Blogging my nationwide hunt for affordable CarMax enthusiast cars. Automotive Unicorns.
Just wanted to bring your attention to this 911 I wrote about here, that just dropped to $37,998. It remains one of the cheapest ever at CarMax. I’ve seen one or two for $33-$34k (mine was $36k but reduced to $34k when we learned it was advertised as having DVD/nav and it didn’t). This one is still here in Orlando.
Posting from sunny Daytona Beach, where I arrived today after a grueling overnight train from Virginia. But enough about me. Preparing to watch the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona for my fifth straight year and thought why not a post about unicorns you can buy at CarMax that are also racing in this great endurance race?! There are in fact four sports cars racing this weekend that you can pickup at CarMax and add MaxCare for those unexpected pit stops. There would be five, but the Mercedes AMG GT S CarMax offered last week is no longer available. (Today in the four hour “sprint” race Mercedes AMG GT S’s took the three top spots!). So without further ado, here’s what’s racing that you can buy. 
The Corvette C8 makes its debut in endurance racing this weekend – the first mid-engine Corvette. I’ve stretched this a bit – you can’t buy a C8 Corvette from CarMax just yet, but I’ve been watching Corvettes dominate at Le Mans and Daytona for years and I have so much respect for this car. It’s world class performance for a pittance of what its competition charges. So here’s a Corvette Z06 you can actually buy and crush the local Ferraris if you so choose.
For the record, I root for the Corvettes because of how their V-8’s rumble like nothing else on the track – I giggle every lap – and also because at Le Mans in 2009 (I think) and Daytona in 2015 the two factory cars raced neck and neck on the last lap thrilling the crowd and scaring the owners. God bless America.
Likewise, I first watched Porsche 911’s race at Le Mans in 1981 (that sounds so old!) and I’m amazed that a car that came on line when I was three (1963!) has been continually updated and remains competitive a half-century later. Not to mention, I finally bought one (Etta) and I get their handling, acceleration, and mystique.
 I have a good friend affiliated with the Corvette team here, and he complains that Porsche cheats – the 911’s that race are actually mid-engine cars and not rear-engined like real 911’s. Whatever. Here’s a CarMax 911 that at this time is the most expensive car they have.
The BMW M6 will be racing in the GT Daytona category this weekend (the new BMW M8 will be in the GT Le Mans category – none yet at CarMax) and I also have a fondness for this huge performance car. Before I bought Etta I found a 2008 BMW M6 V-10 with low miles at a New Jersey CarMax for only $23,998 and I passed. I was a fool. It was so old school brutish but what a car – 8,000 rpm redline. 
Anyway, the current M6’s are V-8’s that are even more powerful. Here’s a sweet and sinister looking M6 from CarMax that’s as close as you can come to this weekend’s race car.
Last, and I had totally forgotten these were racing, is a Lexus RC-F in the GT Daytona category (if you’re new to Le Mans and World Endurance racing, all four classes race at the same time – almost always the prototypes win the overall race and the other three compete for their class victory). 
This year one of the four drivers for the #14 RC-F will be none other than NASCAR driver Kyle Busch. I tend to root for upstarts like Toyota when they disrupted NASCAR and hope the RC-F’s do well. I wrote about this RC-F a few months ago, and lo and behold there’s another one for sale!
Will try not to annoy regular readers with too many updates during the race.  Thanks for reading – Chuck.
Pretty sure it’s a mistake, but why is CarMax even shooting photos of this? Probably a trade in? No thanks. 
Just wanted to thank those that have signed up to follow this blog of mine on a regular basis (all 83 of you so far!) and wish you a very Merry Christmas. In fact, shoot me an email and say hello just to let me know you’re still here, and I’ll send you a little present to express my appreciation. Hope you had a good day and looking forward to blogging more for 2020 – my third year of this hobby!
