I am new to this forum and am hoping you can help me out. I have been tasked with selling my mother's 2001 XJ8L Vanden Plas. I did the comparisons on ebay and autotrader and kbb, but the problem is, I can't find an equivalent car. My mother has owned it since new, no accidents, it has lived in the garage and it only has 17K miles on it. I am hardly a Jag expert, having never owned one myself.

I would really appreciate your opinion.

 

To start, how about a pic or two? ..inside and out...after all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Service records, have the tensioners been replaced, though with 17k probably not. Did you use fuel system stabilizer with the vehicle sitting so much? Body condition, was it driven in snow (sand/salt conditions).
Offhand I'd give it a good detailing, starting with a clay bar to remove any residue. If its been kept up, (the occasional polish and wax) you shouldn't need any harsh paint cleaners.
Then get out of the way, because Stu might fly over from England, cash in hand. No, j/k...but in all seriousness, Spring is an excellent time to sell a low mile car. It may seem a bit extravagant, but I'd check with Wayne Carini at F40 Motorsports in Connecticut. He specializes in luxury and exotic vehicles and will consign or take your vehicle to auction. And he knows exactly what auctions will bring you the most money generally or buy it straight out. Using Wayne falls into that "eye of the beholder" status and I really think you'd benefit from that vs going the local ad path. If you haven't seen his TV show, its Chasing Classic Cars and he's had pickup trucks, Ferrari's to a Stutz Bearcat at the Pebble Beach show. If she's pristine, I'd say locally you'd garner in the area of $6-9k (pics would help). You may only garner the same with Wayne, but you may get as much as $15k, perhaps more? I'd seriously consult with him to find out, he's the expert and he's only up the road a couple hundred miles. Classic and Specialty Cars For Sale | F40 Motorsports | Car Dealer in Portland, CT 06480
If you are considering Wayne, don't detail it, he has experts and will do it for you.

 

6-10K (ballpark range) all variable on what was mentioned above.

 

I think the King is right. But it will take a while to sell at that VERY FAIR price because you'll get bargain hounds lowballing.

I'd recommend driving the wheels off of it as what are you going to buy with that low a miles and good a history for anywhere near that money?

 

Thank you for all your feedback.

To answer your questions, it was never driven in the snow or salt. My parents have 5 cars. 3 are AWD Mercedes and those were the snow cars. There is also a 1949 Bentley that we are trying to find a home for. My mother likes the look of Jags and has 5 XJ's since 1976? This one just didn't get driven much. It would be taken out for outings to keep everything running properly. Mostly trips to AC. It has never been stored using stabilizers. An attempt was made to drive it just enough. The only "major" work that was done on it was replacing the battery. I think it is on its third or fourth battery.

Here are some pics. I know I should of had it detailed first but...I have not had it done. Yet.

 

Very nice looking car, I would contact Wayne about the Bentley also, ..don't be intimidated by the fact he has a TV show. He's got a business like anyone else (me for instance) and his job is buying and selling cars. They just happen to be really nice cars like you have.

 

I FEAR low mileage cars.

www.NADAGuides.com

 

Why? If I might ask. Lack of use?

 

Yes, the lack of use can cause lots of issues. That is an awesome example of the vehicle. Be great for a collector. Someone may pay a good price for it in that condition. Remember, NADA values are "average". I'm sure some sell for more, some less.

Usually, any issue will surface within 2,000 miles. I/most would immediately change all of the fluids if it will be used weekly. I love these cars and that one looks new. Take a 17 year old car and push the door open and snap, the wood trim cracks. Dang it! We'll go from there.

 

I hear what you are saying. Fortunately my father was very good about having the car maintained . Regular maintenance and oil changes based on the calendar and not the mileage. We had it out earlier in the week for a few hours and it runs flawlessly. I can see what you mean about someone being wary. If it was more of my type of car I would just drive it myself. I will take the advice I get here and see if it is worth selling. We don't have to get rid of it. We are just trying to simplify things. My father recently passed away and 5 cars for just my mother, who is 82, and barely drives, is just silly.

I will get it out of the garage and start driving to work a few times a month just to keep it in shape. I think that is good advice. Thanks guys

 

Nehh, I do disagree here.

You got a point if the cars has been out in the sunshine its whole life, but not if the car has been garaged as mentioned in the first thread.
Some of the plastics, yes, to a certain extend, but the wood, the leather, that kind of stuff, should all be fine, probably just needing a little care.

