Author: Chuck Banks

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Quick Hit – Final Four Pontiac Survivors?

By no means advocating these cars as unicorns, but writing from Minneapolis before attending the NCAA Final Four and two things come to mind.  First, been here 24 hours and I cannot get over how many Pontiacs are on the road here.  Azteks, G-cars, Vibes….I stopped counting at about two dozen in an hour or so, all in downtown Minneapolis.  Googled it but no answer on why so many.  Maybe just GM territory?

Anyway, got me to thinking that CarMax tends to limit inventory to cars no more than 10 years old, and the day is coming when there will be no more Pontiacs for sale since they went out of business in 2010.  Here’s four of the six Pontiacs still on CarMax lots.  The G3 is a Daewoo piece of shit.  The G6 GXP at Dulles may be a 2009.5 model, a bit rare.  The Vibe is really a Toyota Matrix and probably not a bad car.  Understand only 97 2010 Pontiac Vibes were made before the Pontiac shutdown – now that would be a unicorn!  And to think you can get the bumper-to-bumper MaxCare warranty for another 100,000 miles, until these extinct cars are 15 years old!

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Quick Hits – Three Decent Mercedes S550’s – And Spyshot of Rare S550 Igloo!

2009 S550 34

CarMax usually has plenty of Mercedes S550’s that meet my unicorn standards ($35,000 or less, 60,000 miles or less) so I don’t cover them much.  But this low budget model, and two low priced, low mileage S550’s caught my eye.   I love the ride of the S600 I just bought, but not everyone wants a gas guzzling V-12.  These S550’s – especially the 2012 – will get you the luxury ride and still have plenty of oomph.  The 2009 S550 above is a bit of a bargain, although it did have a rear impact accident six years ago.  Find the 2009 model here in Tampa.  2010 SIDE

The 2009 S550 and this 2010 “only” have 382 hp, and that should be enough to cruise the interstates.  The 2010 is a bit pricey at $32,998, but it has a stupid low 12,000 miles – Continue reading “Quick Hits – Three Decent Mercedes S550’s – And Spyshot of Rare S550 Igloo!”

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Pair of Pretty and Pricey Alpinas (Say THAT Three Times Fast!)

A few BMW Alpina B7 unicorns have appeared on CarMax lots over the last two years and always amazed that they linger and take days and days to sell.  Here’s a 2012 that was cheap and a 2011 that I covered that was a bargain.  Have only seen one BMW Alpina B6 and that’s this one, and it has been on and off the CarMax website over the last few weeks (one of my blog readers had it transferred to him but declined to buy).

Alpinas are a bit rare – a couple of dozen B7’s and B6’s are listed on Autotrader relatively close in price to these – but none are available with the coveted MaxCare warranty that transfers the repair risk to the seller and not the buyer.  Both of these cars are sub-4 second 0-60 mph luxury cars.  Saw my first Alpina 5-series when I lived in West Germany in the early 80’s and still have a soft spot for these esoteric rockets.   Yeah M5’s and M6’s are legitimate luxury hot rods, but Alpinas get the nod from car guys in the know.b7 side.JPG

The B7 has “only” 500hp and is pretty well loaded with auto cruise control, stretched,  and most modern amenities – such as a heated steering wheel, AWD, heads up display.  Here’s a Car and Driver review of a similar car priced about $135,000.  This B7 is a three owner Florida and Illinois car, only $40,998 and is available here in Chicago.   If the link is dead the car is sold, on hold, or being transferred.B6 SIDE This 2016 B6 is in the 600hp club (think I need to do a piece on the select CarMax unicorns with 600hp?), and is far more expensive at $65,998 but with fewer miles (12,000 vs 49,000) and even more luxury options (did I mention night vision? Makes up for the bordello red interior!).  The car sold for roughly $130,000 new three years ago.   Check out this Car and Driver review from 2016.  This B6 is a single owner car available here in Huntsville, Alabama – the techno-hub of Alabama!

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Update – My S600 Unicorn Checks Out Surprisingly Well With PPO*

S600 sideAlways important to get an independent assessment of CarMax unicorns, as I’ve always maintained one should treat buying from them like buying from a private owner.  Despite their claims of in depth inspections of the cars they sell, the reality is they do little before the sale but are great at making things right afterwards.   So this week I had my 2010 Mercedes S600 that I just bought thoroughly looked at with a PPO (*Post Purchase Inspection in my case) at by Euro Motorcars in Germantown, Maryland – where Service Advisor Zach Baum and Mercedes guru John Heflin are highly regarded by the Greater Washington Section of the Mercedes Benz Club of America.  Turns out Zach also has a CarMax unicorn – a Mercedes C63 AMG and has also leveraged the excellent MaxCare warranty!

