Category: Enthusiast Unicorns – CarMax Bargains (Under $35,000)

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Pop Quiz – What’s The Most Horsepower You Can Buy (From CarMax)?

If you guessed 662 horsepower you’d be right! The 2014 Mustang Shelby GT500 with a supercharged 5.8 liter V-8 tops the General Motors’ 6.2 liter motors in the Corvette Z06’s, the Camaro ZL1’s, and the Cadillac CTS-V by 12 horsepower. And while I search everyday, CarMax has yet to carry a 700+ horsepower Hellcat from Dodge. Even the sixth generation Mustang Shelby GT350’s available at CarMax only ponied up 526 horsepower. So this is as good as it gets for car peeps who want a unicorn with straight line wheel spin bragging rights!

Ford produced 5,730 Shelby GT500’s in 2014, 4,816 as coupes and the rest as convertibles. Haggerty lists them as collectibles. Maybe so – they sold new in the mid-$50,000 range and CarMax is offering this one for $50,998 – not sure I’ve ever seen that little depreciation in a six year old car.

This Car and Driver review of the 2013 car (largely unchanged for 2014) notes a 3.5 second 0-60 mph run, and surprising to me, a 1.0g on the lateral skidpad. I was under the impression live axle Mustangs handled horribly until the 2015 models went independent. But what do I know?

Find this old-school, low mileage hot rod here in Charlotte, North Carolina. You may want to spring for MaxCare, then head to the drag strip quick-fast!

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What To Do? Sell My S600 And Buy It’s S65 Twin? HELP!

I love my 2010 Mercedes S600 unicorn, purchased in February 2019 and chronicled here. Last week I returned from a 6,700 mile road trip in the S600, driving over 100 hours from Virginia to Oregon and back. Had some 10-12 hour days behind the wheel and out west some high-speed cruising (admitting NOTHING here!) and could not have been more comfortable. But a nearly identical 2010 Mercedes S65 AMG surfaced at CarMax this week and I have it on hold. I am paralyzed by this choice and welcome comments.

My 2010 S600 has a 5.5l twin-turbo V-12 offering 510hp and 612 lb-ft of torque. The 2010 S65 AMG pumps out 604hp and 738 lb-ft of torque from a hand-built 6.0l twin turbo V-12. Always wanted a 600hp car. I can vouch for the silky smooth acceleration and ride of the S600, and I’ve read the S65 is more aggressive and snarly. Performance-wise the reviews suggest they are almost the same despite the horsepower difference. The S65, like me, carries some extra weight. Price-wise, the S65 cost about $50,000 more than the S600, meaning someone shelled out a good $200,000+ ten years ago for this S65. I do get a little giddy driving cars I can’t afford new.

The 2010 S65 is selling for $35,998, a little more than what I paid for my S600 about 20 months ago. It’s a one-owner, one-accident Florida car. My S600 is (counting me) a two-owner Pennsylvania-Virginia car and is (knock on wood) accident free. The kicker is the S65 has only 35,000 miles on it and I just turned over 70,000 in the S600. Buying the S65 would be resetting the clock for me, giving me another five years of MaxCare and perhaps 90,000 warranty miles. My S600 has another 40 months/55,000 miles of transferable warranty. And I just did the $2,500 Service B before going on the coast to coast trip. What to so?! Of course, would offer the S600 for sale here first, with the same terms I sold my S55 AMG – car guys don’t screw car guys. Will tell you everything I know about the S600. As of this writing I’m working on transferring the S65 from Florida to Virginia. Will decide when it gets here. Until then feel free to chime in with wisdom.

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Quick Hit – A Buick Only Jerry Seinfeld’s Father Could Love? 2011 Lucerne Super – $11,998

Let’s not pretend this 2011 Buick Lucerne Super unicorn is an enthusiast’s car. Yes it’s extinct, with 2011 being the last year (the car suffered the humiliation of having it’s successor come out a year earlier), and it has the “venerable” 4.6l V-8 Northstar pumping out only 292hp to the front wheels. But the Super has the Magnetic Ride Control, an adaptive damping system that helps this 4,000 lb car wallow less , Bluetooth, seat heaters, heated steering wheel, and lots of room in the front, rear, and trunk. And it has the only-in-a-Buick telltale ventiports in the front fenders, four on each side for a V-8. These go back over 70 years – read here for a fascinating history of the ports in Buicks (long before stick-on ports were sold at K-Mart and added to Civics).

