I have purchased cars out of state but they were usually somewhere between 2-4 hours away. I would always see the car before I gave them hold money. So with this model it appears I will be buying a good distance from home. My questions are did you put down hold money just by discussing the condition of the car with the dealer along with a fair amount of pictures ? Also did you fly/drive to see the car before or after a down payment? Have you hired a private party in the area to get an inspection of the car? And did you ever buy the car sight unseen in person. I suspect transport is not to big of a deal using one of the major shippers. Just looking down the road here.

 

Depends on what you are buying... I bought my first XKR back in early '11 (I think) out of state. Didn't bother pre-paying for it, nor having it inspected. It only had 5k miles or so on the odometer, and was a Certified Select car, so the Jaguar 6year/100k mile warranty was part of the deal.

Since it was backed by Jaguar USA, I figured I could trust buying it based entirely on photographs, Jaguar service records, and CarFax.

Worked out fine! I flew to NY (I'm in San Francisco area) for a week or two and then flew back to pick up the car in Houston and drive her home. Not a hitch, the car was as described and never gave me any trouble.

It was painful paying the absurd 'transfer tax' to register the car in Cali, since they legally can't charge sales tax they substitute an equal % as a transfer tax, so expect to pay that when you come home (unless you are lucky enough to be in one of the few states that doesn't do this).

If the was had NOT been under warranty, I would have had to deal with many more of the issues you raise. But if it's from a Jag dealer and is a S.E. car, you should be good going off of photos and records.

Good luck and let us know how the chase goes,


Skeeter

 

Purchased my 2010 XK with 4,800 miles on it, in November 2013. Car was from Pennsylvania and I live in Florida. I would never buy any car regardless of price without seeing and touching it. That's just me. I had the car inspected by a third party which took 100 pictures. I negotiated a price with the dealer with a $500 deposit, flew down, inspected the car up on a lift myself, trucked it home in an enclosed carrier, and it is now sitting comfortably in my garage.

 

I bought my 07 3 yrs back. I negotiated the deal on the phone, it too was a select edition car, and gave them $ 1000 via credit card on the phone to hold it. The deal was subject to final approval but I never had to test that as the car was more that satisfactory.


The above was the first time I had ever done such a thing and I can tell you that I was quite nervous. Then too, the wife was watching closely and had things not gone so well I would have got a large ration of "you know what"!

 

My wife and I flew out in our small plane to look at the car which took 2 1/2 hours. Found some issues which they said they would fix. I went back out on a one way commercial flight and drove it home which to 10 hours.

 

I bought my XKR sight unseen and had it shipped 500 miles. It had 30,000 miles. I got the pictures and multiple reports. I bought it from a Mercedes Maybach dealership, so I had some trust. I also got it for 10 to 12,000 less than than what i was seeing on the market. I felt I could take a chance having a few imprefections with the discount. I did not want to lose the deal and sent the whole amount right away.
Jim

 

I bought my 2004 XKR in North Carolina - I live in Virginia. I was leery of buying from a private owner, but I drove down to look at the car and discovered that the owner had just had the local Jag dealer perform a pre-purchase inspection for another "interested party". I looked at the car and drove back home. After calling the owner a few times we made a deal and I flew down and drove the car back home with a Virginia Trip Permit in lieu of a license plate. Rather uneventful .... until I had to pay the Virginia registration tax ...

 

I live in Boston and bought my Vanden Plas sight unseen from MD. Plenty of pictures and a Carfax with no gaps or questions. Open carrier delivery. A few slight dents through out the PDR fixed and was perfect straight. Car was as described. 7 years later, my accountant bought it off me and is driving fine.

Bought my XK from Jag dealer in NC. Pictures only and similarly clean Carfax. Closed carrier, and was exactly as described. Did PDR and was very minor. Tires were more worn than expected.

Bought Range Rover from TX, same story as above. 2 months in, fuel pump died. Had to pay out of pocket. Been fine since...

My advice is go for solid cars, not the best deal in the world, but from a dealer that has done this before. Lots of pictures are critical as is any service history. You are trying to retrace or do forensics on the car's history. For me, it's about $1200 worst case to ship a car, so that is nothing to get the right example vs. just 4 hours drive radius. Get PDR done, there is always something they can find.