Bottom line – no drama.  The S600 I bought was previously a Mercedes Certified Previously Owned vehicle, and the previous owner had a pre-paid maintenance plan.  The car was regularly serviced and yes, had the normal amount of high end repairs done during its nine years and 45,000 miles – ignition coils, motor mounts, and Active Body Control (ABC).  For now, the only issues with this purchase are a missing key FOB (CarMax replacing), dirty floor mats (CarMax cleaning), and shrieking wiper blades (also on CarMax).  Knock on wood, but after almost 2,000 miles and a PPO this may be the best of the three unicorns I’ve purchased so far!

Guenther

 

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Correction – 2013 Jaguar XJ Reduced $5,000 – 14% (and gone for now)

XJ sideI gotta pay attention to these alerts.  Was clearing out old ones and found that the 2013 Jaguar XJ L Supercharged I wrote about here earlier this week had already been reduced $1,000 per below, and then dropped another $4,000 when I got my second alert.  Amazed to see a car for from $33,998 to $28,998 in just over a day.  It was in Gaithersburg, MD but is off the net for now.  We shall see if an alert buyer scarfed up this unicorn or if it’s being transferred.  I’ll keep watching.

 

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End of Year Sale Continues – Jaguar XJ L Supercharged Drops $4,000 – 12% Today!

XJ sideQuite surprised to get the alert below on a 2013 Jaguar XJ L Supercharged unicorn I’ve been tracking – a $4,000 drop on a $33,000 car is quite unusual.  Believe it’s still part of CarMax’s aggressive end of fiscal year inventory reduction (hypothesis here) that I’ve seen two years running.  May have to keep some cash in reserve next spring and see what bargains turn up?  Believe the Jaguar sold for aboout $100,000 new.

This XJ L is a two-owner (NY and MD) car, with a 470 hp 5.0 l V-8, eight speed automatic transmission, relatively light aluminum (pronounced aloominium, of course) 4,300 pound structure, and way cool airplane tray tables in the rear for passengers in the back.  No overhhead bin space, though.  Not a big fan of the baseball glove leather or the NASCAR black wheels but wouldn’t turn it down.  Something about a long wheelbase luxury car that clips 4.5 second 0-60 mph runs that works for me.  Of course, I’d spring for MaxCare and eliminate worries about expensive repair costs.  Find this big beauty here in Gaithersburg, MD.  2013 XJ $28,899 44k Gaith

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Quick Hit – First Gen Mercedes CLS63 AMG for $26,998 – Raucous 507hp Sedan

2010 CLS63The last year for the first generation Mercedes CLS (W219) was 2010, and with that the first generation CLS63 AMG.  The design was so fresh when it came on line in 2004 and critics thought it was dated six years later.  I loved it then and love it now, but only 2,135 CLS’ were sold in the US in 2010.  Gotta believe not many of those were the $121,000 AMG models – makes it a bit rare.

The base CLS had a 380 hp V-8, and the CLS63 here is powered by a massive, naturally aspirated 6.3 liter, 507 hp V-8.  This unicorn has auto cruise control, adjustable suspension, heating and cooling seats, and really cool race car pedals!  Find this two-owner, low mileage car here in Irvine, CA.  It’s not transferable, but some dealerships (like the one near me at Dulles) have special authorities and can get it moved.  2010 CLS 63 $26,998 34k Irvine CA

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Quick Hit – Another Cheap Black Cat – 2011 Jaguar XKR $28,998 – Rare XKR 175?

2011 XKR SIdeTempted again, but with the S600 I bought I’m outta the unicorn buying business for a bit.  But a Jaguar XKR has always been on my bucket list (see these I got oh so close to buying!) and this low mileage 2011 model is as cheap as I’ve seen.  The hardtops are sleek and a poor man’s Aston Martin.  And with a supercharged V-8 and 510hp it’s sleek but no slouch.  Interiors are nothing to brag about – pretty much the same as the XF….but it’s about the motor and the lines.

A great candidate for the MaxCare warranty – wouldn’t own it without it.  This car has vanished once or twice over the past few weeks and can be found here in San Francisco.  If the link is dead the car is sold, on hold, or being transferred.

Check out the upper left photo – the CarMax history page suggests this is a 1 of 175 imported to the US – a 75th anniversary edition XKR.  If so, it would be a bit rare and quite a find.  But the upper right photo shows the fascia found on a real XKR 175, and with no tell tale photos of the door sills (should say 1 of 175) and no confirmation from the Jaguar VIN decoder I use, pretty sure it’s not a limited edition car.  Defer to the Jaguar pros for verification.

2011 Jaguar XKR $28,998 40k San Fran

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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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