Blogging my nationwide hunt for affordable CarMax enthusiast cars. Automotive Unicorns.
Love these big coupes, their 518hp engines, and exclusivity. One of 1,476 made in 2008. I love depreciation, too! Here’s the 2008 review from Automobile magazine. Beautiful car and with the MaxCare warranty you can get another 100,000 miles and five years of worry-free driving. Here’s the CarMax link – find it in Atlanta, Georgia. I think this goes in days. Added some sample MaxCare menus at the bottom at a reader’s request. Thanks.
Generally convertibles are ugly with the top up. I have never understood why anyone would want a hard top to look like a hideous, top-up convertible all the time. The worst of both worlds. But with the Grand Marquis you also get a bench seat, column shifter, and a V8 with a whopping 224 hp for less than $12,000! But it’s a clean 11 year old, two owner Florida car driven maybe 3,000 miles a year. And CarMax will sell you a warranty into 2023 and another 100,000 miles! Would make a great Father’s Day gift for somebody? If I had money, I tell you what I’d do……
We had an inch of snow so for fun went looking for some trucks. This one’s only 2WD but has the 6.0 liter 395hp motor and a cheap price. With 108k miles (violates my unicorn policy) you can still get five years, and another 42,000 miles of MaxCare coverage – not bad for a 12 year old truck? The link is here. Continue reading “Badass Blazer….But High-Mileage. 2006 TrailBlazer SS for $15,998 in Newark”
Ugh. The one that got away? I snagged this unicorn when it first popped at my local CarMax, held it under several names, and actually went in to buy it last month. It was priced at $30,998. Has everything. Designo interior. Over 500 hp. Night Vision! Was over $150,000 new. One owner. But my wife pointed out I can always get a big sedan. And CarMAx refused to replace a gouged tire. And I’ve wanted a sports car so instead I bought a 911 last week. Love the 911, but jeez – this big V12 haunts me. It’s up in Boston and dropped $1,000 since I passed. Link here. Somebody buy it so I can stop thinking about it. 
Stole the title from Jason Isbell’s song. This Jaguar has less than 3,000 miles annually, all in the Chicago area, a decent V8, and is one of about 44,000 made (X350 model I believe but no Jaguar expert). I can’t find a more plush cruiser for $21k. I considered one of these as there are very, very few carried by CarMax (one every few months) and the five year bumper to bumper warranty made me worry less about reliability, but my wife and daughter decreed it an old man’s car. But what a nice ride. Car makes me want to put a rod from coat hanger to coat hanger in the back seat, hang my wardrobe, and drive to Florida. 
Finally my 15 month search for my second unicorn is over! Last night I bought Etta, a 2008 Porsche 911 Carrera. Found her on a CarMax lot in Los Angeles – $36,998 and 34,000 miles. Flew out in December to drive and I liked it – but the car did not have Bluetooth or Navigation as advertised. Before I could get indignant, they dropped the price to $34,998. I was in. Had planned to buy the car and leave it behind, but had concerns about Virginia inspection a month later if that became my responsibility and not CarMax’s (there are inspection items that are not warranty items), and so I instead paid the $940 to have it transferred east. It took about a month and last night I bought it and brought it home. Paid another $3,000 for the warranty so out the door for $39,998 with taxes. Base model, nothing fancy, automatic (it’s my commuter car), and ridiculously clean and unmolested. Unfortunately, I am almost $5,000 over my unicorn budget but this is only the second 911 I’ve seen over the past year selling under $35,000 before taxes and MaxCare warranty (and I snagged both of them!) so no point in waiting longer for a cheaper one. It’s now or never. I love it. 
CarMax occasionally offers a Jaguar XJ8 and these S-Types at low prices. The magic remains the MaxCare warranty……don’t care how unreliable it is if I’m not paying for repairs. Wasn’t a fan of the S-Type but it’s an unusual, clean little sedan with a 300hp V8 that spent 10 years in Illinois driving 3,000 miles a year before moving to Florida in December. Here’s the link if interested – if the link is dead it’s on hold/sold/being transferred.
Pleased to have reader David Masini bring this to my attention. Because my CarMax Unicorns are normally limited to 60,000 miles or less, and $35,000 or less for very well thought out reasons (all my wife agreed I could spend on my next car), this car evaded my search. But David pointed out this Buick LaCrosse Super has a 5.3l LS4 engine and was one of the last “performance” Buicks since the GNX. Car And Driver thought so, too. With 300hp, a 5.7 sec 0-60, and alleged 156 mph top speed it sounds like a nice sleeper sedan for $8,998. The MaxCare warranty is probably not a whole lot and get’s you another 22,000 miles of free repairs, but I would probably roll the dice and go naked on this one. What could go wrong with an LS4? Find the car here in Louisville, KY. If the link is dead it’s sold/on hold/being transferred.
BONUS BUICK
As far as I can tell only 2,503 of these were produced for 2006-2009 model years. Makes is a bit limited, if not rare. GM produced 10 times as many CTS-V’s. The car sold for almost $80,000 new and has the supercharged Northstar V8 pumping out 469hp – 0-60 in 4.6 seconds. A poor man’s M5? Find it here in Hartford, CT (although likely covered in ice today).
Over the past 24 hours I’ve gotten emails alerting me to price reductions on five of the 43 cars* I have saved in my CarMax profile. Not a lot – $601 per car, but in the year I’ve been tracking unicorns I’ve never gotten this many. Curious….New Year’s sale (CarMax doesn’t do sales) or is this related to the massive increase in inventory I blogged about last month ( The $577 Million Car Loan and Other Fascinating CarMax “Analytics” ) .
*I have 110 cars in my profile but many are listed as “No Longer Available”. I keep them because more than a few resurface in another city, or even a few have been sold back to CarMax and show up back on the market. That’s how I knew the 2010 Jaguar XKR I declined in January 2017 sold in Maryland, and was traded in and offered again in Virginia in December for $1,000 more than last year!
Here’s the unicorns I’ve been alerted to today:
$17,998 – Stupid Low Mileage 2006 Mustang GT
Link – If Dead Car Sold/Hold/Transferred
$12,599 – Rare 250hp V6 VW EOS
CarMax Link – If Dead Car Sold/Hold/Transfer
$10,599 Low Mileage Retro Cruiser
CarMax Link – If Dead Car Is Sold/Hold/Transferred
Continue reading “Prices Dropping? Unusual Number of Unicorn Alerts”