Category: Lexus

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Quick Hit – Lovely Loaded Lexus LS 460 for $19,998!

LS 460 sideThis big old Lexus unicorn has been on and off the net for a few days, and is a perfect example of what one of our readers called “driving rich” (please remind me who I stole this from?).  For $19,998, or the price of a used Toyota, you can drive a sweet luxury car with very, very low miles – maybe 3,400 miles yearly.  Seriously, a 12 year old Lexus with 40,000 miles?   Air conditioned and heated seats, auto cruise control, rear view camera, heated steering wheel, and automated parking? Very nice.

And a 380hp 4.6l V-8 with an eight-speed automatic good for sub-6 second 0-60.  Car and Driver reviewed the 2007 LS 460 (the first year of this fourth generation – no real reviews in 2008 worth reading) here and noted it was still a bargain over equivalent German sedans, but at a $70,000 sales price wasn’t the steal it was when introduced in 1989.  Thinking at $19,998 this single owner, accident free California car just might be a steal.  CarMax has many Lexus LS 460’s with over 100,000 miles for not much less.  Wouldn’t even spring for MaxCare. This car is too reliable and low mileage to break much.  Find it here in Sacramento. 2008 LS 460 $19,998 40k Sacramento 2-6

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One of 240 – 2019 Lexus RC F 10th Anniversary Edition – $20,000 Off!

RCF sideThe Matte Nebula Gray painted exterior caught my attention first, then the cool blue interior, and reading the reviews in Motor Trend and Our Auto Expert was surprised to learn this paint scheme on the 2019 Lexus RC F 10th Anniversary Edition is the first on a production car since… the Lexus LFA in 2012.  I kind of dig it.  Also learned the 10th Anniverary Edition cost a whopping $16,000 more than a vanilla RC F coupe.

What do you get for that? Not entirely sure.  Same powertrain – 467 hp V-8 with an eight speed Sport Direct Shift transmission, but the reviews suggest the Performance Package (carbon fiber front spoiler, roof, splitters, rear diffuser, and speed activated rear wing, torque vectoring differential, carbon fiber interior trim, and more!), and blue Brembo brake calipers, wider and lower adjustable suspension, and triple beam LED headlights.

All of the reviews I saw flip flopped between the RC F 10th Anniversary Edition and the base RC F coupe, and so I can’t say with any certainly what that $16,000 gets you – except for damned sure some exclusivity, with only 240 of these Matte Nebula Gray models on the streets.  Find this one-owner car originally owned in Washington here in Austin, Texas.  No need for MaxCare – still under manufacturer warranty for four years and 50,000 miles!  The car sold new for about $90,000 just one year ago.  2019 Lexus RC F $69,998 5k Austin

If you don’t care for the high price or exclusivity and upgrades of the anniversary edition you can have the regular old 2015 RC F below with 19,000 miles for only $44,998 – another $25,000 less than the 10th Anniversary Edition model.  Awful tempting.  Find this cheaper one here in Los Angeles.  2015 RC F.JPG

 

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1 of 23 in the US! 2011 Lexus GS460 $21,998

GS460 SIDEThanks again to eagle-eyed reader and fellow CarMax car nut Mustafa Gardezi for bringing this unicorn to my attention  Had no idea the third generation Lexus GS460 was such a low production vehicle.  Pointed me to the Club Lexus forum page and did some digging to find that only 23 2011 models were imported to the US.  (Per the Lexus data on the club website there were also only 56 units in 2009, and 43 units in 2010.  A good 1,616 were imported in 2008, and CarMax also has a high-mileage one of those for $14,998 here!)

Low production isn’t the only reason to like this vehicle  I dug the Italian design by Giugiaro and once lusted for the second generation Lexus GS400 as a nice sleeper sedan.  This 2011 GS460 has a 4.6 liter V-8 rated at 342hp, good for a mediocre 0-60mph in 5.4 seconds.  Slightly better than the comparable Infiniti M45 but 40 ponies less than the same year Mercedes E550, and 58hp short of the 2011 BMW 550.

But it is a high-quality highway cruiser with an eight-speed automatic transmission, adaptive variable suspension, luxury package, cooling seats, and good old fashioned rear wheel drive.  Not sure I’d even spring for MaxCare – not much going to go wrong here.  Probably sold for $55-60,000 new back in 2011 and selling for $21,998 now – not as much depreciation as I’d like.  Here’s a review from Left Lane News in 2011.  Find this three-owner car here in Atlanta. (You’d think they’d properly close the hood before taking the photos, wouldn’t you?!)2011 Lexus GS460 $21,998 54k Atlanta

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More Rare Than a Ford GT40 and the Plymouth Superbird! 2010 Vibe?

Let’s get this out of the way – like the bearded lady in the circus rare doesn’t mean desirable. But with only 97 2010 Pontiac Vibes manufactured you do get some bragging rights, although you’ll always have to explain why. Kind of reminds me of a Matrix?. Pontiac shut down in 2009 with very few models sold as 2010 – mostly rentals I think. This 2010 Vibe has really low miles, and a really low price, and very few options (it does have an aux jack!) – but get MaxCare and you can drive it 100,000 more miles, to 2024 and into extinction worry free. Or buy your college-bound kid a “collectible”. Find it here in Fort Myers, Florida.

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A Pair of Vintage (Looking) Lexus SC430’s

A dozen years ago in a local dealership I sat in a Lexus SC430 and thought it was a peculiar and precocious little coupe, with the coolest retractable hard top I had ever seen and luxurious leather and real wood trim inside.  The SC430 has a little 4.3 liter V-8 with a not terribly impressive 288hp, but it does pull off sub-6 second 0-60 and is governor limited to 149 mph.  A heavy car, but not a pig.  These 10-year old unicorns look retro to me already.  Suspect reliable as hell and would probably pass on MaxCare? Check them out below.

Both are 2008 Lexus SC430’s nearly identically equipped.  The gold car is $1,000 more than the silver, with 6,000 less miles.  The gold exterior looks…rich, but the interior looks more worn….the cream color shows scuffs more than the black.  It’s a two owner lifelong Florida car found here in Boynton Beach – if the link is dead it’s sold, on hold, or being transferred.

2008 Sc430 $25,998 53k Boynton Beach FL

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For a little less money and a few more miles, you get a cleaner interior in this 2008 Lexus SC430.  Both have the high end Mark Levinson audio system that was once exclusive.  I dig the silver car’s wheels way more – remind me a just a little of BBS wheels of days gone by.  That said, the gold car really catches the eye outside.  What to do?  This one is right up the road from me near Baltimore – it’s a two-owner Delaware and Maryland car.  Find it here in Ellicott City…..same deal on the link.

2008 SC430 $24,998 59k Ellicott City MD

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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””

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