CarMax, Inc.

In late August, my daughter and I went to Carmax to sell a car. They gave us an estimate, according to policy, that was good for seven days. Because of problems with the title, we were unable to sell the car at that time.

We parked the car, while we resolved the title issues. My daughter took the car back just last week (mid-October). She was aloneand that seems to be significant: being alone and being a young woman. The car was a month older with the twenty odd miles it took to drive between her house and Carmax.

The estimate came back $500 less than when Ia middle aged white malewas in the room. When confronted with the discrepancy, they pointed to issues with the car (that were accounted for in the first estimate) and market fluctuations.

Both rationale might have been more persuasive,

if a salesman had not commented on finding such a pretty young woman waiting for him

if the explanation of markets shifted from the release of new models to the time of season

if the salesman had returned the original estimate instead of holding on to it for her own protection

if it had not taken three, then two, men stopping my daughter in a room and repeatedly asking "Are you comfortable with this?" (Newsflash, the answer to that question seems self-evident.)

In short, Carmax offers a valuable service, a service that my daughter needed. However, to all appearances, it is a service that carries a $500 surcharge for young, college-age women.