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Quick Hit – 1 OF 1,767. Ultra-Low Mileage 2012 Cadillac CTS-V Wagon!

My father was a huge fan of station wagons. With four kids, family trips long and short were just made easier with a wagon. We had some behemoths, like our 1961 or 1962 Chevrolet Bel Air (Impala?) wagon below carrying us from Baltimore to Kentucky to see family. (That’s a two year old Chuck checking his pockets for keys.) My favorite was the Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser with the skylight roof window. We had some mid-sized Rambler wagons, and for some odd reason a tiny, two-door Opel Kadett wagon. Cruel parenting to squeeze three kids in the back of a two-door anything (the fourth kid, often me, rode on the front hump.) But my father never, ever had a Cadillac. And he never had a wagon this fast.

The wagon version of the Cadillac with a Corvette motor (that’s what CTS-V stands for?) is a rare Cadillac indeed, with only 1,767 units manufactured during its 2010-2014 lifespan. The manual transmission CTS-V wagon is an even more extinct unicorn, at only 514 with a stick. Last CTS-V wagon of any kind I saw was two years ago this month, and Hans and I swapped texts and a photo but I never posted and the CarMax link is long gone. Sigh. This one will NOT get away. Ironically, I had this one saved about the same time Hans texted me again!

This is an 11 year old Cadillac and (to me) the lines of the wagon are still unique, almost fresh. The wagon has a real sleeper, secret family hauler race car quality about it. No diffusers or special vents. The mesh grille looks purposeful, as does the muscular bump in the front hood. But you have to squint to see the V badges.

The body may look sleek, but the innards not so much. The pop up infotainment display looks clunky compared to an Audi A8’s slender screen. The thick steering wheel and Recaro seats ($3,400 option) should help with high-speed maneuvers, though. CarMax lists the car as “Loaded” with 9/10 on features, and yet it has only heated and air conditioned seats, panoramic sunroof, navigation, Bose and Bluetooth, a rear view camera, and remote start. My 2010 Mercedes S-class had so much more, but then again it sold new for maybe three times what this Cadillac did. So not sure how it’s “loaded”.

The cargo space is merely adequate at 25 and 58 cubic feet with second row up and down, respectively, and understand that’s less than a similar E63 wagon. But for those of us who think we need an SUV to “haul stuff” (even though we rarely do) the Cadillac wagon is a nice alternative.

My father also had a 1959 Chevrolet Kingswood wagon with the rear-facing third row seat, blue and used like this one, and it was the bomb to roll down the highway staring down Think there are still Volvos, Mercedes, Teslas, and even Ford Taurus wagons out there with these cool rear facing seats.

Enough beating around the bush. The best reason to buy a Cadillac CTS-V is the huge 6.2 liter, supercharged V-8 motor rated at 556 horsepower. With the six-speed automatic, the Cadillac hits 60 mph in 4.7 seconds. I’m sure it sounds badass through it all.

The reason to get THIS 11 year old Cadillac CTS-V wagon is because it has only 11,000 miles on it. (If my arithmetic skills serve me right that’s….1,000 miles a year?) Find this 2012 Cadillac CTS-V here. It was reserved in Irvine, California and is now on its way to Oxnard for another test drive. It’s selling for $69,998, sadly that’s more than it sold for new. MaxCare? Why not, and run this wagon hard until it breaks. And someday I may have to pick up a wagon myself in memory of my Dad.

Stock No: 24619391 VIN: 1G6DV8EPXC0156237

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The Most American Vehicle for Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day! Let’s just say that had the Continental Army picked up this massive pickup from CarMax, they probably could have driven the whole battalion across the Delaware River instead of rowing Washington the hard way. Years ago I was having beers with some buddies awaiting the race in the Le Mans campground and asked “what American vehicle would be the most iconic for tooling around France?” (yes, the France that went all in on helping us with independence in the first place) My friend Todd immediately nominated a dualie and it was pretty much case closed. Only Ford, Dodge, and GM make dualies – one ton, six-wheel pickups.

