Monthly Finds (…but unicorns move fast! These may be gone.) – Page 10

November 9, 2021November 9, 2021

Quick Hit – 2011 Volvo C 30 T5 R – 6SPD M – $19k!

I remember well years ago seeing a Volvo C30 T5 R unicorn for the first time. As I noted in the last review of a C30 I did here two years ago, it was the sleekest Volvo I could remember since I spotted a 1979 262 Bertone back in my Army days. Didn’t know much about the C30 when it was introduced by Volvo in the US as a 2008 model. Automotive expert Wiki tells us the C30 draws on the rear hatch lines of the P1800 ES in the late sixties and early seventies. Perhaps. Here’s another 2011 C30 T5 R with a manual transmission spotted by my bud Hans.

The six-speed manual transmission should make this a fun hatchback. Mated to the 2.5 liter turbocharged five cylinder motor, pumping out only 227 hp, the C30 is only good for a six-second 0-60 mph run. The Volvo has more horsepower than a VW GTI of the same era but not as much as the four bangers to follow. Oddly, Car and Driver was not terribly enamored with the C30 T5 R when reviewed in 2011 here, complaining about the harsh ride, rubbery shifter, and lack of cargo space compared to the VW and the Mini. But HotCars.com in 2020 gushed over the car in a look back at unusual hot hatches in 2020 here. I think for cars like this there will always be a 50-50 crowd that loves-hates them. Hell, there were even people that don’t think my ’77 Gremlin was hot! (Hmmm – check out the Gremlin-C30 mug shots at the bottom? That won’t help sell this car.)

The Volvo is pretty spartan with features – Bluetooth and a USB port but no rear view camera or seat heaters. The C30 I covered two years ago was $5,000 cheaper than this one (but with 60 percent more miles) and seemed like more of a bargain.

The car sold new for maybe $32,000 and over a decade later is available here in Oxnard, California for almost $19,000. It’s a low mileage, one-owner, accident free car. As with more and more old European cars I’m seeing CarMax is limiting MaxCare to 125,000 miles and 60 months. But the reviews suggest these motors are good for 180,000 miles without missing a beat. Not a fast car, but a bit unique and certainly has Scandinavian style!

November 1, 2021November 1, 2021

The Quickest Quick Hit – 2021 Tesla Model S Plaid

Haven’t written about EV’s except for this post about CarMax briefly experimenting selling them in 2018, and this one from spring 2021 when they started carrying them again. Mostly I don’t write about them because I no zilch about them, and I’m clinging to my search for another V-12. I’m just not credible, even though as of today CarMax has 232 Teslas on their lots. But blog reader Cannon shot me this 2021 Tesla Model S Plaid unicorn two weeks ago with a heads up that this car does 0-60 mph in sub two seconds. SUB TWO SECONDS! Makes it the quickest production car in the world. And a unicorn.

The Plaid model is crazy fast, and that performance cost $40,000 more than a regular S. Reviewers at Edmunds whined it’s not worth it and the car is mostly a one trick pony – only good for drag races. My hunch is since their test driver couldn’t match the sub-two of other testers they’re bitter. Other reviews boast that the Plaid lapped Nurburgring a good seven seconds faster than a Taycan, setting an EV record.

The Plaid has almost a 400 mile range. It’s fast and high tech and fully loaded. At $157,000 I’m not sure it’s a bargain. CarMax is offering the full 150,000 mile / five year MaxCare option. EV’s aren’t for me yet, but then I’m driving a 50 year old carbureted Fiat in my spare time! I’m sure before I have ceased to be an EV of some sort will fill my garage. Find this accident free, one owner wonder here at Dulles, Virginia.

October 26, 2021October 26, 2021

Second Chance / CarMax Unicorn Alumnus – 2014 Mercedes CL65 AMG V-12

This stunning 2014 Mercedes CL65 AMG is a rare and elusive unicorn, with only maybe 20 imported that year. It was available at CarMax some time back and a blog reader snatched it up. He’s ready to move it on and you can bid on it (or just lure) at the MB Market auction site. Here’s the link: https://thembmarket.com/41k-mile-2014-cl65-amg-w-comprehensive-5-year-100k-warranty. The car is spectacular in its own right, and is offered with the transferrable MaxCare warranty – same one you get at CarMax.

THE CABIN IS LUXURIOUS. THE SEATS WILL KEEP YOU PLANTED AT RIDICULOUS SPEEDS.

BUT THIS IS WHY YOU WANT THIS CAR. V-12. 604HP. 738 lb-ft OF TORQUE.

The seller knows these CarMax V-12’s inside and out. (I own my S600 because of his recommendation.) We’ve corresponded about his CarMax purchases over the years and the diligence it takes to have CarMax keep the cars running well with MaxCare. I highly recommend reading his thorough write up on the MB Market and bid if interested. Who knows when another Mercedes V-12 will surface at CarMax?

