The Ferrari. Well that is a loooooooonnnnngg, somewhat painful story. The cliff notes version is...........


I got the bug for a Ferrari. No way I could afford anything remotely new but in 2004 I found a 1982 Ferrari Mondial that was in my price range. I spent a lot of time on the phone with the owner and he did a GREAT job of selling me on the car. We worked out the deal and off to CA I flew.


My biggest screw up was not having a PPI done. Got to LA, CA and the owner picked me up at the airport in the car. At first glance it looked great, seamed to drive great as we drove to his bank. Finished the deal and off to NC I went. As soon as I got out of LA and could get up to speed I noticed a severe shaking in the steering wheel at 80+ and the accelerator pedal started to stiffen up. It still worked but took a lot of initial pressure to get it to move.


I was at this time I was vividly reminded of a saying I had once heard, "the purchase price of a Ferrari is merely the down payment. The REAL cost is the maintenance." How true.


My second day on the road found me blasting by Grants, NM, well, maybe not exactly blasting, as I could only do 79. At Grants I heard a screeching noise behind me, looked in the mirror and saw a cloud of smoke. I decided this would be an excellent time to check out the brakes by doing a panic stop. When I got off the road the noise had quit and the smoke had dissipated. Figuring the noise and smoke sign of anything good I took the next exit and as it was 6:00pm, found a motel, having no idea the motel was to be my home for the next week.


The next morning I diagnosed the problem as a seized timing belt tensioner on the rear bank. I was DAMN lucky it did not break !! While in Grants I figured out the shaking was caused by bad front wheel bearings, $400-600 each side.


It took a week to fix the tensioner and 4 more days to get back to NC. The wheel bearings would be dealt with later.


I kept a diary of the trip and it is posted on FerrariChat. Here is the link........... Cross Country Trip with a Mondial 8 - FerrariChat.com


NEVER, EVER buy a used car without a PPI.


Paul

 

When you have the body checked; I suggest that you use a Jaguar approved body shop or a shop that has extensive aluminum experience as xks are basically aluminum or if you are a Brit aluminium. Good luck.

 

Sorry to hear about your experience pstahl. Did you ever contact the seller to tell him of the problems? I get all worked up when I hear stories like this.


I bought my 2013 XKR from Braman Bentley, West Palm Beach, with only 300 miles on it. The salesman was excellent but the general manager was a real *** hole. Before having the car shipped to me I requested Palm Jaguar turn the daytime running lights on to conform to Canadian standards. Palm Jaguar also did an update to the infotainment system and froze it. They had to ship the infortainment system to New Jersey for re-installation of software. I was pissed... However, I could not be more happy with the car now. It is just as good as the 175 I sold and more. The first owner of the car bought it twice. Yes, twice. He's a 78 year old billionaire and buys 1-2 cars a month--some he doesn't even drive. The Bentley he bought from trading my car in on was on the lot for sale when the auto transporter picked my car up. Absolutely crazy. Consequently, a carfax shows me as the 3 third owner of a 300 mile from new car. I have all of the paper work and documentation showing the ownership trail. With only 300 miles on the car I wasn't to concerned about having a PPI done. I relied on the salesman, carfax report and the Jaguar dealership.


You need to be diligent and prudent in your purchase. The cost of a day trip to see the car you buy or the cost of having it professionally inspected is insurance money well spent. While in Toronto a few months ago I inspected a 2012 XKR for sale similar to my 2013 to get an idea of value because I'm interested in selling my 2013. I'm selling my car because I just don't drive it enough. The 2012 was a lease return and upon inspection it looked well used. So many paint chips, scratches, wheel rim marks, etc. Nothing can replace a professional PPI, with lots of HD pictures, or a personal inspection.


Good luck. The XKR is a beast of a car and will put a silly smile on your face.

 

DLG,


Yes, the previous owner I and spoke several times. On the whole they were not pleasant conversations and he accepted no responsibility for the issues.


In the end I did not push him too hard. Being on opposite coasts there was not much I could do that made financial sense. Besides, I blamed myself almost as much as him, I failed to do my due diligence properly.


Paul

 

Paul I remember your post over on Fchat and found it scary and amusing all in the same breath. I sold my 77 308 GTB a little over a year ago after 14 years of ownership. Fun car and only managed to put $10K of maintenance cost in it and that was doing my own work. I searched for a 2012 XKR Convert and wanted to make sure it was a CPO car with extended warranty. I found what I was looking for sight unseen other then a boat load of pictures. Car had 6600 miles on it. I wasn't concerned about getting a PPI as it was low mileage and certified. My cutoff would be 20K miles and a car over 10 years old. By the way I did my own PPI with the Ferrari so I knew what problems I was in store for. Good luck.

 

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I've been doing my due diligence & research on this forum. Im looking at buying a '12 xkr-s with 40k miles & 2 years cpo remaining. the car is half way across the country and i've only gotten to drive an xk touring locally, looking for some insight from the true enthusiasts. think i would be fine "settling" for an xkr but with the 2years cpo think the s may be the ticket. i appreciate any feedback that can be offered.

 

Why not ask if there are any forum members near where the car is located who might be willing to take a look for you. I have looked at some cars for east coast members, I'm sure you can find someone who can check it out for you. With regard to the XKR-s, it will provide you with a much more "enthusiastic" ride than the XK, and you should probably drive one just to compare the differences. Whether and XK, XKR, or XKR-s, you'll get a fine automobile.

