Hi y'all, long time reader. Love this forum.

I have a gorgeous, fully kitted out silver 2012 XF 5.0 S/C with the upgraded rims, Bowers & Wilkins sound system, and alcantara headliner. Per the dealer (Galpin Auto Sports), this car was specced by Jay Leno for a charity auction that fell through. Has about 45k miles on it.

The car has been rock solid, loved, single-owner, etc. At this point, I'm ready for a new car but dealers are only offering ~$20k for this beaut. I understand that Jags don't resell well, but this thing is worth more to the right buyer for sure.

How would you sell this car if you were in my shoes?

 

Some specs in case it helps. Would appreciate any tips! Hope to stay in the Jag family, since my XF experience has been an awesome one.

- 2012 XF 5.0 Supercharged / 46k miles / 1 owner / no accidents
- Factory upgraded 20" sport wheels from
- Two-tone black & tan interior
- Bowers & Wilkins sound system
- Alcantara headliner
- Backup camera, parking sensors, etc.
- Car has been super reliable and includes service records

 

That's the downside to these cars. I'm lucky I bought mine used and heavily depreciated. But it's still worth a bunch less than when I bought it. Probably better to just keep it or leave it listed at your bottom line price and see if you can find so.eone who wants that particular car.

 

It took me six months to sell my XFR, fully optioned and in better than new condition in many ways, for $20,000 less than it was really worth. They really are underrated and almost unknown. Private sale is the only way to go, dealer offers are a joke, just be patient.

 

Unfortunately I think that's about what it is worth. I would think a dealer would sell your car for $25k max so $20k seems fair.

 

Makes sense. My main concerns are long term reliability and unexpected large maintenance costs... any tips on how to mitigate those issues? I'd be down to keep the car another 3-4 years since it's been solid so far! Just never owned a Jag past 50k miles.

 

Good to hear you got a decent price. Curious what the dealer offered you vs what you ended up getting from private party for your XFR. You can let me know in percentages in case you'd rather not share dollar figures. Thanks!

 

I bought it for $74,000 in Feb 2015 with around 47,000 km on it and sold it for $50,000 in April 2017 with around 65,000 km on it. Both times private seller and buyer. It was worth a lot more than $50,000 when I sold it but I was getting desperate having had it on the market for seven months and getting almost no enquiries, despite constantly dropping the asking price.
Best dealer offer, remembering it would have been a straight sale and not a trade in, was $46,000.
Also remember this is Oz where the cost of new and used Jags is two or three times the cost in the US.

 

A couple years ago I had a 68 Mustang for sale, didn't know anybody that wanted it and needed to move it immediately to make room inside the garage for another acquisition. I took it to a local company that sold classic cars on consignment and left it in their warehouse. They had it sold inside two weeks for a 10% commission. I thought that was well worth it because 1) I didn't have to leave a car parked outside and 2) it sold out of state and they took care of everything including shipping. The particular consignment warehouse sells some few late models too if its something unique like a supercharged Jaguar. Maybe you could find a similar consignment vehicle seller in your local and that may be an option.

But if you've got time, I'd first start by going to a local Jaguar owners club meeting or show and let them know that you'd be interested in selling it. They can be a good resource.

 

plus one to that... i sold my STR that way... advertised to and never got a response...most know nothing about a jag... and the rest think they are junk....bad rep.... i gave it to consignment... they kept it indoors and sold in a couple weeks... gave me almost what i was asking so not bad... on a lot people can see and drive them, the smart ones quickly realize how much car they are getting for their dollar.... especially a SC car....you get in that and you are gonna buy it

 

I just bought a 2012 5.0 no SC, Portfolio with 49K miles for 24K. Iit was on the high side of what I was willing to pay, but the color combination and the condition justified it for me. It was in excellent condition. I would assume that an SC would get about 24-27K in excellent condition. The challenge about SC's is that there are more parts to deal with on an older car, though you will find enthusiasts as long as you are willing to wait a bit of time in trying to sell it. I didn't see too many of these for sale when I was looking. It's not an XFR which would make more of a difference. 20K for a trade in is a really fair deal.

