I might have pushed it a bit on a few of those 2013’s over the weekend, so felt compelled to offer up this totally legit CarMax unicorn – a 2015 BMW 760Li V-12 for only $40,998 $39,998. Luxury. Exclusivity. Affordable. And plenty fast.
The 2015 BMW 760Li sold for maybe $141,000 new and has dropped a good $100,000 in the last eight years. This one has been on and off the CarMax page and I sort of ignored it thinking I must have already written about it. Wrong. Looks like the last 760 I covered was in the spring of 2020 (we all remember that spring) – this similar 2015 760Li for a few thousand more.
The 2015 long wheelbase model (G12) was new for that year, and just over 10,000 7-series of all kinds were sold in the US. Lost an hour or two trying to find out if there was a 2016 760, before they became M760’s in 2017. Not finding any for sale.
The 2015 BMW 760Li is loaded – even has night vision (above)! Automatic cruise control, seats that heat, cool, and massage, heated steering wheel, heads up display, ands the M Sport Package that I read somewhere allows the top end to hit 190 mph. Rear seat room looks damned generous below. No DVD entertainment system though. Had it in my Mercedes S600 and not once did I use it.
The heart and soul of the BMW 760Li is the 6.0 liter twin turbo V-12, making 535 horsepower. The sedan runs a mid-four second 0-60 mph time, which isn’t spectacular, and yet it is plenty fast for a 2 1/2 ton luxury car. About the same as my S600 was. That said, the Alpina B7 of the same year, albeit a V-8, had a few more horsepower and was a bit faster. But c’mon, wouldn’t you really rather have a V-12? Just once?
Check out the autobahn run below. Quite a rush. Not me. (The most I’ve ever done was 155 mph, governed, in a brand new BMW 540i with about a thousand pounds of dudes – four of us – hauling down the Frankfurt autobahn back in 2002.)
This is a three owner, accident free car that began life in Miami, went to Phoenix in 2021 for a few years, back to Fort Lauderdale and now is on the lot here in Roswell, Georgia. I’d be wondering what NFL or NBA player got traded from Miami to Phoenix then retired back to Florida? It’s also pretty low mileage, and since I started writing this two days ago, the price just dropped $1,000. Again, the car has been on the market quite a while and I have no idea why it isn’t selling. If this isn’t a unicorn, don’t know what is. Of course, MaxCare is a must and as I’ve noted in previous blogs, for some reason the 7-series BMW warranties seem to be a bit more expensive than others. Might be worth it.
What we have here is a basic retro Pony car that takes me back to my childhood. Introduced in 1964 per Wiki “the Mustang the most successful vehicle launch since the 1927 Model A” – selling 400,000 units in the first year. The 1968 fastback is my favorite of all time. The 2012 Ford Mustang GT Premium unicorn offered here is a fifth generation model and a pretty basic muscle car with a V-8 motor and a six-speed manual transmission. Clean lines, pretty color, and a racing stripe.
With only 3,171 miles on it, this two owner, 12 year old Mustang has hardly been driven. Two owners, no accidents, and ready for the next owner to finish breaking in this car. Not sure it’s MaxCare worthy, but fascinating that you could get a warranty for another 146,829 miles and drive it until 2029 with no financial risk on repairs. How many burnouts would that be?
Front seat heaters, rear view camera, Bluetooth, and a Shaker sound system. Period. I really didn’t figure out what the GT Premium gets you over the regular GT.
But you do get three pedals and a six-speed manual transmission. You can squeeze out 26 mpg on the highway! Less doing burnouts.
The 5.0 liter V-8 is rated as 412 hp and pulls (?) 390 ft-lbs of torque. Car Throttle described the Mustang GT as “…..superlative performance for the money and a slice of pure Americana, but no longer do you have to suffer a broken-chicken-leg shifter, Taurus steering wheel, and a Tupperware interior to get it.” They were able to pull off a 4.5 second 0-60 mph run.