You might get some leakage of engine seals after some use, but only time will tell, and there are plenty of frequently used cars out there with the same problems.

Beautiful car, if only I needed an other one .

 

Bring a Trailer may be a good place for this ... look it up. I get an e-mail every morning from them -- it's now basically an auction site. I don't need another car and would give you 8k in an instant for that .. and I'm an XJR guy!

It's always a question of finding someone who wants a particular car .... I can't believe that someone would not pay 12k. How old are the tires -- condition of the headliner? It will need the tensioners done ... a 12k car can become a 15k quickly.

It's not white .. always a plus in my book w/ VDP's. Many of them were built in white

 

With a minor detail, the car will look, on the inside, like it came off the showroom floor yesterday. The headliner is perfect, as is the wood, and the leather. There aren't even creases in the driver's seat. The tires look perfect but I will need to check the date code to see if they need to be replaced.



Better picture of the seats
I think it is missing the rear cigarette lighter, but that is the only thing I can find wrong with it. There are a couple of scratches on the rear bumper. But the paint looks brand new as well. Everything works. It starts easily and doesn't blow any smoke. It seems a shame to let it go for 8K. Fortunately, we are not looking to dump it. We have all the time in the world.

I am thinking, put it on a website for sale and just let it sit until someone pays attention. I think it will be hard to get my mother to let it go for less than 15. I may be just wasting my time if it is completely unrealistic` I will try to reach out to Wayne first and see what he has to say.

 

You know what they say about opinions, ********************* everybody has one, well, my opinion, is, without seeing the car in person, that $8K would be a steal, and it may easily fetch up to $12K, maybe even $14k if you can find the right person. The tires look to be original, and should be replaced, but that is simple, and only a $500ish expense. Change all the fluids/filters, a good detail of the whole car, and you should be done. I would say the tensioners/chains need to be done, despite the lack of miles, it does still have the early versions, and time is an enemy to plastic, same with the thermostat housing, and I'm sure there may be other plastic/rubber items that may have some deterioration issues, but someone who buys a 17-year-old-car factors this.

Great color, good that it is the VDP, good that it is completely original, and good that it is wonderfully low mileage. With good advertising, lots of pictures, etc, it wouldn't be unreasonable to ask $15k for a private party sale.


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Thank you for your opinion. That is why I am here and why I asked. I think your suggestions are excellent. Once the weather and the roads are a little better I will get it out on the road and do the suggestions you recommended. Sell it or not, the car deserves to be taken care of and kept in the best shape possible.

 

You will not add to it by putting a set of 500 dollar tires on it ... my VDP came with the Jaguar specification P tire .. not the P6000. My guess they are not original.

The person willing to pay a premium .. knows all about the car.

 

Kid, you are right. They are the original tires. I checked the date code and they are from 2000. It will be the first thing I do to the car, replace the tires. Do you have a recommendation for tires other than Pirellis?

 

I had a 2001 XJ8 years ago and put a new set of Michelin Premier A/S 225/60R16 tires on it a few weeks before I sold it, I was very impressed with them! I didn't have the car after that long enough for long-term evaluation of the tires but I've never had a bad set of Michelin tires and I've bought dozens of sets over the years.

It was a nice selling point too when the potential buyer saw a new set of Michelins on the car, it sold very quickly.

 

Purchase a set of tyres that are of the same size and load rating from a well known manufacturer such as Continental, Dunlop, Goodyear, Michelin or Pirelli. Pay attention to the DOT date code on the ones you purchase.

If they haven't been replaced, and you plan on keeping the vehicle, the primary and secondary timing chains, guides and tensioners should be replaced to avoid catastrophic engine failure. The miles travelled are not the issue here, but plastic components can only survive a finite number of cold/hot cycles before failing.

 

Last fall I was going to go with the Michelin A/S 3+ (I was looking at a softer ride) but there was a 12 week back order then, so I went back to the SS's which actually work well on my Penta's. I absolutely do not recommend Goodyear's (at least the Eagles). Those are what I just took off and they were a sub-par performing tire. I had my girl sideways a couple times where the Michelin's would hold strong. Conti's have improved quite a bit the past few years.

I would go to tirerack.com and look at some tires. Choose one you want to know about and scroll down a bit, they have videos of performance tests they do on similar cars to help you decide. Then under that will be the performance ratings for road conditions.

If you want to see the new Pirelli's, check out post #774 from Rostman... https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-52060/page39/