Haven’t seen one this cheap. A 2011 BMW 550ix with a 400hp twin turbo V8 unicorn, AWD, nice black over tan, with convenience package, cold weather package, premium package, but not much else. 
But for $15,998 you’re getting a hell of a lot. Most BMW 550’s are $5,000 more. Use that money for MaxCare and be out the door for $20,000! Find this steal here in Clackamas, Oregon.
Quick Hit* – 2009 Porsche Cayenne S: Low Miles, Low Price, Great Family Hauler
If you miss the Volkswagen Taureg V-8, this SUV unicorn is for you. The Porsche Cayenne SUV is big, relatively fast (okay, fast enough at 0-60 mph in six seconds flat), comfortable, and the interior is definitely not cookie cutter like most American and Japanese SUV’s.
Most Cayennes at CarMax are $30,000 and up, with a few six-cylinder ones in the $25-$30k range. But who wants a six-cylinder in a Porsche unless it’s a 911? If this 385hp Cayenne isn’t fast enough, occasionally CarMax tees up a much quicker 400+ hp GTS or Turbo of this 2009 vintage for about the same price (low $20’s) but very rare. If that’s what you need, keep an eye out for supercharged Land Rovers or BMW X5 M’s – but both hover closer to $30,000 and up also.
Here’s a Car and Driver review of a 2008 – pretty much the same car. Figure this 2009 Cayenne sold for maybe $75,000 10 years ago, and is available for a third of that now. I’m figuring MaxCare is also a must – get another five years and 100,000 miles of warranty to keep from going broke. Find this single-owner Cayenne here in Kentwood, Michigan. I think it goes by Friday!
* If I haven’t mentioned before, a Quick Hit blog post means I hope to get a short piece online before a car sells and I get all pissed off I procrastinated, and also hopes to assure the reader I’m not going to waste your time with a long essay. But brace yourself – have two in mind when I can find the time!
Quick Hit -2009 Jaguar XJ8 L $20,998. Time Is Running Out!
This is the seventh Jaguar XJ8 offered in the two years I’ve been blogging on CarMax unicorns – a 2009 XJ8 L with only 46,000 miles – all in New Mexico. You either like these old school Jaguars and they make you nostalgic, or you think they’re dated and deserved to be extinct. I happen to like them as an almost retro, comfortable highway cruiser, albeit with only 300 hp from the 4.2 liter V-8, and few modern features. It’s the British Mercury Grand Marquis, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
This one is a bit high priced at $20,998 (cheapest was this 2007 at $14,998) and yet if you like it, and even better, if you like getting a five year 100,000 mile MaxCare warranty on a 10 year old extinct luxury car, perhaps it’s for you. We’ll see how long this one is on the market. It opened at $19,998 and was bumped up $1,000 the next day. On the other hand, the last one I tracked here spent more than a year on CarMax lots from Florida to California (never dropping in price from $18,998!) and only vanished last week.
Find this three owner 2009 Jaguar XJ8 L here in Albuquerque, NM. CarMax only sells European cars not more than 10 years old, and this X350 model only ran through 2009, so this is the final year to find these with the MaxCare warranty!
Quick Hit – 604hp V-12 Family Car – Was $200,000 New – $40,998 Now.
You want this car. You need this car. If I hadn’t already bought a V-12 S600, this would be my car. Not a lot of V-12 unicorns left in the family car world, and BMW has announced it’s dropping V-12’s after this series of 760 sedans.
So here’s your chance to pick up an exclusive 2010 Mercedes S65 that once sold for $200k for a piddly $40k. Only a couple of hundred make it to the states every year. This single-owner car has low miles (6,000 yearly), and yeah maybe with 604 hp and 738 ft-lbs of torque (like a Dodge Ram dualie?) it’s been driven hard, but who cares? That’s where the MaxCare warranty comes in – covers the twin-turbos, the transmission, the air suspension – whatever you plan to tear up while tearing up the highway. And it has night vision!
Here’s the Jalopnik review from 2009. Find this beast here in Irvine, California. 
1 of 355 – 2009 Mercedes SL65 AMG V-12: $188,000 MSRP – Yours for $43,998
This unicorn is hot off the press – so hot no photos yet so borrowed a few from the web. Best I can tell from the Mercedes forums is there were only 355 2009 Mercedes SL65 AMG’s imported – and the original price was north of $188,000!
The twin-turbo, 6.0 liter V-12 puts out 604hp and 738 lb.-ft. of torque, good for 3.7 second 0-60mph runs. Per the datacard this one has the Designo alcantara interior.  It goes without saying that MaxCare is a must – how cool to get another five years on a 10 year old supercar? Here’s a review from Road and Track and another from Motor Week. Find this two-owner (Texas and California) car here in Irvine – it says non-transferable but certain sales reps, like my favorite one Si Sultan, can get the car moved. 
Mercedes SLK 55 AMG’s – Five Years, $11,000, and 60hp apart? Sportlich (sporty), Leicht (light), and Kurz (compact).
