I drove from Austin to Houston today to buy an '04 STR with 36K miles; the trade was a 55K 04 XJ8. On paper the STR looked like a good deal, 2 owners, Nav, Xenons, heated seats, metallic green, low mileage and the dealer agreed $18K buy price after 10 days of asking them to put their numbers on an email - I should have seen the signs when I got the run around just trying to get the price we had agreed in writing.

I was trading a pristine (no dings, dents, smoking, always garaged) 2 owner XJ8 with 55K , Nav, Xenon, Voice Navigation, 18" Dynamics, factory phone, new tires, brake job, 3K in warranty work over the last 2 years and 50K service only 5K ago, all keys, all logs, window sticker and just a nice car....

So it turns out that the STR was not as described and to top it all the dealers used car ‘director’ was a very nasty piece of work (he did the pleading, groveling, rude, abusive and downright unpleasant act, all in 30 minutes as he tried to grind me down).

These were the problems I saw with the car in a 1/2 hour inspection - the car only had 1 key (I specifically asked if it had all the keys), a badly leaking rear differential, a bad oil leak that ensured the whole engine was nice and slick, rattling valves on one side of the engine, lots of scratches, especially under the door handles, a deep set of gouges on the lower valence, deep gouges under on the front air-dam on both sides, a broken driver interior mirror, lots of broken plastic bits around the car (example - passenger kick plate & 2 bits of plastic under the hood just lying there).

These were all signs of neglect but not show stoppers….

However to top it all the car had obviously been in a front end accident and had a badly sprayed front fender complete with paint drips, turned bolts on the fenders, missing paint in the engine bay (i.e still showing the primer) & overspray. It also looked like the front end had been re-built as both sides at the front had a bad mis-alightment on the shut-lines between the hood, bumper and lights and the lack of any stone chips on the front was a dead giveaway.

All together an unloved car that was described as clean and original that turned out to be anything but.. To cap it all I was told that I was way more thorough than most customers and that their used car buyer didn't see any of these issues. I can guarantee 100% that if I bought that car in on a trade then all those problems would have been used to bring the price down. Grrr this dealer is one step up the evolutionary ladder from swamp algae.

Here's the car if insanity takes you - http://www.southwestlandrover.com/us...391bf60b35.htm

Do yourself a favor and give Momentum Jaguar/Volvo/Range Rover/Audi/Porsche/Mini/whatever else a miss, they will totally waste your time, 7 hours of driving to be abused by a used car salesman. I swear I will never go into another car dealer ever again.

And before anyone says it, yes in the photos the car does look like a cream-puff, just in the flesh it is a gulf tar ball.

- Tim

 

that sux.....keep lookin there are nice ones out there owned by good owners

 

If I were you , I would raise the stink as well .This is very nasty thing you are in a disappointment .Anyway, I think you will be finding a decent one as you like .
Still , that's interesting it's like trade down in a sense considering you currently own an XJ and change it to STR .
I think you will be enjoying power band of STR though

 

The passenger side rear obviously was hit as well, the tail pipe is pushed further than the drivers side, and also where the rear bumper skin aligns to the rear door is off!

Unfortunitly this vehicle has been beat on! I feel for you wasting your time.

 

I just spent a month shopping and picked mine up this weekend. You can do a L O T better than that car. Of course I was paying cash which makes things a lot less complicated. I found a whole lot of cars in much better shape and better deals than that one. You have to work a bit harder I think but they're out there. Get a PPI but obviously not at the dealer who's selling it. I also don't think you're going to get the best financial deal from a Jag dealer.

Bob S.

 

Keep your eye on Texascarsdirect. I got my 2005 STR from them and after 1 1/2 years I am still pleased with the deal, communications and honesty. No haggle price and no pressure at all. I got it after just looking at pictures and was willing to walk away if it was not as advertized. They picked me up at the airport in a Jaguar for no additional charge and I drove "my" new car home that night!! They are low on STR's right now so you will need to wait. Might even send them an e-mail telling them what you are looking for.
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http://www.texascarsdirect.com/Publi...2/Default.aspx

 

Agreed on the TexasCars direct. I once bought an 05 X-Type VDP from them at a great price and it was exactly as described. Looking at the inventory, they don't seem to be doing many Jaguars these days, more Mercedes and Land Rover. I guess this is a reflection of the lower number of Jags coming off lease and I suspect in a few years the stream will become a trickle. Also I don't see many well specified S-types coming, a lot of base V6's. I was reading somehere on-line that the V6 is 65% of S-types sold. I think I might hold out for an 06+ XJR.

- Tim

 

The funny thing is that the CARFAX report indicates no accidents. Object lesson for this is to be thorough like Tim was and if you have any questions about the car, have a dis-interested professional inspect it. This was definitely one to pass on.

 

Carfax only know what they've been told. It's not a requirement to tell them....