Hi all, I posted over in the marketplace but figured I might get more eyeballs in this subforum. I know it's a longshot given the rarity of these cars, but if anyone here in the US/Canada has an XJR they are considering selling (or knows of someone who is) I'd be very interested in buying it. These have been my dream car for a number of years and I'm now in a good position to buy one, but man are they few and far between these days! I'd prefer a LWB that is still under warranty (Factory/CPO/Maxcare) but might be open to a non-warrantied car if it's been well cared for. Obviously I'm combing all the classified sites daily but figured it was worth a try to post here (have bought some of my best cars from like-minded enthusiasts). Thankfully I'm not in any rush to buy and am content to wait for the right one to come along.

Thanks in advance for any tips, I'm continually amazed at the depth of knowledge on this forum and the members willingness to share their wisdom. Hopefully I can join the club soon.

 

manhattanite, if you are looking at the XJL, then I would ask you "how often do you put people in the back seat that you need to impress"? If you do need that, then take a little extra time and find an XJ with the airline trays. Not a common item, but when that "need to impress" person gets in the back of your car and you have them sitting there, then they are going to know that you know what they need. Granted, that also came with a few other niceties like reclining seats and whatnot, making their ride just that much more special. But the big one that applies to any car is the water pump. I would find one that has recently had it replaced. If the car is approaching 50K miles, it is getting close to needing one. It isn't so much that the water pump fails as it is the associated plastic pieces that are now giving up the ghost and causing issues. And when they go, things go south in a hurry. I just had mine fail recently and thinking that it was just a minor leak that I could keep the car full to make the 50 mile trip to the dealership, boy was I wrong. Filled the system (seemed to hold), started the car (motor was cold) and had a big spray of water out of the engine bay (drained the entire overflow tank in a matter of a few seconds). needless to say, I didn't even attempt the drive to the dealership. Didn't have a sign of any leakage prior to this incident. the problem stems from the plastic getting brittle from repeated heat cycles. Once it cracks, it pretty much opens wide open.

 

Thanks for the tips Thermo! I know the LWB vs. SWB preference is probably silly but I've just always been a fan of long wheelbase cars. I actually own a Lexus LS460 LWB currently and my wife and I have really enjoyed the extra room in the back -- she likes to sit back there and nap on road trips and on the super rare occasion where I'm in back it's way more comfortable (I'm 6'3"). I also think the extra length just gives the car a little more presence on the road (just my opinion, know others prefer the proportions of SWB).

Advice on the water pump is also well taken, I chatted with clubairth a little and he said the exact same thing. I think I read this issue was addressed by JLR on the 2016+ cars had but could be wrong about that?

 

I am a LWB fan as well. Agree with earlier comments to get one with trays. My 2011 XJL has them similar to my old X350 style.
Would not have bought it without them. My grandkids love them. They do impress all the rear seat passengers, and those passengers seem to conduct themselves with more concern for keeping their feet in the floorboard and off my seat backs.


About the water pump, I too have read the horror stories about these pumps or related parts failing. My 2011 now has about 21K on it. Spoke to my Jag dealer service guy about preemptively doing a replacement. I am on my 5th Jaguar and have used the same guy for all 5. He says I should wait because even the latest incarnation of pumps are failing prematurely. Says it is a waste of money for a car guy like me to do it before the original parts start failing. He knows I understand the car very well and will be attentive to the first sign of a leak. So I am not replacing anything at this point. Could be another year or two before I will need to address it.

I got a similar response when asking about updating the tensioner blades to the latest. Seems I could get 6 or 7 years out of those originals if I keep the oil changes at 5K intervals. So far my car has had over a dozen oil changes in only 21K miles. Original owner was awesome about servicing every year. Based on that I doubt there was any damage before I got this car at 14K miles. So waiting on changing those blades too.

Good luck with your search for the XJR.

 

Thanks for all the maintenance tips, yours looks like a beauty. Love the contrast of the saddle tan leather over the dark carpets.