The Mercedes SLK is the most diminutive of the Mercedes Benz drop tops and comes across as a nice little commuter convertible with a four or six cylinder motor, but stuffed with a snarling, hand-built, AMG 5.5 liter V-8 it becomes a far more formidable sports car – matching its snub nose revolver look. I so want the SLK55 AMG to have the 500hp supercharged V-8, and yet I guess smarter car guys than I have figured out that there are limits to how much oomph this little frame can hold.
The 2009 SLK55 AMG unicorn at $28,995, with only 49,000 miles, has depreciated just over 50 percent in 10 years. This five owner car doesn’t show as nicely as the two owner, far more modern and tighter 2014 SLK55 AMG with only 30,000 miles. The 2014 has also depreciated just over 50 percent from its $87,000 original price in only five years. Kind of fun to see the evolution from the second generation (R171) 2009 model and the third generation (R172) 2014 model. Both naturally aspirated 5.5 liter V-8’s, and yet horsepower jumps from 355 in the SOHC 2009 to 415 in the DOHC 2014. Both have AMG Speedshift 7G-TRONIC transmissions.
The 0-60 mph times drop from 4.9 seconds to 4.5 seconds, with a top speed of 174mph. Interesting to see gas mileage go up from 14/22 in the 2009 to 19/28 in the 2014 despite the boost in horsepower and increase in curb weight by just over 100 pounds. The overall car length increased by two inches to 163 inches from 2009 to 2014, and yet the wheelbase and cockpit dimensions are unchanged.
The 2014 has racy nice carbon fiber interior and the 2009 looks clean but dated. I kind of dig the Air Scarf heated collar. Here’s an Automobile Magazine review of the 2009, and an Autoweek review of the 2014. The 2009 SLK55 can be found here at Dulles, Virginia and the 2014 here in Indianapolis, Indiana. I’d be looking for the MaxCare warranty for either one – not cheap to fix.
Quick Hit – Cheapest 510hp Jaguar XKR Ever (or since I started the blog)
Sigh. If you’ve read my search for Guenther II you know I’ve wrung my hands over the wheel of several Jaguar XKR’s.
Looks Aston Martin like, fast as hell, and who cares about reliability for the supercharged V-8 and ZF six speed – MaxCare is a bargain – where else can you get 0-60 in four seconds flat and a once-$100,000 Car for $25k?
Here’s the Car and Driver review from back in the day, consistent with all my XKR test drives. Still on my bucket list for when my 911 blows up.
CarMax Jaguar XKR’s have always been $29k and up in the 2 1/2 years I’ve been tracking them. This two-owner bargain is here in California. 
Quick Hit – The One You’ve Been Waiting For: Low Miles 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP
Most CarMax Pontiac G8 GT’s and G8 GXP’s sell in the upper $20k range, and frequently have 2-3 times the mileage of this one. 
For a 2009 unicorn – the last year on the planet for Pontiac – this one seems to be a little underpriced at $29,998. Perhaps the automatic is a drawback (or the red seats?), but most of the comps at CarMax were too. There’s always the to and fro on which is a better car – the Chevrolet SS or the Pontiac G8 GXP (actually both are now extinct in the US), and yet when a 10 year old Pontiac sells for almost the same price as a five year old SS, there must be a reason. 
Both are naturally aspirated V-8’s with over 400hp and 0-60’s in the four second range. Here’s the 2009 Car and Driver review. And to think you can add another five years, 100,000 mile MaxCare warranty that’s good until the car is 15 years old! This two owner Pontiac can be found here in Oklahoma.
Low Mileage 2013 BMW X5 M in California
CarMax normally has a dozen or so X5 M’s around the country, and occasionally one in my sub-$35k unicorn zone – but they are usually higher mileage (50,000+). 
Here’s one that’s reasonably priced at $32k, and has only 41,000 miles. Hard not like a four second 0-60 mph behemoth with a 555hp, twin turbo 4.4 liter V-8. And AWD, so I could tell my wife it’s practical? 
With the cold weather and driver assist packages this was maybe a $100,000 SUV just six years ago. Here’s a review from 2013 if you need more justification to buy. But this beast demands MaxCare – repairs won’t be cheap. Find this two owner California car here in Duarte, outside LA. 
Quick Hit – 2010 Mazda 3 Mazdaspeed Manny – $19k – 10,000 Miles
Zoom zoom. Found this Mazda unicorn today, and thinking it’s a wee bit special because of the low miles, one owner, 263hp four-banger, six speed manual transmission, and because Mazda doesn’t make this car anymore.
It’s a second generation Mazda 3 Mazdaspeed, good for a 5.2 second 0-60mph and crazy 155mph top speed! It’s a bit high priced, since it sold for just under $30,000 new (with the optional Bose system and other goodies) but it looks extremely clean and fun – except for the terrible torque steer noted in more than one review.
You could spring for the Maxcare warranty if you plan to run it hard and blow it up, but I wouldn’t bother. Driven just over 1,000 miles a year I’m thinking it has plenty of trouble free road time ahead. Find it here in Chicago…..if the link is dead it’s sold, on hold, or being transferred. 