I dig CarMax because I can drive deeply depreciated unicorns at a decent price and be protected from repair risk because they sell a great MaxCare warranty on everything on the lot. But they sure suck at routine processes sometimes. Found this 2015 Mercedes S65 coupe in California. New it was $235,000 and four years later it’s selling for $79,000. But it was on its way to Albuquerque before I could strike. Fortunately that buyer backed out and I put the car on hold. Called my sales rep who agreed to get it off hold and let me pay to transfer to Dulles. But while on hold for me Albuquerque blew it and accepted a transfer to Fredericksburg, VA (ironically not far from me). Neither Dulles, Albuquerque, nor Fredericksburg dealers would reverse what they all admitted was a mistake so I engaged corporate in Richmond. Best they can do us offer me a free transfer from anywhere in the country because the S65 is sold. Bastards. I’m so tempted to find the crappiest $5,995 car I can from the most expensive, distant dealer (Spokane) and have it transferred to Dulles. Ugh.
I love this unicorn. Don’t see a lot of Range Rovers in red. Don’t see a lot of supercharged Range Rovers for $25,998. Don’t see any other 500+ hp SUV’s for under $35,000 – BMW X5M’s and X6M’s sometimes come close (check out this X6M with 555hp for $36,998 in Tuscon). Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT-8’s don’t have the oomph and cost more. Mercedes GL63’s top 550hp but also cost twice what this Range Rover does.
This supercharged Range Rover is ripe for MaxCare though – repairs aren’t cheap. Minor point – CarMax has this car listed under the more luxurious Range Rover category and not Range Rover Sport. The Sports are usually cheaper – regardless $25,998 is a good deal for a single-owner Ranger Rover Sport Supercharged. Find it here in Sacramento.
Missed posting a few great cars because work got in the way, so didn’t want to miss the chance to post this unicorn – a 2010 Porsche 911 in Guards Red, manual transmission, with a stupid low 4,000 miles on the odometer. Throw in MaxCare and you can drive it another five years – until it’s 14 years old – and 146,000 more miles worry free!
A little taken aback by the price at $49k (my 911 remains the second cheapest CarMax has carried in three years). The car originally sold for $80,000 or so new. Here’s the catch – CarMax lists it as AWD and I’ve run the VIN through three decoders and I can’t confirm that. Didn’t know base Carreras came in AWD. Wondering if the price is higher than it should be becuase of this?
Find this beautiful one-owner sports car here in Boise. Not sure how it ended up there – was a Texas and Florida car. 
Another “didn’t know these were a thing” unicorns. Looks like a street legal Jaguar race car, and understand it’s the fastest Jaguar street-legal car they’ve ever put on the road. The beast has a 592hp V-8 (never in an XE before), sub-4 0-60mph, and claimed 200mph top speed. Check out this Motor Trend review. Splitters and diffusers and wings and everything but a roll cage!
The dealer told me its one of five in the US (and I can find only four others for sale around the country as of this writing so maybe so!). Personally eyeballed this at the Jaguar dealer in Chantilly, Virginia for sale for $188,495. Posting here because A) in three years I hope to find one on a CarMax lot for $75,000 B) I was actually at the Jaguar dealer to test drive a used Mercedes S65 prior to requesting a CarMax transfer of a similar S65, and C) it’s just too damned cool not to share! Here’s the odd thing. I eyeballed the blue model and yet online here’s the listing for an identical car at the dealership – it’s a Valencia Orange Ultra Metallic model. Hmmm….perhaps the blue one is already gone and replaced?
It’s a decent enough Jeep with a manual transmission and six cylinder engine, but really just wanted to post this to thank Veterans for serving this great nation. God bless.
Okay MOST of these are actually pretty decent cars, but once the idea of seeing how many import unicorns make their way onto CarMax lots it kind of got away from me. That said, I was surprised where some of these cars are made….like the Fiats in Mexico and the Jeeps in Italy. There are a few more surprises. No kidding. No lengthy comments or reviews – just cars and links. Let’s get started.