So for Independence Day let me share this incredibly huge Ford F350 Super Duty Lariat FX4. If there’s a more muscular rump on a vehicle (I think that’s the correct automotive term) I haven’t seen it. The F350 is 22 feet long, eight feet wide, and weighs a few muskets less than 7,400 lbs. Empty. And it will tow a mighty 35,000 pounds – or roughly 17 trailered horses like Washington’s “Old Nelson” or Blueskin” all at once. How does the F350 tow so much? The answer must be horsepower, right? Au contraire!

The answer is torque – a staggering 1,050 lb-ft generated at 1,600 rpm. Damned near at idle. That power comes from a 6.7 liter turbodiesel “Powerstroke” V-8 that pumps out “only” 475 hp. And once again I’m confronted with my knuckleheaded understanding of torque vs horsepower. Stealing an oversimplification from a lengthy Car and Driver essay on the topic, “torque is the capacity to do work, while power is how quickly some strenuous task can be accomplished”. And that explains my fascination with horsepower over torque – I’d rather get hard work over with and crack open a beer than ponder my (limited) capacity to do work. It’s that simple. While we’re at it, with the 10 speed automatic the F350 will hit 60 mph in about seven seconds, but that’s not why anyone buys it.

The payload in this behemoth bed is also just under four tons, or about 17 Revolutionary War cannons. (Hmmm…tow 17 horses or haul 17 cannons? What is this, some sort of automotive Fibonacci or Pythagorean thing?!) The price for all of this oomph is an estimated 15 mpg. Fortunately, the F350 has a 48 gallon gas tank pushing this truck to a 720 mile range. Washington could have easily driven on a single tank of diesel from Trenton, New Jersey to Yorktown, Virginia for the final battle of the war and back! Would only hit Wawa’s for hazelnut coffee, a carton of smokes, and bathroom breaks for the men. And at today’s price of diesel a tank would be about $185.

Yeah it’s a work truck, and while this F350 has the FX4 off-roading package, it’s not even close to austere. Heated and cooling seats. Bang & Olufsen audio, Apple CarPlay, panoramic sunroof, automatic high beams, blind spot and cross traffic alert (all to spot the British?), and much more. Luxury. The truck sold new for maybe $90,000 and is here in Gainesville, Florida. Happy Independence Day and God Bless America!

Stock No: 23710596 VIN: 1FT8W3DT3MED18713

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Quick Hit – 2013 Mercedes SL65 AMG! (And Other Excuses On Lack of Blogging Last Month)

We’ll get to this spectacular 2013 Mercedes SL65 AMG unicorn in just a moment. First I owe you an explanation on the total silence on this page for the past month. There is no truth to the rumor the CarMax Unicorn Blog management furloughed me for being a slacker, although I am. The truth is a combination of factors interfered with blogging, and I do intend to write a few pieces on these challenges. First, the new CarMax app on my phone and tablet are very difficult to sift through for unicorns, so much that I complained and CarMax reached out to me to discuss. I owe you a piece on that. Second, I did a fantastic long distance road trip in late May, and I owe you a piece on that. Third, I’m very close to closing a deal on my SUV unicorn, and I owe you a piece on that. I also had drinks with blog reader and car guy Scott about his most recent MaxCare repair on his Jaguar XJ, and I owe you a piece on that. So we got lots in the hopper and will try to pump out the above, and track unicorns more better and more faster. Speaking of which, check out the SL65!

This 2013 Mercedes SL65 AMG was spotted by Hans, who may or may not be in the hunt for it. I can tell you it’s in the process of being shipped from Raleigh to another dealership in North Carolina. The two attributes that jump out at me right away are, of course, the V-12 power plant, and it once sold for over $214,000. All of the Mercedes owner pages suggest they were sent to the USA in limited numbers – maybe only a few hundred a year, but I cannot find how many with any authority. If you find a source let me know.

