Looking at a Type R with 112,000 miles, the car inside and out is flawless. Fully loaded everything except navigation. Bullet grey exterior with grey leather interior. Looks amazing i just cant stop thinking about the miles. Only issue is the seller thinks the trans is going bad.. cause it slips now either on 1-2 or 3-4. Is that an TCM or CPU problem? Going to trade my 02 X-type 3.0 with 85k for it. Bad idea or...? help please

 

112K miles for an 03 STR is not bad - it all boils down to the trans and price - I would get the trans looked at by a compitent mechanic - the issue could be as simple as spent or low fluid & new fluid and filter could cure or it could be a pre-cursor to something worse...

How much is the seller looking for?

 

I believe an average rebuild rate for the ZF is generally around 5K, double that for a brand new one.

 

At 112k , if the ZF trans hasn't gone bad, it's likely on it's last legs.

With that sort of mileage and transmission condition, I wouldn't offer more than $5k personally.

 

 

You are right, and seller was asking $6k. But of course i thought the same thing. Because if it is the tran then it's gonna be a expensive fix. Other then that, like i said the R looks and just felt like it was brand new

 

You might get lucky here? The car looks great so hopefully has been maintained. The ZF can certainly last way more miles than that but it's not guaranteed.

Follow the advice above and at least let a true transmission shop check the fluid level. You are new here but it's not real simple or easy to properly check the fluid level in the ZF. If you don't do it correctly it will be wrong. We have seen low and over filled transmissions because of this. Both will cause numerous problems with the transmission. I would also grab just a small amount of fluid to see what it looks like.

Low fluid level will definitely cause the symptoms you mention. What the problem is we don't know how long it was driven that way. Some people are smart and park it when it starts to slip. Other idiots drive until the car won't move. If it has been driven easy and only short distances the ZF will be OK.

But we just don't know?

PS; Consider a used transmission? At least two are on EBay here in the states with way less miles. Might be a good bit cheaper than a rebuild?
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I'd buy it for $5000 and sink a trans. fluid/filter swap with TCM reflash.

 

There was an '03 R just like that on ebay with 13,000 miles...yes 13,000 that went for 11 grand. It was gone in 2 hours lol. Imagine buying that one with huge miles and then putting 5 grand into it..you could have bought basically a brand new one for the same price.

Anyway, you should stay away from that car and get something newer. You can find an '05 for like 15 grand with 50,000 miles. Just do that.

 

That's more of an anomaly in STR prices, but it does happen, (ebay auction after all considered)

STR prices have nearly bottomed out for now, and if anything, I've seen a small rise in their asking prices recently. With that said, 9-10k seems to be the minimum to get into any decent 03-04 STR, and about 12k for an 05 STR.

As for BIG deals on STR's, yes, they come around.

This is a pretty obscure car and model, the looks are polarizing, the car has not aged well, has notorious reputation, non-R s-types have very poor resale, etc etc etc,

means there are STR sellers out there desperate to get an offer on their car, ANY offer, that you end up walking away marvelling at the deal.

I had some guy call me last summer, and offer me $6k for my STR, because he just bought an STR even cleaner than mine for $7k, (i knew the car as i was scoping out the car myself). I told him just because he ripped off some old widow with a low ball offer on an obscure jag, doesn't mean the prices of STR's are now what you say they are.

STR owners should start an initiative to improve the market price on our cars. For example, I'm asking 14k for my 03 STR. If it was an 05 STR I would be asking 16k,

Locally to me, there is two 03's asking 14k and 13k respectively, and a fully loaded 05 STR, thats been up for months, asking $25k. He's recently dropped it to $19k.

Now, $25k for an STR asking price is simply out to lunch, but hey, as an owner, I don't mind, inflates the values a little in my local market.

Seeing these cars are relatively rare, some of the biggest factors dictating desirability and therefore price, I would say is color combo inside/out and touch screen navi or not. Color and Navi will make or break your potential buyer.

But, back to what we were talking about, re: OP

$10k being the low end of STR prices, buying a clean STR for $5k and spending maybe $5k having the transmission done, isn't a bad proposition, especially if the car has the other credentials right.

 

I'm betting the STR will eventually skyrocket in price due to limited production and its "polarizing" looks. Collectors will likely want to snap these up in five years.

 

I agree with Seth here. There are a lot of factors that determine price / value, but these cars are beautiful! It's like owning a Cobra SVT Mustang with class.

The ride is superb, they car is nimble, agile and refined but still oozes Jaguars racing heritage. All of the STR MYs are solid and given the following most are well maintained. Of course there are always exceptions.

I know Seth and I both have invested in rebuilt gearboxes in the past few months and I can honestly say worth every penny!

As for the comments on the 03 MY... I wouldn't trade mine for an 05 or even an 08! The front bumper on mine looks mean! I have added the lower mesh grille and had the entire front sprayed body color removing that ugly black void. I also just added LED DRLs into the front bumper looks 10 years newer,

Do a search for HID Foglights and you can see the pics - looks amazing!

Either way you go expect you are going to have to invest some $$$ into making the car yours. There will be maintenance and repair bills, but there is much fun to be had in tweaking and modding an STR!

Good Luck and go for that 03 - she looks beautiful!

 

My 03 STR has nearly 140k miles, doesn't smoke nor burn oil. With all that mileage and its mods (oozes low end and midrange torque), it'll still walk many late model muscle whilst smooth and in luxery. As Chris asserts, these are beautiful and timeless beasts. I'll drive up to late model sport luxery or muscle and get most of the looks and questions. Oh, you want me to pop the hood? "Whoa!" is the most prevalent response. "Are those Bembos?" and "You got some fat meats tucked under there". "Are those true duals (exhaust)?". "Bet that thing hauls". "I've never seen this kind of car" "Did you just smoke that Camaro SS?" (she's got a bunch of kills under her belt thanks to my office being in car dealer land).

She's presently having the front and rear bumper covers and wheels re-sprayed, and I'm missing her already.

Get that 03 STR son.

 

Thank you for all the feedback it really helped a lot, but after a lot of searching i will not get this one. I will keep looking and find an STR thats even better. The thing is i cant wait the thing is such a BEAST.