The oppertunity may have arrisan to purchase my Grandpa's 05 XJR with approx 52k on it. It has CPO warrenty until end of May 2011. I love the car, but am trying to make a rational decision if this would be a mistake to purchase. I put approx 25k miles a year on a car.

Anything I should be concernced about or should see if he has done it before making a final decision?

 

I own an 05 XJR. As much as I love and defend the machine for what it is, I caution against regarding it as mere "transportation".

You put $25K miles a year on your transport. If you are concerned that driving a 6 year old high end lux Jag with 50K plus miles is going to be expensive to operate, than the answer is YES.

You may purchase Grandad's car for a lot of reasons. Don't buy it as a daily high milage driver. Get a nice Ford Crown Vic. Mikie, I'm not being sarcastic. I'm giving you good advice. You will not be happy with the car and the car does not deserve such an inglorious end.

 

I realzie it won't be a cheap cost of ownership and am meticulous with all my cars on perfomance and maintance. I love the car, and am a big fan of anything rear wheel drive high horsepower as a daily driver. My concerns are more of potential issues after warrenty expires, or items that should have or havent been done around this mileage, etc. The age and mileage don't concern me as much as the fact that I don;t know much about what to look at on jaguars.

 

generally these cars are best kept to under 5,000 miles added per year. I would generally say that these things are good to about 100,000 miles, after that all kinds of extremely expensive (costs more than 1/2 the value of the car to fix) things can and will probably go wrong. best bet here in my opinion would be to get the car, enjoy it for 2 years or so, and get rid of it around 100,000 miles. Or, you can get it, drive it sparingly as a second car, and enjoy it for years to come.

whatever you decide to do, good luck

 

25,000 miles a year is quite a bit, but if you have a good maintenance budget for that amount of mileage, such as suspension parts, brakes, tires, transmission servicing etc, you should be ok. The 05 has jaguars most reliable 4.2L engine IMO. The XJ, as has been identified in the other threads, has a twitchy air suspension system with many air shock leaks. Transmission is solid, if you maintain it. My XK has 119k miles, and I put 17k a year on average on it. I continually throw tires at it, changing suspension bushings and other suspension parts, and I'm always chasing coolant leaks from old plastic housings, connectors and such...expected on a 7 year old car.

If you aren't comfortable with keeping $2k set aside at any one time for anything 'major' and unanticipated, above your regular maintenance budget once the warranty expires, don't purchase the car and stick with a less exciting vehicle that still has a factory warranty. Peace of mind sometimes trumps the feeling of owning a gorgeous car.

 

I know he put new michelens on recently that wear better then the oem tires but are a bore all season design, so i'm not as concerned on tires.

I didn't realize the xjr has an air suspension, these things tend to be problematic?

 

Its pretty common on this vehicle. Typically the Dealer will charge you about 1100 to 1500 a wheel for shocks. Or you can get rebuilt shocks for about 500 a wheel and get them put on somewhere else or DIY.

 

good to look into, wonder if i can convince them to cover under the warrenty before it expires. Does 18k sound like a good deal?

 

sounds about right, around here the go for 16 to 20k for that year and mileage.

 

thinking im going to go for it. anything else I should be concerned about or check before making a final decision?

 

The link below has a number of FRQs as well as the community of 2004+ XJs including XJRs. 2004+ XJs are a very different cat. These folks can probably help you more with your specific questions than we can (even though we don't mind trying).
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/f...splay.php?f=28

 

I wouldn't if I were you, that's way too may miles. Plus your "CPO" warranty, I'm assuming that this a aftermarket warranty. Don't be fooled. Just because you have an aftermarket warranty doesn't mean they cover everything. No, I'm not talking about brakes, tires, maintenance. They may not cover some electrical parts, coolant parts, air suspension parts, things you think might be covered. My experience with Jaguar, is to take the problems as they come.

 

jowens, click the link in my signature and please read it all. I edited your post to comply with our forum policies.

 

If you have the money to service it, then go ahead. I disagree that the thing will start to fall apart at 100k mi. But you will go through the consumables. It will be a blast to drive-literally. No point looking at it as a beautiful museum object.

If you compare buying a new ordinary car vs the Jag there is probably not much in it.

 

does that jaguar have any out of the ordinery "consumables" i should factor in. i'm not afraid of high mileage performance cars, just never had a jaguar before.

 

Those shocks are pricey. Start cultivating a good indie Jag mechanic who can do the best price for you on the rebuilt shocks.
Some of the coolant hoses are expensive to replace because of the labor involved getting at them.

 

Better get chummy with your tire dealer too. The price of quality 19" hi perf. tires that go on this XJR is heart attack city. Especially at 27,000 miles a year.

 

I live close to Jagpro in Wantagh, and know Martin from dealing with my father's old XJS. I know he has a good reputation here.

 

i LOVE Jag's and have owned them for 13 years. That said there is NO way I'd use one as my 25K/mile per year daily driver! Maintanence expense will kill you. It's not even just a money thing. The extra TIME you will spend taking it to and from the servicer/mechanic will drive u nuts. Get a Honda Accord. Those things are relatively maint free and go forever.

 

I've almost never had a common daily driver and can't bring myself to consider it. I'm content wiht bringing in the car every 6-8 weeks for maintance as i've done since i've been driving.