Hi everyone, thanks in advance to any replies, I'm about to finally purchase my dream car, the 07 and up Jaguar XK. There are two that I'm looking at, I dont need this to be my daily driver (already have an 12 Infiniti G37x) so I won't be putting many miles on this car. I wanted to keep the price at 20k max, which I realize is slim pickings obviously. I have two options at the moment.

Option 1
2007 Jaguar XK - Convertible

I live in Chicago so this one is only 30 min from me, not too crazy about the blue color but like the fender grills on the hood (not sure why he has them as I thought only the XKR had them) as well as it being a salvage title, but hence the low price. I could even take this to a jaguar dealer beforehand and pay for an inspection (willing to pay the 300 or so cost for this ) so my fears will be somewhat negated buying a salvage title.

Option 2
Cars for Sale: 2007 Jaguar XK Convertible in Saint Louis, MO 63116: Convertible Details - 350663675 - AutoTrader.com

This one is in St Louis so that's about a 4 hour drive from me, but no salvage title. 3 owners previously and the last one decided to paint the exterior in a matte black and put black 22 inch rims on it. It's well below the market value and the guy I spoke to said there are some issues in terms of various reminders popping up to get serviced etc, I'll have to ask him to be more specific. They wont let me take it to a jag dealer to get it checked but said I can have an independent service company take a look at it, which many people do when, for example you buy a car off ebay or something, usually 100 bucks. But these people won't be able to check the various computer codes and diagnose what issues there may be so I'm not sure what to do. Also this car has been at this independant dealership for well over 3 months but when I called in the sales rep said it just arrived, etc etc trying to stress the urgency (sales tactic) but whatever. I actually dont mind the matte black paint job and rims, I could always switch that out, the mileage for both is similar, but the above on on clist has a salvage title but at least I can check it out at a dealership whereas the one in st louis I'd have to take my chances even though it has a clear title.

Any suggestions? I really want to get my dream car but with my limited budget for a 2nd car obviously I'll be dealing with higher mileage used xk's (50k and over ) as well as later years (07) and possible salvage titles.

 

Even if you were able to obtain a $20,000 tired XK, maintenance costs would probably be prohibitive.

 

Option 1 is a salvage title, so that one is easily out
Option 2 is clean titled but I would bail simply on the fact they dont want an expert to look at it...

keep hunting... there are lots of good Jags out there

Vince

 

How does one end up with a salvage title with "Just a small hit on the fender and light" as per the first car. Something smells rotten. The XKR hood means the hood was replaced. That alone is not an issue, but points to the accident being way understated, or else there were other factors such as flooding or major mechanical issues.

Raise your budget to $23-25K and you should be able to get a decent higher mileage 2007 vert. that you will be able to re-sell.

 

I would pass on either. Considering the mileage a salvaged 07 xk should be even less and as already stated you don't get a salvaged title from a minor crash. Clearly the hood was replaced with the XKR so I would assume there was some structural damage as well as engine related stuff. If the car had really low miles maybe that would be worth it but with almost 70K I don't see that you're getting a deal on it.

On the flat black one (ugh) I wouldn't consider it without a jag dealer check out. Why would the dealer care? Fishy.

 

Not digging either car. XK is not a model to buy an excuse example

 

Thanks to all for their replies. In regards to the black XK above, I asked them if I could take the car to a jaguar dealership to get it inspected, they said I could not take it off their lot other than a test drive etc. However they said they would allow me to bring any independant mechanic or service type company to inspect the car at their dealership. I doubt there exists any type of service that will travel that is jaguar certified obviously, and the general ones that exist out there that charge 100 or so probably aren't adequate correct? thanks!

 

I purchased my '07 from a dealership in Minneapolis which was 1100 miles from my home.

The deal took 3 weeks to get done. Finally, when I was 95% sure I wanted that car I had the dealer take it to Jaguar of Minneapolis and I communicated to them I was interested in this car and wanted the full pre purchase inspection done. I told them to only communicate to me the results since I was paying for the inspection. It was so worth it!! The car checked out very well and I flew into Minneapolis the next day and drove it home.