 

One thing to consider is you can ONLY get the power rear door shades on the LWB version. Don't know if that's important to you or not but we did have a thread about someone trying to add them to the SWB version and we never did come up with a good solution.

The XJR also does NOT have massaging seats as you can order on the lower models. Again don't know how important that is to you.
.
.
.

 

Thanks clubairth1, didn't realize the SWB didn't have shades on the doors. We use the shades on our current car a lot but wouldn't be a dealbreaker if I couldn't get them on the Jag. Likewise, we have massagers on my current vehicle and never use those.

 

Have you looked at Carmax?

 

Yes there have been a couple of cars at Carmax recently. I don't consider myself super frugal (when I decide I want something I'm happy to pay for it), but I still struggle with how much higher their prices are compared to every other dealer. If the perfect car came across I might shell out for it (especially to get their maxcare warranty) but none have been sufficiently compelling so far.

With all that said, my favorite XJR I've come across was this one that sold at Carmax last year (before I started looking unfortunately). It is currently registered in Irving, TX and if anyone happens to know the car and could put me in touch with the owner I'd be happy to pay a handsome finders fee.

VIN: SAJWA2EK1GMV96639

 

There are is a low mile 2017 XJR on CarGurus (at the Infiniti dealeship in Alexandria, VA) and 2 XJR 575's on CarGurus as well. They are expensive, but out there. The 4k mile XJR in VA looks particularly nice.

 

Thanks, the one in Alexandria is one I really contemplated buying from it's original owner (before it was traded to this dealership and marked up). It's a SWB car and, while the low mileage is appealing, I'm just not sure I'm willing to pay a massive premium for it (and have to be conscious about how much every extra mile I'm putting on car diminishes value). Nonetheless agree that is a great car and probably the best one out there right now if anyone else is looking. The 575s you mentioned are just out of my price range unfortunately (especially the black one that was imported from Canada with the shorter warranty).

 

I definitely think they are overpriced. See how long they sit on the market before someone puts down the ganga.

 

Hi,

Sorry I missed this. I Have an '18 575 and a '12 XJ.

I haven't seen a 575 in the SWB config....I may be wrong, and it may have been offered in other (EU) markets.

I haven't driven anything over a 470 XJ., so it's difficult to compare the 510-5, 550 with the 575. Or what ever.

I'll leave you with these points:

1. The 575 has WAY more power than you will need.

2. It is not a relaxing car to drive, you'll be doing super silly speeds before you catch it.

3. The active exhaust will drive all those within 300yds nuts....AND THAT'S WHY YOU WANT ONE! ...[You can turn in off]

wombat

 

Just some food for thought. 5.0 XJ supercharged is easily transformed into 600+hp safely without compromising reliability. My 13 xj sc 5.0 is a monster with only an ECU reflash

 

^ Yea. I'm in process of building an aesthetic XJR fake in 2014 Osmium Blue spec. Just need hood at this point, and potentially the front bumper if I find myself with money to burn.
The drawback I have is with my 2012 and 6 speed transmission, I'm power limited. The 8HP can handle more torque.

I paid 28k + taxes and ~6k in parts for my 2012. In LWB, with airline trays and the other base niceties I was looking for are good enough for me since I don't care about "authenticity". Lol.

 

Interesting project and I look forward to your pictures.
.
.
.

 

Yes, I've done this and the hardest part was the lower front side grill openings.

 

The six-speed can handle quite a bit of power. On our test car 2010 xf 5.0 sc we are over 700 horsepower The car is pushed very hard and absolutely no issues with transmission.

 

Amazing! So one can buy a regular supercharged 2010 5.0, and get 600+ ? I hope that the older 6-speed fare as well as the ZS 8-speed under this exhilarating burden?

 

correct! As I mentioned above we have 5.0 with over 700hp that is used very hard for extended period of time and there are no issues with the transmission and will be less so with the 600hp on stock car but with our tune application.