Lightning strikes at Barrett-Jackson!

1995 JAGUAR XJS Lot 1700 | Barrett-Jackson Auction Company

Congratulations are in order for the lucky seller of this local XJS. It was listed on Autotrader for quite some time last year, and for a lot less. Some of the goings-on at B-J are not of this world....

 

Right place, right time for the seller.

What was the mileage?

 

I believe it was about 85,000. I would say an average to good example 4.0.

Out of 1400 vehicles auctioned, there were only 7 Jaguars at Barrett-Jackson. That probably helped drive the perceived value up. This was one of only two XJS. There were no E-types at all at Barrett-Jackson this year, although there were several at the other auctions going on same time.

1989 JAGUAR XJS Lot 49 | Barrett-Jackson Auction Company

Incredible!:
1956 JAGUAR XK 140 MC Lot 1060 | Barrett-Jackson Auction Company

 

I like to see XJS sell at higher prices. I have always though it to be absolutely insane that mid 90's mustangs sell for higher prices than these cars. I think even a mid 80's Yugo sells for more sometimes. It's ridiculous.

But I do think that sometime soon all the pre 2009 Jaguars will stop depreciating simply because now that Jaguar has swept its design heritage to the dustbin of history, it makes the cars much more desirable.

 

Man, $22K for an XJS?

I could do that, pocket at least $10k and buy another one and fix it back up.

They sold a 95 with 85k on the clock? I have the 96 with 70k on the clock! I'd still take the $22k and find another!

 

Not if people keep on paying 20k plus got them you won't!

 

1996 Jaguar Convertible XJS

I'll believe it when I see it.

Two things that tip me off that this car would be in great shape, an uncracked spoiler and good looking drivers seat.

76,000 miles for less than $9k.

Now who wants to give me $22k for mine?

 

Absolutely!
I can see the two categories: All Jaguars that belong to the "heritage" era (i.e. up to 2009) and then all Jaguars designed and manufactured for the new wave, who don't care much about Jaguar's heritage because many don't even know WHAT that is, although I have heard them refering to as the "old cars".

Conversely, Merc and BMW had no problem mixing in with the "new wave" without having to renounce their rather popular Teutonic heritage and, as such, they continue to sell cars at over twenty times what Jaguar sells. Here, where I live, European luxury cars are all over the streets, yet, you can hardly ever see the new XJ's, with some XF's here'n there. That was not the case when my 2002 XJR came into the streets, as you'd see them all over the place, mixing it in with Bimmers and Merc's, only because those were the days when Jaguar sales peaked here in America: 61,204 cars in 2002, compared to 12,011 cars sold in 2012. As a reference, BMW sold 281,460 cars here in the US in 2012.

Yes, this could be a good reason for "older" Jags to start a slow and steady climb in value. But the new Jags? I can't see how any of these new Jaguars will ever become vintage, collector items, whereas many of the older Jags already are.

We'll see...

Cheers,

 

At some point whoever bought the car for $22k at the auction is gonna hit themselves in the forehead and ask themselves "Oy vey! Why did I pay so much?"


Cheers
DD

 

I'm putting my 1996 XJS 2+2 with 59k miles up for sale in the Spring. I'd be happy to get 1/2 that price.

 

You make it sound like Jaguar is supposed to be Morgan. The only reason they have had long periods of time with cars that look almost the same is that Under BL and FORD they had no money to work with and no freedom to design. The XJ looks the same from the original XJ6 to the late XJ8 because that was safe and cost the least amount of money.
Most of Jaguar's early designs look nothing like any of their other cars, they are all unique, and that is why they are great.

Maybe I misunderstand what you are getting at, but I don't see how Jaguar is worse off now that the engineers have freedom to design what they really want

 

ForcedAir1 was able to articulate it quite clearly a couple of posts up. It is incorrect to say the 2004 XJ X350 was designed the way it was because of cost. It had a all new platform and all aluminum body.

Current Jaguar saloons are neither bold or unique . They are good looking cars, but the XF could be absolutely any Lexus or Kia if not badged. And the 68-2009 XJ had many many cues from the previous Jaguar cars. Real cues, not imagined like with the new cars.

But of course someone is going to say its all subjective, just like anyone could say Elizabeth Taylor was a hideous woman and Kelly Clarkston is gorgeous. I have seem the new XJ and XF a thousand times. With Lexus, Toyota, Nissan and Acura badges.