Point I am making is the dealer did not hesitate to negotiate with me over the phone and did not mind taking it to Jaguar for inspection because they knew the car was fine. I think you should pass on both of these cars. The potential headache isn't worth it.

 

I'd either walk away, or ask them if you put a deposit down the car, flat bed the Jag to the dealer and if you buy, they'll refund you the flat bed fee.

 

The second car was also part of a rental fleet for 4 years.... Then repossesed!
Dude, just walk away....

 

Hey clevername, can you tell me how you found that out? (rental fleet/repossessed?) sorry Im a newbie and ignorant about how one checks these things. (carfax and vin?) This used car buying process is scary for someone who has never bought used before. Thanks.

 

I'm going to give you a somewhat different advice from the other posters.

If your budget does not allow for you to spend more AND if you are willing to invest a few dollars in a complete inspection AND if you are going to keep the car for many years without resale worries than the salvage title may make sense for you.

"Salvage titles" can be a popular scam. They basically pay for someone to crash into a car in the most "economical" way, meaning for instance that in a 4 door sedan the crash bends the support column between the two doors. That tends to be an automatic write-off yet, in many cases can be fixed very inexpensively an effectively by their low priced chop shops. In some instances the same car can be put through several cycles of insurance fraud before "retiring the car" and selling it.

So, what I am saying is that it is possible to purchase a car that has salvage title for very low prices that had minimal damage. That is why an expert body-shop inspection is very important.

Good luck,

Albert

 

The aluminum bodied Jag's aren't put together like regular cars and I'd be hesitant to buy something with possible structure damage, fixed by body shops unknown. There's a high end auto body shop down the street from me. He's turned away these Jag's on certain repairs due to their specific build process.

 

I use autocheck.com
$50 gets you a month of unlimited checks. I just happen to be helping my ex buy a used car right now and $50 is no big deal for the piece of mind...
All it gets you is the alerts for abnormal reports, but not the reports themselves....


.

 

Hey JagFan77, what is your price range for an '07?

How about this one? Personally, I think it's one of the better colors for an XK: http://nh.craigslist.org/ctd/3945697327.html

Certainly has less miles.

 

Hey mosesbotbol, thanks for the link. That would be an ideal salvage title for me, *low miles) as my budget is 25k. Surprisingly on ebay and also autotrader, there are very few, if any 2007 or 08 xk's that are 25k and under (unless they are close to 100k miles. ) I realize that this is not a mass produced car but finding one used within my budget is a hunt indeed, haha.

Or maybe I should just wait a year so more will filter down to my price range.

 

Totally agree with the above.

No way could I endorse the purchase of a salvage vehicle. This could potentially be a Hurricane Sandy vehicle.

If the owners of the Jag prohibits you from taking the car to a Jag dealer....let it go.

There are lots of choices and lots of both good and sh-tty cars out there. Do your homework carefully before handing cash over to any seller.

 

Have you tried used car places such as Chicago Motor Cars, Exotic Motors, Lucky Motors, etc? The smaller used car dealers that deal with higher end vehicles. They might have better prices but just becareful and do your homework if you do go with one of these places. When I was looking at a SL65 in 2008, I test drove one at Luxury Motors (now closed) and it had a clean carfax but the steering was super loose and the car pulled to the right really bad. My friend also found masking tape still stuck underneath the side sills. Must likely it was in a major accident, repainted but yet clean carfax.

 

Did you give him a call? I thought that car was a deal as well.

 

Wow, thanks to everyone for all the relevant info, I didn't realize how risky a salvage title could be, especially with an estimated 250k vehicles from hurricane sandy floating around used car lots, (have done research on how titles can be washed, and given a salvage title by repairing and transferring to other states, etc, ) and even a clean carfax is not guarantee. Obviously the only way to even consider something like this is to have it inspected by a jaguar dealership and pay the pre purchase inspection at the min. It's a scary world trying to navigate the used car scenario but obviously there can be deals to be had with due diligence. It would be great if there was a way to search the entire US for 2007 XK listings but you can only search by city, etc. I'll keep looking (havent called the 18k champaign XK above from MA but will today) and be patient, I figure at some point I'll hopefully find a suitable 07XK and minimize the possible future headaches.