4/2023 – The Carmax Unicorn Blog

April 19, 2023April 19, 2023

Quick Hit – Another 1 of 500 Alpina B7 Unicorns – $27,998

Almost a month ago we had a black 2012 Alpina B7 unicorn sell here in Rochester, New York, and now we have a nearly identical silver one for sale in Florida (it’s currently being transferred to Clearwater for a test drive). This one, though, has 5,000 less miles and costs $7,000 less. Selling for $27,998. As far as I can tell BMW imported maybe 500 of these annually to the USA at a price well north of $100,000. Here’s your chance to snag a rare Alpina for less than a Camry, and protect yourself with MaxCare for another five years and 70,000 miles.

I think this B7 brings me to 8-10 spotted in the CarMax inventory since I started the blog in 2017. Most were 2011-2012, although a few years ago we had a pair of 2014’s on the lot at the same time. Starting to think if you showed at Cars and Coffee and someone else did too, you’d both have CarMax logos on the trunk. Speaking of which, not a fan of the “Alpina” or “B7” font. Looks like stick ons from Amazon. At least it doesn’t have Chris Bangle’s bubble butt from bygone days.

The Alpina B7 is conservative and nearly indistinguishable from a regular BMW 750. A logo on the heated steering wheel and embedded in the dashboard display but not much else. The B7 has heated, air conditioned, and massaging seats, heads up display, lane departure and blind spot alerts, and of course, night vision assist. No adaptive cruise control, though.

The B7 also has rear DVD entertainment, even if it looks like the original Apple Macintosh from 1984.

Just like last month’s 2012, the 4.4 liter twin-turbo V-8 motor is good for 500 horsepower and with just a six-speed automatic and AWD pulls the car to 60 in 4.5 seconds. It wasn’t until 2013 that B7’s came to the USA with the 540hp motor pulling the big B7 to a 194 mph top end.

This 2012 Alpina B7 is an accident free, two-owner car. Oddly, when I looked at the history I see that the car was first owned here in Fairfax, Virginia a few miles from where I’m sitting, and the second owner had it in Gaithersburg, Maryland, where I first lived when I returned to Maryland many years ago. The B7 registration was renewed a year ago today in Maryland. It surfaced a few weeks ago (thank you, Hans) at CarMax and has been on and off the market in Florida. You can track it with this link here or search by the stock number or VIN below.

Stock No. 23559197 VIN WBAKA8C58CC446974

April 8, 2023April 7, 2023

Very Quick Hit – 2 (More) of 248, 2011 Mercury Grand Marquis LS.

I’ve lost count of how many 2011 Mercury Grand Marquis LS unicorns that have passed through this blog but I do know the first remains the car with the highest single day views ever. Not what I intended when I started the blog. It’s what the people want? There were only 248 of these Mercuries produced in 2011, its final year, but I don’t think it’s the limited numbers that interests drivers. It’s the land yacht comfort and old school highway cruising in a reliable Ford Panther platform.

I’m writing from a hotel room in White Marsh, Maryland, just outside of Baltimore where I’m awaiting the arrival of my oldest son to take in the Baltimore Orioles home opener. This car is at the White Marsh CarMax no more than two miles from my room. I could walk there and drive back in this before the first pitch.

With bench seats, a column shifter, adjustable pedals, a CD player AND a cassette deck with Dolby Noise Reduction, this car rates a “9” out of 10 for features by CarMax, and maybe that was true in 2011. It’s pretty basic. But it is a pretty blue over tan and I’m sure it’s quite a smooth ride down I-95 to Miami.

Back seat is jut right for your kids to make out in.

The trunk gigantic enough for snitches.

Popularity can’t be because of the 4.6 liter V-8, making 224 horsepower and yet 275 ft-lbs of torque. I’m told it’s adequate to not get squeezed out on interstate merges but not much more. It will get 24 mpg on the highway.

This is a one-owner, accident free car that’s spent all of the last dozen years right here in Essex, Maryland. It’s still eligible for MaxCare for five more years and up to 150,000 miles. Wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the cheapest MaxCare package out there.

Stock No. 24128280 VIN 2MEBM7FV1BX605625

If you really want one of these with lower miles, and aren’t afraid to tempt fate, the five-owner white over tan 2011 Grand Marquis below has only 38,000 miles on it. But they were not an easy 38,000 miles. The car hit the dealer lot in August 2010, and by the fall of 2010, brand new, and within a period of two months, the car was hit three times! Then hit again in 2012 and again in 2016! It’s currently reserved in Huntsville, Alabama here, and is selling for $19,998. What are the odds it has any more accidents in it?

