Ghost Cars – If You Didn’t Save Them, You Won’t See Them

I was corresponding with a blog reader buddy about the 2015 Mercedes S65 I had on hold and he was surprised it was out there – didn’t see it on the CarMax web page when searching for V-12’s. It reminded me of the peculiarities of searching and tracking unicorns on CarMax.com and the app. They operate differently but on both one can save cars to your profile as favorites. Once there, you still have visibility on the car regardless of status. On the phone app, a car might say “Currently Unavailable” after being saved with no further information. On my laptop, though, more information is provided on saved cars that are not “currently available“. The listing will share if the car is “reserved” or “shipping“, and if being transferred will indicate where it’s going. On the laptop web page it will also indicate whether a car is “sold” – but it doesn’t delete them.

For very special cars I’ll leave them in my saved section even after being sold and get pleasantly surprised when they sometimes show up again after being returned. On both the app and the web page you can see the latest price for the vehicle even if it’s unavailable, but only on the menu showing all the cars you’ve saved. Once you click on the car the price is “N/A”. Because of all this rigamarole I’ve been including the stock number and VIN when I blog. You can always search by the stock number and find cars that are “currently unavailable” and don’t show up when searching by brand, type, cylinders, etc. With that, here are a couple of “ghost” cars that remain in my saved file but haven’t been offered for sale in a while. They may or may not show up again as available.

Here’s a rare one, a 2017 Alpina B7 that was on the net briefly then went underground while being transferred to Raleigh, North Carolina. Not a lot of B7’s in the USA (a few hundred imported yearly?) and while it has the same horsepower as the V-12 M760i, Car and Driver described the B7 as “the quickest dealership-sold BMW we’ve ever tested, with 60 mph arriving in 3.4 seconds.” Say’s it’ll do 193 mph. FWIW here’s the link to the Car and Driver review, and it has a nice recap of how Alpina came to be.

Picture above could be the interior of the M760i or even the 750 – only real giveaway is the logo on the steering wheel and the cool Alpina graphic embedded in the speedo. This B7 is loaded with Apple CarPlay, adaptive cruise control, the Driver Assistance Package, Executive Package, and Luxury Package.

The Alpina B7 leverages the 4.4 liter twin turbo from the 750 but adds boost, special pistons, Alpina intake, exhaust, and intercoolers to get the 600 hp. It’s mated to an eight speed ZF automatic transmission.

Only 400 2017 Alpina B7’s were imported to the USA, and they were priced at $137,000. As noted, the ad says N/A for a price, but in my saved file it shows it’s selling for $59,998. That’s a helluva deal. Track this 2017 Alpina B7 here in Raleigh – currently reserved for some lucky buyer. Or maybe not?

Stock # 23467006  VIN # WBA7F2C39HG543846

Up next is an interesting V-12, one of three floating around CarMax lots. This one is a 2019 BMW M760i xDrive on reserve in Alabama for “only” $70,998. It’s a little high mileage at 59,000 but still has room for 66,000 miles of MaxCare over the next five years.

It also has room for….four passengers. This the Rear Executive Lounge Package, I believe. Makes the car quite limited. I do know the foxblood interior would match my M3!

The M760i has just about everything. Heated and cooling and massaging seats. Gesture control, wireless cellphone charging, Apple CarPlay. Stop and go cruise control, active lane keeping assistance. You name it. This car has everything the 2015 Mercedes S65 I was considering did not. (BTW – that car did not sell and has been transferred to White Marsh, Maryland as of November 20, 2023 – makes it also a ghost car!) And yet I’m still not a fan of BWW seats for butts like mine (large). Every one I’ve been in I can feel the seams between the seat bottom and the bolsters and the front edge of the seat bottom and the under thigh extension. It’s tolerable in my M3 – too much of an irritant for a long range cruiser for me. Your butt may vary.

What always gives me pause, though, is this motor – a spectacular 601 hp V-12 from a massive 6.6 liters. It’s coupled to an eight-speed transmission, and with AWD catapults this 2 1/2 ton sedan to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds! That’s crazy.

This 2019 BMW M760i xDrive is on reserve here in Huntsville, Alabama. It was a $180,000 brand new car three years ago!

