Blogging my nationwide hunt for affordable CarMax enthusiast cars. Automotive Unicorns.
If I needed a decent, unusual, reliable, or unreliable but cool car with a great warranty to go into business for über or Lyft, I would choose from this batch. Welcome thoughts.
Let’s start with the Jaguar unicorn ($35,000 or less, 60,000 miles or less) that got away not once but twice. You can find the details in the search for my next car here but I’ve found two 2010 Jaguar XKR’s with low mileage, under $33,000, and wimped out both times. This is the car that I rue regularly. I’ve added the CarMax purchase order and MaxCare warranty at the bottom of this post so you can see how a deal might look.
But in the meantime, the search continues and I’ve tracked the cars below that I hope are of interest to you. Today there are 101 Jaguars on CarMax lots nationwide and 14 of them meet my unicorn standards – and have V8’s. I’ve included a pair of XJ’s, a quad of XF’s, a lonely XKR, and a few cars that were once on the market and gone….for now. I started the post last night and this morning the XF and XKR are gone. While editing this morning this ridiculously low-mileage 2010 XK surfaced in Las Vegas. I welcome suggestions on making this more relevant for the reader, and please sign up at the bottom if you’d like updates. Continue reading “Cool Cats – Jaguars Across the USA for $18-33k, Including an XKR!”
I just passed on the $23,998 2007 M6 above with 44,000 miles and wondering if I blew it. Not often you get a chance at a unicorn like this. Even with a $6,400 MaxCare warranty to cover me for five years and up to 100,000 miles, this was a good deal. But even though the V10 revving to 8,000 rpm made me silly, the suspension beat the hell our of me much as the M5 did on a test drive last year, so I opted out for my daily commuter. Mistake? I don’t know. It vanished from the internet within minutes of me releasing my hold. I documented the car when it was in NJ before it moved to VA, and you can only see the price from my appointment confirmation. 9/22/2017 Update – I just passed on this car a second time. It resurfaced in Maple Shade, NJ and I went and drove it. Fantastic car – no blemishes. Finally learned to soften the suspension and I think I could get used to the double-clutching automatic. Sales rep showed me the CarFax – car spent its life in Georgia for the most part and bizarrely, its last 16 months in my town in Virginia. Intrigued. BUT…while it has Bluetooth it’s voice only – no music, and virtually no modern infotainment. Picky, but I passed. Would have been $31,000 out the door with five-year warranty. Sigh.
Take comfort, as of this writing the convertible M6 at left was still available!
So check out these other BMW’s available below for cheap on CarMax. I picked the highest and lowest priced of about a half-dozen or more enthusiast cars and I could own almost any one of them as a daily driver!
Let’s start with almost everybody’s favorite sports coupe, the M3. CarMax has 29 of them on the lot as of early September 2017, some as low as $26,998 but stupid high mileage, and a 2017 for $66,000 (and a Frozen Limited Edition for $47k – what the hell is that?). But in our unicorn world of $35,000 or less and 60,000 miles or less Continue reading “BMW Unicorns – $24,000 M6’s, $30,000 750’s, and Other Highs and Lows from Munich.”
Too many Mercedes unicorns to cover in one post so let’s start with three E-class units on the lot as of late August 2017. Focusing on the 2007-2009 E550 and E63 because they are affordable and few. There are countless 2010-2011’s out there with the newer body but no more horsepower. The 2012 and above E-class cars have the higher horsepower (402 vs 382) with far more amenities and are starting to become available in unicorn territory ($35,000 or less with 60,000 miles or less).
At the low end is this 2007 E550 with only 23,000 miles in Florida. Something about the softer lines of the W211 that appeal to me. Adjustable suspension, heated and air conditioned seats, but no Bluetooth or rear view camera. Add a 100,000 mile warranty and you’ve got the basics of a daily driver for years to come and at $20,998 seems cheap. Surprised it has lasted a week on the lot.
The CLK-Class coupe predated the E-Class coupe and with a 382hp V8 the mid-sized 3,700 pounds can clip five second 0-60 times. It was once a $55,000 car and can be had for $15-20,000 plus the MaxCare warranty for years of enthusiastic driving. Described as a luxury car, although the 2007 models had no Bluetooth or similar modern amenities – a quick trip to Best Buy can fix that for a hundred dollars. I think these cars are bargains. Let’s look at a couple. Contemporary Review – 2007 CLK550
This Oregon car is still on the lot as of late August 2017. I can’t find anything visually wrong although with 55,000 miles it’s at the high end for a unicorn. I have the luxury of a free long term temporary car while I search for my next unicorn. If I didn’t have that I’d buy this as a stopgap daily driver until I found something more special. Also a great car for a college kid – with MaxCare no repairs.