 

Instead of hitting the THANKS button for all of the response posts I wanted to just say THANKS for all of the posts. It is pretty interesting and helpful to see how others handled this. THANKS

 

Bought my 2007 Rediance Coupe (30K) from Jaguar Nashville 3 years ago without seeing it in the flesh. Never ever done this before.......but it was a Select Edition Certified so I took a chance.
Negotiated free shipping to Seattle area and vehicle was exactly as advertised. Coachwork almost perfect and won 1st place in our annual Jaguar Club Concourse!!
Only a couple of minor problems in 3 years of ownership; a shorted rear turn signal wire and the clock spring plus the usual battery replacement.
Only outstanding problem is the puddle lights have never worked.
As long as it is Certified from a Jaguar Dealer I would do it again.
Oh, I was able to check out the previous owner on face book but not until after I bought it...........she was an attractive lady with an older husband who lived in a big house on the water! So.........................a typical Jaguar owner!

Cheers, Adrian

 

I bought mine about 100 miles away. I feel like once I got there, I had zero power to negotiate the price down. It turned out OK, though.

 

My mantra for looking nationwide is to get a better car and the right color, vs. saving the most money. No excuse example with no gaps in ownership or CarFax entries.

 

Bought my 2009 Jag XKR Portfolio Edition Convertible sight unseen accept for photos off the web. Had many conversations with selling dealer. Dealer offered free Carfax report......called the dealer that did any repairs, and verified car never had any problems. Also bought AutoCheck report. The car was a lease car with 2 different lessee's. Sent fed wire transfer for the cost of the car to the dealers bank of record. Dealer sent all paperwork and title for future registration in New Mexico via Fed Ex overnight delivery with return coverage for paperwork. Had it shipped 1900 miles to New Mexico which took 3 days at cost of $900.00. Car was delivered in perfect condition. Jag had 13,500 miles at time of purchase....purchased in May 30th 2013. Registered in New Mexico on June 6th, 2013. Currently mileage at 14,900. Love the car. Negotiated the price down $3000 from asking price. By searching the VIN on Google I was able to see the previous prices that the car was listed for. Made the final offer as a "take it or leave it" offer, which the dealer accepted.

Did lots of research on the car via the VIN on Google.

It was a great buying experience. No reported problems at all.

 

I have bought several cars out of state. One was a pure nightmare... An inspection or some kind of CPO warranty are a must and you have to do the negotiating FIRST! If you wait till you fly in to see it then you lose all leverage. As others have mentioned - buying from a distance is more about finding the best example and not so much saving money.

 

I bought my 08 XK on eBay. I spoke to the seller, reviewed the carfax, studied the photographs, spoke to the seller again, and then made my best offer. A week later I was buying a one way plane ticket from MSP to ATL, and making arrangements with my bank to transfer the funds.
On arrival I inspected and drove the car, found it to be as advertised, no surprises. Took it to a local Indi shop had the engine oil changed then drove it back to Minneapolis…in February last year. Luckily I managed to arrive in between snowstorms. It sat in my garage undriven for almost 3 months while I waited for suitable weather to drive her again. The way this winter is going it could easily be 3 more months before I can take her out.
Regards,
White Bear

 

I live in Columbus Ohio and bought my 2009 XK Coupe in 2012 from a Washington D.C. Jag dealer who had it for sale on eBay. Since it was still under factory warranty and since I was buying it from a Jag dealer, versus an individual, I just called and spoke to them. Incidentally, according to eBay, the Jag dealer had sold over 100 cars on eBay with a 100% satisfaction rating! When they assured me it was perfect, both mechanically and cosmetically, I flew there with a certified check and drove it home. After 18 months, I can tell you that they didn't lie, or even exaggerate, it is perfect. It's impossible to go wrong buying a car on eBay that's still under factory warranty from someone with a 100% satisfaction rating!

