I dig CarMax because I can drive deeply depreciated unicorns at a decent price and be protected from repair risk because they sell a great MaxCare warranty on everything on the lot. But they sure suck at routine processes sometimes. Found this 2015 Mercedes S65 coupe in California. New it was $235,000 and four years later it’s selling for $79,000. But it was on its way to Albuquerque before I could strike. Fortunately that buyer backed out and I put the car on hold. Called my sales rep who agreed to get it off hold and let me pay to transfer to Dulles. But while on hold for me Albuquerque blew it and accepted a transfer to Fredericksburg, VA (ironically not far from me). Neither Dulles, Albuquerque, nor Fredericksburg dealers would reverse what they all admitted was a mistake so I engaged corporate in Richmond. Best they can do us offer me a free transfer from anywhere in the country because the S65 is sold. Bastards. I’m so tempted to find the crappiest $5,995 car I can from the most expensive, distant dealer (Spokane) and have it transferred to Dulles. Ugh.
Quick Hit – Bargain 510hp 2012 Range Rover Sport – $25,998
I love this unicorn. Don’t see a lot of Range Rovers in red. Don’t see a lot of supercharged Range Rovers for $25,998. Don’t see any other 500+ hp SUV’s for under $35,000 – BMW X5M’s and X6M’s sometimes come close (check out this X6M with 555hp for $36,998 in Tuscon). Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT-8’s don’t have the oomph and cost more. Mercedes GL63’s top 550hp but also cost twice what this Range Rover does.
This supercharged Range Rover is ripe for MaxCare though – repairs aren’t cheap. Minor point – CarMax has this car listed under the more luxurious Range Rover category and not Range Rover Sport. The Sports are usually cheaper – regardless $25,998 is a good deal for a single-owner Ranger Rover Sport Supercharged. Find it here in Sacramento.
Quick Hit – Hot Hardly Driven 2010 Porsche 911
Missed posting a few great cars because work got in the way, so didn’t want to miss the chance to post this unicorn – a 2010 Porsche 911 in Guards Red, manual transmission, with a stupid low 4,000 miles on the odometer. Throw in MaxCare and you can drive it another five years – until it’s 14 years old – and 146,000 more miles worry free!
A little taken aback by the price at $49k (my 911 remains the second cheapest CarMax has carried in three years). The car originally sold for $80,000 or so new. Here’s the catch – CarMax lists it as AWD and I’ve run the VIN through three decoders and I can’t confirm that. Didn’t know base Carreras came in AWD. Wondering if the price is higher than it should be becuase of this?
Find this beautiful one-owner sports car here in Boise. Not sure how it ended up there – was a Texas and Florida car. 
1 of 5 in US/300 Worldwide – 2019 Jaguar XE SV Project 8?!
Another “didn’t know these were a thing” unicorns. Looks like a street legal Jaguar race car, and understand it’s the fastest Jaguar street-legal car they’ve ever put on the road. The beast has a 592hp V-8 (never in an XE before), sub-4 0-60mph, and claimed 200mph top speed. Check out this Motor Trend review. Splitters and diffusers and wings and everything but a roll cage!
The dealer told me its one of five in the US (and I can find only four others for sale around the country as of this writing so maybe so!). Personally eyeballed this at the Jaguar dealer in Chantilly, Virginia for sale for $188,495. Posting here because A) in three years I hope to find one on a CarMax lot for $75,000 B) I was actually at the Jaguar dealer to test drive a used Mercedes S65 prior to requesting a CarMax transfer of a similar S65, and C) it’s just too damned cool not to share! Here’s the odd thing. I eyeballed the blue model and yet online here’s the listing for an identical car at the dealership – it’s a Valencia Orange Ultra Metallic model. Hmmm….perhaps the blue one is already gone and replaced?
Quick Update – Low Mileage 2009 Mercedes CLS550 Drops $2,000!
Wrote about this lovely low mileage first generation 2009 Mercedes CLS550 here back in early October when it was in Los Angeles. Surprised to see this unicorn now is less than $20,000 – makes it the cheapest CLS550 I’ve seen in two years. And 35,000 miles on a 10 year old car is crazy. It’s here in Las Vegas – latest ad is posted below. Take a chance!
10 Low-Grade Low-Priced Unicorns Somebody Wants. Maybe You? (If not I have 10 more!)
Doing a bit of house cleaning. Have over 200 unicorns in my profile, some more intriguing than others, and thought I’d get 10 of them out here for you to pick through. In my years as an auto enthusiast I’ve learned there are car fans and car clubs for pretty much every car out there. These caught my eye – some I’d actually own – and others because they are an interesting combination of price, performance, mileage, and maybe extinction? Anyway will keep the writing short and get them to press. Here we go.
