First post...so you know the drill...

After atest driving the Audi A5/S5 Conv and 2008 XK Conv. I've decided on the XK. As a side note, I found the ride on the S5 too harsh for my liking while the overall experience wasn't exhilerating enough to be worth $65K.

I drove the A5 conv 20 mins before the XK and found the A5 to be a nice rider but sort of a pedestrian driving experience (although a great looking car).

When I drove the XK, my immediate thought was...and this is no joke...it was like sex on wheels. Needless to say, this made up my mind.

So, I am now looking at CPO 2008 XK Conv. in S. California and am shocked at how few there are. They also mostly appear to be bought through auctions based on the CarFax report.

A few questions (I have a ton more, but will reserve for other posts):
1) Is the CPO the same bumper to bumper warranty as the 4/50,000 warranty?
2) If a Jaguar dealer has a non CPO car, can you convince them to CPO it?
3) What does Jaguar offer to extend beyond the 4/50,000 for non CPOs and 6/100,000 for CPOs?
4) I know there are a host of third party warranty companies. Would you recommend any of these over Jaguar's non-CPO warranty?
5) Should I have my own technician inspect a jaguar dealer CPO or non-CPO car? If so, what is the best way to do this?

Thanks in advance for the help! I've been through a lot of posts on this site and it truly appears to be a great resource.

Jim

 

Jim...I can't answer any of your CPO questions, but have you tried looking for cars outside of CA? Even "close-by" states like Nevada, Arizona, and Washington might get you more options. Though I am not ready to purchase quite yet, I've narrowed down the options to 2 year old, low mileage Maserati GT or XKR, and have pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I may have to buy outside of SoCal to get the right color and options. If the distance is great, I would have to consider a vehicle transport service...a PIA, but perhaps worth it.

Good luck,
David

 

David - I've looked outside CA to get a perspective on price etc. I've dabbled with the idea of purchasing out of state, however, I think it would depend on where the car was actually driven. For example, I'm not sure I'd want a car that was driven in Nevada or Arizona that's been baking in the sun for a few years...Oregon and Washington are probably good options. Of course it would be hard to buy site unseen...so you need to factor in airfare. Would be a nice drive back in the Jag however!

I'm hoping that the 2008s and 2009s will hit the dealerships this summer as there are definitely a few 2007s right now...we'll see.

Good luck with your search!

 

I bought my 2008 XK convertible a little less than 2 months ago. I live in South Carolina and decided almost immediately that I would HAVE to buy out of state. My two year search took me to virtually every one of the lower 48. I finally found an Indigo Blue XK in Maryland and had it shipped (One owner, pristine condition, perfect CarFax, accident free, with the luxury package, Alpine Package, and 19" designer wheels) It had 30,000 doctor owned miles on the clock and I paid under $40G out the door.

I did not get the Certified, but on reflection, maybe should have. The car itself is fine (save a few of the typical Jaguar electrical gremlins), but the peace of mind brought by a new 5 year warranty would have been priceless.

The secret? Know the cars, know the current prices, know what the option packages are and how much they should cost, and get an inspector (they can be gotten for $100.00 - $200.00) Even then, they don't inspect every little thing (My XK needed brakes on all four wheels and inspectors don't put the car on a lift). My boss bought a BMW 750LI and insisted the dealer take it to the BMW store down the block where he paid for a full "on the lift" inspection.

BTW, the dealer I used had 100% positive feedback on E-Bay after selling over 400 cars. That gave me peace of mind as well.

Good luck with your purchase. BTW, I have also described my XK to many of my friends as "sex on wheels". Funny how the car seems to have that effect on its owners...

 

Thx for the reply and nice ride! I like the indigo blue/ivory combination. I might go for that combo although I'm sure its tougher to keep clean than the Silver or Lunar Gray I'm currently looking for.

That seems like a great price for the car! Because you were out of state, did you avoide state sales tax??? For the right price and from the right source, you can afford to self-insure. In S. California, that car would probably be about $46K - $48K for a CPO based on what I've seen.

Did you consider purchasing a warranty?

Also, what was the name of the dealer on eBay?

Thx!

 

One of the advantages of registering a car in South Carolina is that the sales tax on any auto purchase is never more than $300.00 no matter what state you actually purchase the car in. Unfortunately we do have to pay an annual property tax on all motor vehicles that goes down as the car depreciates (I paid $700.00 for this year. Should be a bit less next year)

The E-Bay dealer I used was "Elite Auto Brokers" in Gaithersburg, MD. Moshe is the owner and he has over 17 years in the premium car business. He is a good guy who delivers on his promises. I would recommend him any day (BTW, last time I checked his feed back, he finally had one negative. Seems he sold a car with an accident free CarFax and there in fact turned out to be some signs of previous damage. The buyer did not contact him before leaving a negative feedback). Fact is, this could happen to any dealer and I would STILL highly recommend this guy.