 

Nothing wrong with reviving an old thread. The XKR-S is a powerhouse of a car and will no doubt put a smile on your face. I would ask for lots of close up pics of every part of the car. The dash, the door jams, under the hood, tires...etc. You can also request a face to face phone call via Whatsapp or FaceTime...and have them turn on the car, drive it and show you that every single thing works as it should. Also pay attention to how the drivers seat reclines back [make sure it goes all the way back]. When I bought my Jag from Florida [I am in NJ] my seat would not recline back all the way, and it made driving very uncomfortable. I had to take it to the dealer to fix it. Advice: make sure the seats work right. Let us know what you decide to do.

 

Here are my thoughts.

1. Negotiate a price on the phone based on what the dealer tells you. Pay no money yet.
2. Fly out there with the where-with-all to buy the car and drive it home.
3. Continue the negotiations.
4. Buy it and drive it home or reject it and fly back home.

The point is, if you are going to spend this kind of money on your dream car be prepared to spend a little money on due diligence. It will pay off big time later on.
Part of due diligence is to know the product before the inspection. The car is replete with options, features and characteristics that you need to know about and understand in order to make an informed decision. Modifications, performance and otherwise are major warning signals.

The market is full of XKs previously owned by indifferent boy racer types who either can't afford to keep them up or just don't give a s--t. Small defects are signals that require investigation.

 

I found my 3-year old, low mileage XK coupe on eBay motors website being sold by a Jag dealership near Washington D.C. I spoke with the Sales Mgr. & Service Mgr. and both of them promised me that it was flawless, 1-owner, never in an accident, originally sold by them, still under factory warranty, etc. They provided so many high-resolution pictures that I made them am offer and they accepted. I sent them a fully refundable $1000 deposit and then had a friend of mine fly me there. The Sales Mgr. picked me up at the airport, took me back to the dealership where I test drove and thoroughly inspected the car. It was just as good as they promised so I bought it and drove it home. I've had it 4 years now with no problems whatsoever!

I love eBay Motors because you can use their 'filters' to look only at the make, model, year(s), coupe vs conv., color, interior color, mileage, price, location, private owner vs dealer, etc. that you're interested in. Makes shopping very easy!

 

I totally agree with this statement.

I have bought and sold several vehicles via eBay Motors. Never had a problem. I recently listed my 2009 Jaguar XKR PE Vert on eBay and the buyer after speaking with me, looked at dozens of images, and I provided the entire history of the XKR, bought it sight unseen. Cost me $62.00 to get national exposure on the XKR for the ad.

There are honest sellers on eBay, you just have to complete your due diligence. eBay Motors provides a great idea of what these cars are selling for, what condition, and what mileage. It is one of the better tools to use when searching for a used vehicle. You have to trust the site and the seller.

..

 

Appreciate all the insight, ideally i would love to fly out and physically look at the car but work/family schedule that might not be possible. The CPO warranty eases the mind a bit, & i'm waiting for the salesmen to send me high res photos of everything. bought my last cts-v the same way and that worked out perfect, however this is my first foray into the jag market. thanks again for the replies.

 

You may want to compare the XKR-S you are looking at this 2012 XKR-S which is ultra low mileage.

2012 Jaguar XKR Base Coupe 2-Door | eBay

Ultra low mileage has major advantages.

..

 

richzak, that car is gorgeous and only 5k miles is insane. i'm not to fond of the red interior, but with that little mileage i'll have to keep that in consideration. thanks.

 

Bigartie, history is as important as any photos and carfax. While I've purchased more than one car without driving it, I never buy one without obtaining a complete maintenance history.
No gaps. - They're easy to obtain or they weren't maintained. While there are a few numbskulls that buy these beauties, and subsequently trick them out or beat them to death, most owners track all maintenance history.

Carfax tells you where the car was serviced usually and often what was done. A quick call to this shops listed on carfax and they will email you the records.

Come back to the forum with questions. These guys have seen it all here.

As far as PPI, I have always used Jaguar Dealerships. I get a list of DTC codes and the DTC history. I've had them do a complete inspection as though they were intending to certify it. Yes they want to sell the car, but they have a reputation to maintain too.

I have the sales manager drive it and video tape the drive. Then I get high def pics from them of every scratch, ding, mar, including the wheels. You want and need this for transport anyway.

As others have indicated, ask a forum member to inspect on your behalf. If the car is near me, I can help.

As Snide and Richard said, eBay is an option too and there are many good sellers on eBay. I bought my Super V8 from an independent dealer off eBay, who specializes in Jags. He did everything I asked and I got a beautiful car at a fair price.

I bought my XK from Jaguar Palm Beach after a 6th month search. I'd never driven one before as they aren't commonly for sale up here in MPLS. They are stand up guys. They too, gave me everything I asked for including a full history.

 

Not to undermine what seanw said, but I don't keep my maintenance records and I am METICULOUS about doing maintenance. Very rarely do I let a shop touch my vehicles, and those times they do I insist upon being there to stick my nose in my own business.
If I were to sell my XKR it would come without any maintenance records, but it would be one of the top 10% maintained Jags on the planet, I'd think.
Not always do records show everything. A car can be whipped no end, but if it has paperwork is it still great? I can agree that every bit of information you can get will have some benefit, but you can't go solely upon that paperwork.

 

Well that brings up another thought. If you decided to sell your vert, being a forum member would also carry some weight, with me at least. I'm far more likely to trust a longstanding contributor to this forum.

But I'd still want records

 

You don't indicate where the vehicle is in any of your posts. I have never heard of any Forum member "high jacking" a potential purchase from another member, but it may happen. If you want to avail yourself of a Forum member inspection you can pm a member who is near your target and ask if it is possible. There are several of us in different locations that are willing to lend a hand.

 

Yeah, what he said ^^^^^^^

 

I can't imagine dropping a big pile of cash on used goods sight unseen. Maybe your last adventure worked out OK, that's no assurance you'll be as lucky this time.

If you don't have time to go see the car, when will you have time to actually enjoy it?