The car is selling for about the same as the first owner paid for it way back when. It has held its value, and not just because of the low mileage I guess. I looked for comps on Autotrader and could not find one with this low mileage. The closed I came was the white one below with 11,000 miles, for the same price, and a pretty cool Roush with 5,000 miles, for $10,000 more! Both pictured at the bottom. My friend Jerry is a Mustang fan and looking to drive cross country this summer with his son. I’m thinking he needs to buy this as a graduation present for the young man. Find it here in Kansas City.
Last summer I strayed from CarMax and bought a 2021 Mercedes GLE63s AMG, a Certified Previously Owned (CPO) hot rod SUV I found in Santa Fe, New Mexico after a nationwide search that went on way too long. The whole saga was posted here. I’ve now put 8,000 miles on the car despite only one short road trip to North Carolina, and the experience had left me undecided on whether I love the car or whether I should sell it and start anew. Some unexpected repair expenses had me leaning towards selling, and will get to that later.
First, I want to document (in case any of you are IRS agents) that this is in fact a work “truck” and I frequently use it as such! Even my drive to Fort Liberty, North Carolina was for work! For the record, I only refer to it as a truck to make my family cringe.
That said, it’s a performance SUV first and foremost, and the fat summer tries have caused me some trouble. In July I picked up my first giant nail in one of these beefs and had to replace it – for $600. The tire was only available at the Mercedes dealership. Thought that was unfortunate since I’d really rather have all seasons on the vehicle but now I’ve got sunk costs. It got worse. Picked up another nail in the opposite rear tire a month later, and sunk another $600 for a new one. Thinking these high performance tires attract nails I started to explore just replacing all four with all seasons, only to find out nobody, but nobody, carries them. Pirelli makes a set sold through Mercedes dealers, but they are out of stock until spring (at least). Turns out the 22″ diameter is the problem. There are options for 21″ rims, and the GLE63 was sold with them too, but that means I gotta buy four new rims and four new tires. That’s a $3,600 proposition. Seems silly, but so does an AWD SUV I can’t drive in the snow. No room at home to store the summers. Still negotiating with Tire Rack on 21″ tire and wheel combos, and the weatherman is calling for our first snow this weekend. Looks like my BMW M3, with all seasons, will be my go to car?
Twice when I had the GLE63s at the dealer they’ve tried to fix the clamshell center console doors. A single button triggers both opening, except in mine only the left side opens regularly. Mercedes said it’s a known problem. The fix, not so much. The third time the dealer replaced the entire center console storage bin. Likewise, when I pointed out a fender flare was loose and the rear bumper molding had a 1/4″ gap on one side, the service manager agreed to order completely new pieces, have them painted to match, and installed. These fixes were done at no cost under warranty. In two weeks the GLE63s heads back to the dealer for Service A and a recall to replace the fuel pump (Mercedes learned the plastic fuel pump impellers fail). We shall see how that goes.
Back in 1993 I attended the US Air Force War College in Montgomery, Alabama, and while there the State of Alabama was courting Mercedes to put their first US assembly there. Alabama won the competition over rival states by donating the land and using the Alabama National Guard to clear it. We joked at the time that the new ML SUV’s to be built there would come with optional gun racks. I drove a Merkur XR4ti at the time, never imagining that 30 years later I’d own a luxury Mercedes SUV from the same plant.
Anyway, I wondered if some of these misfit parts were the result of assembly in Alabama, and not Stuttgart. Then I wondered about the hand-built AMG motors – were these shipped in from Germany or were they being made in Bama too? The service rep said he’s visited the Alabama factory and yup, motors made there. Disappointed. But not convinced. So I popped the hood all by myself and found the signature plate below. The engines are made in Germany. The umlauts say it all.
In early December the front brakes began to screech. Thought that’s a problem and had the Mercedes dealer check it out. The first answer was we could replace the front pads and rotors for $2,600 and the problem would probably go away. But they also said the pads still have 6/32″ and don’t need replacing right away. No wear indicator on. Maybe they’ll talk to the shop foreman and see what’s up. But they don’t and instead suggest maybe the brakes were glazed when I bought the car. My experience is the service techs are hit or miss on expertise and communications. Ryan the CarMax service rep is so much more conscientious. Replacements by Mercedes are warranted for 12 months, 12,000 miles. GLE63 owners on the forum say they sometimes replace brakes EVERY 10,000 MILES! Not for me, although I am looking into FCP Euro pads with lifetime warranty. Even my local Goodyear store warranty is 24 months/24,000 miles!
