Author: Chuck Banks

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Quick Update – 2010 BMW 650i Black Beauty Unsold and Reduced $2,000

2010 650 $22998 52k still here 3-4

Well this nice big BMW 650i coupe is still on the market, on the same lot here in Sacramento, a whopping 4 1/2 months after I wrote about bubble butt BMW’s in October 2018.  See “Beauty and the Beast – BMW 650i Unicorns” here.  This unicorn has been reduced $2,000 since last fall.  For about the same price you could score a slightly older but far more gnarly 500hp V-10 M6 like the cabrio below – but not everyone is up for the harsher ride……but the V-10 screams to 8,000 rpms and is far more thrilling.  The one below can be found here in Boston.  I still wonder if I should have bought this one back in the day…..it was a bargain!2008 M6 Cabrio $24,599 58k Boston

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Quick Update – 2014 Chrysler 300C John Varvatos Still Out There!

2014 Chrysler 300c Varvatos $22,998 46k

Wrote a whimsical piece about this special edition 2014 Chrysler 300C unicorn way back in November 2018 when it was available in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Check out “Who The Hell Is John Varvatos And Why Should I Buy His Car” here.  Surprised to see it’s still on the market four months later, now here in Manchester, New Hampshire.  Also surprised the price has only dropped $99 since then!  The two-owner unicorn is actually quite nice; 5.7l V-8 with a decent 363hp, AWD, air conditioned and heated seats, luxury package, Alpine sound…..you could do a whole lot worse for $23k!

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CarMax Doesn’t Have Sales? Or Do They? Hmmm….Check Out These Price Cuts

2008 Z06 $35,998 34k Columbia SCGetting more and more updates and alerts from CarMax that a number of the 200 unicorns I have saved in my profile have price drops.  Today a beautiful 2008 Mercedes S63 dropped $4,000 (and vanished from the web before I could capture photos).  A Jaguar XK was slashed by $2,000 and also disappeared.  The Z06 above dropped $1,000.  Here’s more.

2008 CL63 ad
The Mercedes CL63 below has gone down $2,000.
20007 S2000
Low mileage S2000 dropped $1,000 today. 
2008 Boxster
Another $1,000 off this speed yellow low mileage one owner Boxster!

So here’s my theory.   I blogged in the winter of 2017 that CarMax inventories increased by 33,000 cars – about $577 million in value – from summer to fall.  In the fall of 2018 I blogged again that inventory increased by $300 million – a plus up of 15,000 cars.   Late February/early March of 2018 and now 2019 the alerts start coming about price drops.  Inventories are also dropping – CarMax had over 60,000 cars last fall, and today about 47,000.  It ain’t rocket science.  I can’t explain the annual increase every fall, but the CarMax fiscal year ends in April and I have to believe inventories are being slashed to boost profits and reduce liabilities (CarMax carries about a billion dollars in debt on their financials).  CarMax never has a sale or haggles with prices, but I’m starting to think there’s a seasonal pattern that smarter buyers than I can watch and exploit!  Bought my unicorn last week….without a price reduction!   Stay tuned.

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My Third Unicorn – Finally Scored an S600!

S600 sideHere’s the reason I haven’t blogged recently.  Been stalking another car.  Only took me a year plus to stop rueing the S600 I passed up in order to buy Etta, my 911 unicorn.  To do that, I had to buy an S600.  Here’s the story of the 2008 Mercedes S600 that I transferred in from Nevada in December only to have my local CarMax dealer decline to sell it due to a dying transmission.  Was pretty pissed, but two weeks ago this 2010 S600 with 45,000 miles surfaced in Lancaster, PA – two hours north of me, and although it was $8,000 more it is nicer (the 2010 model is a facelift refresh with a few more electronic gizmos) and it is now mine.

The 2010 Mercedes S600 sold for about $160,000 new, and I picked it up for less than a quarter of that with a five-year MaxCare warranty good for 125,000 miles.  The V-12 beast has 510 hp, 612 ft-lbs of torque, and rips a mid-four second 0-60 mph run.  Here’s a review of the 2010 S-class, including the S600 in Car and Driver from back then.