2011 Infiniti G37X
Only 6,000 miles on this modest beauty. Not yearly – total! A decent 328hp and AWD. Here’s an Autoblog review. This two-owner Maryland car sold for almost $40,000 when new eight years ago and is available here in Midlothian (near Richmond) Virginia for $20,998. Nice car and thought the depreciation would be more. The crazy low miles are to blame.
2010 Audi S5 4.2 Prestige
Drove one of these before I bought my 911 and was really impressed with the all around poise and performance. Reminded me of my old Camaro with the long nose and two door look. Except that was a slow six cylinder. Anyway, this 2010 is both low-priced AND low miles AND pretty well equipped – seat heaters, blind spot monitors, rear view camera and AWD. Sold new for about $58,000. Has the 354hp 4.2l V-8 also found in the Continue reading “10 Low-Grade Low-Priced Unicorns Somebody Wants. Maybe You? (If not I have 10 more!)”
Quick Hit – 2010 Mercedes S63 AMG – 500hp of Fun For $35k ($135,000 New!)
Well, this unicorn is so hot off the press it doesn’t even have photos so stole the one above from the web. This low-mileage 2010 Mercedes S63 AMG is selling for $34,998 and will be gone soon. That’s a small price to pay for S-Class luxury and Corvette performance. The hand-built 518hp twin-turbo V-8 is good for a 4.5 second 0-60 mph run. Check out the 2010 Car and Driver review here. This is a two-owner Nevada car driven only 51,000 miles. Addd MaxCare for another 100,000 miles of risk free high speed driving. Find it here in Reno. If the link don’t work someone beat us to it and it’s sold, on hold, or being transferred. 
1 of 100 in US – 2014 Jaguar XFR-S. Crazy Fast. Relatively Cheap. Stolen Once.
Thanks to car spotter Hans Mertens for sharing this 2014 Jaguar XFR-S unicorn with me. Didn’t know Jaguar stuffed the 550hp supercharged V-8 in this mid-sized sedan. Car and Driver review estimated a low four second 0-60 run and a top speed of 186 mph. The wing was optional and functional.
Suspension is upgraded significantly over even the XFR. The interior is pretty standard XF/XK with some better seats with XFR-S logos. Believe this was a $100,000 car five years ago, and you can find it here in Reno for only $40,998. It’s a two owner car (California and Nevada) and not sure if that includes the thief who stole it for three days in 2015. Wouldn’t matter to me – kind of adds to the mystique! Buy the MaxCare warranty and drive it until it blows up.
70th Anniversary Jeep Wrangler – Perfect for Veterans Day
It’s a decent enough Jeep with a manual transmission and six cylinder engine, but really just wanted to post this to thank Veterans for serving this great nation. God bless.
$15,998 Nissan Juke Nismo RS – Ugly Unique Unicorn (and Extinct)
Nissan imported a good 200,000 plus Nissan Jukes into the US, but only about 2,285 were the Nismo RS unicorns during the 2014-2017 run for the RS. Owners on the Juke Nismo forum think the six-speed manual model to be fairly rare. Nismo of course stands for ニッサン・モータースポーツ・インターナショナル株式会社 Nissan Mōtā Supōtsu Intānashonaru Kabushiki-gaisha, or Nissan Motorsport per Wiki. The plain Juke and Juke Nismo came with a 188hp turbo four, and the Juke Nismo RS beefed up to 215hp. See, its not all about the red mirrors!
The crossover was available with a 6-speed manual transmission and all wheel drive and good for a 0-60mph in an okay mid six second run. The suspensions were quite tweaked and lowered for the RS models, but I don’t get lowering an elevated crossover that started out as a much lower car in the first place? Here’s a review from Autotrader.
The Nismo RS got good marks for the shit-hot race car seats and for being fun to drive. That said, Car and Driver named the Nissan Juke as one of the 20 ugliest crossovers and described it has “frog faced”. Beauty is in the bug eyes of the beholder, I guess.
New Nissan Juke RS models sold for almost $30,000 so would have liked to have seen these for cheaper at CarMax, but the price isn’t that far off of the similarly low mileage comps on Autotrader. Unfortunately this model is 2WD. CarMax has a 4WD Nismo RS but it’s automatic. Will be on the lookout for a 6-speed 4WD model and update if I find one. Find this low-mileage, two-owner 2014 Nissan Juke Nismo RS here in Boynton Beach, Florida. 