Not sure if I'm posting this in the right place, but it still concerns my hoping to purchase an XJL. I think I've narrowed it down, however, I just noticed on the CarFax report, that the dealer who is selling the vehicle bought it at auction. I don't know if that's a good thing, a bad thing, or just a thing.

It looks like the car was originally a lease (not sure if it was a private or fleet lease) but now it's for sale at 35k with 20k miles. It's much lower than other cars I've seen on the market with the same mileage and features. The dealer sells only by appointment, they've been in business for sometime and their yelp reviews all seem to be good. They do have a store front and advertise as a family business that sells wholesale prices to the general public. They welcome third party vehicle inspectors etc.

I'm leaning toward this vehicle, but when my credit union suggested I also try their free car buying service, the guy thought the price was too low. he said a check doesn't find anything wrong with it in the records but he sounded dubious. Also, he hasn't gotten back to me on a comparable vehicle even at higher price for over a week. So i'm not sure how much weight to put into his concern.

I guess my overall question is, is buying a vehicle that was sold at auction a red flag? The CarFax report seems to be clean other than the auction sale.

Thank you all for the help you've given me. I hope asking one more question isn't one more question too many (smile)

Dave

 

Many thousands of used cars are sold or traded at wholesale dealer only auctions, and that is not a problem. My "Red Flag" with this dealer is that they "Only sell by appointment". If I really liked the car, I would make a small down payment, and hire a third party inspector. I would also arrange the payment to be COD, that is that the balance is paid when you receive the car. As far as the price being too low, maybe their low overhead, not having an open place of business, allows them to offer a lower price. If it were me I'd approach this dealer with extreme caution, and remember that If a deal is too good to be true, it probably isn't.

 

Thank you Rick. The dealership has a physical address and they're open six days a week. But sell only by appointment. Not sure why but the prices on all their vehicles seem to be about 5k+ lower than most other dealers I've found. And this is true across the board for all their makes and models. They say they encourage third party inspectors and I can take it to an approved AAA vehicle inspector which I plan to do when I test drive it. They say they do have low overhead. Their business is online and though they do have a building they have no sales associates. Just the guy who owns the business and his son I believe.

But very good points. And the low price (about 7k less than the closest competitor) is making me wonder.

Again, thank you for the info! Food for thought.

 

I searched for my XJ in a particular color for the better part of a year and found that XJs sold at auction to none Jaguar dealers are usually the cars that Jag dealers turn down for some reason. If a Jag dealer keeps a vehicle off trade or lease for resale or buys it wholesale at auction, it usually gets a CPO certification and that is your best bet. I looked at many XJs in the color I wanted at several used car dealerships including large ones like CarMax. They were not perfect and I wanted one that was pristine. Many small outfits take a car off auction, detail it and turn it around just to make a quick thousand. I looked at some that were beat up with cosmetic issues that were cheap. If the outside was neglected, what's under the hood.

 

All cars can be an auction car it just depends on where it was traded in and if the dealer felt they could make money off it. Here in Dallas they have the black tie auctions at the alliance wholesale auction and only luxury cars are sold on that day. As for the price being so cheap you see a lot of dealers doing this because they list their cars on CarGuru which list cars by "best deals first" so the cheapest cars are at the top. Good luck with the car!

 

Dave,

The buying risk is:

1. Jaguar CPO (Certified Pre-Owned) - the best
2. Jaguar franchised Dealer - warranted but not CPO
3. Independent Specialist Dealer
4. Private sale
5. Auction

Price usually goes in the same descending 1 to 5 order. The necessary diligence required to check a potential purchase is the reverse 5 to 1 order.

I've had a lot of Jaguars over the last forty five years and have used all of the above. A car that has passed through an auction would not unduly concern me - it's a regular trade practice.

You aren't considering buying the vehicle from auction - the dealer has done that. The next consideration (after a satisafactory inspection) has to be warranty coverage and period. Unless you are an experienced owner capable of doing your own repairs, the worst case scenario of a major powertrain or electronic failure will be expensive to rectify.

Graham

 

Selling by appointment I wouldn't worry too much about other than just doing your research to check out their reputation. I've seen some places that store cars, particularly high end cars, indoors, tightly packed inside a warehouse and have to move several other cars to get one out for a test drive. If you just show up unannounced and they start rearranging for you, it kind of messes up the next customer who did have an appointment.

 

As many of us know and some through bad experience that proper maintenance is critically important on these XJs. Has the car been properly serviced with the proper oil would be of high concern to me. MIHO

 

Thank you. Good to know.

 

+1. If he is just him he probably isn't there every day and will show up for appointments when needed. Walkins probably have a 100 to 1 just-looking/buy rate so he isn't wasting his time on tire-kickers.

 

Thank you Graham,
I would say the vehicle is from an independent specialist dealer which puts it in the 3 category. it does have an existing warranty and I plan to take it to a AAA certified mechanic. I've done that in the past and they seemed pretty good.

With the price of the vehicle and the year and a half still left on the original warranty, I'll be able to put some money aside in case things go sideways at some point while still looking at possible extended warranty as well.

Thank you again. Great information.


Good info. The car is from

 

From what I can tell on the CarFax report, it's had regular service. So that's good I hope

 

I think that's they key here. One reviewer noted that while the receptionist let him look at the car the owner of the dealership was late and took issue with that. I have a feeling that he isn't there all the time. So you may be right there.

 

No big deal doing this but have you ever watched one of these "inspections"? What exactly do they do? How much do they charge? Check oil? Check coolant level? Brake pads? Any idiot can do that. I bet there is no compression checks. No exhaust gas in coolant check. No oil contamination check. I'll bet they don't even check for stored trouble codes. Do they even drive the car? It is a false sense of security at best.