The tires and brakes are normal wear and tear items not covered by warranty and expenses are escalating. Before I commit to doing them, I decided to take a shot at selling the GLE63s to CarMax. I figure if they give me something close to what I paid last summer I might just cut my financial loss and start over. Besides, the car was not deeply depreciated and so I don’t feel like I got over on the dealership like I have in the past with CarMax. I miss that, too. CarMax has not had a current generation GLE63 (they have a few 2019’s). The appraisal below tells me they don’t want one. It’s $30,000 less than what I paid just few months ago, and $25,000 less than comparable Mercedes CPO GLE63s’ are selling for right now. CarMax prides itself on offering to buy anything customers bring in, and they will. That said, they can make the price such that no rational seller would ever take them up on it. I’m not.
Pretty sure I’m going to keep the car and love it, although I don’t have a course of action for the tires and brakes just yet. What helps make up my mind is a spirited drive through the rural roads of Loudoun County, Virginia. The audio in the video doesn’t do it justice. I think I’m going to lean into this car and enjoy it. I haven’t seen another one on the roads in the six months I’ve owned it, and that helps me feel a little special. Maybe when I take it to Daytona later this month for, uh, some business meetings around the same time as the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, it’ll feel like a unicorn.
History repeats itself. On New Year’s Day 2024 I tested positive for Covid again, so I went for a rural Loudoun County drive to the John Lewis Memorial Bridge to clear my head before checking into my hotel refuge (my goal this time is to not infect my family). The bridge is on a remote road that crosses Catoctin Creek. Built in 1889, according to the county it’s “a rare surviving example of a wrought iron truss bridge—one of only five still standing bridges built by the Variety Iron Company.” It’s peaceful here. And not unfamiliar.
Three years ago almost to the day – New Year’s Eve 2020 rather than New Year’s Day – I took a short road trip diversion to the same bridge in Etta, my 2008 Porsche 911 CarMax unicorn, after getting the devastating news that I had tested Covid positive. Things were much scarier then, with no vaccines and no Paxlovid. Tomorrow I will load up this Mercedes GLE63s with all the crap I brought with me to my isolation hotel and head home, and if the worst I have to deal with is finding brakes and tires for a badass 600 hp SUV, I guess I’m in a pretty good place after all.
Happy New Year’s! With winter storms approaching the east coast I thought I’d open with a “practical” AWD SUV. My New Year’s resolution is to write more because I’m so frustrated unicorns show up and sell off before I can write. It’s easy to make that declaration this week as I’m holed up in a local hotel with Covid for the third time (despite being uber vaccinated) hoping to insulate my family, and I’ve got nothing but time. I’m also out of the market for my own unicorns in 2024 – will stick with the M3 and GLE63 for the time being – so there should be fewer distractions.
Three years ago I wrote about an eerily similar 2013 X5M here, priced about the same, mileage about the same. Are used car prices returning to normal? The X5 made its debut as a 2010 model and doesn’t look all that different almost a decade and a half later. And if we’re going to be nostalgic, it was a friend’s CarMax X5 that got me into the unicorn business in the first place. I drove with a junior coworker on a business trip in 2012, and he had a BMW X5. I asked about repair costs and he told me about MaxCare and all the repairs that he enjoyed at no cost. The following year I bought Guenther and the rest is history.
The second generation (E70) X5, and the first M model with a turbocharged M powered V-8 made its debut in 2010. This 2013 BMW X5 is decently equipped with adaptive cruise control, heated steering wheel, panoramic sunroof, and a rear view camera. Seems silly, but my 2013 M3 does not have a rear view camera. Not extravagant, but it is good enough. The 2013 BMW X5M probably sold for more than $100,000, so this is a nicely depreciated example.
I’ve never been a fan of red interiors, and yet my M3 has this same color (oxblood?). I kinda like it, and I’ve gotten compliments from others on the unique color. I am vain. It’s not quite whorehouse red, and I’ve learned over the years that as soon as I criticize something about a car I learn that I have a reader that loves the thing I’m ragging on. I get it. The interior is nearly new.
The X5M is powered by a 4.4 liter twin turbo good for 555 hp, and a 4.5 second 0-60 mph sprint. It’s got an eight speed automatic SMG transmission and if you’re lucky you can pull off 20 mpg in tempered highway driving. This particular 2013 BMW X5M is currently being shipped to Newport News, Virginia and can be tracked with this link. I’d be all in on MaxCare thinking for less than $40,000 you too can own a unique Euro-SUV!
Holed up in another hotel on a business trip splurging on Popeye’s fried chicken and thought it’s time to revisit the mild and spicy post from August. Here’s the link if you missed it. The theme was just like Popeye’s, there are some pretty good cars out there in a reasonably fun version and the same car a bit hopped up – spicy. Well, here’s two more – a pair of Mercedes hardtop convertible unicorns! “Super Leicht”…or SL’s.
Above we have the relatively mild 2013 Mercedes SL550, with a ridiculously low 6,927 miles on it! Ten years old and hardly driven. Below, a spicy 2013 Mercedes SL63 AMG with more mileage, but cheaper than the SL550.
These are sixth generation SL’s, R231 models which were made from 2012 to 2020. The SL550 sold new for at least $106,000, the SL63 for more than $150,000.
The cars are similarly, but not identically equipped. The cheaper SL63 has adaptive cruise control and massaging seats, and the SL550 does not. The SL550 has the Harman Kardon audio and the SL63 the Bang & Olufsen (although CarMax lists it as having both the Harman and the Bang!)
That’s the SL550 wheel above, and the SL63 controls below.
Both convertibles have the wonderful Air Scarf neck warmers below.
What distinguishes the two the most are the motors – both twin turbo V-8’s. The “mild” motor is the 4.7 liter, 429 horsepower one in the SL550, with the SL63 sporting the “spicy” 5.5 liter, 530 horsepower engine. The SL550 takes just over four seconds to hit 60 mph – the SL63 just under four. Both have seven speed automatics and are governed to 155 mph top speeds. Reviews suggest the SL63 has an almost marine engine sound to it. Interesting.
At the moment, the 2013 Mercedes SL550 is on its way to Salem, Oregon and is selling for $41,998. Again, it has less than 7,000 miles on it and of course MaxCare is available up to 125,000 and another five years. Makes a nice sleeper. You can track it with this link.
Stock No. 25135608 VIN WDDJK7DA6DF019221
For me, the 2013 Mercedes SL63 AMG is the menu choice I’d make. It’s only $37,998 but does have 56,000 miles on it – and one minor accident involving the driver’s door. It’s currently reserved here in Sacramento, California. Of course, I’d rather have the best of both world’s – a low mileage SL63, but Isaiah bagged that one over a year ago! Here’s the link to that story.
This is a bargain BMW unicorn on so many levels. It’s cheap, low mileage, lovely blue over tan, decent motor, and lots of options. It looks like a German police cruiser. If you were screaming east at triple digit speeds on the A8 autobahn towards Austria folks might get out of your way – there is still a speed limit in sections there. But here in the US nobody is going to pay you any attention, unlike similarly decked out Ford Taurus and Dodge Charger sedans. And unlike the Alpina B7 from last month, it’s well within my unicorn price cap of $35,000 (I really need to increase that to $45,000.)
This car has the Cold Weather Package, Driver Assistance Package, and Executive Package. That includes adaptive cruise control, blind spot and lane departure warning, heads up display, massaging air conditioned and heated seats, heated steering wheel, and a Harman Kardon sound system. With 39,000 miles on it the car looks pristine inside, at least from the pix.
The 2014 550 (F10) is right in the middle of the sixth generation 5-series and got the beefed up twin-turbo 4.4 liter V-8, making 445 hp. With an eight-speed automatic it should hit 60 mph in the mid-four second range. The car also has X Drive (AWD) making that sprint and bad weather driving sure footed. It is a one-owner, one accident car with no details on the accident. The price seems reasonable and if you don’t want or need self-driving and CarPlay like I do, this car is a bargain. Even with MaxCare it’s a great example of how to drive a unicorn enthusiast car for the price of a new Camry and not worry about repair costs much. It’ll even fit in garages that won’t hold an Alpina B7! Find it here in Albuquerque.
There aren’t a lot of BMW Alpina B7’s in the USA, maybe 500 a year are imported. Finding these unicorns on CarMax lots always surprises me – the only real specialty tuner they carry that I’m aware of. Clearly more rare than M-cars and AMG’s, even if performance is not all that different. Think of it as the almost M7 that doesn’t exist? This 2014 Alpina B7 L was maybe a $130,000 car new nine years ago.
Interestingly, to me, I wrote about this exact car when it was offered for sale by CarMax in North Carolina in July 2020. Here’s the link to that write-up. Three years ago it was offered at $39,999 and had only 41,000 miles. It’s dropped $9.000 in that time, was driven 14,000 miles – not much for three years, and best of all MaxCare is available for a fresh five years and up to 125,000 miles. That said, every BMW 7-series I’ve ever gotten a quote on the MaxCare was quite expensive – sometimes $9,000 or more. Would be worth it to be out the door for $40,000 for this very special car.
The interior is luxurious, but muted. There’s an Alpina logo on the steering wheel and the dash display but otherwise resembles a long wheel base 7-series. It’s fully loaded for 2014 with adaptive cruise control, heated and cooling massaging seats, heated steering wheel, and much else, all part of the Cold Weather Package, Driver Assistance Package, and Executive Package. The rear seats below are spacious and includes the DVD player. It’s not lost on me that most of these features are available on new Mazdas and Toyotas for about the same price, but there’s a real sense of “driving rich” in a car like this for the same price.
And long time readers know, I love no blanks or dummy switches where features should be, and not disappointed here. Has my beloved night vision assist, for spotting deer or ferrying Navy SEALS on night time raids in stealth.
The trunk is massive. Old school Cadillac large. This a car for road trips.
What makes the B7 roar is the 4.4 liter twin-turbo V-8 beefed up to 540 horsepower, almost a hundred more than the 750i of the same year and a few more than the V-12 M760i. It’ll hit 60 mph in the low four seconds and maybe push over 190 mph at the top.
Reviews don’t surface any shortcomings for the car and most mention the performance is in line with other luxury sedans from BMW and Mercedes. And yet if you like BMW’s, the nuance and exclusivity of having an Alpina B7 for the price of a Camry, and with MaxCare to shift repair risk from the owner to CarMax, then you might be interested in this high-performance low cost luxury liner. It’s coming soon to Norwood CarMax in Foxboro, Massachusetts. You can track it with this link or by the stock number and VIN below.
First, thanks to blog reader and fellow CarMax enthusiast Cannon for sharing this 2022 Land Rover Defender 110 S TReK Edition, a one of 70 factory special edition off-roading unicorn that has already proven itself in a competition of sorts. And been auctioned off by Mecum in Florida. And discounted. And available with MaxCare for another five years and up to 125,000 miles (or 116,000 more, even in the mud?. By CarMax standards this is a find.
I’ve tried and tried to find how this particular Defender fared in the competition, without any luck. It didn’t win. Land Rover of Rochester took those honors. This one still has an interesting history beyond the competition, though. It sold and was first registered new with all of 8 miles on the odometer in late December 2021 for maybe $90,000 in Tampa, Florida. But that was after the September 2021 competition. Apparently they didn’t drive very far off-road? Then the was auctioned off by Mecum in Kissimmee, Florida in January 2023 for $82,500 according to Classic.com. Fast forward to the fall of 2023 and here it is back in Asheville, North Carolina, on a CarMax lot not far from the competition site for $17,000 less than the Mecum sale. What happened? No idea.
The “competition” is an annual Land Rover sponsored event for media first, then teams of Land Rover sales, service and technical staff run a series of off-roading obstacles in these 70 SUV’s, winching, mudding, driving, and navigating across some uneven terrain according to the team from The Drive. The celebrity (professional?) team, if you will, “consisted of Olympic skier and Land Rover ambassador Lindsey Vonn, high-altitude ski mountaineer Hilaree Nelson, and ESPN journalist and experienced navigation rally competitor Alyssa Roenigk. They called themselves Team Rocky Road and put in a strong effort in the competition.” – according to winning team “No Time To Cry”, from Gear Junkie. The 2021 competition was at the Biltmore Estates in Asheville, North Carolina – not a place I’d think of for off-roading. I think of touring the wealthy estate followed by touring a brewery, and that I’ve done.
Motor Trend reviewed one of these, and noted ….”for gear and equipment, our Defenders each had a powered winch and winch controller, which ended up getting plenty of use over the weekend, as well as a winch kit with pulleys, straps, and gloves. Each SUV was also dressed with Land Rover’s available Explorer Pack which comes with a raised air-snorkle-like intake next to the windshield, improved wheel arch protection with tougher body panel materials, and a waterproof side-mounted lock box which we used to store a jack and tire iron. Land Rover also outfitted black-painted side tubes, a spare tire cover, a fridge in the rear cargo area, a retractable awning, and an available roof-mounted collapsible tent that one of the team members ended up sleeping in over the weekend.”
The 2022 Land Rover Defender 110 S is nicely appointed inside, with a heated steering wheel and seats, Meridian audio, automatic high beams, and Apple CarPlay. The cabin belies a real off-roading capability. Not sure about the rear cargo area below, more like a paddy wagon or K-9 hold. Looks way functional.
The Land Rover Defender only has a 2.0 liter four banger, although it’s a turbocharged I-4 gas engine good for 296 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque with an eight-speed automatic transmission and of course four wheel drive. It’ll do 60 mph in about seven seconds and tops out at 119 according to Land Rover. Probably not buying it to sprint.
This 2022 Land Rover Defender 110S is currently reserved here at the CarMax in Asheville, North Carolina. You can still track it by the stock number or VIN on CarMax’s website even though it says not available, should it not sell or get transferred again. Not sure I’d want to commute in it, and yet it seems all of the competitor teams thought it was a worthy off-roader for the Land Rover brand. It still has four years and 40,000 miles of manufacturer warranty, so not sure I’d get MaxCare for just one more year of warranty, unless you plan to burn through those 40,000 miles soon. Enjoy.
It’s important to me that readers share their experiences with CarMax and MaxCare to make sure I’m not being overzealous, that this warranty stuff is the be-all-end-all of unicorns and I’m overselling it all. Feedback so far has been that MaxCare is a pretty good deal on these high-end cars, although from time to time things don’t quite work out the way I’d like. I’ve heard of CarMax dealerships declining repairs as not covered by MaxCare when they were (a reader’s Range Rover supercharger), and manufacturer dealership service techs haggling over labor rates because MaxCare won’t pay the dealer’s rate (my ball joint issue with Guenther when I sold it).
Will share my hunches on dealerships at the bottom. First, wanted to publish the experience of regular reader and car guy Scott with his lovely Jaguar XJL as another cautionary tale, although this one by chance worked out. Over the seven years of blogging I’ve gotten to know more than a few readers by email and have even had coffee or drinks live with some, and I’ve had the good fortune of meeting Scott several times and seeing this gentleman’s car in person. It’s a great unicorn. And my apologies Scott….only took me five months since margaritas for me to publish!
From Scott:
Were you aware that CarMax does not cover interior plastic parts that break, even if said parts disable a vehicle function? I recently took my 2013 Jaguar XJL to (local Jaguar dealer unnamed to protect sources and methods and the innocent) for her 60,000-mile checkup and asked them to look into a check engine light that had just flared up. I also asked them to submit a warranty claim to MaxCare to fix the rear moonroof sunshade that had become jammed in the open position. (The 2013 Jaguar XJL has two moonroofs: one that completely retracts to open air in the front, and a fixed glass moonroof for the rear seats that has an electrically retractable sunshade.)