 

For me, the newer Jaguar sedan just does not say special. It does not jump out at you and say " Jaguar ". I had a customer about a year ago that had a 2001 X308. He decided it was time to go buy a new Jaguar sedan but after looking at the new ones decided it just was not worth the money. He said why buy a Jaguar if it does not look different or special compared to a Lexus or Cadillac or whatever in that class.

I really like the styling of the newer Tesla sedan or Maserati. Both get my attention and say you are looking at something special. Just seems to me that Jaguar either took a safe route when they designed their newer sedan or fell a sleep for a while. Heck to be honest I think Kia's newer higher end sedan is more interesting to look at then Jaguar's and who thought you would ever hear a Jag enthusiast say that? I also think some of the newer designed Lincoln sedans are making a statement.

We all expect newer cars to be dependable and with the higher end cars we expect them to be loaded with all the new features. What we do not expect to see from Jaguar is boring or safe. When was the last time you found yourself dreaming about owning one of the new Jaguar sedans? IMO until you find you cannot stop thinking about a newer Jaguar then Jaguar has missed their mark.

 

After viewing an episode of "Top Gear" (S6 E2)where they could spend some low amount of cash ($2800.00)for a "sports car coupe", one of the cars they bought was a XJS and 2 of the presenters (Jeremy and Richard) referred to it as a "Grandfather Clock". It was the only one that could get over 100MPH and actually won the competition but lost due to some odd rule bending. The cars it was competing against: BMW 635i and Mitsubishi Starion.
Yes, it was Captain Slow (James May) who was driving the XJS. He was very appreciative of the XJS characteristics and styling.
Grandfather Clock, indeed!

 

Sorry guys but the nice XJS's are going up in price. Heck, these cars have been a buy for a long time and its hard to believe that they would get any cheaper. LOL. I may even consider a convertible this Spring, but I am usually a coupe lover. LOL...

 

Let me know when I can no longer find a great XJS for less than $10k, until then, I am not buying the "going up in price bit".

If you do a forum search on that, you'll recognize your exact post (by other posters) who have said the same things in the past. It just isn't happening.

There'll be a small boost, as there always are for convertibles in the spring, but that's about it.

 

OK... Nice to me is a one owner, low miles(under 40K) that has been maintained and also has all service records from day one. Not many of those around... I never implied that all XJS's would go up in value. Good luck finding a great XJS for under $10K that does not need a lot $$$ and time poured into it.

 

I've already bought two 96's.

One for $10k, when I overvalued the car, and it was being sold on my neighborhood.

The second was for just $8,500, from Illinois, which I bought sight unseen. (Well, I was sent a few pics online)

Both in great condition with less than 60k on the clock.

There's always another one for sale somewhere. I you can't find em, you ain't looking!

 

Ok Vee, it is true as you say if you look hard enough there are still nice ones to be found for around 10K or less. In all fairness though I have seen an up tick in the price of nice, low mileage examples. Often, what is advertised as a clean example is often not what it is represented to be. I have made a few weekend trips when I was looking and what the car was made out to be was any thing but (amazing what can be hidden in photos).

There are some real gems out there for the money so it goes both ways. I love to tell others what a great buy I got on my 1995 XJS but what I often leave out of the discussion is the trips I took looking for the ones I did not buy and then how far I went and the cost to get the one I ended up buying. What I have seen is often the really nice example for say 12K is a much better value then the one for say 7K. This is not always apparent in the photos or description but when you are looking over the car in person you see the 7K example really needs a paint job, new top and the interior is getting tired.

What I do know is that these cars are for the most part still a great value and if you are willing to look long enough and travel far enough there are still some real great ones for the the money to be found. Word to the wise though, if a car has been for sale for a while and is priced below market value then do not waste your time going to look at it as there is a reason it has sat for sale. The really nice cars that are priced well are not sitting.

 

The XJS that sold at the auction was not particularly special in my opinion. I took a close look at the ad on Autotrader several times (although their picture viewer is terrible). Chrome fender trims only give me the wrong impression and don't add to it's value! So if anyone wants to easily sell their late model XJS for something more than market value, you know where to go now.

The sale price of $22k includes a 10% buyer's commission. That means the winning bid was $20k. The buyer pays sales tax too. The seller's consignment fee is 8%. So Barrett-Jackson collected $3800 on this one auction. Plus... bidders pay $500 to register to bid there. In the end, the buyer paid about $24k total (not counting the bidder's fee) and the seller will collect about $18,200 when they finally get paid several weeks after the auction. Still a very, very nice take for the seller. Fees like this for each of 1400 auctions show us the real winners of this game!