The $577 Million Car Loan and Other Fascinating CarMax “Analytics”

November 19, 2017May 8, 2018

The $577 Million Car Loan and Other Fascinating CarMax “Analytics”

Small 73000 — **The total cars on the lot around noon, November 18th 2017. The numbers fluctuated by hundreds between the beginning and completion of this blog, rendering all my calculations estimates.**

The CarMax nationwide inventory jumped from just over 40,000 cars in the summer of 2017 to over 73,000 today. That’s the highest it’s been since I started tracking CarMax unicorns a year ago and it got me pondering on all things cosmic CarMax. For example, that 33,000 plus-up in stock equals a staggering $577 million* investment in cars in just a few months. I’m thinking like you and me, CarMax didn’t pay cash and owed somebody a helluva lot of money. You think they get dealer financing? I’m thinking CarMax needs to move some cars and hoping there are more unicorns and lower prices!

*The average CarMax vehicle sells for $19,677 with a gross profit of $2,178, indicating a rough guess each car costing CarMax $17,489. See “CarMax Reports Second Quarter Results, September 22, 2017″.

So I decided to do my own homemade “analytics” and dive deeper on what makes up an inventory of 73,000 cars. CarMax knows what they’re doing, and I suspect their inventory largely reflects what America wants in a car. So here’s what I learned. Continue reading “The $577 Million Car Loan and Other Fascinating CarMax “Analytics””

October 25, 2017May 8, 2018

Five Quick Hits! BMW 650, CTS V, MX-5, Shelby, and a Corvette.

2006 Miata $13599 34k — Not sure if I’m most surprised by the price or the stupid low miles. Yes it’s an automatic, but cute and cheap.

The CarMax Link – 2006 Miata

2007 CTS V Sedeqn $25,998 27k — This is a rare one! Ten year old 400hp CTS V Sedan with driven less than $2,700 miles yearly.

The CarMax Link – 2007 CTS V

2008 Mustang Shelby GT500 $27,998 47k — A 500hp beast for under $28,000! Mileage is still low at 6,000 yearly.

The CarMax Link – 2008 Shelby GT500

2008 Corvette $28,998 9k — 9,000 Miles? Why don’t these people drive their cars????!!!!

The CarMax Link – 2008 Corvette

2007 BMW 650 CiC $18,998 39k — Less than $20,000 for a BMW 650. Horsepower a little low for me but a helluva lot of fun for the price and low miles.

The CarMax Link – 2007 BMW 650 CiC

September 6, 2017May 8, 2018

BMW Unicorns – $24,000 M6’s, $30,000 750’s, and Other Highs and Lows from Munich.

2007 M6 I just passed on the $23,998 2007 M6 above with 44,000 miles and wondering if I blew it. Not often you get a chance at a unicorn like this. Even with a $6,400 MaxCare warranty to cover me for five years and up to 100,000 miles, this was a good deal. But even though the V10 revving to 8,000 rpm made me silly, the suspension beat the hell our of me much as the M5 did on a test drive last year, so I opted out for my daily commuter. Mistake? I don’t know. It vanished from the internet within minutes of me releasing my hold. I documented the car when it was in NJ before it moved to VA, and you can only see the price from my appointment confirmation. 9/22/2017 Update – I just passed on this car a second time. It resurfaced in Maple Shade, NJ and I went and drove it. Fantastic car – no blemishes. Finally learned to soften the suspension and I think I could get used to the double-clutching automatic. Sales rep showed me the CarFax – car spent its life in Georgia for the most part and bizarrely, its last 16 months in my town in Virginia. Intrigued. BUT…while it has Bluetooth it’s voice only – no music, and virtually no modern infotainment. Picky, but I passed. Would have been $31,000 out the door with five-year warranty. Sigh.

2007 M6 $24,998 52k

Take comfort, as of this writing the convertible M6 at left was still available!

So check out these other BMW’s available below for cheap on CarMax. I picked the highest and lowest priced of about a half-dozen or more enthusiast cars and I could own almost any one of them as a daily driver!

Let’s start with almost everybody’s favorite sports coupe, the M3. CarMax has 29 of them on the lot as of early September 2017, some as low as $26,998 but stupid high mileage, and a 2017 for $66,000 (and a Frozen Limited Edition for $47k – what the hell is that?). But in our unicorn world of $35,000 or less and 60,000 miles or less Continue reading “BMW Unicorns – $24,000 M6’s, $30,000 750’s, and Other Highs and Lows from Munich.”

August 10, 2017June 29, 2018

First Five Fabulous Unicorns

I have a couple of dozen (about 50 really) CarMax unicorns tagged but wanted to open with a sampling of what’s on the lot today. Again, my bar is $35,000 or less, 60,000 miles or less, an enthusiast car, and relatively exclusive. Your standards may vary. So here they are in no particular order:

2007 MB CL550 $26,998 34k 8-9-17

2007 Mercedes CL550 – The “big coupe” from Mercedes – the two door version of the S-class, originally a $100,000 car. You can read the review from the link below. It’s the third generation CL and has everything a top of the line Mercedes should have – in 2007. What I like? It’s big, exclusive, comfortable, well-appointed with Distronic auto cruise control, cheap, low miles (driven only 3,400 miles yearly), and you can get a warranty for the next five years. I like that with only 34,000 miles CarMax will likely give an affordable warranty to 75,000 miles – but I would take all they offer that I could afford. What I don’t like? No bluetooth. Ad says rear view camera but I doubt it – CarMax photo spread almost always shows a shot of the rear view camera in action if it has one. Rear view photo of the car doesn’t show one. I don’t like less than 400hp but 382 ain’t bad. I also don’t like that this car is not transferable and is 3,000 miles away from me. I would give it serious consideration. I’ll bet it’s gone in days, although there’s also a 2009 CL550 on the lot at $32,998 that hasn’t moved in a week. We shall see!

Car and Driver Review CL550

2011 BMW M3 – The “benchmark” sport coupe per the review below, and the best everyday sports car I can imagine. I’ve owned a 3-series. Everything is in the right place. M3’s are tough to find in my unicorn category. Once a $70,000 car, most are close to the $35,000 unicorn limit, have 70-80,000 miles on them and are 8-10 years old. I have a hard time paying that much for that old with that mileage. So I like the balance of price and mileage here. I like the SMG transmission and 400hp. I’m not a big fan of the hard top convertible only because I own a convertible. Otherwise it’s the best of both worlds. Don’t know why, but the hard top convertibles sell at a discount over the hard top coupes. If you like these then you’re in luck! A little short on amenities but you can’t have a bad day in an M3.

Autoweek Review – 2011 M3

Continue reading “First Five Fabulous Unicorns”