 

DO NOT let this car go for 20k! If you are patient enough, at that mileage, there will be someone interested in the car. I don't see a reason why you can't get 25k minimum for this car, if it's a clean one owner example. This fear of high mileage on modern Jaguars is a bit exaggerated. I would go as far as to say the supercharged 5.0 motor from JLR is more reliable than the offerings from Audi, BMW, or Merc.

 

Just maintain it well. You've already taken the big depreciation hit, so these miles will theoretically cost you less. Your car 3 years older with double the miles will still be worth $10-12k. If you like it and it's not giving you any problems, drive it, enjoy it, and save the depreciation you would take on a new one as a repair fund. Then if something does come up, you can justify the repair. If it doesn't require anything major, you have money toward a bigger down payment.

And remember, even new cars that do well on value are worth half their cost new after 4-5 years, not to mention sales tax. So whatever you would buy will have a similar cycle to what you're experiencing now. The expensive miles are the first three years for depreciation. After that they slow down a bit. That's why I try to buy cars that are 3 years old. Much better price, but with a year or so of factory warranty left to fix any gremlins the original owner did not address.

 

Thanks, that was really helpful -- agreed that this engine is a beast!

 

Sounds like the right move. I've just never had an older Jag/sporty car out of warranty before, so just don't want to get stuck with a $10k bill on a $25k car. Sounds like that scenario is unlikely... if I can get it to a small enough risk then I'll definitely keep riding this whip!

Think an aftermarket warranty is worth it?

 

If you could have done it before your original warranty, you could have probably got a better deal. I paid $3900 for 7 years from when I bought it up to 100K through the Jaguar dealer. No deductible if at the dealer. It was only that pricing if still under factory warranty. I've seen others pay as much or more for much shorter lengths of coverage.

To this point, if I have one more issue it's paid for itself in my 4 years of ownership. Won't make it to 100K in three years either. Otherwise, I've just done an annual oil change and routine maintenance. My original water pump is still in as well! Had them check it and it passed the pressure test with no leakage a couple of weeks ago.

From what I've seen in the marketplace for possible a replacement, I'm seriously considering just keeping mine past when my warranty runs out in 2030. I can save the $8K per year in payments for a while and then decide whether to keep it long term or get something different. I drove a lot of cars and very few provide the blend of performance and luxury/style of the XFR.

Have you thought about tuning yours? Big smiles await you if you haven't. It will make you want to keep it even more and will give you a HUGE bump in torque and hp.

 

I had the same decision with my 2010 5.0 SC when the Cpo warranty expired. I decided to stick with it as the $5-10k per year of depreciation on a newer one covers a lot of repairs!

Now a couple of years on I've spent nothing on repairs aside from standard annual maintenance and am very pleased with the decision!

Look after it well, service regularly and enjoy it!

 

Yes, if you just want something new and different, that's one thing, but to sell it out of fear of repair costs probably could not be justified in any kind of cost/benefit analysis. Like harry below, I just bought a 2012XF to replace my 2000 XJ8 (which BTW has been a ROCK but is starting to show signs of erosion).

Now I'm not so much scared of increasing repair expense on the 2000, but rather at 17 years old I'm worried about parts availability, particularly plastic, rubber and vinyl parts to keep its appearance up to my standards. Everything I've asked Jaguar for lately has been no longer available. Plus I was driving a 25 year old car across country one time, blew a fuel pump in a small town and spent four days in a motel trying to track down replacement parts and wait for shipping.

The XJ8's status is now part-time semi-retired and I hope to find a collector to adopt it so it can enjoy a full retirement. But most auto manufacturers plan for parts availability out to about ten years so that shouldn't start to be an issue for our XF's for another five years.

 

Super helpful, and good to know! Thanks fellas

Will read up on how to best take care of the beast and possible try some mods. Would appreciate any advice on proactive maintenance and posssibly any trusted Jag mechanics around LA!

 

Here's hoping I have the same story in a couple of years for another forum member