The interior is roomy and plush like an SL, and has the air scarf neck heater, the Magic Sky Control moonroof – pretty neat in a hard top convertible, Bang & Olufsen audio, seat massagers, adaptive cruise control, lane departure and blind spot warnings, and even a rear view camera! Lots of carbon fiber trim as well. But it’s the hand built, 6.0 liter V-12 below that sets the SL65 apart from the SL550 or even the SL63. The SL65 pumps 621 hp and 738 lb-ft of torque at only 2300 RPM. The convertible hits 60 mph in 3.7 seconds and maxes out at a governor limited 186 mph. Brutal performance for a luxury convertible. That said, this Car and Driver review points out it ain’t any faster than the $60,000 cheaper SL63. But it’s a V-12!

You can track this 2013 Mercedes SL65 with this link, or by the stock number or VIN on the CarMax website. It does show one accident (left rear) with the one owner in Raleigh, and it does have relatively low mileage. As with any high end AMG it seems a no brainer that MaxCare will pay for itself and is highly recommended. Honestly, if it comes back on the market I may need to trade up from my M3!

Stock: 24377158 VIN: WDDJK7KA8DF016954

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Quick Hit – 2014 BMW X6M² Unicorns

The only thing better than a cheap 500+ horsepower M-series SUV are TWO of these unicorns. It’s the third one that’s passed through CarMax in the last month but the third sold. Hence the X6M². Get it? Both of these are 2014 models, identical in performance but with one slightly better equipped. Both were once $95,000 brand new purchases and almost a decade later are to be had for the mid-$30k range. Why not by one for you and one for the spouse?!

The first one has a little higher mileage at 53,000, and costs $2,000 more, but has heated and air conditioned seats, rear sunshade, heads up display, and heated steering wheel. Both have navigation, AWD, rear view cameras, adjustable suspensions, and monster motors.

The 4.4 liter, twin turbo V-8 below makes a whopping 550 horsepower, and the six-speed automatic pulls this 5,200 lb SUV to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds. Damned fast for an SUV “coupe”.

This 2014 BMW X6M is selling for $38,998 and is available here in Houston. It’s a two-owner, accident free car that’s spent its entire life in Texas.

Stock No: 23862344 VIN: 5YMGZ0C51E0C40641

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Important Update on MaxCare Limitation! Beware!

“My” 2010 Mercedes S600

Regrettably we have stumbled on a limitation on MaxCare coverage that to date I’ve not experienced nor seen implemented. For the last 10 years, since I bought my beloved 2004 Mercedes S55 AMG unicorn, and certainly for the past five here in this blog, I’ve been advocating the advantages of MaxCare – shift the financial risk of major repairs when owning high-end automobiles to CarMax.

I had enjoyed $35,000 in repairs to the S55 I purchased for $21,000, and over $15,000 in repairs to the 2010 Mercedes S600 I paid $31,000 for. Woven into many posts I’ve gushed about warranty coverage for up to five years and 150,000 odometer miles. I’ve emphasized that MaxCare is transferable, and sold both Mercedes with mileage and time left on the warranty for the next owner to enjoy. Well, there’s a third rail to be aware of on transferable warranties, discovered by Jared – the buyer of my S600, that I need to make you aware of. Before I do, I have to express my gratitude to Jared for being a gentleman. neither he nor I knew this was going to be an issue with the purchase and he has been gracious in sharing with me….and not hiring an assassin. To the best of my knowledge.

When Jared took the S600 to his Mercedes dealership for a repair CNA, the MaxCare underwriter, advised that the ceiling had been hit for repairs and declined additional work. Both Jared and I were stunned. He shared with me the Limit of Liability in the MaxCare service contract (General Provisions, paragraph 5); “The limit of Our liability is the total amount We will pay for all claims throughout the Service Contract Term and it shall not exceed the purchase price of Your Vehicle.”