Continue reading “Mercedes Unicorns Part II – A Pair of Cute CLK550’s from $15,000! (W209)”
The C63 AMG scares me. No illusions of an executive or grown up enthusiast car. Like the BMW M3 it’s bred to be driven hard. There’s risk of getting a reckless driving charge in a drive through Chik-Fil-A. Over $63,000 new (my unicorns) and with 451hp, adjustable (meaning race car) suspension, and per Mercedes the first AMG designed from the ground up to be an AMG vice adding high performance parts to a C-Class, it’s quite special. I’ve tracked them for almost a year and like the M3, they are always available on CarMax lots. There are eight on the lots as of late August 2017. That said, they are often very, very expensive, or if they make my $35,000 cutoff they are very high mileage. But generally I can find a couple that are sub-50,000 miles and around $30,000. Car and Driver C63 Review
The C63 twins below are nearly identical. The 2010 is a bit newer, a bit cheaper, and about the same miles. One is in Daytona Beach and the other Fort Myers. Today the Fort Myers car vanished but it may return. If you owned one you could make it between these Florida cities in the same day! But then you really wouldn’t need one, would you?
I’m too tall for the SLK55 AMG and I already have a convertible roadster. Otherwise I can’t imagine a more fun little Mercedes than this. With a normally aspirated 5.4 liter V8 and “only” 355hp it still scoots to 60 in 4-plus seconds. And it’s got that mean AMG look. And it’s cheap. And it’s a hard top convertible which means no luggage room, but who cares? This is a weekend windy road to the winery car or the perfect commuter. CarMax carries about 20 SLK’s nationwide as of late August 2017, and sure you can pay more for a 201hp SLK250 or the 301hp SLK350 but why would you?
As I write, only the Burbank SLK55 AMG remains on the lot – someone swiped the Milwaukee car as I typed. It may be back. One never knows. I’ve had cars vanish for weeks while being transported to another dealer. Stay tuned. The one that remains is still a good deal with higher miles and low price – and the 100,000 mile warranty will be the starting point. But they sure do look like twins to me!
JR Ewing drove an SL roadster in his last film and you can too. What began as the 300SL in 1954 grew to the fifth generation SL550 (R230) in 2001 until replaced by the current model SL in 2011. We can’t afford the current model. They run $44-80,000 on CarMax. But there are three that make my unicorn threshold (less than $35,000-less than 60,000 miles) as of late August 2017 and for an entry fee of $24,998 you can ride like JR. The SL550 beat our the Porsche 911 and BMW 650 in Car and Driver review of 2007 below. Car and Driver noted on the highway, “Very entertaining for a car so aloof in the city. Really comes alive.” Unfortunately, they also wrote the SL was “like dancing with a fat lady. She can do it, but you won’t win any prizes.” Doesn’t matter. These cars have style and move quickly with a solid 382hp. Car and Driver Review – 2007 SL550
I hate when I begin to write a blog and find the car I’m high on just vanished. Today it’s the opposite – was preparing this section on SL550’s and the car on the left surfaced for the first time. Higher mileage than I’d like but for under $25,000 you can get a bona fide Mercedes SL550. It’s another California car with all the amenities money could buy….in 2007. You’ll have to add your Bluetooth and rear view camera or maybe turn your own head to back up. But the seat massagers will soothe you when you do. And on the right is its twin – but a thousand dollars more and slightly higher miles. I can’t spot any more options that would warrant the increase and offer it as an example of interesting CarMax pricing.
Last we have the always difficult choice of miles versus dollars. Another 2007 for almost $29,000, but it’s been driven only 2,500 miles yearly up in Michigan. I’m presuming it was garaged winters. I’m thinking you can be out the door for $35,000 with a MaxCare warranty for 50,000 or 75,000 more miles and have a slick SL covered bumper to bumper until the fall of 2022!
The Mercedes CLS “Coupe” was introduced in 2005 and the shape was, to me, spectacular. Some of my friends hated it. Love or hate the bow, I think the Audi A7 and others have mimicked it. The original design lasted through 2011 and in 2012 the body was sharpened and chiseled and the V8 motor beefed up from 382hp to a twin turbo 402hp. The old and the new are sub-5 second 0-60 luxury cars that once sold for well over $75,000. CarMax has almost 50 CLS coupes on the lots nationwide, of which nine meet my unicorn standard of less than $35,000 and 60,000 miles. To keep it simple, here are two pre-2012 (C219) and two post-2012 (W218) models for your viewing pleasure. I like the shape of the original and yet the power and modern electronics of the W218 are alluring.
Car and Driver Review 2007 CLS550
Car and Driver Review 2012 CLS550
The 2008 on the left is a bargain pure and simple. Ridiculously low miles and priced at under $22,000 – where else can you drive in that kind of style so cheaply?! It’s an Orlando, Florida car with pretty much everything you need for a nice long distance drive. I drove coast to coast last week. If I had this car I’d do it again tomorrow. Continue reading “Mercedes Unicorns Part VII – Four CLS Four Door “Coupes” (C219/W218)”