My initial thoughts after a 300 mile run to North Carolina last weekend – the most comfortable 300 mile sprint I’ve ever made – are simple.  The car rides like a spa, on living room furniture, in a bank vault, on a bullet train.  Five feet of leg room is plenty.  Continue reading “My Third Unicorn – Finally Scored an S600!”

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Reader Buys the 2008 Chevy HHR SS!

HHR SS SideNo, I don’t get a commission. Just wanted to share that a kind reader told me he bought this 2008 Chevy HHR SS I wrote about in November.  When folks tell me they buy unicorns I post I always want to know how it went – make sure that my experiences aren’t off the mark from theirs.  I’ve bought four CarMax cars and transferred many more, helped a half-dozen friends make a purchase, and now I think I have four readers who bought cars I’ve written about.  Anyway, the HHR buyer’s transfer was about as miserable as mine, taking a long time to execute and not much tracking along the way – plus a damaged bumper that was immediately fixed.  Fortunately, he told me the delay spared his car from being on the lot when kids broke in overnight and tore up about 20 cars.  But the sale went flawlessly and he has a really low mileage, well-preserved HHR.   The buyer passed on MaxCare since he’s an accomplished mechanic.  Thanks for letting me know!

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Quick Update – My Mercedes S600 Sequel (Part III?)

As I wrote here, the bargain 2008 Mercedes S600 I transferred in from the West Coast went missing – first incorrectly told the car was accidentally sold in Ohio (an honest mistake – CarMax goofed and shipped an Audi S6 in from the same dealer for me, and that car was relayed to Ohio and sold) then advised the S600 had a failing transmission and would not be sold at all.  I was skeptical.  Thought for sure a CarMax employee pulled it from inventory for personal purchase.  At $22,998 it was a steal.  But I have confirmed the car was sold to a wholesaler and is out there somewhere.  So a faithful blog reader (who is a far better sniper than I – he also found the first S600) scored me another one in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  It’s new (2010), nicer, but more expensive at $30,998.  I think I’m in.  CarMax transferred it to my local Dulle dealer…..and maybe a hiccup already.  The ABS light is on, so they sent it to a Mercedes dealer who needs two weeks to fix.  CarMax assures me it will be mine when it returns.  I’ll be watching.  Hoping to make up for the first one I passed on in 2017 – although pleased that a blog reader bought it!2010 S600 $30,998 46000 Lancaster

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The Grand Marquis Mystery – Why The Interest? (Shout Out to Unique Cars 2.0)

2011 Grand Marquis.JPGGot a fascinating and gathering interest in Mercury Grand Marquis’ as unicorns (like the ugly one at the bottom of this blog) because of the generosity of David Fesz and his far more widely followed automotive Facebook page Unique Cars for Sale 2.0.  The page notes, “You’ve discovered a better place to share rare automotive sightings discovered FOR SALE online with other enthusiasts, plain and simpler.“  It’s a closed group but if you ask, and you’re not an ass, you get added.  Lots of cars posted there I haven’t seen in years.  And they are okay with me posting some of the more unusual CarMax unicorns I find there.

And that’s what has me confounded – when I looked at the number of historical hits on my blog over the past year plus, I found the single most spectacular spike I’ve had was for my post on March 8, 2018 – and they all came from the link I posted on Unique Cars for Sale 2.0.  Not the CarMax offered BMW and Audi V-10 powered cars, the Mercedes V-12, the Porsche 911‘s, or Jaguar XKR – but for a 2011 Grand Marquis of all things.  I found the car interesting at first because it was gigantic, cheap at $14,000, with only 41,000 miles.  A little more research though and I found only 248 Grand Marquis’ came off the Continue reading “The Grand Marquis Mystery – Why The Interest? (Shout Out to Unique Cars 2.0)”

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Rare 2008 Audi RS4: One of 300 Sold in US

RS4 SideStumbled on this adorable, aggressive 2008 Audi RS4 convertible this morning while surfing for CarMax unicorns over hot coffee and looking out the window at the remains of the Polar Vortex and thinking spring can’t come too soon.  Rare to be this brutally cold, and even more rare to come across an RS4 at CarMax.  In fact, never been one since I’ve been tracking.  Car and Driver tells me the car originally sold for a whopping $85,000, and with only 300 imported in the US, it’s more rare than the R8 supercar!