Jared and I chatted and we were stunned that CNA was exercising that provision. I asked if CNA had shared an itemized list of repairs to date – how can we be sure of their calculations? So far, they’ve only indicated the ceiling had been reached and we have to take their word for it? There has been no accounting so far on the S600.

Guenther, my 2004 Mercedes S55 AMG first unicorn.

Going forward, buyers need to be aware that there are three, not two, caps on MaxCare; 1) the time limit, 2) the mileage limit, and 3) the purchase price of the vehicle. That’s mentioned nowhere on the CarMax website when describing MaxCare, only in the MaxCare service contract itself. Beware.

Disappointing, but the three attributes are knowable when buying a car directly from MaxCare. Presuming CNA (or the other MaxCare underwriters) will stop paying for repairs when the purchase price is hit, we know what that cap is – whatever we pay for the car from CarMax. It should have been $21,998 for my 2004 S55, $30,998 for my 2010 S600, $36,998 for my 2008 Porsche 911, and 41,998 for my 2013 BMW M3.

My 2008 Porsche 911 unicorn. It never broke enough to profit from MaxCare, but CarMax refunded $1100 in prorated MaxCare warranty price when I sold the car to a local Porsche specialist.

But what about when buying a CarMax car from a private owner like me, and transferring MaxCare to the new owner. The private buyer will need to know the original purchase price from CarMax and the amount of repairs MaxCare/CNA have covered in order to know how much is left for future repairs. Is that even knowable?

My 2013 BMW M3.

Turns out it is. I decided to experiment and contact CNA, the underwriter for my BMW M3, to ask how much cap was left on my MaxCare warranty. First, it wasn’t easy to navigate the phone menu for claims, transfer, cancellation, etc. None of them really applied. I chose transfer and got nowhere. They relayed me to claims. Claims insisted they couldn’t help me and tried to punt me to the dealership where I bought the car. The problem was they could not understand my question and thought I was asking how much refund I could expect from MaxCare if I sold my car. With a little persistence, though, the rep (Gary) understood what I wanted and in seconds tallied up the repairs to date on my BMW. He told me I have $39,025.67 left. To the penny. So the repairs are tracked and knowable, just not as easy to get there as I would have liked.

The 2018 Cadillac CT6 Platinum – aka the Clotmobile.

Bottom line? I don’t think it changes a thing on my enthusiasm for MaxCare as the primary buyer from CarMax, other than the chances of getting the underwriter to pay 150% of the purchase price (S55 experience) are probably slim. That said, until now my strategy was to sell these cars with enough time and mileage to give the buyer some comfort they can drive the cars hard and sort them out initially under the MaxCare protection. That model only works if I haven’t reached the purchase price cap. Someday when the M3 is for sale I will make the allowance clear. And if you’re buying a CarMax unicorn with transferable MaxCare from someone other than me, know that you need to know how much cap is less, and that it is knowable.

The 2010 Mercedes E63 I owned and loved…for the 48 hours I owned it before it blew up.

Final thought. My estimate when I offered the S600 for sale was that I had enjoyed $15-18,000 in repairs, meaning there may have been $12,000 in available repairs left on the warranty. Jared had more confidence in his local Mercedes dealership over his local CarMax on this high-end V-12 sedan and I totally get that. That said, $12,000 goes a lot farther at CarMax than it does at Mercedes. I had always used either CarMax or an independent Mercedes shop for work on the S600 here in Northern Virginia. Many times CarMax sent the S600 out to Mercedes for work they could not do. I had always been a fan of that – if Mercedes wants to charge labor rates MaxCare won’t cover, the dispute was between my CarMax dealership (the customer), MaxCare, and the Mercedes dealership, and was resolved without my knowledge. I do not know if repair costs done by Mercedes when CarMax was the customer were any less than if I had gone direct to Mercedes. But I do know that given Jared’s experience I won’t be taking my M3 to BMW any time soon.

