Poll Says One-Third of Car Buyers Do Not Pay Attention to Paperwork

RICHMOND, Va., July 9 -- A recent poll of more than 33,000 car shoppers conducted by CarMax, Inc. on the company's Web site shows that 33 percent of car purchasers do not pay careful attention to their car purchase paperwork. Conversely, 67 percent of consumers say they pay very careful attention to the paperwork.

When asked the question, "When you buy a car, how much attention do you pay to the paperwork?" visitors to http://www.carmax.com/ answered:

           Answer                 Number of Respondents       Percentage of
                                                               Respondents
   I pay very careful attention          22,546                    67%

   I look at most documents,
   but some I just sign                   8,324                    25%

   I just sign them, I trust
   the dealership                         2,150                     6%

   I don't pay attention at all             837                     2%

"It's gratifying to see a large number of car shoppers paying very careful attention to the car purchase paperwork, but there are too many who are not protecting themselves from potential excessive fees," said Tom Folliard, executive vice president of store operations for CarMax, Inc. "A good example of an excessive fee is 'etch,' which is acid etching the VIN number on a windshield or windows -- this process is low cost for the dealer, but they may mark up the price. Car shoppers need to understand exactly what they are paying for, and the only way to do that is to take the time to review every charge on every document."

CarMax, a Fortune 500 company, is the nation's leading specialty retailer of used cars. Headquartered in Richmond, Va., CarMax currently operates 53 used car superstores in 25 markets. CarMax also operates 12 new car franchises, all of which are integrated or co-located with its used car superstores. During the twelve month period ended May 31, 2004, the company sold 228,407 used cars, which is 91 percent of the total 250,009 vehicles the company sold during that period. For more information, access the CarMax Web site at http://www.carmax.com/.