So originally it cost $71,000 back in 2000.

Today you can get them from what I've read around here for about $11,000.

But let's say you wanted to buy what is an equivalent new car in 2011 you would have to spend about $90,000 due to inflation.

So new 2000 Jaguar owners were watching a lot of money spin down the drown in depreciation each year. Great for us used car buyers but why would you ever want to purchase a new car then? Just seems crazy .....

 

There are a surprising number of people for whom $71K or now $90K is just pocket change. Or small or cash-under-the-table business owners who write them off as the Company Car. And many of these used ones were lease cars, so people only had to stretch enough to get to the monthly payment.

But I've never been in any of those situations, so I am just glad they depreciate so ferociously.

 

I had the original invoice for mine and it was 74k in Dec 2000. I think my price went up with the premium sound and Nav

I bought it 3 years ago, 1 owner, with 82k miles on it for 13k. It's now on 115k and has never missed a beat. It's still immaculate and I'm pretty sure I could get close to 10k for it today, so my depreciation is 1k per year, nice :-)

 

mine was $78,650 for a 2001 XJR with the R1 package ($5,700K)

 

Depreciation is a huge cost of ownership with any luxury auto and Jaguars are right up with heavy optioned Porsches for dropping.

Its the cost of driving what you want.


One item I always felt Ford did not promote enough was the renewed reliability of the brand after the XJ40 refresh and especially after the x300 introduction in 1995. They were an early innovator with the "certified" used program that certainly helped to shore up used prices but they never did any marketing or warranty program to highlight the reliability of the cars.

Even today, almost twenty years later people view Jaguar as more problematic than other comparative cars. Sometimes you need to do something bold -- as when Hyundai, convinced of the new models future quality gave them a 10/100k warranty and promoted it. They were able to reverse a previously dismal reputation.

 

As Yeltdog stated it's all about driving what you want. People who can or think they can afford a luxury car ultimately don't care about the depreciation. IMHO, it is not the wise to buy new unless you intend to keep the vehicle 10 years or more, otherwise buying in the used market is truly the way to go. Leasing is such a suckers game as you get trapped in a perpetual payment that you essentially can never get out of as well as the hit you may take for exceeding mileage limits, etc.

In my case, I have a very long commute, 90 miles a day, so I tear up vechicles rapidly, therefore I shop the 10 year range so that when I have put my 100K on the vechicle in three years, I will only have spent about $7000 for three years not including maintenance. That's not bad at all to be able to drive a truly beautiful vehicle for the price that others pay for a cheap econo-box! There is also the reduced financial risk of owning it outright as I always pay cash.

All in all, each person has to make their own decisions... I for one choose used luxury / performance cars that depreciate heavily!

 

This depreciation thing is great for us poor Jaguar enthusiasts, we get an expensive up-market car for the price of a bus ticket (well, almost !).

I just wish the parts prices depreciated as well, (and at the same rate) !!

Actually, having said that, my local main agent does give 10% off if your car is over 4 years old. Not bad.