I have two more MaxCare experiences to share – one from a reader and one from me – but I owe it to you all and to Jared to get this out now. Will write again this week. But if you have MaxCare experiences that differ from mine I always welcome feedback.

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Quick Hit – Another 1 of 500 Alpina B7 Unicorns – $27,998

Almost a month ago we had a black 2012 Alpina B7 unicorn sell here in Rochester, New York, and now we have a nearly identical silver one for sale in Florida (it’s currently being transferred to Clearwater for a test drive). This one, though, has 5,000 less miles and costs $7,000 less. Selling for $27,998. As far as I can tell BMW imported maybe 500 of these annually to the USA at a price well north of $100,000. Here’s your chance to snag a rare Alpina for less than a Camry, and protect yourself with MaxCare for another five years and 70,000 miles.

I think this B7 brings me to 8-10 spotted in the CarMax inventory since I started the blog in 2017. Most were 2011-2012, although a few years ago we had a pair of 2014’s on the lot at the same time. Starting to think if you showed at Cars and Coffee and someone else did too, you’d both have CarMax logos on the trunk. Speaking of which, not a fan of the “Alpina” or “B7” font. Looks like stick ons from Amazon. At least it doesn’t have Chris Bangle’s bubble butt from bygone days.

The Alpina B7 is conservative and nearly indistinguishable from a regular BMW 750. A logo on the heated steering wheel and embedded in the dashboard display but not much else. The B7 has heated, air conditioned, and massaging seats, heads up display, lane departure and blind spot alerts, and of course, night vision assist. No adaptive cruise control, though.

The B7 also has rear DVD entertainment, even if it looks like the original Apple Macintosh from 1984.

Just like last month’s 2012, the 4.4 liter twin-turbo V-8 motor is good for 500 horsepower and with just a six-speed automatic and AWD pulls the car to 60 in 4.5 seconds. It wasn’t until 2013 that B7’s came to the USA with the 540hp motor pulling the big B7 to a 194 mph top end.

This 2012 Alpina B7 is an accident free, two-owner car. Oddly, when I looked at the history I see that the car was first owned here in Fairfax, Virginia a few miles from where I’m sitting, and the second owner had it in Gaithersburg, Maryland, where I first lived when I returned to Maryland many years ago. The B7 registration was renewed a year ago today in Maryland. It surfaced a few weeks ago (thank you, Hans) at CarMax and has been on and off the market in Florida. You can track it with this link here or search by the stock number or VIN below.

Stock No. 23559197 VIN WBAKA8C58CC446974

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Very Quick Hit – 2 (More) of 248, 2011 Mercury Grand Marquis LS.

I’ve lost count of how many 2011 Mercury Grand Marquis LS unicorns that have passed through this blog but I do know the first remains the car with the highest single day views ever. Not what I intended when I started the blog. It’s what the people want? There were only 248 of these Mercuries produced in 2011, its final year, but I don’t think it’s the limited numbers that interests drivers. It’s the land yacht comfort and old school highway cruising in a reliable Ford Panther platform.

I’m writing from a hotel room in White Marsh, Maryland, just outside of Baltimore where I’m awaiting the arrival of my oldest son to take in the Baltimore Orioles home opener. This car is at the White Marsh CarMax no more than two miles from my room. I could walk there and drive back in this before the first pitch.

With bench seats, a column shifter, adjustable pedals, a CD player AND a cassette deck with Dolby Noise Reduction, this car rates a “9” out of 10 for features by CarMax, and maybe that was true in 2011. It’s pretty basic. But it is a pretty blue over tan and I’m sure it’s quite a smooth ride down I-95 to Miami.

Back seat is jut right for your kids to make out in.

The trunk gigantic enough for snitches.

Popularity can’t be because of the 4.6 liter V-8, making 224 horsepower and yet 275 ft-lbs of torque. I’m told it’s adequate to not get squeezed out on interstate merges but not much more. It will get 24 mpg on the highway.

This is a one-owner, accident free car that’s spent all of the last dozen years right here in Essex, Maryland. It’s still eligible for MaxCare for five more years and up to 150,000 miles. Wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the cheapest MaxCare package out there.

Stock No. 24128280 VIN 2MEBM7FV1BX605625

If you really want one of these with lower miles, and aren’t afraid to tempt fate, the five-owner white over tan 2011 Grand Marquis below has only 38,000 miles on it. But they were not an easy 38,000 miles. The car hit the dealer lot in August 2010, and by the fall of 2010, brand new, and within a period of two months, the car was hit three times! Then hit again in 2012 and again in 2016! It’s currently reserved in Huntsville, Alabama here, and is selling for $19,998. What are the odds it has any more accidents in it?

Stock No. 23377703 VIN 2MEBM7FV5BX601884

Below are a pair of 2011 Grand Marquis that were in my “saved” file and just sold. They’re flying off the shelves!!

Here’s some of the old ones:

May 5, 2022 2011 Grand Marquis LS

May 24, 2020 2011 Grand Marquis LS

March 5, 2018 2011 Grand Marquis LS

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So The Last Shall Be First, And The First Last: A Pair of First and Last Year Chevrolet SS Sedans From Down Under

Not above plagiarizing Matthew for a headline. My other choice was a miserable one from Victor Hugo; “Nothing can be sadder or more profound than to see a thousand things for the first and last time.“* The “thousand things” could mean the 12,953 Holden unicorns made in Australia and imported by General Motors as Chevrolet SS sleepers from 2014 to 2017.

This one is a 2017 Chevrolet SS, the final year, with only 29,000 miles on it. The 2017 SS listed at about $48,000, but Chevrolet never moved these off the lots as quickly as they moved from stoplights, and offered deep discounts – up to 20% in many cases – to reduce inventory. Snatching one of these in 2017 for $38,000 would have been a helluva deal, especially since as a modern, collector car it’s now selling at MSRP! Unfortunately, it’s not the more coveted manual transmission like this rare pair offered by CarMax two years ago.

The 2017 Chevrolet SS is listed as a “10” for features by CarMax, and yet for a six year old car it’s lacking more than a few. Heated and air conditioned seats, automated parking, heads up display, cross traffic alert, and a decent Bose sound system yes. But no adaptive cruise control, Apple CarPlay, or heated steering wheel. What it has is a massive 6.2 liter LS3 naturally aspirated V-8 motor that makes 415 horsepower driving the rear wheels. That’s not a ton, but it moves this car to 60 mph in the mid-four second range. And it sounds awesome doing so. I drove one a few years ago and it had the same visceral oomph and roar of old time muscle cars. The SS also has (from 2015 on) GM’s Magnetic Ride Control suspension and handles quite well – .94 lateral g on the skid pad.

This 2017 Chevrolet SS has spent its whole life in Florida with one owner and is available here in Tampa. It’s actually gray over black, making all the pix look like they’re in black and white. It’s an accident free car and eligible for MaxCare up to 150,000 miles and five years. I don’t think I’d bother at all.

Stock No. 24071876 VIN 6G3F15RW9HL303934

What follows also looks like the same car in black and white pictures but it is not. This is a green over black Chevrolet SS – a first year model from 2014. It’s outfitted almost identically to the 2017 above, although as noted does not have the magnetic suspension. It’s also $4,000 less than the 2017 and has only 18,000 miles.

IMHO the 2014 green exterior, although subtle, has a nicer tone than the drab gray of the 2017.

What kept me from buying one way back when? If you’re a regular reader you would know it’s my vanity. I was okay having a Mercedes S-class that concealed its V-12 motor and yet having to explain over and over my Chevrolet came from Australia and really wasn’t a Malibu is beyond me. It looks pretty plain. The 2014 had a big pair of exhaust outlets and by 2017 the car got four, smaller pipes. Beyond that I’d be hard pressed to tell the difference.

All of the SS’s had plenty of room in the back seat and in the trunk to be a legitimate family hauler or road tripper. And on road trips the car gets up to 22 mpg highway. I’ve had worse.

This 2014 Chevrolet SS was a two-owner from Kansas and Lubbock, and is currently being transferred to San Antonio, Texas but you can track it here. Same MaxCare warranty options as the 2017, although always remarkable that it would still be covered when it’s 14 years old!

Stock No. 23712976 VIN 6G3F15RW1EL938447

*The full quote makes me want to end it all.

“Nothing can be sadder or more profound than to see a thousand things for the first and last time. To journey is to be born and die each minute…All the elements of life are in constant flight from us, with darkness and clarity intermingled, the vision and the eclipse; we look and hasten, reaching out our hands to clutch; every happening is a bend in the road…and suddenly we have grown old. We have a sense of shock and gathering darkness; ahead is a black doorway; the life that bore us is a flagging horse, and a veiled stranger is waiting in the shadows to unharness us. ”

― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

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Quick Hit – 2012 Alpina B7; A Real Unicorn

Enough econohatch faux unicorns. Getting back to something legitimately rare, high performance, highly depreciated, and a MaxCare must. A 2012 Alpina B7 sleeper. (Pardon any clunky formatting – doing this by phone at the airport to get it posted before it disappears!)

Not the first B7 we’ve spotted at CarMax (thanks Mustafa!) and yet always pleasantly surprised when these unusual cars are offered. Only 1,740 F01 models from 2011-2015 were imported.

Alpina modifications are subtle inside and out and the big BMW could easily pass for a 750. But Alpina makes the motors and ships them to BMW for installation, then the whole kit and caboodle returns to Alpina for final installation and suspension work.

The Alpina B7 is nicely equipped (for 2012) with heated, air conditioned, and massaging seats, heads up display, heated steering wheel, and even night vision assist. It does not list adaptive cruise control and when I get back will try to run the VIN. Would be surprised if it’s not there. Even has what looks like a vintage rear seat video system!

The 4.4 liter twin-turbo V-8 motor is good for 500 horsepower and with just a six-speed automatic and AWD pulls the car to 60 in 4.5 seconds. Plenty fast. This accident free, two-owner Ohio car sold new for maybe $125,000 eleven years ago and is only $33,998 now. MaxCare is probably not cheap and is definitely necessary. Can’t imagine repairs are cheap. Find it here in Rochester, New York.

https://www.carmax.com/car/23421485?utm_campaign=AppShareiOSShareCar&utm_source=AppShareiOS&utm_medium=AppShareiOS

Stock No. 23421485

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How Rare Was the 2011 Eclipse Season? Very. Here’s Two.

A dozen years ago the stars aligned for a somewhat rare four solar and two lunar eclipses. There will only be six years like it this century. The first of those was 2011. It was also the final year for the Mitsubishi Eclipse sports coupe that had been in production for a dozen years. Coincidence? I think not. Fortunately for us CarMax has unearthed and preserved a nearly new pair of these extinct unicorns. May not be the greatest sports coupe on the road, but you won’t see a lot of them in orbit. And like most cars of questionable enthusiast interest, there are several forums and Facebook groups with thousands of owners who are passionate about their Eclipses. I swear if you think about the worst car you ever owned, there is a car club with a Facebook page of fans for that car. That said, these are the first Eclipses I’ve ever written about. That’s rare.

This 2011 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS model is a single-owner, 16,000 mile car with a coveted manual transmission. The five-speed for sure makes the car more fun to drive, despite the limited 162 horsepower from the 2.4 liter four cylinder. On one hand, this is the company that brought us the Sapporo, Starion, and 3000GT – all cars I kinda liked. On the other they have largely gotten out of the car business and now sell the Eclipse as a small cute-ute crossover. If you really REALLY want to read some good automotive writing on the downside of a Mitsubishi Eclipse GT, try this hilarious piece by Jack Baruth in The Truth About Cars, He hates the convertible GS he drove and his review included such prose as “let me tell you what else is a bad idea: driving a convertible top-down through LA with a passenger who is both drunk and fluent in Spanish.”

The car is pristine inside. It’s certainly clean and unencumbered by options. It gets a “3” on CarMax’s Features and Specs scale – with a upbeat note the rating describes a car with “The Basics – More potential savings with more basic features.” (FWIW – here’s a link to a 2011 Hyundai Accent GL that gets a “1”) The Eclipse GS has cruise control, an aux jack and CD player, and air conditioning. Did I mention it’s clean? On the plus side, front seat leg room is an expansive 42″ – more than a Mercedes S-class.

Honestly, the car would make a fun little daily for someone’s first manual transmission car. Yeah it would be more fun if it were the 265 horsepower six cylinder GT….but at least you get 28 mpg on the highway! The car sold new for about what it’s selling for now, and it’s available now here in Baltimore, Maryland. And if for some reason you thought it necessary to protect this car from unlikely repairs, MaxCare is good for up to 150,000 miles or until 2028 – right before the next six-eclipse year!

Stock No. 23191938 VIN 4A31K5DF9BE004545

Sticking with my lunar (lunacy?) thinking, today is the beginning of the spring equinox and according to the poet Alfred Tennyson the time when young men think of love…and convertibles. Personally, I think everyone should own a convertible at some point in their life. Been fortunate enough to own three over the years. Nothing like the wind through the hair on a spring drive. Get a drop top before it represents a sunburn through a receding hairline. Trust me.

Anyway, if you want a convertible Mitsubishi Eclipse much like the one Baruth skewered, here’s another 2011 model with only 18,000 miles. It’s an automatic, though, so lower your enthusiasm a bit. But it’s a nice triple black unmolested little runabout with a convertible top for young lovers motoring to….wherever young lovers motor to nowadays. It’s $3,000 more to trade the manual for the convertible, but wait! There’s more!

You were wondering what the GS Sport offers over the plain old GS model, and unlike the basic hardtop configuration the droptop is rated an “8” – loaded with features! For 2011 in this class, that means it has leather heated seats, adjustable lumbar support, and a rear view camera. AND a Rockford Fosgate sound system. Baruth said his wasn’t bad, targeting the “critical retired-minitruckers-who-remember-the-Punch-45-amplifier demographic“. No idea what that means but I liked it. I suspect the Rockford Fosgate amp would offset any buzz from the same 2.4 liter four cylinder with the top down.

The 2011 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS Sport sold for almost $30,000 – much more than the “basic” GS. This convertible is available here for a third less in sunny Doral, Florida, where the one owner has v=been driving it very little up and down the A1A. Oddly, Doral is where I am headed this week to drive a tempting Mercedes SUV. Maybe I can work a twofer deal?

Stock No. 23842928 VIN 4A37L5EF5BE002054

DETAILED SIDE-BY-SIDE COMPARISON FOLLOWS. (NOT REALLY)

The GT convertible (above left) comes with a subwoofer smack dab in the center of the rear seat. Baruth noted “the subwoofer mounted between the negligible rear seats seemed inadequately protected and quite prone to being poked with pencils, pens, broken bongs, shivs, and the other accoutrements of the modern Mitsubishi buyer, who is primarily identifiable by his sub-600 credit rating and fondness for the music of “Sublime”.“

And finally, note the mostly useless trunk on the GS Sport convertible (above left) compared to the not-too-bad hatchback with a deck lid trunk in the hardtop. Then again. we really don’t buy convertibles for long distance luggage.

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