Stock No. 23377703 VIN 2MEBM7FV5BX601884

Below are a pair of 2011 Grand Marquis that were in my “saved” file and just sold. They’re flying off the shelves!!

Here’s some of the old ones:

May 5, 2022 2011 Grand Marquis LS

May 24, 2020 2011 Grand Marquis LS

March 5, 2018 2011 Grand Marquis LS

April 7, 2023April 6, 2023

So The Last Shall Be First, And The First Last: A Pair of First and Last Year Chevrolet SS Sedans From Down Under

Not above plagiarizing Matthew for a headline. My other choice was a miserable one from Victor Hugo; “Nothing can be sadder or more profound than to see a thousand things for the first and last time.“* The “thousand things” could mean the 12,953 Holden unicorns made in Australia and imported by General Motors as Chevrolet SS sleepers from 2014 to 2017.

This one is a 2017 Chevrolet SS, the final year, with only 29,000 miles on it. The 2017 SS listed at about $48,000, but Chevrolet never moved these off the lots as quickly as they moved from stoplights, and offered deep discounts – up to 20% in many cases – to reduce inventory. Snatching one of these in 2017 for $38,000 would have been a helluva deal, especially since as a modern, collector car it’s now selling at MSRP! Unfortunately, it’s not the more coveted manual transmission like this rare pair offered by CarMax two years ago.

The 2017 Chevrolet SS is listed as a “10” for features by CarMax, and yet for a six year old car it’s lacking more than a few. Heated and air conditioned seats, automated parking, heads up display, cross traffic alert, and a decent Bose sound system yes. But no adaptive cruise control, Apple CarPlay, or heated steering wheel. What it has is a massive 6.2 liter LS3 naturally aspirated V-8 motor that makes 415 horsepower driving the rear wheels. That’s not a ton, but it moves this car to 60 mph in the mid-four second range. And it sounds awesome doing so. I drove one a few years ago and it had the same visceral oomph and roar of old time muscle cars. The SS also has (from 2015 on) GM’s Magnetic Ride Control suspension and handles quite well – .94 lateral g on the skid pad.

This 2017 Chevrolet SS has spent its whole life in Florida with one owner and is available here in Tampa. It’s actually gray over black, making all the pix look like they’re in black and white. It’s an accident free car and eligible for MaxCare up to 150,000 miles and five years. I don’t think I’d bother at all.

Stock No. 24071876 VIN 6G3F15RW9HL303934

What follows also looks like the same car in black and white pictures but it is not. This is a green over black Chevrolet SS – a first year model from 2014. It’s outfitted almost identically to the 2017 above, although as noted does not have the magnetic suspension. It’s also $4,000 less than the 2017 and has only 18,000 miles.

IMHO the 2014 green exterior, although subtle, has a nicer tone than the drab gray of the 2017.

What kept me from buying one way back when? If you’re a regular reader you would know it’s my vanity. I was okay having a Mercedes S-class that concealed its V-12 motor and yet having to explain over and over my Chevrolet came from Australia and really wasn’t a Malibu is beyond me. It looks pretty plain. The 2014 had a big pair of exhaust outlets and by 2017 the car got four, smaller pipes. Beyond that I’d be hard pressed to tell the difference.

All of the SS’s had plenty of room in the back seat and in the trunk to be a legitimate family hauler or road tripper. And on road trips the car gets up to 22 mpg highway. I’ve had worse.

This 2014 Chevrolet SS was a two-owner from Kansas and Lubbock, and is currently being transferred to San Antonio, Texas but you can track it here. Same MaxCare warranty options as the 2017, although always remarkable that it would still be covered when it’s 14 years old!

Stock No. 23712976 VIN 6G3F15RW1EL938447

*The full quote makes me want to end it all.

“Nothing can be sadder or more profound than to see a thousand things for the first and last time. To journey is to be born and die each minute…All the elements of life are in constant flight from us, with darkness and clarity intermingled, the vision and the eclipse; we look and hasten, reaching out our hands to clutch; every happening is a bend in the road…and suddenly we have grown old. We have a sense of shock and gathering darkness; ahead is a black doorway; the life that bore us is a flagging horse, and a veiled stranger is waiting in the shadows to unharness us. ”

― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables