Blogging my nationwide hunt for affordable CarMax enthusiast cars. Automotive Unicorns.
CarMax continues to surprise me with unicorns I thought we might not see anymore. For example, this 2010 Mercedes CL550. I’ve covered more than a few of these and if you’re familiar with them you know it’s an S-class coupe.
Love this 2010 Range Rover Sport Supercharged unicorn and impulsively put it on hold like a fool. I keep forgetting I must replace the 911 soon, the S600 later, and my old Ford Escape….someday. But it’s free again and at $21,998 for 510 hp it’s an interesting buy.
Fairly well appointed for a 10 year old SUV with heated steering wheel and seats, rear view camera, Bluetooth, and adjustable suspension. For $22k it’s damned near a British beater!
But for me it’s about depreciation, loads of luxury and horsepower, and MaxCare. Your chance to be Doug DeMuro (although he only got $16k in repairs on his CarMax Range Rover – I got $35k on my S55!). This beaut is here in Scottsdale, Arizona. Sorry for the iPhone formatting – WiFi failed in my hotel and wanted to get this out quick!
I have a thing for extinct unicorns and the Mercury Mountaineer sure qualifies. This third generation 2010 model – actually purchased in November of 2009 by the original owner – was the final year for the model and the brand. Mercury was discontinued by Ford in 2010 after a 72 year run. A real body-on-frame truck, albeit with a paltry 210hp six-cylinder and four wheel drive, it’ll tow 2 1/2 tons…slowly. Many moons ago I test drove a second generation model new and was surprisingly comfortable and yes, even then, I was vain enough to enjoy that it’s not “common” like a Ford Explorer.
It’s attractive enough for it’s age (I would be flattered if someone said that about me) and has a certain style. Once the third best selling Mercury by 2010 with less than 6,000 sold it was the worst when discontinued (per Wiki) – so there’s that. Again, you won’t see your twin at the gas pump very often – and you’ll be at the pump a lot with 14/20 mpg. And if you believe Wiki, you might get a kick out of this case that the Mountaineer exists at all because of the 1990 Oldsmobile Bravada – a luxury trimmed offshoot of the Chevy Blazer – a concept that begat the Acura SLX, Infiniti QX4, and the Lexus LX450. Who knew?!
*Mercury Blues….aka Mercury Boogie was written and recorded by K.C. Douglas in the late 40’s. Alan Jackson had a hit with it and Ford bought the rights to the song that I have so abused in this blog title. It doesn’t take a lotta money to buy this Mercury at only $12,998, and it probably was a $30,000 truck new. For that price you get Bluetooth, parking sensors, running boards, and leather seating. Oh yeah – the B side of Mercury Boogie was “Eclipse of the Sun” – the Mountaineer comes with a sunroof. 🙂 And third row seating.
An outdated SUV isn’t for everyone, especially when the best US News could say in this 2010 review was “Overall, the Mercury Mountaineer is a passable family vehicle for those who need off-road capability or tow on a regular basis.” But it’s $13k and it’s a little bit different. It’s a two-owner truck for sale here in Tulsa. Someone will be crazy about a Mercury.
Last updated my V-12 conundrum here with my decision to pass on the 2010 Mercedes S65. I liked the idea of an AMG and the lower miles but was just too much like the S600 I have and I couldn’t justify the expense of selling my car and buying the S65. So I collaborated with a reader who wanted it and we engineered a transfer to North Carolina. Good chance he’s reaching the same conclusion – a bit more docile than he would like, and will probably pass. If he does he has graciously offered to work with another unicorn hunter before it goes back on the market. If you’re interested shoot me a message and I’ll put you all in touch. It’s a helluva car – just didn’t match what he and I were looking for.
I’ve covered a number of these W219 “Shooting Brake” Mercedes CLS550’s in the three-plus years of blogging with the last one almost a year ago – a 2009 model that looked and was priced almost identical to this one – less than $20,000! Thought time had run out for these CarMax unicorns so I was quite surprised to see this beauty tonight. It’s an accident free 2011 model with only 43,000 miles. For a 382 hp 5.5 liter Mercedes V8 it’s just getting broken in!
Yes the CLS is built on the E-class platform but has less front seat, rear set, and trunk room than the E-class, it’s just damned more attractive. Cutting edge when new as a first generation CLS, they started to look dated after an eight year run, and now nine years out of production are starting to look a little vintage to me? The CLS550 cost over $74,000 in 2011 and this one is now $19,998.
With 2011 being the sunset year before the all new for 2012 model there aren’t any real good car reviews from back then. But this 2007 Car and Driver review of a nearly identical model (when the CLS got the 32 valve, 5.5 liter engine) claimed a 0-60mph run in 4.7 seconds with a seven-speed automatic. Not bad for a two ton sedan.
This 2011 Mercedes CLS550 is a three owner car that spent most of its life in Florida, and is now here in Cincinnati, Ohio. It’s a bargain, sophisticated German car, and of course, MaxCare is highly recommended for when that air suspension or high-end engine breaks!
Wrote about this low mileage climate friendly (?) S-Class unicorn back in September when it was in Massachusetts. Two months later it’s again on the market here in Albany for the same low price. Same low mileage. Again, this was the cheapest S-Class back in 2010 at $94k. Still seems to be a bargain commuter car. But if a hybrid isn’t your style, CarMax had a whopping six S63 AMG cars on the net last night, two of which were close to my $35,000 unicorn cap. Both are two owner cars; the 2011 is listed here in Palm Desert, California, and the 2012 is here in Schaumberg, Illinois (Mick?!). The 2012 is a few thousand cheaper, but it is a one accident car. Goes without saying all of these are MaxCare mandatory! Enjoy.
The 755 hp 2019 ZR1 unicorn is the fastest Corvette to date (the C8 variants out in the spring will likely equal or exceed the 2019 ZR1) with a top speed of 212 mph and a 0-60 run in 2.8 seconds. Supercar fast. The Corvette team chief called this Corvette “the most we know how to do” according to this Car and Driver review. Corvette folks know tons more than me about ZR1’s. I love watching Corvette’s whoop far more exotic and expensive cars at Le Mans and Daytona but have given up on owning one – at 6’4″ I just don’t fit behind the wheel.
As an aside, the most expensive CarMax car I’ve seen before this ZR1 was an almost new 2017 Mercedes AMG GT with only 2,000 miles on it. Listed for $114,998 and over a couple of weeks dropped regularly in price and may have finally sold for $104,998. Here’s the link to that saga. We shall see how long this Corvette stays on the market.
This single-owner, low mileage (5,000) hot rod is still under Chevrolet’s warranty for another 31,000 miles and 24 months or so. I would still spring for MaxCare – a car like this needs to be driven hard and fast. That’s what it was engineered for. No need to tell CarMax about your track days when you blow it up. On the other hand if you can afford a $120,000 car maybe you can afford the repairs. Find this ZR1 here in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The Short Version: No decision after driving the 2010 Mercedes S65 yesterday and a 2012 Audi A8 W12 stand in last week. The S65 remains on hold through Sunday 10/25 when I gotta make the call and probably move on. Sigh. The longer version below includes TWO more Mercedes V-12’s that have surfaced since I posted this dilemma two weeks ago bringing the CarMax V-12 inventory to four. Ugh.
After a thoroughly confusing week trying to sort out what car, if any, I wanted, it’s come down to do I want this S65 or not? I drove it on the same roads I travel in the S600 on a regular basis, and honestly it wasn’t all that different. Starting the car makes a nice rumble and roar (WordPress won’t let me upload the video of gunning it in my garage) but cruising at 70-80 mph the engine was only slightly audible. My worries to date had been that perhaps I’ve gotten spoiled by the tomb-like S600 and the S65 would be annoyingly loud. Not at all. What I could hear more than anything was tire noise. The S65 has hard summer tires, and last year I mounted ultra-quiet all season tires on the S600. I suspect I could do the same on the S65, but that would diminish the performance vibe of the S65.
Riding in the S65, everything was familiar given the identical setup as the S600. The seats have a different pattern and the speedo dials to 220mph vs 160 in my S600. What attracted me to the 2010 Mercedes S65 was three attributes; it’s a 604 hp V-12, the car cost over $200,000 new (I am that vain), and it only has 35,000 miles on it – half what I have on the S600 and an opportunity to reset the clock with MaxCare.
What’s driving me to probably pass on the 2010 Mercedes S65 is nothing more than it is just too similar to what I have. Also, after checking the few comps on Autotrader, I’m guessing it’s a $20,000 gap between what I can sell the S600 for, and the $36,998 purchase price of the S65 plus taxes and MaxCare. (Now if one of you want to offer me $36,998 for the S600 I’d be up for revisiting that.) I still have 40 months and 54,000 miles of MaxCare on the S600 and perhaps will drive it another two years before putting it up for sale. Time will tell. Should I pass on the S65 there’s one reader out there who already wants to transfer it his way. Would make me happy to keep it in the unicorn family.
But what about the 2012 Audi A8 L W12 that was offered here in Puyallup, you ask? Well first, it’s currently unavailable as I botched extending it and someone else has it on hold or bought it. I had it reserved under another name, extended it once, and could not extend it a second time. I was deeply disappointed as there’s another reader who wanted this car if I didn’t buy it and I let him down. I hope it comes back on the market. I found in Philadelphia a nearly identical W12 at a Porsche dealer and traveled there last Friday – a lot closer to Virginia than Puyallup. I drove the Audi A8 W12 in the rain around the Philly suburbs and the car was wonderful, but again strikingly similar to the S600 experience I already have.
The selling points for the 2012 Audi A8 W12 at CarMax Puyallup were the back seat, the ultra low mileage at 15,000, the $36,000 price, and the exclusivity and sophistication of the W12 motor. It really is a tremendous motor. Smooth as silk. Quiet as a deaf man in an empty church. I stole that from someone and hope it’s not offensive. I plan to drive my wife and daughter to Florida for Christmas break and had visions of them watching movies in the back seat of the Audi while I motored south in peace.
But as with the S65, I just can’t see laying out a lotta cash to migrate from the S600 to the A8, even though it would be resetting my five year Maxcare plan. If I didn’t own an S600 it would be a no brainer to buy either the S65 or the A8 W12. They are both wonderful cars – one more brawny but not overly so, and the other far more sophisticated. Both felt nearly identical in performance and ride as my S600.
And then there’s this very special 2015 Mercedes S65 Coupe that came on line in California while I’ve been sorting out my V-12 options. A reader put it on hold for me as a continency, since he knew all about the nearly identical car I had on hold last year but lost when CarMax mistakenly sold it to someone else. (The best they could do as compensation was to offer me one free transfer, which I used on the 2010 S65.) Anyway, this car is still available as of this writing so here’s the link if you’re interested. This coupe is available for $84,998. It sold new for probably more than $225,000. It’s a rare, high-performance coupe with 621 hp. It’s fully loaded and I still can’t get over the heated arm rests. I gotta have those.
Only two things keep me from buying this car. One is the price tag. Perhaps I could sell both my 911 and S600 and make this my daily driver (I’d have to add a $50,000 loan!) but with Maxcare and taxes probably looking at the high $90,000 mark. At that price I lose the unicorn bargain mantle. I’d also start being the guy that parks at the far end of the Walmart lot so no one dings my car, and I don’t want to be that guy. I’m too lazy to walk that far. Second, while car critics gush over the looks I find Mercedes coupes look way too similar – the C-coupe, E-coupe, and S-coupe (to me) share the same lines. Why can’t I get the S-class interior in the AMG GT?
Was thumbing through the reservation I have on the 2010 Mercedes S65 and stumbled on what appears to be a new capability to access MaxCare selections and pricing right from the CarMax website. Previously the MaxCare tab only described the warranty program in general, and to get the specific mileage, deductible, and pricing menu on a specific car I had to call a sales rep and ask for a screen shot of the menu only he or she could see. Looks like this direct access is only available after putting a car on hold and booking an appointment time. Still another arrow in the quiver when hunting unicorns! Here’s the results for the S65.