October 25, 2021October 25, 2021

Six Sexy Cats – Jaguars for All!

Thought I’d get these unicorns out there all at one time. The first two are more Jaguar XK’s, the cars that I have always loved but never bought. My very first blog in August, 2017 included one. I found a 2010 XKR selling for less than $25,000 a few years ago. Tracked a 2007 model that wouldn’t sell until it dropped $3,000 to $19,000. And if you really want to be amused, check out this saga of my 500 mile round trip journey to buy an XK that wouldn’t start! I passed. Anyway, below you’ll find this pretty 2012 Jaguar XK selling for only $29,998 and this 2015 model for $38,998. Both are in Riverside, California.

October 17, 2021October 17, 2021

Quick Hit – Quick End of the Line “Edition 507” C63

Yesterday I sat down for a long-delayed blogging session only to sadly see all of the unicorns saved to my profile were “Currently Unavailable”. Not a single interesting car to write about. This morning I woke up to this special coupe – a 2015 Mercedes C63 AMG “Edition 507”. What’s special about it? Well, 2015 was the last year for the naturally aspirated M156 V-8 motor, and this bad boy makes 507 hp (hence the Edition 507), more than the 451 hp of a “regular” C63. The specs listed by CarMax are incorrect. This was the era when “63” in the model meant 6.3 liters (okay, 6.2 here). Now the 63’s sport a 4.0 liter twin turbo.

How do you know this is an “Edition 507” C63? Two ways. The easy way was to ask blog reader Hans Mertens, who brought this car to my attention. He said the hood vents are the tell tale signs of a 507 – and told me the car makes 507 hp. The other way to know, if you’re not fortunate enough to know Hans, is to pull the data card from the internet. The code is P61 SPECIAL MODEL “GRAND EDITION”.

The M156 motor and seven-speed automatic transmission will take this sub-4,000 pound coupe to 60 mph in sub-4 seconds. The $9,750 upgrade also removes the top speed limiter and allows this speedster to hit 176 mph. Damned fast coupe. And I’m told it sounds bawdy getting there. Here’s the Car and Driver review of the 2014 model if you want a professional opinion.

This 2015 Mercedes C63 AMG also has the standard seat heaters, blind spot monitor, and rear view camera. It is a three-owner, one-accident car if that matters to you. CarMax will offer MaxCare for 60 months and up to 125,000 miles – another 90,000 miles of driving or 18,000 miles annually of high-speed driving. Buy the MaxCare. The car sold new for probably over $87,000 six years ago. Find it here in Phoenix for half that. May not be a bargain, but it is the last of its kind.

October 5, 2021October 5, 2021

Quick Hit – 2015 Jaguar XF R – Ford’s British Equal to the Australian Chevrolet?

The Jaguar XF sedan was designed while Ford owned Jaguar, on the Ford DEW platform that debuted on the Lincoln LS. This Jaguar sold in the US from 2009 until 2015, and the XF R is maybe the second or third best XF after the XF R-S and the XF R Sportbrake. The XF R has a 510 hp supercharged V-8 engine and an eight-speed automatic that cranks 4.3 second 0-60 mph runs. Damned fast. The 2015 Jaguar XF R above sold new for perhaps $85,000 when new and like all good unicorns is deeply depreciated at CarMax for $35,998. (Just for fun, check out this 2013 Jaguar XF Supercharged – same powertrain but less features – that was selling for $10,000 less than this XF R just last year. )

Amazing to me how similar the Jaguar XF R is to the Australian Holden Commodore, otherwise known to us as the Chevrolet SS and imported from 2014 to 2017. The SS has a naturally aspirated 6.2 liter V-8 that makes 415 hp – significantly less than the XF R. But in wheelbase, length, and width the cars are within an inch or two of being twins – although the SS is maybe 200 pounds lighter. Interestingly, the Chevy SS sold in the low $40’s new at best and had to be deeply discounted to move them off the lots. Now, as I wrote about here these five to eight year old cars are selling for thousands more than MSRP used! If interested, CarMax has this 2017 model with only 6,000 miles selling for a wild $55,000.

But back to the Jaguar XF R. This car has heated and air conditioned seats and the normal range of luxury features found on 2015 cars. CarMax indicates this car has the “Special Edition” package but I can find nothing on the net about what that is. Nor can I find how many Jaguar XF R’s were sold in the US. Been looking for an hour plus and this is how I get sidetracked when blogging – more than a few unicorns vanish while I’m trying to research if they are rare breeds. Not today. I did learn there are only 11 of these on Autotrader today, and this car, at this mileage, seems to be a decent enough deal. And only here can you get MaxCare! And I would certainly get MaxCare. Find this single-owner, accident free 2015 Jaguar XF R here in Riverside, California.

