Dodge – The Carmax Unicorn Blog

July 6, 2022July 6, 2022

Quick Hit – 378 Mile 2013 Dodge Charger R/T Max

Won’t take up too much of your time on this nine year old Dodge Charger R/T Max, but since no takers yet on my 2010 Mercedes S600 for sale, I thought I’d share this ridiculously low mileage sedan with a beefy V-8 as an alternative. Reduced the price on my 96,000+ mile S600 to $25,900. This Dodge is selling for $33,998 and only has 378 miles. It’s about as new old car as I’ve seen at CarMax and a bit of a unicorn.

Here’s your proof. Not even ready for an oil change (although I suspect one has been done, or should be done, by CarMax before sale). I know, I know….ultra low mileage cars are prone to have gaskets and seals and rubbery things rotted from lack of use – believe the CarMax 90 day / 4,000 mile warranty would be the window to get a post-purchase inspection by an outside garage and anything addressed. MaxCare is available for five years and up to 150,000 miles – you could drive this car 30,000 miles a year and still not be out of warranty!

The interior looks brand spanking new, as it should. Not a crease in the seats. The R/T Max comes with adaptive cruise control, AWD, heated steering wheel, heating and cooling seats, and even heating and cooling cupholders! If it had Apple CarPlay and seat massagers it would be complete.

Gigantic trunk with a Beats subwoofer in the sidewall.

The 5.7 liter V-8 is good for 370hp, not the beast in the SRT models but a reliable motor common to Dodges and Chryslers and even the Jeep I had for a bit. Interestingly, the powertrain includes a Mercedes-sourced five speed automatic transmission. The Dodge gets about the same mileage as my S600, although it’s a little slower. The car was in Tinley Park, Illinois this morning but now shows as being transferred somewhere. The car sold new for probably a shade over $40,000 new and hasn’t depreciated much. It’s a really nicely equipped car, though, and a real time capsule. Track it here if you like and see if it sells.

Stock # 22850704 VIN # 2C3CDXCT2DH613727

May 26, 2022May 26, 2022

378 Original Miles – Nine Year Old Dodge Charger R/T Max Coming Soon!

Always looking for low-mileage CarMax unicorns and was surprised to find this 2013 Dodge Charger R/T Max with only 378 miles. About 40 miles a year. Doesn’t even need an oil change yet! Yes, I know all about the “all the rubber and seals and gaskets and plastics have rotted” notion, and think some of that is legit and some is not. My theory is anything that needs to move and/or lubricate to stay fresh may be need to be replaced – any part that doesn’t know or care if the car has been moving much over the last nine years should be fine. Even better, ANYTHING THAT ROTTED WHILE SITTING GETS REPLACED FREE BY CARMAX UNDER THE 90 DAY, 4,000 MILE WARRANTY! So what’s the risk of buying a damn near new old car? Mostly just overpaying, but I’ll get to that later.

I was also surprised at how well equipped this 2013 Dodge is – choosing “Max” for the R/T model originally cost another $6,000 and added mirror-mounted puddle lamps, rain-sensing wipers, adaptive cruise control with forward collision warning, a rear parking sensor, rear cross-path sensor, SmartBeam headlamps, the navigation package, the Beats audio package, power adjustable pedals, heated and ventilated front seats, heated steering wheel, Bluetooth, rear view camera, power tilt-and-telescope steering column, blind spot monitoring, and 245/45R20 all-season performance tires on 20-inch chrome wheels. If it had Apple CarPlay and seat massagers I would snatch this up!

The leather interior has nary a crease. Pristine as the day it rolled off the showroom floor to its one and only owner in Channahon, Illinois, southwest of Chicago.

The 2013 Dodge Charger R/T Max was powered by a 370 hp 5.7 liter V-8 motor and only a five speed automatic transmission. It ran to 60 mph in just over five seconds. Not an SRT-8 by any means, but no slouch. The engine bay looks as sharp and clean as the interior.

For me, there are two downsides to buying this car. The first is the car sold new for probably $37,000 or so, and nine years later has depreciated almost not at all. Depreciation is what makes unicorns affordable. This car isn’t so special you’d want to also mothball it away to preserve the ultra low mileage, and not so unique that you’d want to overpay for it. CarMax has a couple Charger R/T Max’s for $10,000 less with 40,000-70,000 miles, and even a 2014 Charger SRT-8 Superbee with the 470 hp motor at 70,000 miles for “only” $33,998. All of these old school V-8 American muscle cars have MaxCare available for another five years and up to 150,000 miles. Not bad.

The second downside to me is I just cannot own any sedan that’s also used as a police cruiser. Years ago I drove a rental Crown Vic for a bit, and found that as I closed in on highway traffic EVERYONE slowed down and blocked me thinking I was an unmarked police car. Not helpful. (But for fun, once, my buds and I drove down the George Washington Parkway outside Washington DC in the Crown Vic with the flashers on and chuckled as everyone got out of our way. We were young and stupid. ) Anyway, if this low mileage 2013 Dodge Charger R/T Max is for you, it’s coming soon to Tinley Park, Illinois – halfway between Channahon and Chicago. Here’s the link if it’s the car for you.