Does it look like someone took a crap in the passenger seat?

And to go way back on the nostalgia trail, this Buick has the rare (?) landau roof – the fake convertible vinyl that takes us back to the 1920’s and 1930’s when automobiles hoped to replicate the style of horse and carriage coach builders. While you probably think I have a deep knowledge of these automotive topics, I stole this vinyl top background too from an eBay Motors blog. Odd it has a sunroof in the fake convertible roof. No shame.

You won’t see yourself coming and going on the road in a Buick Lucerne Super – as best I can tell from the Buick forums, there were 20,000 Lucernes sold in 2011, the final year, and less than 10 percent were V-8 Supers. And I can’t imagine too many had the landau roof. Maybe this car appeals to me conceptually as a lazy, comfortable highway cruiser since I’m writing from a hotel room in Chicago, near the end of a 7,000 mile road trip in my S600 – the subject of an upcoming piece. There’s something about a living room on wheels.

For the record, I’m certainly not bad mouthing Buicks (my wife owns and Encore!), and I learned long ago that there is an ardent enthusiast group out there for every single vehicle and SOMEONE wants this car. If that someone is you, this single owner, accident free 2011 Buick Lucerne Super is here in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. And to think you can add MaxCare and protect the car for five more years, and probably another 25-50,000 miles!

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Quick Hit – Handsome 2013 Jaguar XF Supercharged. $24,998

This 2013 Jaguar XF Supercharged unicorn is a really nice all around sleeper. Nice sheet metal, nice wheels, burgundy (not red) paint, and the sleek silver and black interior with the pop up shift knob all suggest an okay sedan from the UK. But under the hood is a pretty powerful 470hp, supercharged 5.0l V-8, and supported by an eight-speed transmission and a 4,100lb weight the car moves to 60mph in about five seconds. Not bad.

The car also has blind spot monitoring, heated steering wheel, air conditioned and heated seats, and a rear view camera. Not at all stripped. There are about a half-dozen comparable supercharged XF’s on Autotrader confirming this isn’t a bad price for one, but this is the only one out there eligible for the MaxCare bumper-to-bumper warranty – a must. The cheapest XF Supercharged I’ve seen with CarMax is a 2009 for $14,998, and the only other one I covered was this 2015 model for $28,998. This 2013 model nicely threads the needle in price, age, and mileage. Find this one-owner, accident free Jaguar here in Tucson, Arizona.

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Quick Hit – Luxury Commuter Unicorn. 2010 Mercedes S400 Hybrid – $19,998

I used to commute to work on Rt 267 in Virginia, a toll road between Dulles Airport and I-495, the Capital Beltway around Washington DC. The toll road often backs up, but the high-speed, High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes include exemptions for clean energy/hybrids. Always got a kick out of 20 mpg SUV hybrids in those lanes, saving the planet. Now you can too with this flagship Mercedes S400 Hybrid unicorn. Looks the same inside and out as my V-12 S600 (with the exception of no night vision).

The hybrid S400 has a 3.5l V-6 good for 295hp – not a lot and the car isn’t fast, and yet it’s as comfortable and smooth as any other S-Class. This Car and Driver review back in 2010 noted the car was only good for a seven second 0-60mph run. This was the “cheapest” S-Class back in the day at $94,500, and is a real bargain at $19,998. Find it here in Norwood, Massachusetts.

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Quick Hit – Legitimate Unicorn. 2009 Mercedes SL63 AMG for $100,000 Less Than New

Unlike my last couple of posts, about the Kiplingers promo and Labor Day work truck, this one is about a no kidding unicorn. A 2009 Mercedes SL63 AMG selling for only $31,998, and with only 47,000 miles. And of course, an 11 year old European sports car you can protect with MaxCare until it’s a sixteen year old luxury hot rod. The car sold new for over $140,000. That gets you a hand-built 6.3L naturally aspirated V-8 good for 518 hp and a 4.4 second 0-60 mph run. Gets you the facelifted 2009 model that’s pretty darned gorgeous. Gets you a hard top convertible AND a sunroof, and the Mercedes Air Scarf neck warmers for top down driving as fall approaches. Bluetooth, seat heaters, power lift gate, and a Harman Kardon audio system.