 

Bought my XKR-S from the jaguar dealership in columbus, OH in Sept 2012. Loved it so much I wanted a newish but used XKR in black for a spring/summer/fall daily as the XKR-S was too much to be a daily. I talked to several salesmans via cars.com and got sick of it. They all would barely budge on price and even some were quite rude - Autohaus of Sylvania for one. So...I checked carmax and found they do sell Jaguars and in higher-end areas (not columbus) there were XK's. I had a 2012 Black with black pack XKR shipped to cbus for 400 dollars from Maryland. They said it "looked great". When I got here my buying eyes confirmed there was some troubles but I could get that fixed. I did get it fixed including full pain correction, repainted and re-installed front splitter, and a new XKR175 rear spoiler along with a single dent removed from the driver side door. The car was unable to be made perfect. Carmax, does not budge on price. I had to have 2 front tires replaces as well. It was a roungh experience. yes the car had only 10,000 miles and was owned via lease for only 8 months! However my buying eyes failed to see the abuse. It cost 1800 by the jag dealership after the tires, rotation, inspection etc. It cost 1800 to have the spoiler and splitter fixed - jag reimbursed. It cost a ton to have the paint corrected, covered correctly with a wrap (entire front end, mirrors, sidepanels), and then coated with 22ple liquid glass. The car looks fantastic now, however it went from an awesome deal to a not so awesome deal. POINT: GO WITH SOMEONE WHO CAN BE CRITICAL OF THE CAR AND NOT HAVE BUYING EYES!!!!! I should have refused to buy it in the current condition till all that stuff was FIXED...ON THEM!!

Loth

 

hot spots it seems for these cars include Atlanta Georgia, California, Texas, Florida, Arizona. My used XKR came from Maryland however.

 

I have gone on a several out of state inspections, that were paid for by the buyer on hi-line cars. In every instance I have required the buyer to give me POA or similar to make the deal on the car or quash the deal they already made on the phone prior to the inspection. I dont allow any buyer to go with me to inspect a car. The only time I did that was when I took my dad for his car. I never talk to the dealer or their mechanic during my inspection. An inspection by me always takes in excess of 2 hours. A lot of that time is going thru the electronics especially navs, and touch screens. I make a readout of past codes that were stored and corrected. I pull airfilters. I cause codes to occur and then reset the problem. I will take apart the car to the extent the seller will let me In one instance I even drained the oil, cause there were issues with the car being a program car, and my concern was if there were filings in the pan. I use a lited snake with abuilt in camera that allows me to see areas that I want to know if they have been damaged. In the cases I have inspected, the dealer or private party, either tells me what is wrong after an hour of inspection or they know I wont find anything if there isnt anything to find. In several instances I have found problems that I felt were of such importance to cancel the deal. Except for one buyer, evryone took my advice and cancelled the deal. In those instances that were cancelled, I would tell the general mgr or private party what I would do to sellthe car if it were mine. I wont give advice on how to "cover something up" in order to screw over a future buyer. If it is a program car, unless the deal is a steal these cars are almost always a disaster. The gf's and I were in Las Vegas and the Jag rep allowed us to drive a red xkrs. Our whole intent was to drive that car to the extent to see if we could trash it. It was a 92 degree day out and by the time the 4 of us got done with the xkrs, it shoudl have been junked. I dont know who bought it, but I would never have allowed a client to buy this car, even for 25,000. the xkrs was either a late 2012 that was titled as a 2013 or an early 2013. The only worse thing that can happen to a hi-line car is having people drive it that know how to get everything out of it and then what the car isnt willing to give up. I even inspected a car that had fake oxygen sensors in the verts that werent used to boost performance but were used to prevent codes and this car never would have passed emissions inspection in any state. After peole make their deal I almost always send them to a credit union that will give them finance below 2% on used cars, even up to $300,000. Carfax and such are useless in my opinion. Just a girls way of doing things

 

SoCal Babe - You say, “Our whole intent was to drive that car ... to see if we could trash it … and by the time the 4 of us got done with the XKR-S, it should have been junked.

Why would you intentionally try to 'trash' a car that didn't belong to you ...especially an XKR-S? For that matter, why would you intentionally try to 'trash' a car that DID belong to you ... especially an XKR-S? You've got me confused! The first 90% of your posting made me think you were a real Jag enthusiast, but after you describe your trip to Las Vegas, I'm thinking you're just a jerk. Please set me straight.