It turned out that the check engine light was being displayed because of a pair of malfunctioning O2 sensors, the replacement of which MaxCare covered under my 5-year warranty that expires in August. But in the same email sent from MaxCare to my Jaguar dealer, MaxCare disapproved the repair of the sunshade because the part that broke was plastic, and MaxCare claimed that plastic trim parts (emphasis mine) are not covered under the warranty. (I will come back to this in a moment.)
Unfortunately for my Jaguar dealer, their service advisor did not look closely at the email from MaxCare. They simply saw “warranty approval” in the email subject line and proceeded with ordering parts and making both repairs. Unfortunately, even further for them, they did not discover the error until today when I went to pick up my car. To their credit, the Jaguar service manager admitted this snafu was entirely their error, so I wound up paying only the $50 deductible for the O2 repair (plus the previously agreed-upon $1,400 for the XJL’s 60,000-mile checkup). Meanwhile, they are going to continue haggling with CarMax over the refusal to cover the broken sunshade. Out of curiosity, I asked the service manager how much they were eating, and I was stunned by the answer: almost $2,000 in parts and labor.
Now about that $2,000 sunshade:
I know that rubber parts are considered wear items and are not covered under the MaxCare warranty. I also know that exterior and interior plastic trim is not covered under the warranty. But from my point of view, a plastic part that breaks — not a pretty piece of decoration, but a functional plastic part — is not “trim” and should be covered. Especially if that broken part renders a vehicle function inoperable. And ESPECIALLY if repair and replacement of that broken part will set the owner back a cool two grand!
My story has a happy ending, but only thanks to a costly mistake made by the Jaguar dealer. For your readers, my tale of monetary peril might serve as a cautionary tale — apparently according to MaxCare, not all functional mechanical parts are created equal!
Please feel free to share my take with your audience if you think it would be newsworthy. The only thing that I ask is that you leave my Jaguar dealer’s name out of it. They lost a lot of money on this, and I don’t want my service advisor getting into any more trouble than he already probably is in.
End of Scott’s note.
Here’s my thoughts. First, the MaxCare ruling on plastic “trim” is arbitrary, ridiculous, and disappointing. Don’t know about any other readers, but I’ve never had to engage MaxCare directly to dispute findings and not sure how that would go. I’d probably lose and be banned. Scott’s experience, and mine, suggests in many cases questionable calls are best resolved when negotiations are between a dealership service rep and MaxCare, although in Scott’s case the repair was settled in his favor by accident only. Because I am cheap and I have a great service rep (Ryan, if you’re reading?) and a flexible CarMax dealership here in Dulles, Virginia, I almost always start at my CarMax for repairs. They have a decent technician for European cars, and yet if it’s too complex my CarMax will send my cars to the BMW or Mercedes dealership for repair. (Scott noted his Jaguar dealership has always been helpful on MaxCare in the past.)
That accomplishes two things; I still get the first $50 of my deductible (which is always $50!) waived, and more importantly, any coverage disagreements are between the manufacturer’s dealership and MaxCare, and if they can’t be resolved my CarMax steps in since they are technically the paying customer to the manufacturer’s dealership. I’m out of it. And, again my experience, is that my Carmax, one of the larger ones, is a high-volume repeat customer with the local manufacturer dealerships’ repair shops and has way more oomph than I would if I went directly to a Mercedes or BMW dealership for repairs and things went wrong. (I know regular reader and unicorn sniper Mustafa (well, he used to be a regular – where ya been, Mustafa?!) has owned many unicorns and successfully challenged a few MaxCare rulings but I do not know if that was with MaxCare, his CarMax, or his local manufacturer dealership.)
I also believe that CarMax has more stake in me as a customer than the manufacturer dealerships do when it comes to MaxCare. At CarMax it feels like I’m leveraging their product – MaxCare – and they’d like to see it work out. The few times I’ve tried to use MaxCare at a manufacturer’s dealership, or even an independent repair shop, and I mention MaxCare, I sometimes get treated as if I’m on welfare trying to get repairs and not pay for them – the “oh you’re going to be one of those!” looks from the dealer tech. Reminds me years ago using Priceline and bidding on cheap hotel rooms and at check in they treat you like a squatter that didn’t pay for the room at all.