Audi stuffed the 420hp, 4.2 liter V-8 into this little convertible, mated to a manual six-speed transmission, and all wheel drive.  Is that a sexy engine bay or not?  The car is good for 155 mph-plus and a 4.6 second 0-60 time.  It’s fast.  Loaded.  Rare.  Expensive.  I would predict a quick sale, but $31,000 for a 10 year old Audi might take longer.  We shall see. I’d still spring for MaxCare protection to drive pretty much repair free.

Find this low mileage, four-owner – and one accident 🙁 unicorn here in Fresno, California.  If the link is dead the car is sold, on hold, or being transferred.

2008 RS4 $30,998 43k Fresno

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Quick Hits – Three Old School Merc Unicorns; Cheap E550/S550/SL550

Here’s three cheap 11 year old Mercedes unicorns, all different rides although powered by the same 5.5l 382 hp powerplant, and all in their own way be a hoot to own and drive.  Reliable E550 family sedan, JR Ewing SL550 drop top, and a luxobarge S550 each for the price of a Honda.  And with MaxCare, no high unexpected repair bills.  What’s not to like?   Check them out below.

Sorry only one outside shot of the SL550 on the CarMax page so far, so the interior will have to do.  But this is a hard top convertible loaded with seats that heat, cool, massage, and serve up cappuccino.   Great Bose stereo (used to own a Merc with one!) and the sport package.   This Car and Driver review from 2007 called the car “Very entertaining for a car so aloof in the city.”  Driven about 5,000 miles yearly this car is just getting broken in, and seems like a decent ride for $22k.  Find this 2008 Mercedes SL550 here in Tacoma.  If the link is broken the car is sold, on hold, or being transferred.  2008 SL550 $21,998 54k Tacoma

Continue reading “Quick Hits – Three Old School Merc Unicorns; Cheap E550/S550/SL550”

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Quick Hit – Cheapest M3…and a Better One For $7,000 More.

CarMax tends to sell a lot of BMW (E90) M3’s in the upper $20k and lower $30k range, usually in higher numbers and higher mileage than I’d prefer for unicorns.  Right now they have 50 M3’s for sale all the way up to a 2018 for $69,000.  But these two caught my eye – a high-mileage 2008 for only $22,998, the cheapest M3 I’ve seen them sell, and a low mileage 2009 for $29,998.  Here’s the Motor Trend review of the E90 M3 from back in the day.

The 2008 is a hard top convertible and an automatic, the most plentiful, cheapest configuration you’ll find at CarMax.  It’s high mileage at 81,000 miles, and on other car forums (fora?) folks moan that used M3’s are often beat all to hell, but as always, I say “who cares?!” as long as you buy the MaxCare bumper to bumper warranty.  Don’t care how trashed the mechanicals are as long as they are covered for another 50,000 miles.

This one has some wear and tear but the seat bolsters are fine – as with my 2001 BMW 3-series they are the first to go with big butts sliding into the driver’s seat.  It’s about the engine (8,400 rpm red line!) and the handling and the braking.   Find this two owner car here in San Jose – if the link is dead the car is sold, on hold, or being transferred.

This single-owner 2009 M3 is neither a hard top convertible nor an automatic, and really low miles for a 10 year old car.  The body lines are tight and neat, uninterrupted like the hard top convertible.  And with MaxCare I think you can get another five years and ridiculous 100,000 miles of coverage – drive the snot our of it worry free.  Find this one here in Memphis.  2009 M3 $29,998 33k Memphis

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