Stock # 22850704 VIN # 2C3CDXCT2DH613727

February 1, 2022

Quick Hits – Back to the Basics V-8 Enthusiast Unicorns

After writing my Fiat story and the low mileage SUV piece I though I should get back to covering some fundamental cars that (mostly) met my original parameters for unicorns – less than $35,000, not more than 60,000 miles, and if possible be an enthusiast car. Unfortunately, the crazy used car market has boosted prices significantly, and I may have to up the cap to perhaps $45,000? Well, I picked the following naturally aspirated V-8’s for no other reason than I found them interesting, and I’m writing from Daytona after watching the Rolex 24 Hour race, where I had hoped the V-8 Corvettes would be more competitive. Let’s jump in.

First, how about a bright orange 2014 Dodge Challenger SRT-8 Core? A stripped down version of the SRT-8 392, it pumps 470 hp from a 6.4 liter motor linked to a six-speed manual transmission. (For all the muscle cars in this post I picked manual transmissions only – seems right and salutary.) The car is good for mid-four second 0-60 mph sprints and burnout after burnout fun. Brakes strong, surprisingly comfortable on the highway, but not terribly well equipped. But because it’s an American car, MaxCare is available for another full five years and up to 150,000 miles.

You can find this 2014 Dodge Challenger SRT-8 here in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Stock # 20804911 VIN # 2C3CDYDJ7EH284379

December 8, 2020December 8, 2020

Quick Hit – VERY Low Mileage Dodge Challenger SRT-8

Fifty years ago Dodge introduced the Challenger to compete with the Camaro and Mustang. Bigger than both in size, it was dwarfed in sales. The Challenger sold about 76,000 models in 1970, compared to about 125,000 Camaros and a whopping 190,000 Mustangs. Sales dropped off rapidly for the five year run of the first generation and the model disappeared after 1974. Skipping the second generation Challenger of 1978-1983, a rebadged Mitsubishi import (although I’d love to have one of those!), the Challenger returned in 2008 for a third run. The Challenger below looks remarkably like the original, and the model continues to sell well despite little change for the last 12 years – over a half a million so far. I don’t know how they do it, but CarMax just Hoover’s up low mileage, older muscle cars. Could write a whole piece about the scores of Corvettes, Camaros, Mustangs, and Challengers on the lots that have hardly been driven, but after last weekend’s novel I’ll stick to one. And keep it short.

My favorite, and not just because it’s yellow. A 2012 Dodge Challenger SRT-8 Yellow Jacket with what appears to be 393 miles on the odometer. That’s crazy – 50 miles yearly?! Yeah, yeah, yeah, cars are meant to be driven….all the rubber and gaskets could be rotted….but it’s damned near new!

Love those seats, although I suspect wrestling with the bolsters to get in and out might get old. The 6.4 liter V-8 is good for 470 hp running through only a five-speed automatic, but still hits a high four second 0-60 mph run and a top speed of 175 mph. Plenty good enough for me. Heated steering wheel, but not seeing Bluetooth. But with a 900 watt audio system I wouldn’t hear the phone anyway. Here’s the thorough Top Speed review from back in the day.

The SRT-8 has four piston Brembo brakes, and the Electronic Vehicle Information Center (EVIC) – tracking acceleration, g-force, and other cool stuff we had to do with a slide rule and stopwatch in the original! The car sold for a good $45,000 new just eight years ago. Not sure it’s a bargain but the price just dropped $1,000 to $36,998. Find this NOS (new old stock) one-owner, accident free Dodge here in Buford, Georgia.

August 10, 2018August 11, 2018

Quick Hits -Brand New (?) Decade Old Challenger, and Other Low Mileagers

Been working much and writing little, and when I wait to think deeply about the unicorns I’m finding they are too often gone by the time I blog. So without further ado….

Not a big fan of these big, bloated, retro-Challengers, but finding a 10 year old one with less than 2,000 miles is kind of cool. Okay, it’s not brand new but damned close to a time capsule. This is the kind of car I choose from National Rental Car when they let me pick anything on the lot for the same price, and I choose with my 12 year old brain. An hour down the road I’m regretting it. But this one has a manual 6-speed to channel a good-enough 372 hp, Bluetooth and a sunroof, and not much else – like visibility out the rear window and no rear view camera! Got a kick out of the original owner keeping it at 710 miles through sale in 2017, and the last owner adding a whopping 1,200 or so more in the last 18 months. Abusive. Wouldn’t even add MaxCare. Find it here in Boston.

(And as a bonus, throwing in a couple more cheap Challengers at the bottom!)

2009 Challenger RT $24,998 2k Boston

2009 RT $21,998 19k

2009 SRT-8 25998 19k

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””