Blogging my nationwide hunt for affordable CarMax enthusiast cars. Automotive Unicorns.
Have never seen a Jaguar V8 this cheap on the CarMax website. If you like an XF, even with only 380hp, and you like a bargain, this one’s for you. Obviously a MaxCare candidate but probably out the door with a recent British sedan with a warranty for $15,000. Find it here in Las Vegas.
Wrote about this 2009 Porsche 911 when it was $39,999 and updated a price drop last month. Reduced again today to $36,998. Bargain? Perhaps. Mileage a little high but it’s a nice convertible. Love my 2008 coupe!
Wouldn’t ordinarily write twice in one day (mostly because I always lose much time when I start by deleting the 30 comments spammed from hairstylists and escorts from India – bizarre) but this 2011 Jaguar XK is too pretty and too low priced not to get on the blog quickly. Seems to be a bargain unicorn.
The Jaguar XK is an elegant design and a decent sports car, and always tempting as a daily driver. I’ve shipped in a couple of XK’s and XKR’s and always regretted not buying, and even made this ridiculous trek to eyeball one that was selling for $26,998. yet for $23,998 this one is way lower than most 2010’s and 2011’s I’ve seen at CarMax.
Car and Driver reviewed the 2011 XK when new, and was most complimentary of the 385hp 5.0l V-8, an 85hp increase over the previous generation XK and good for a 5.0 second 0-60mph run, as well as all of the accoutrements – heated and air conditioned seats, heated steering wheel, 525-watt Bowers & Wilkins stereo – but were not fans of the unreliable electronics. Of course, that’s why I’d add $3-4,000 for MaxCare just in case the car fails. The car was over $80,000 new and is almost a quarter that eight years later. Find this one owner car Jaguar XK here in Atlanta, Georgia.
This 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. 
What else to do before the big game but to match up unicorns at the Kansas City and San Francisco dealerships? KC has a deeper bench with 352 cars that meet my unicorn threshold (Less than $35,000 and 60,000 miles) against San Fran’s 249. Some interesting choices (alas none worth a hoot in each teams’ colors) and I went with my final criteria – what would I drive away if I needed a car today from either dealership and had a bag with $35,000 in cash?  My picks are below.
 In San Francisco we have this gorgeous 2017 Volvo S90 T6 Inscription. Thought this was a striking design inside and out from the start. Willing to tolerate the 2.0 liter turbo four cylinder since it puts out 316hp since the car is so good looking – and AWD!
Fortunately this Volvo is made in Sweden – I’d rule it out if it was a Chinese-made Volvo (nothing to do with coronavirus!). Find this single-owner Volvo here in Serramonte, California.
Continue reading “Super Bowl Unicorns: CarMax Kansas City vs CarMax San Francisco?”
These two cars are misnomered in the CarMax menus. Doesn’t appear to have affected their pricing as both are priced appropriately for CarMax cars, but it does mean they won’t show up in anybody’s search if they are specifically looking for these. There aren’t many of these older unicorns still offered, so if you want one jump on it! CarMax only carries US and Japanese/Korean cars for 11 years and European cars for 10, so there won’t be many more of these. I’d of course recommend MaxCare protection for the Mercedes…..maybe not for the more reliable and less expensive to fix Mustang?
This Mustang Bullitt is listed simply as a Mustang GT. Only a few thousand 2008-2009 Mustang Bullitts were made, and the black one (while not authentic green as in the movie) is more rare with only 1,400 made.  They cost about $3,300 more new than a Mustang GT. The Bullitt had a tuned exhaust that sounded like the ’68 model in the movie, has 15 more horsepower than a GT, and is a good 1/4 second faster to sixty in a respectable 4.9 seconds – not bad for a 315hp car!
This price is decent, but check out this one I covered last year that was WAY under priced. There was also one this fall in Frederick, Maryland near me that was priced at $16,000 and had only 40,000 miles. See this one-owner Mustang Bullitt here in Fort Worth, Texas.
Continue reading “Misnomered Mustang and Mercedes.”
Just wanted to bring your attention to this 911 I wrote about here, that just dropped to $37,998. It remains one of the cheapest ever at CarMax. I’ve seen one or two for $33-$34k (mine was $36k but reduced to $34k when we learned it was advertised as having DVD/nav and it didn’t). This one is still here in Orlando.
Despite the unusual night time photo shoot this looks like a fairly nice deal – nine year old luxury unicorn with only 54,000 miles. 
Decently appointed with Convenience Package, Driver Assist Package, Cold Weather Package, and M Sport Package. Also 400hp and AWD! Love the rims. 
My experience is the MaxCare warranty is not cheap on a 750 but maybe keep it to 100,000 miles and unload? Find this here in South Jordan, Utah. 
Thought CarMax was done with Mercedes CLK’s, and for sure this is the last year they will carry the last year CLK unicorn. CarMax only carries European models 10 years old and younger, and 2009 was the last year Mercedes made CLK’s (W209’s). This well appointed convertible (yeah, yeah….”cabriolet”) is a low mileage beauty, driven less than 4,000 miles annually in the Nevada desert.
It’s got the 382hp 5.5 liter V-8, good for 0-60mph in 5.1 seconds per this (very good, but very lengthy) New Car Test review. The review suggests the car sold new in 2009 for a good $65,000 – and 10 years later it’s looking nearly new for $16,998. Of course I’d use some of that depreciation for MaxCare. Great to have that protection for a 10 year old car for another five years.  Find this two owner convertible here in Henderson, Nevada. 
Been tracking this 2013 BMW M6 for maybe a month when it was in the high $30’s but as a V-8 and not a V-10 it didn’t feel like that much of a unicorn so didn’t write about it – until today when it dropped $3,000. Believe it’s the third price drop on the car. At $31,998 it’s starting to feel like a 560hp bargain. It’s fully optioned – even has night vision! Wondering how much MaxCare you could buy with that $3,000 savings?
This is the latest generation (F13/LX93) M6 and as far as I can tell only a few hundred sell new annually.  Check out this review from Car and Driver, indicating a 0-60mph in 4 seconds – and that the car sold new for maybe $110,000. The current $31,998 is looking like a deal. Find this three owner car here in Doral, Florida. 