You're right, when I initially evaluated the kbb value, i placed it in the good category, having not seen it.

Repair wise, I can rebuild most engines without a manual. The question is, do I want to? My observations were being as nit-picky as I could possibly get to try to tell myself of a worst case scenario.. I'm far from having emotional attachment to the car.

I didn't mention any of the good because I wanted to get a worst case. The paint, aside from where I mentioned, with just a good wash, shines. The rear tires are new, the front are at 60%. The coolant looks like it was replaced yesterday. The oil looks decent as well. The undeside of the engine is dry, and it obviously hasn't been cleaned to hide leaks. The leather condition, dash condition, etc are in good shape.

Overall, the car doesn't show signs of abuse, it shows signs of use, with the exception of that passenger door panel.

That being said, I think I can live with it's condition and repair what bothers me.

Assuming it performs flawlessly mechanically I think I can justify it if they come down on price. If it doesn't, though, I'll be walking away quickly. This is a fun car, I have 4 other boring cars, I want to enjoy it.

 

RUN!!!!

 

Well I guess I just got a surprise when I saw the 100K + miles. My cut off is usually 75K miles for any of my fun cars even though the latest technology is pretty reliable. Part of the other unknown is what type of miles are on the car. Short drives , highway , city and so on. On an old Jag I would know what I'm getting into but on these later ones the complexity starts to be the concern. You mention and appear to have the necessary skills to do the mechanics but as you mentioned do you want to. That's great but the question you want to ask yourself is do I have more enjoyment driving the car or repairing it. Next is what is your budget. If it is in between $20-$30K then there are a lot of XK's that are much lower miles and in better shape. Think of how many times you need to touch the steering wheel or shift knob to wear it down. So in my opinion if you get it don't pay more then $10K.Good luck

 

Look here there are dozens of them . CarGurus.com

 

That car was neglected - that is abuse not use. My other car has 160K miles, the previous one had just under 300K neither looked anywhere near as beaten as that one. If the inside looks that bad mechanically do you really believe they kept up on the preventative maintenance? What is the history of repairs? Where did this place get the car? (I would be SHOCKED if it wasn't from an auction. Be sure to check if it was a flood car). What does the CarFax say about it's history (those are hardly gospel or truly accurate but it might give you an idea of how many previous owners, perhaps an idea of where the car was driven - salted roads???? And also some idea of the service history)? Even as a project car there's not enough "meat on the bone" there to make it worthwhile. You are justifying your attachment despite the wisdom on this site, that being said best of luck and hopes it works out in your favor. Gambling on that one you'll spend considerable time/money to bring it to "good" condition with hopes that you can either drive it (who knows the reliability factor on that based on its abuse and wil you be happy driving something that hammered?) or turn it (there's an ever so small market for a 110K+ mile Jag that will show yet another owner on its history. Not seeing where there is anything but headaches here.

I spent a year searching for my car which I purchased last December. Waded through the crap, found maybe 3 gems. Had an Excel spreadsheet showing each and every car, asking prices, notes, condition, color combo, results, etc. Research is your friend, emotions are not...

 

+1 on RUN.

 

My response to this post is this. WALK! This car can never be cheap enough unless you are unemployed and need a full time job.

 

For starters, I would have a good indie Jaguar specialist or a Jaguar dealer fully inspect the car. If it should "pass" that inspection then onto a body shop that specializes in aluminum bodied vehicles, hopefully one that also has done numerous jobs on Jaguar X150s. Be very careful here. It sounds like 18k maybe the start of some rather large expenditures. You should be able to find several (at minimum) examples of what you are looking for without too much difficulty.

By the way the cost for both inspections should not exceed $500-$600; and in my book it is money well spent. Good luck in your hunt.

 

I would walk away and find something much cleaner with no issues. That car is a horror story. I paid 18K for mine and its just about as perfect as it gets. Don't settle for that one and don't be afraid to buy one that is far away. I live in NJ and I bought mine from a Jag dealer in Florida. Shipping was $700 bucks. Well worth it.

 

Think i would not purchase that Jag,i agree with the others that car has not been cared for.
Tommy.

 

I agree. That car has not been maintained and not giving me the "warm and fuzzy".

 

Test drive is today, we'll see how that goes. I have my OBD II scanner with me so I can run diagnostic. They washed it, cleaned hte interior, and gassed it up yesterday, apparently one of the sales guys has been driving it for the past few weeks. At this point i'm proceeding with caution. We'll also be talking about price assuming the drive is as smooth and performs as it should, and the scanner doesn't pull any surprises.

 

OK , good luck . I'm sure that you realize there could be "pending" codes that your scanner will not pick up. Usually a good shop or a dealer scan system can pick up these codes which would give you an indication if there is a potential problem coming up. Have a good drive and see what happens.