As to your final question, I am looking into an extended warranty. I have about a year of the factory warranty left and I will be looking a little more closely for an extended warranty in about 10 months or so. The one from Jaguar is over $4,500.00. I am hoping to pay less than 1/2 of that.

Regards...

 

There's a few 2007 XK's here in Houston. At TexasAutoDirect I was told you can pay a deposit to have the car inspected and you get the money back if it fails the inspection.

TexasAutoDirect I would definitely not buy here without first seeing the car. They've had some real junkers that looked great in the pics.

Momentum Jaguar

I too wonder why dealers don't CPO all of their cars. My guess is that the work to get it up to par may be greater than the incremental value it puts on the car.

I'm looking at 2007-2008's XKRs and CPO's typically run $5k more. The $5k premium is high just for the warranty but it may be cheap if a non-CPO needs brakes, tires, etc. when you buy it. Apparently the CPO cannot have any items beyond 50% wear.

There seems to be a fair number of XK's here in TX and the prices are a bit better than the CA market.

 

Dan - thx for sharing your thoughts. Good poing on the wear items on a CPO - that could definitely be worth a few thousand in and of itself. I'll keep that in mind!

Good luck with your search!

 

Replying to one of your questions regarding if you could "convince" a dealer to CPO a non-CPO car; that my be not so simple. I know one of the many conditions for a CPO car is that it must be a single owner car.

I purchased my 05 XK8 from a Mercedes dealer and got their Platinum warranty with it. The Jag dealer told me that they could probably NOT work with that warranty because their shop rate was something like $220/hour, too high for the insurance co. to pay. In 3 years I had zero problem with my car so, never really tested the warranty. To be honest, I have no idea what shop I would take it to, given the shortage of Jag expertise, in general.

 

I, too, have described my 07 XKR as sex on wheels. But not cheap sex! Thus, my decision to purchase a CPO car. Some dealers will tell you that the car is CPO-eligible and then charge you to add the CPO designation (and thus warranty); others just build it in and add the premium up front. I didn't notice a real difference in final price either way in those situations. But I do think that getting a car to CPO-eligible is not a small thing and may be impossible for some cars.

My dealer told me that I could purchase an additional 2 years of warranty on my CPO, beyond the 2 years extra it already had, and I probably will do that, though I haven't yet (I have until the end of 2013, when the CPO warranty runs out, but will not likely wait that long). The price he quoted me for those extra two years was about $1800, which is more than worth it, IMO.

 

Dan, don't buy from them. Mine came from there and was wrecked without disclosure to me. It had been inspected, clean and clear carfax. It looked beautiful in pics and in person. But when I got it home and really went over it with a fine tooth comb, I realized it had been repaired. They had just wrecked it at the dealer and fixed it in house. After buffing all the overspray off, aligning the hood and bumper, most people can't tell it. I love this car but I would have liked to known about the repair before purchase. I #$%^ sure wouldn't have paid what I did for it.

 

I hear you on the CPO. It seems that some dealers first try and sell without having to certify it. If they don't, then they CPO it. If you look at the CarFax reports, you can see the first offer for sale and then the certification a few months later on some CPOs.

BTW - I just saw a CPO at a Jaguar dealer that had two previous owners on the CarFax...so it looks like that is possible.

 

Are you referring to Texas Auto Direct or Momentum? I'm assuming the former.

That is really bad for them to do this. They do have an extensive shop in the back where they definitely perform repairs and body work...

 

Texas Auto Direct. My wife is the one that noticed in the pics that everything lined up correctly. That's how we figured out it was wrecked after their purchase.

 

I assume that you know about the CPO search tool on Jaguar's website:
http://www.jaguar.com/us/en/#/pre_owned/inventory

I just did a quick search for 2007-2008 XKs, and 69 cars were flagged.

Also, the Jaguar website does have a limited description of their CPO program details. For more specifics, just stop by a Jaguar dealer and ask for a copy of the CPO legal boilerplate handout.

 

I've been on the website...unfortunately, most of the CPOs are 2007. I think this summer the 2008s should start hitting the market. I'll definitely ask for the CPO info on my next visit to the dealer - thx!

 

It cost the dealer about $2,900 to CPO a car

 

About extended warranty from the dealership. I bought mine with 2yrs. of EasyCare Gold and it paid for several expensive repairs. The warranty cost is negotiable.

 

I decided I didn't want to buy an XKR without the CPO. Luckily Momentum, which has been mentioned here, had several 07s when I bought. As others said, the requirements on the dealer to make it CPO limit which cars qualify. It can't be too old OR too new, there is a limit on mileage, has to be one owner. I would say just keep checking the CPO search engine on the Jag website. The peace of mind of being CPO has made my ownership experience much better.

And.. if the XK was sex on wheels... drive an XKR and you will find it is a **** Star on wheels.