The Car and Driver review from 2009 was pretty favorable despite the car’s 4,400 lb bulk. What’s even more fascinating to me is while I’m pleased to see CarMax inventories increasing – up to 54,000 cars today from a springtime pandemic low in the 20,000 range, giving us more unicorns overall, I’m saddened that CarMax is enforcing their model year limits and the older unicorns are truly going extinct. Generally CarMax offers European cars up to 10 years old, and all others up to 12 years old. With 2021’s coming off the line already, there are ZERO 2008 cars for sale by CarMax – even the 2008 Chevrolet HHR SS I covered two weeks ago here is gone.

Tonight there are still 190 vehicles available from 2009, and this Mercedes SL63 is the ONLY European car for sale. Because the car showed up tonight already saved in my profile, it means I’ve seen it before. I suspect it has been on the move being held or transferred and could very well be the last 2009 Eurocar we’ll see? (Just for fun, check out this 2009 Mercedes SL65 AMG CarMax offered just last summer! It was once a $188,000 V-12 beast. But I digress.) Find this 2009 Mercedes SL63 AMG, an accident-free unicorn here, in Gaithersburg, Maryland….only 15 miles from my home. I hope it sells quick.

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Quick Hit – Another Chevrolet HHR SS for Cheap. (And One More Coming Soon)

HHHR sideIn November 2018 I wrote about a 2008 Chevrolet HHR SS and was pleasantly surprised to find that one of the readers here bought it.  At the time I wrote that I didn’t know these HHR SS’ were a thing, and was impressed by the pretty good 2008 car magazine reviews of this sporty little wagon.  Check these out; Car and Driver, Motor Trend, Road and Track, and even Popular Mechanics.

The HHR SS was only made for two years, and with a 2.0l 260 hp turbocharged four and “race-tuned” suspension, it was more than just an appearance package.  Not a rocket, but more oomph than a regular HHR and a bit of a unicorn.  The last one I wrote about sold for just under $14,000 with lower miles, and at $9,899 and 66,000 miles this one looks like a bargain.  The Chevrolet HHR SS sold new for about $24,000.  Of course, buy some MaxCare that will protect you until this car is an incredible 17 years old!HHR Int This 2008 Chevrolet HHR SS is here, near me in Charlottesville, Virginia.  Tempting.  Also, at the bottom of this page is a link to another HHR SS in the CarMax “Coming Soon” section of their website.  Not as good of a deal though.  Also in the for what it’s worth category, there are only 18 of these on Autotrader nationwide, all very high mileage except for one in Hampton, Virginia with similar miles for $2,000 less – but not MaxCare eligible.   There is one for twice the price with an astonishing 6,500 miles.  Oddly, it’s in Eldersburg, Maryland – putting all three cars within my reach.  An omen?2008 HHR SS $9899 66k Charlottesville 8-30

Continue reading “Quick Hit – Another Chevrolet HHR SS for Cheap. (And One More Coming Soon)”

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Quick Hit – Low Production Jaguar XJR

XJR SideThe 2016 Jaguar XJR L is a pricey unicorn at $55,998, way over my self-imposed cap of $35,000 (okay, my wife-imposed cap), but it sold upwards of $125,000 just four years ago and XJR’s, and especially XJR L’s, are very low production cars.  And a very fast car with a sub-four second 0-60 mph and sub-nine second sprint to 100.  Lots of aluminum keeps the weight down to just over two tons, and the 5.0l 550 hp supercharged V-8, with an eight speed automatic, keeps the speed up.

Jaguar XJ’s in general haven’t sold well of late, and yet they are wonderful opportunities to “drive rich”.  Car and Driver in this review noted, “The upside of it not being a big sales success is that you won’t find yourself parked next to its doppelgänger every time you go to Starbucks.”

