Look for the highest mileage one for sale and then do a CarFax on it.

 

It depends on what you mean by long term data. In my translation they haven't been out long enough for a long term evaluation.

 

The engine and drivetrain can be determined from the S Type R's or 03 XJR's if that is any help...

 

Most of the Carfaxes I've seen simply show the date the car was shipped to dealer, sold and then sold again. Maybe a California Emission Inspection note. But I don't know what you could learn about long term reliability from a carfax? Or am i missin' something?

 

Most importantly, Carfax will list accident information.

 

true. and i think they are extremely valuable in that and for other reasons. But I'm still curious how they can provide visibility on "long term reliability"??

 

My CarFax listed deal services in it and can gauge how much has been replaced if any. My CarFax shows just brake work.

Since the engine and tranny or carry-over's from previous years and models, try looking those high mileage models.

As for the structure on the 04+ XJ's, they are really solid and can't see them being sloppy feeling under 100K at all.

 

Ok, I'm not trying to be mean or rude with this just helpful because I consider all of you friends. Most of you dont have the dealer/auction background I do since I consult for car dealers now.

Carfax SUCKS. 90% of cars that are involved in a crash that arent totaled out dont even show up as an incident on a carfax. I go to major dealer auctions usually twice a week and pass up 5-10 cars easy that we would normally buy and have clear carfax's but have had accident damage.

Here is advice to see if a car has been wrecked: Yes, first ask for a Carfax and also if possible get an AutoCheck report( more thorugh) although both can sometimes say a car has had damage and it has not. This is pretty rare but possible.

next and most important: ask a dealer to paint meter the car in front of you. A paint meter is a cell phone sized device that measures the paints thickness. You check each body panel usually in the middle and each edge. I do the hood and rear trunk in about 4 different spots to make sure I am thorough. When you do the trunk do the top and the rear face. The meter should read consistantly with a range of 1-2mms or so. for instance from a 3.5-4.5 over the whole car. If you get 7 or above in one spot BAM you have had paintwork. Yes, paintwork doesnt necc mean there was an accident but something happend to it. Then you must tell how much of a car has been painted. tapping the body panels helps also tell if bondo or any other filler was used their as well.

another tell is to touch the body panel edges like door jams and areas on the trunk and hood where the metal wraps around. Usually on a suspect panel the area will be rough on the edges like overspray, sand paper feeling. This is very hard to remove even with the best body work.

if the dealer says they dont have a paint meter they are lieing! all dealers use paint meters just like I do and most ( the smart ones at least lol ) use them on trade ins. At least 1 person has to have one. If they dont want you to meter it id be very suspicious!

You can buy seriously damaged (including frame damaged) vehicles with a totally clear title (no notes, indications, nothing!) in all 50 states, they are very easy to come by and lost of people fix them and re-sell them!

Jim should make this a sticky somewhere like how to check if a car has been wrecked etc.

I hope this helps, i just hate to see so many people disallousned and have a false sense of security with carfax. Once again im just trying to lend a little expertise.