September 24, 2021September 24, 2021

Farewell 2009 and the 2010 Euro-Purge Complete? (And a Beautiful 2010 Cadillac Consolation Prize)

A number of times I’ve written about the CarMax “policy” (meaning I think a sales manager told me this but I cannot find it written) of offering for sale cars not more than 12 model years old, and 10 for European cars. Recently a sales rep told me that’s because of the CarMax policy of offering MaxCare on everything they sell, and they need an underwriter that will cover even those older cars. Given that we are well into the 2022 model year – there are right now 33 CarMax used cars from 2022 – the purge of “old cars” is underway.

Hey Mick! This van looks badass and I think has your name on it.

Two weeks ago there was a lone 2009 Acura MDX available that is gone. If my arithmetic is correct that’s 14 model years ago! In fact, the choice of years on the CarMax website now begins with the year 2010 (although on the iOS version you can still choose years going back to 2007 – just not going to get any hits). Last week there were a handful of 2010 European models for sale. Today there are none – not a single European car from 2010 – only 142 2010’s at all of the almost 42,000 cars CarMax is selling today.

This low mileage single owner accident free Cadillac may be worth its own blog post!

So we are truly down to American and non-European foreign cars that are 13 years old, and for 2011 – of which CarMax has all of 338 models of all kinds on the lots, there are only 25 European cars. Makes me a bit wistful. Anyway, for what it’s worth, the best unicorn left from 2011 happens to be this bargain Boxster with low mileage and a low price. Get it while you can here in Clackamas, Oregon – and you can still get a five year, 125,000 mile MaxCare warranty! If I were a betting man I’d say 2011 European cars will be scare shortly at CarMax.

September 21, 2021September 20, 2021

1 of 101 – 2017 Camaro SS Indy “Official Vehicle” (NOT a Pace Car)

Don’t get too excited. Unless you’re a die hard Indy 500 fan, or you know the car was used to shuttle Takuma Sato around town, you’re probably not going to be too excited about this 2017 Chevrolet Camaro SS Official Vehicle. There were 101 of these special edition Camaros produced for the 101’st running of the Indy 500 and used as “festival” cars – ferrying officals and VIP’s around Indianapolis. Actually, 51 were used as festival cars and 50 were never driven, and all 101 moved to dealerships after the race for sale. In years past “festival” cars, having been driven around Indy, were subsequently sold as used cars. Chevrolet’s strategy now is to sell 50 as new cars and the 51 as used. Who knows which this was? I’m thinking since it was titled with 2,800 miles it was one of the 51. Regardless, it’s not a 50th anniversary 2017 Camaro SS Indy Pace car. A unicorn-lite?

So what do you get when you buy a 2017 Camaro Indy Official car? Well, according to the Indianapolis Speedway web page:

The 2017 Festival Camaros feature a Summit White exterior, blue center stripe, black convertible top and Adrenaline Red leather interior. The Festival Camaros carry the unique production option code designation (Z4Z) that signifies Indianapolis 500 Festival-only option content. Included in the (Z4Z) package is a body-length blue stripe with a watermark Indianapolis Motor Speedway Wing and Wheel logo, red fender hash marks, gloss black lower front splitter, special SS grille with red accents and black Chevrolet bowtie emblems. The 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500 event logo adorns the doors, and a special rocker stripe completes the package.

That’s it?! Reminds me of when my best friend bought a brand new Chevrolet screamer back in 1981 (I think) called a Citation X-11. Had a high output 135 hp six cylinder and tweaked suspension. I wanted one too and went in to a Chevy dealer to ask about buying one but they were all out. The salesman tried to put me in a regular Citation scoffing, “the X-11 is just an appearance package!”. Ha! He had no idea what a hot rod a real X-11 was. (Turns out my buddy’s X-11 was a total piece of crap and melted down early.) Well, this Indy Official Car thing really, truly is an appearance package – but one only 101 other Camaro driver’s have. I guess that’s a unicorn.

In fairness, the Camaro SS is still a pretty decent sports car with an LT1 6.2L V-8, which offers 455 naturally aspirated horsepower. This particular convertible also has air conditioned and heated seats, a heated steering wheel, Android Auto and Apple Carplay, and a Bose audio system. What’s interesting is CarMax has six other 2017 Camaro SS’s identically equipped around the same price and mileage point without the Indy livery – being 1 of 101 means it ain’t selling at a premium at all! So if you want to think positively about this car, think you get to have a rare car that costs you nothing extra? And that’s where I started this piece – if you dig Indy a lot or were there in 2017 and want a great souvenir, well you can find this single owner one coming soon here in Columbia, South Carolina. And skip MaxCare – this one is probably not coming into the pits any time soon.