Autoweek’s review thought the XJR to be equal to or better than the Mercedes S63 and the BMW 7 series.  Yes, I recommend MaxCare for this “nuclear” Jaguar, and yet I was surprised to see CarMax is advertising this XJR L as still under the manufacturer’s five year, 60,000 mile warranty.  MaxCare might be cheaper than expected.  Find this beautiful car here in McKinney, Texas. 2016 Jaguar XJR $55,998 26k McKinney 8-20-20

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2007 BMW M6 CarMax/MaxCare Resale Up for Auction! (Bidding at $12,500 as of 8-4)

ObVI1X5r2zRThis is a little different in that this fabulous 2007 BMW M6 unicorn is NOT on a CarMax lot.  It was purchased from CarMax three years ago by one of my blog readers (full disclosure – he’s a virtual car buddy friend now and way better at sniping CarMax hot rods than I) and is now up for resale on Doug DeMuro’s “Cars and Bids” auction site.  The MaxCare warrantyis transferable, and this sale should support my strategy (and your’s?) of buying high-end but depreciated cars from CarMax, transferring the repair risk to CarMax via the MaxCare warranty, driving “rich” for a few years, then selling the car and transferring the warranty for a new owner’s peace of mind and moving on to the next.

That’s what this owner is doing with the beautiful BMW.  He’s had $25,000 in repairs done (I had $35,000 on my 2004 Mercedes S55!) and there’s still two years and 30,000 miles left on the MaxCare warranty.  Like all good car guys (and gals) the seller has been quite candid about qualities and cosmetic flaws on the car (I would have recommended replacing the tires rather than note they will need replacement but that’s just me.)  The seller provides 159 photos and great history and detail on the car at Cars and Bids (link below).

Doug describes the car as “These are very special vehicles, and the V10 powerplant is impressive. The transferable warranty makes this one very appealing, as it’s hard to find warranties for these anymore — but my own experiences with MaxCare suggest this is a very good thing.”  FWIW – I learned after I started this blog that Jalopnik columnist Doug DeMuro wrote about a Range Rover he bought from CarMax and was stunned how many repairs they covered under his MaxCare warranty.  He now sponsors this Cars and Bids website, a bit of a competitor to Bring a Trailer.  I like them both. M6 34 I also love this BMW and it once again reminds me of this 2008 BMW M6 I passed on– low mileage and $23,998.   The V-10 was nothing but brute force and a sweet song at 8,000 rpm.  Sigh.  Take a look at this 2007 model still under MaxCare here at Cars and Bids.  I wish the seller well – would bode well when I sell my 911 this fall.  2007 BMW M6 Cars and Bids

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First 2020 C8 Corvette (Off and) On at a CarMax Lot – $94,998

COrvette sideSurprised to see this 2020 Chevrolet Corvette C8 unicorn pop up this afternoon on the CarMax website.  I titled this “off and on” because the car does not show up on the CarMax app on my phone, and only shows up on my laptop depending on how I search for cars.  Bizarre.  Regardless, it’s a stunning red over black mid-engined race car that could easily be confused for a Ferrari for non-car people.

The ribbon of controls for the electronics are unlike anything I’ve seen.  Unsure on the PRNDL levers below but what the hell.  I like the dashboard center angled towards the driver, and love the engine bay.  The car is listed at $94,998.  I do not know Corvette lingo so had no idea where an “LT” model fits in against Z51, Stingrays, and Z06’s and was baffled since the 2020 Corvettes start at $60,000.  The CarMax “features and specifications” page for the car is fairly boilerplate and documents normal accessories, but not Chevrolet-specific trim.

Well, between this flattering review in Automobile Magazine and doing a VIN search, I was able to see this car has the 3LT Z51 package and likely sold for it’s asking price here, plus or minus a few grand based on options I cannot see.  Corvette experts probably can.  I’m not an expert, but I am a fan.  I’ve watched Corvettes dominate endurance racing at Le Mans and Daytona over the past decade-plus, and got to see the C8’s debut at the 2020 24 Hours of Daytona.  Didn’t go great, but they are doing far better now.

This C8 is a sub-three second 0-60 mph supercar, and a bargain compared to its competition.  Hard to call a $95,000 car a bargain, but you’d have to pay two or three times that for a comparable 911, Ferrari, or Lambo.  And this is under manufacturer warranty, so no need for MaxCare!  See, I just saved you thousands. My guess was the car is a repossession but the history report says no.  And no accidents.  The 2020 C8’s sold out before production began, and rumors are Chevrolet didn’t allocate the whole 40,000 production run of 2020’s that was expected.  Find this sexy red car here in Hartford, Connecticut.  The link may or may not work, depending on the app, the car’s availability, and Hurricane Isaias’ track? Enjoy.2020 Chev Corvette LT $94,998 4k Hartford 8-3-2020

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