A great place to work with some inconsistency between teams - Senior Software Engineer CarMax Employee Review

4.0
Feb 16, 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I spent the past 3 years working in big tech where "work life balance" is a buzz word but you're still expected to work lots of overtime constantly if you want to succeed. CarMax is a breath of fresh air. My team is productive and consistent while working a normal amount of hours. When we have technical debt, we attack it. When on-call becomes painful, we fix it. We have latitude to do what needs to be done while delivering the best possible solution to our customers. Our tech stack is relentlessly modern. We are constantly evaluating new features and solutions to ensure that we are as efficient as possible. This is near on perfect for how a technical team should run and I can't imagine leaving this team.

Cons

Not all teams are like mine. Some teams are quite the opposite, actually. They can be toxic, ineffective and painful. I feel bad for people on some teams.

Explore other reviews about CarMax

5.0
May 3, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You are your own boss

Cons

Slow days can be demotivating.

4.0
Jun 13, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The perks of working at CarMax are quite extensive. Associates are offered an aggressive 401k program, Stock Purchasing Plan, in store discounts on sales and service, access to the CarMax Wholesale system, excellent healthcare, plenty of PTO, and at my location we are given as much OT as we want. My coworkers are generally good people, that I enjoy being able to work along side day in and day out. Management is very understanding in regards to calling out sick family emergencies, and schedule requests.

Cons

Despite doing the work of 5 people, and very politely asking for a raise management will not give me more than my 3% annual raise which is the single biggest let down. The bonus change of 2025 being labeled as "exciting" was straight corporate gaslighting unlike anything I've ever seen. Since the start of 2026, as of this review being written we have lost 7 associates largely due to pay, and I am soon to join those associates. Management from the store level up to corporate needs to understand that to retain their top performers they need to be compensated like a top performer. Some members of management are cliquey and moody which is very frustrating to deal with. Quality of Management varies wildly from store to store as well

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