Stock # 23160909  VIN # WBA7H6C57KG615055

Pretty sure the majority of my blog posts are about European cars. Every now and then something from another hemisphere, and another era catches my eye, and that’s the case with this 2011 Lexus LX570 SUV. I’ve driven my share of Land Cruisers overseas back in the day and wasn’t a fan in 1998 when Toyota upscaled the truck to this Lexus as the X470 and a decade later as the LX570. And yet there’s so much to like.

This LX570 is well appointed in typical Lexus style. Suspect you’d be hard pressed on the highway to know if you’re in the LX570 or an LS sedan. Mark Levinson audio. Heated and cooling seats. Heated steering wheel. It’s a handsome, luxurious cabin.

Luxurious second row and…..

…..a luxurious third row too!

The LX570 is powered by a 5.7 liter V-8 with 383 horsepower and a six-speed transmission that will chug to a mid-six second 0-60. Not great, and yet you get there in style. What’s not to like? Well, the 12-18 mpg for sure.

A dozen years ago this was an $80,000 purchase. It’s only $42,998 now and still good for MaxCare to 150,000 miles and until it’s 18 years old! This 2011 Lexus LX570 is on reserve here in Richmond, Virginia.

Stock # 22946804  VIN # JTJHY7AX4B4065605

Back to Euro-sedans for a moment. This 2012 Audi A8 L is a beautiful, well appointed sleeper, in my humble opinion. For a 2012 model I love the seat massagers, adaptive cruise control, very low mileage, and very low price.

It’s a nice understated blue exterior over a tasteful interior already the color of the coffee I spill on a regular basis.

The motor is the 4.2 liter V-8 that seems to have powered Audis for 20 years. It’s only rated at 372 horsepower, a bit low for me, and yet it’s a solid motor in a solid German sedan.

This 2012 Audi A8 L is on reserve here in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The best part is that it’s only $30,998 – seems like a bargain for an 11 year old, single owner, very low mileage sedan.

Stock # 23344588  VIN # WAURVAFD1CN004118

And I’ll close with something that’s German, although not a luxury sedan – a crazy low mileage 10 year old Porsche Boxster. We’re looking at a 2013 Porsche Boxster with only 3,255 miles! It’s a two-owner California car and fascinating that three years in (2016) it got an oil change at 2,133 miles. Maybe six years later time for another one? Bargain hard for current maintenance if you want this car.

Interesting color combination of gold over red. I kinda like it. Striking. Under features, CarMax describes this as “Well Equipped”. Not sure what that means.

It’s got an AM/FM CD player and bluetooth. No heated seats. No rear view camera. It’s got parking sensors, so there’s that. But it is a mid-engined Porsche drop top and fun as hell to drive. Porsche claims a nine-second time to drop the top and it can be done up to 31 mph. As a three time convertible owner, what that says to me is when I impulsively decide to put the top down at a stop light and – HORRORS – the light changes, it’s okay to roll out while everything is in motion. Not that I’ve ever had that happen.

Check out the 2.7 liter flat-six cylinder motor making 265 horsepower. Oh that’s right, you can’t. But you can store a good sized gym bag in there! That motor will propel this 2,800 lb roadster to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds. Not blistering by any means, but having driven one with the top down I can confirm it’s a glorious sound and plenty quick enough. The handling is so different from most any other car at this price. And while you get a gym bag in the back, as with my 911 it’s surprising you can fit a full size suitcase in the front boot. The Porsche sports cars are far more practical than they look.

This car sold new for maybe $49,500 and given depreciation and inflation a decade later it’s selling for…..$49,998?! But it is damned near new. Someone wants this car. And you can get another five years and 121,000 miles of MaxCare. Nobody will give you a warranty that’ll take you through 15 years of motoring. This 2013 Porsche Boxster is en route Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania and can be tracked here.

Stock # 22954436  VIN # WP0CA2A82DS114246

Have a bunch more ghost cars in my saved file but I’ll never get this published if I keep going! It’s possible some of these will sell, or become available again as I write but wanted to make the point that saving all these cars in my profile gives me visibility as they make their way from dealer to dealer, reserved and unreserved, and even after sale. Enjoy.