 

My scanner picks up pending codes as well. I moonlight as a racecar builder/driver as a hobby, so I have all the fun tools. I'll pull codes before i leave, then drive it hard for 45min, and pull them again, just in case they tried to play tricks(i don't suspect it, and they don't seem like they have the know-how, but it never hurts to be safe).

Route includes 8 miles highway, 12 miles back roads, and should take about 45min. Roads are dry, it's overcast, and 50F out, so about the perfect weather for a spirited ride.

 

I agree with all the comments made particularly by member "Leeper".

I am not sure why you would be so steadfast on this Jag. There are so many other Jag XKR's available with low mileage and excellent condition for sale.

I would walk away as other Jag Forum members have stated. There is just so many more to choose from. And I totally agree this Jag has been abused totally.

Good luck with your decision, just because the price may be low, there is a good reason for it.

Over 100K miles would turn me away immediately. I have a 2009 Jag XKR Portfolio Edition vert with just 17,000 miles and this is the type of Jag you should be looking for.

 

And what did the CarFax report the history being? Any reports of previous accidents? How many owners? Was the car driven that many miles in areas with salted roads? Who were the others drivers - clearly not enthusiasts with "pride of ownership" that is blatantly apparent.

This is more entertaining than the super bowl will be

 

Carfax showed 2 owners. First owner owned it until it was traded in to a local maserati dealer last summer, who sold it to this dealer, who sold it to a guy in august, who traded it in on a range rover 2 months later. It sat on their lot over the winter.

Car had a wash and detail this morning. Test drive went well, car performed exactly as it should. Code reader showed P0430 at fault and pending both before and after the drive. Car handled as you would expect, paddle shifting was smooth, as was the transmission in drive. There were no shakes, vibrations, etc from 0-120mph, which it got up to at a nearly alarming rate and before i had realized how fast I was going.

If it was not taken care of, that's a testament to Jaguar's engineering, because it sure didn't feel like it. There is air in the tires instead of nitrogen. The low tire pressure came on for a brief moment during the drive, i suspect for that reason.

I told them to go ahead and fix the cat and get it inspected, and if all went well i'd pick it up saturday.

 

"Nitrogen" = bwahahahaha. Glad I don't drink coffee or that would have hit my computer screen! In all seriousness you stated you are a race builder and driver and mechanical hobbyist then you write that phrase which shot any validity right in the tail. So exactly what is the difference between "air pressure" and "nitrogen pressure"? Maybe they put nitrogen sensors in there instead of air sensors? I'd personally hate to have any nitrogen in my air -yuck not in my Jag! Of course you visually affirmed that all the VIN#'s on the various body panels matched correct? Did you have it inspected for body damage/paintwork?Who's doing the inspection - is it a place of their choice or a neutral Jag dealership? oops... best of luck!

Hope this works out for you but PLEASE keep us abreast in a month, two months, 6 mo's how this unfolds.

 

I've never used nitrogen in tires before, a friends escalade has it though, and i read that the xkr does from the factory as well, so I assumed it was that. I don't know how sensative the sensors are. The logic behind nitrogen is sound, as of how effective it is in reality, I haven't experienced for myself.

I found two vin plates, one in the door jam and one on the dash, and they did match. I don't have a paint meter so I can't check the depth however if it was repainted they did a pretty good job, as the color between panels is identical. I paid particular attention to the front, as someone had said the grill wasn't right. However I didn't find any evidence of impact or replacement of the nose skin.

They're doing the inspection, which I can trust to a degree as they were very up front about the cat. If they wanted to hide it, they could have, and 95% of people would have never seen the code reappear until a week later.

It's not a 30k car, which is good because I don't have 30k to spend. It'll likely be a daily driver to/from work and for running with the wife when we don't have hte kids with us. I can put 2 sets of clubs in the "boot". I like it better than the z4 I would have gotten for the same price. If this one doesn't happen, it's unlikely I'll buy anything for at least a few years. I still have two trucks and the wifes car to drive about.

And while there may be plenty of other xkr's out there, there's very few 08 coupe's. There was a reason I didn't drive it the first time I went to look at it. It's the drive that makes the sale.

I'll be around, there's actually not a lot of info that i've been able to find for general specs and for parts.

 

When was the last time the nitrogen was rotated? Maybe that's why the reading is bad. Don't use GM's nitrogen in your Jag, theirs is crap

No it's not a $30K car, that you're spot on with... that one you got right. Each body panel has a VIN# as does the driver side windshield (main one) and the drivers door jamb. Color matching in door panels has absolutely ZERO to do with repainting unless they changed the color, even Earl Sheib or Matco can match the factory paint the concern is previous body damage but if it's not a concern to you it certainly isn't to me. Comparing that to a Z4 is like comparing a Dodge Astrovan to a Corvette, two totally different animals. Truth be told I want you to get this car and I hope it works out - not being sarcastic at all with that