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. Â Again, my bar is $35,000 or less, 60,000 miles or less, an enthusiast car, and relatively exclusive. Â Your standards may vary. Â So here they are in no particular order:
2007 Mercedes CL550 – The “big coupe” from Mercedes – the two door version of the S-class, originally a $100,000 car. Â You can read the review from the link below. Â It’s the third generation CL and has everything a top of the line Mercedes should have – in 2007. Â 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. Â What I don’t like? Â 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. Â Rear view photo of the car doesn’t show one. Â I don’t like less than 400hp but 382 ain’t bad. Â I also don’t like that this car is not transferable and is 3,000 miles away from me. Â I would give it serious consideration. Â 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. Â 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. Â I’ve owned a 3-series. Â Everything is in the right place. Â M3’s are tough to find in my unicorn category. Â 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. Â I have a hard time paying that much for that old with that mileage. Â So I like the balance of price and mileage here. Â I like the SMG transmission and 400hp. Â 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. Â Don’t know why, but the hard top convertibles sell at a discount over the hard top coupes. Â If you like these then you’re in luck! Â 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”
I’m fascinated with CarMax’s ability to scarf up ridiculously low mileage cars, especially unicorns for enthusiasts. Here are three horsepower-heavy beasts that have been driven not more than hundreds of miles per year, and because of the MaxCare strategy of offering bumper-to-bumper warranties on everything on the lot, you could guarantee no major repair bills for another 5 years and 125,000 miles for not a lot of money. But as with most old-school V-8’s, do you really need a long-term warranty? Links are added below the photos – if dead the cars are sold, on hold, or being transferred.
Was surprised to find this 2008 Corvette with only 2,000 miles TOTAL. I normally get excited about 10-year-old cars with 3,000 miles per year, 30,000 total as 
