Generally old cars die of neglect, not old age. Establish condition - I'd do compression check and send engine oil for analysis. This will tell you with 99% certainty the condition of the car.

 

Cold start if it doesn't smoke buy it. Hopefully it's up on maintenance items. TPMS's, O2's, wheel bearings, and rear end will need some help. As said, my rebuild thread shows what I've found on mine. Yours looks pretty darned good. I'd love a great body with a dead power train. My body is pretty beat plus a couple wrecks in it's life. I honestly don't see these cars depreciating any more than $10k. The XKR is a S type R in a sexy body. Tons of cross over parts. As long as you can work on it why not get it?

Fear not and buy the dang thing.

 

You are finally getting some sense. You can always replace the powertrain from cars that have been wrecked. You will never replace a factory paint-job, unless you do a 'frame-off', blast, and redip. Now you are talking about $15k.

 

Thanks Ranchero. You have a great post. Yeah, I hear you. I'm trying to figure out what the accident was that it claims to have had. It show as having a state inspection a few months ago on carfax & that is not normal in Cali so it was probably wrecked recently then re-checked for road worthiness. Someone said to walk away if it was rear end damage. I may go check it out in the morning but it's 80 miles away. I have an 05 S-type 4.2, not an R though so fairly familiar with that car & drivetrain aside from the supercharger. yeah, I thought it looked a lot like my car insde... lol

The trunk looks huge in the pics, is that an illusion or is the cargo area rather large in this thing?

i'd most likely do bearings & bushings etc for sure as it's gotta be getting loose unless that was done recently

 

The trunk space is decent. The shape has lots of quirks to it, which can significantly shrink the usable space for hard items. But backpacks and gear for going camping, and other soft things - there is lots of space.

I carry a scientific mega computer in the back of mine when I relocate my workplace; there is just enough room for me to load it with clearance for my hands. There aren't a lot of sports car can that fit that thing.

 

On the six V8 Jags I have owned I have never had an engine bearing issue. I don't think I have ever heard of that either.

Suspension bushings - I think just about every Jag over 6 years old or 70K miles needs new bushings.

 

Yes, bushings are subjective. Rubber booties get torn and let dirt in causing them to wear faster. Some folks who own these cars will never drive them to the point of looseness but feel compelled to replace them often.

The engine is ***** solid, not a real issue until the plastic starts to go. My old Lincoln LS with the Jag 3.9 started leaking at the valve covers recently and went through phases of cooling plumbing problems. The rear will make noise, you'll hear the gear whine because honestly and 8" ring is too small for 420hp. All of your wheel bearings should have been replaced by now. I'm in the middle of that process. Thought it was road noise at first but it's amazing how quiet the tires get with new bearings.

Before going to look at it download the owners handbook sections from Jaguar's topix site and read up on it. Once there, go through all the bells and whistles and see what works and what doesn't. Everything is done through the infotainment center albeit slowly.

Per the accident, talk to the sales guy and ask that it be put on a lift at the very least. As an option, take a blanket and 'look' over everything. If the electronics act goofy, suspect a battery issue compounded by a weak charge. These things love to be driven. The body and frame are aircraft build, lots of rivets and glued joints. It works amazingly well. There are very few straight lines on the car so you'll spent a lot of time looking for blemishes in the finish. The rear 1/4 interior panels pop out from the hatch seal exposing the outer skin. There's a ton of room misused in the coupe because it was derived from a vert. That's why the seats won't recline and the back seat is so tight.

Naturally test drive it but expect it to run a little wonky as the adaptive learning will be confused from sitting for so long. Drive it in auto, sport and manual shift. Downshift at 1500 rpm. If the paint is good you'll get 5-8 years before the clear comes off, more if it's kept inside.

 

169K miles... unless you have the proof all maintenance is up to date; it had better be one great bargain. And by maintenance I don't just mean the maintenance by the Jag book.

 

A hit to the rear is likely to scrunch things that do not simply bolt off and bolt on to replace. More so if it got hit a by a truck/SUV where the bumper's didn't match up in height; the hit could go straight to the chassis.

A 5MPH hit to the rear, could still be in consideration, but I would want to see before and during the repair pictures to consider a car that had repairs to the hind quarters. The cost to fix properly likely exceeds the value of the car; meaning it might not be fixed properly.

I look forwards to seeing where this goes. I have a lot of personal faith in the longevity of a well cared for X150. From you've said of the car fax, aside from an incident where the car received damage of some kind I say go for it.