Finally, I believe with CarMax or any garage, building a relationship with the service rep and/or the service manager pays off in the long run. I try not to be a jerk, let them work the system, and have no idea what it takes behind the scenes to negotiate with MaxCare. I’ve been surprised over the years when I was convinced parts weren’t covered and somehow my CarMax dealer worked it out that they were. When they aren’t I figure I’ve gotten my money’s worth over the years and go ahead an pay, but that’s rare, and I haven’t been burned by a mechanical plastic piece that failed – glad it worked out for Scott and appreciate him taking the time to write.
Just completed my sixth year blogging about CarMax unicorns, my money losing hobby that leverages my enthusiasm for cars and being cheap. It started with Guenther back in 2013 so really 10 years into buying high-end cars and shifting the repair risk to CarMax with MaxCare – although as you know I just strayed and bought an unlimited mileage Mercedes CPO from a dealer. Promise I will replace my M3 in a few years with another CarMax unicorn, hopefully a Porsche 911.
Still holding steady the last two years with over 10,000 visitors to the blog annually, and this summer hit over 200 email followers and for that I am grateful. “Business” is down, as far as my writing, due to too much work, travel, my now completed search for a Mercedes replacement, and honestly I so hate the new CarMax app I find it painful to surf for cars. I’ll get over it. Hang in there with me?
My goal now is one unicorn posting a week, and I’m starting with this 2020 BMW M4 Heritage Edition sent to me by Mike back in July. He clued me in on the 1/750 limited edition and by the time I wrote him back it sold. Six weeks later it was back on a CarMax lot where it remains today. According to BMW it’s actually called the “BMW M4 Edition M Heritage“, and it mostly, but not all, is a special appearance package to commemorate the end of the line for the (then) current generation of M4’s. First, BMW says the special paint colors are “Laguna Seca Blue. Velvet Blue. Imola Red II. The distinctive paint finishes of the BMW M4 Edition M Heritage pay homage to the original colors of BMW M“. The cars also have special stitching and stripes and a dash plate indicating 1/750. We’ll get to that in a bit.
It would be unfair to suggest that since the Heritage is mostly an appearance package that it’s any less of an M car. In fact, all of the Heritage M4’s include the Competition Package, with a sweet 444 horsepower inline six cylinder and M-tuned adaptive suspension. To reduce weight the Heritage also gets a carbon fiber roof with an embedded red, white, and blue stripe under the clear coat. With the seven-speed DCT the car hits 60 mph in 3.8 seconds (not bragging….same as my GLE63 AMG – okay bragging a little).
The seats are lightweight M-seats and the interior fairly conservative. The car comes with a heads up display, seat heaters, Apple CarPlay and Harman Kardon audio. Leans toward performance over comfort features.
And here’s the “M Heritage Edition” badge. Tricky BMW marketers have listed every single one of these as “1/750” and I guess each car is one of 750, but not #1 of 750. If I’m going to pay for a limited edition, numbered car I’d kinda like the badge to be more exclusive – #34 of 750, for example – my high school basketball jersey number. Or maybe #4 of 750 since it’s an M4?
The car sold new for close to $90,000. Scrolled through a BMW M4 enthusiast forum and most posts preferred a straight CS model instead, and CarMax has a 2020 M4 with the Competition Package for thousands less (and check out this 2020 with a manual for $5,000 more). There’s also slightly older “vanilla” M4’s for $20,000 less than this Heritage. But if you’re a BMW M-fan who is happy to pay a premium for a BMW M4 Edition M Heritage, there’s nothing wrong with this one. It still has some manufacturer warranty and I’d still spring for MaxCare to 125,000 miles. It’s a two-owner car that’s on reserve here in Edison, New Jersey that for some reason isn’t selling. Wish I had recorded the sales price in July when Mike sent it to me!