September 19, 2021September 19, 2021

Apologies From a Selfish Blogger on September Absence (Hint – Instead of Writing I Bought Another CarMax Car)

THE SHORT VERSION: I haven’t blogged for a few weeks because I’ve been frantically searching the CarMax app for my next car, ignoring the unicorns that have come and gone. Also preparing to sell my remaining two cars and working too much. Pathetic excuses. I bought a car and will be back to blogging shortly! What follows are my three test drives and one purchase.

My latest ride – 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited

THE LONG VERSION: Not what you were expecting? Me neither. A couple of months ago I zeroed my SUV search down to the BMW X3 M40i and the Mercedes GLC43 AMG. And if you’ve been here before you know I tend to change my mind as more information becomes available. Or my whims change. Well, I really, really don’t want to get pinned down to only an SUV and a business car (my Mercedes S600) and headed in a different direction. It’s complicated. I’m selling my vintage 1971 Fiat 124 Spider after some minor repairs shortly (will post here soon) after taking first place in the annual Fiat gathering in July. Right after the Fiat goes I’m selling the S600 as it approaches 95,000 miles. The big Merc still has over two years and 30,000 miles of MaxCare coverage. Both cars are as marketable as they’re going to be. That leaves me, the CarMax guy, without a car. So for the past three weeks I’ve been going nuts on how to manage my replacement strategy and not get boxed in to cars I don’t want. Been searching night and day at the expense of blogging about cars for you. Don’t get me started on the unicorns that got away this month. Maybe they’ll be back? So this past week I went on the road and looked at not one, not two, but three CarMax unicorns.

In short, this is why I bought this SUV – fully loaded with every modern feature, reasonably priced, only a few years old, and nearby. It also had a V-8. There were lesser equipped Jeep’s out there but savings were minimal. And all similarly equipped Jeeps were thousands more. And while I knew it was a compromise for a Euro-luxury guy, when I loaded all these features into the CarMax website and asked it t spit out a BMW, Audi, or Mercedes, they were all $15-20,000 more than this Jeep. It started to feel like a bargain. It’s also just a stopgap car until my wife gets around to replacing her SUV, and I find successors for my Fiat, the 911 I sold earlier this year, and my S600. So as a short term vehicle it’s not bad.

Rolled the dice and took the train from Washington DC up to Newark, Delaware to look at the Jeep. The risk was there might be something wrong with the car that would interfere with the sale and I’d have to hitchhike back. But the purchase went off almost without a hitch. The auto cruise control isn’t working and will be fixed if we keep the Jeep. MaxCare was $3,800 for the $50 deductible up to 150,000 miles. Driving home was pleasant with Apple CarPlay going, air conditioned seats, and the V-8 adequate at best with only 360 hp. I got 23 mpg at a steady 70-75 mph. Interestingly, the trip odometer / fuel economy info had not been reset for the past 9,000 miles, and it looks like the previous owner enjoyed a whopping 11.9 mpg. Had to be all city driving. But I didn’t drive straight home. There was another unicorn I had to see that same day!

August 30, 2021August 30, 2021

#113 of 209 – The Fastest Subaru (A Lot Of) Money Can Buy

Thanks to fellow CarMax tracker and blog reader Cannon for bringing this track-ready, limited run 2019 Subaru STI S209 to my attention. There were only 209 made, and CarMax (of course) has one available. This one is #113 of 209 as far as I can tell – if you can make out the image below better than I, maybe it’s #115? No matter, it’s a rare and fast unicorn.

First, Cannon taught me the Subaru STI S209 was assembled by STI (Subaru Tecnica International), the motorsports arm of Subaru. STI takes possession of WRX STI’s and from the main Gunma, Japan factory, and then ships them to their shop in Kiryu-Kougyo, Japan to complete the S209 modifications. For starters, the power plant is beefed up from 305 hp to 341 hp from it’s turbo flat-four cylinder. Mated to the six-speed manual transmission, the car rips low four second 0-60 mph runs.

The 2019 Car and Driver review noted the “0.6-inch-wider track necessitated fender flares to cover the model-specific 265/35R-19 Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT 600A summer tires. Bilstein dampers, stiffer springs, and a 20-mm rear anti-roll bar deliver a dog-pukingly stiff ride.” The sedan pulled 1.04 g lateral grip on the skidpad. The car brakes race car hard. I cannot get over that race car wing though.

The Subaru STI S209 has bluetooth, Apple CarPlay, seat heaters, and a rear view camera but not much else in comfort features. Not why one buys this car though. And the kicker? The S209 listed for $65,000 when new. That said, many sold for a premium above MSRP given the limited run. That price was also $25,000 above a regular WRX STI. As Cannon said, this is probably a decent collector car in the making. MaxCare may be cheap also, given that this low mileage car is still under manufacturer warranty. And be prepared – it’s still selling for above MSRP two years later! Find this little race car here in Plano, Texas.