carmax, Carvana, and Vroom. They compared offers using the same car in all three stores to see which one would give the highest offers and how the car’s age, body style, and mileage would affect the offer. The results showed that Carmax gave the highest offer among the three retailers.

According to the results, Carmax’s average offer was $13,902, which was over $1,000 higher than the average offer from the other two competitors. Carvana came in second with an average offer of $12,895, and Vroom came in third place with an average offer of $12,775.

Carmax’s offer wasn’t a fluke either. The results showed that Carmax consistently gave the highest offer for 63% of the vehicles that the study included. On the other hand, Vroom gave the lowest offer 46% of the time.

Carmax offered the most for different types of vehicles as well

This table shows that average offer according to vehicle type.
This table shows the average offer according to vehicle type. | FinanceBuzz

When it came to offers on different types of vehicles, Carmax still came out on top. The used car retailer offered an average of $300 to $1,100 more than the competition for cars, trucks, and minivans. However, the largest spread was for SUVs, in which Carmax offered over $1,500 more than the other two retailers.

When it came to vehicle age, Carmax was still the highest

This table show the average offers according to vehicle age.
This table shows the average offers according to vehicle age. | FinanceBuzz

The older your car is, the less of an offer you’ll likely get from any dealer or used car retailer. That was the case for all three competitors in the study. However, Carmax’s offers still came out on top. Carmax offered $900 more than Vroom on newer vehicles and $1,500 more than Carvana on average. For the older cars – 2001 to 2009 – Carmax was the only site to offer more than $2,000, with an average offer of $2,728.

Did mileage affect the offers?

This table shows the average offer by the car's mileage
This table shows the average offer from all three sites according to the car’s mileage. | FinanceBuzz

Yes, the car’s mileage did affect the offers from all three sites. Cars with lower mileage (0 to 50,000) received an average offer of $24,980, while cars with high mileage (150,000 plus) received offers of $2,957.

As you might have guessed, Carmax still offered the most regardless of the car’s mileage. The results showed that Carmax offered over $1,000 more than the competition on average.

If you’re planning to sell your car to a used car retailer right now, then the choice is clear

The used car retailer CarMax.
A CarMax store front | Yana Paskova/Getty Images

As we can see, if you’re planning to sell your car right now and don’t want to deal with a traditional dealer or private party, go to Carmax. If anything, we recommend checking offers with all three of the aforementioned sites to see what they will offer. However, it looks like Carmax is likely to give you the highest offer regardless.

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