I'm searching nationwide for a used XK convertible and using Goodcar to review histories by VIN. It's amazing - to me - that so many cars after 20 years show odometers with 20-40,000 or even less miles, confirmed by CarMax and Goodcar. Many sellers report "always garaged" and the cars SEEM to be in really good shape.
Do people just buy and hardly ever drive? Is is possible there is a vast conspiracy or network that rolls back the odometers?
FWIW I'm hoping to find a low-mileage 2009+ XK 2+2 convertible at a fair price and then invest the $8,000 or so to replace the notorious troublesome plastic coolant pipes, timing chain tensioners/guides and water pump.
Your thoughts and advice welcome.

I need a cool car to go with my guitar.

 

We who drive them ignore the garage queens and sunny sunday drivers ;-). And keep them longer??

Smart thinking having a slush fund for refurbishment. There are a number of maintenance items that some ignore, then ditch the vehicle.

 

I bought mine in August of last year. An 08 XKR convertible. Had 83k miles and I've added about 1500.
I won't drive it in the rain or below around 45F. Have three cars, so no need.
If you are looking for the naturally aspirated (XK not XKR) an $8k budget should be fine.
If XKR, that would actually be tight from what I've seen so far on mine, depending on if it will be DIY or all shop work and what the previous owner documented has been done.
How much has been done will of course influence purchase price.
I was told when I was shopping, documented maintenance history is everything. This is 100% true and can mean the difference between $2k and $8k+.
Heck, my tires alone were $1300, but again the XKR has 20" offset.
All that said, once you've done all the maintenance, you'll have a reliable (4.2L slightly more so than 5.0) car for years to come.

In my search I'd found plenty of good example XKs out there. Various special editions are nice as they offer unique interior color combos and some upgrades that the XKRs get stock. Not sure of the current market, but last July/August a nice XK coupe could be had for $12-15k. Convertibles a bit more.
There were examples under $12k but after speaking with the owner, I wouldn't touch them with a 100 foot pole.

Good luck! They are beautiful and amazing cars that can be had for a song compared to their Aston Martin cousins, and other similar cars.

 

Thanks for a thoughtful and informative reply.

 

Lots of people consider these cars as Point A to Point A vehicles, never using them for transportation. Take a drive and park it back in it's little beddy spot.

 

My xk conv is my daily driver. I'm old and don't commute to work but, live in spred out Texas. I've put 40k miles on it over the last 4+ years.
For security my Mazda sits in the corner, covered with ctek attached.
Enjoy the ride!
WJ

 

I think it’s probably because most owners use them as a second or summer car. I have a 2008 XKR Convertible with 34000 miles. It’s just had its MOT and previous tests show that the car has done just 1200 miles in the last three years. I bought it late last summer and after parking it up over the winter I’m planning to put some miles on it this summer.

 

One maintenance item that infrequent driving habits absolutely require is yearly oil changes regardless of how few miles are put on. Anyone looking at a potential purchase and checking service records should be looking for the regular oil changes.

 

A few miles on a used car that hasn't been modified and has by regularly serviced will be fine...with the usual checks.
I brought mine with 63k and after 4 years it has 86k
Lots of life left...

 

Maybe it's because they are so beautiful we treat them like princesses. Got my '08 XK 4.2 in November 2025 with only 36,000 miles for only $14k US, so I was confident that the power train was solid, but time had done its (expected) damage. Needed new wheels, tires, suspension, so my investment probably exceeds its value in a very soft market for these cars. No matter - driving it is a pure joy that far exceeds the $$. Reconditioned the paint and put on a ceramic coating. Like new head-turner.

 

Great. I just found a 2014 XK 56,500 miles $29,000 Dark Sapphire Metallic exterior color and expect to take it on the road next week.
Been searching nationwide and feel the price is OK.

 

Make sure you get collector car insurance or you really will get screwed....

 

It's the battery and electrical issues not solved lead to the battery constantly dying(hence all the stuff about buying a cTEK). This car turned off uses a crap ton of electricity if not properly shut off and not properly shut off looks the same as shut off unfortunately. Britain cars also have this annoying active alarm sounder with battery backup that tends to go bad and keep the car on. American jaguar cars rarely have this and usually have the passive one.

Luckily they're pretty easily fixable. Replace trunk latch(do it preemptively if bored) if noticing issues, replace remote batteries, upgrade to AGM battery or lithium($$$), Upgrade battery ground cables and clean/sand/reseat battery ground contact point and ideally the engine grounds below car too, check every door correctly reports back status via opening/closing to dashboard LED screen behind the wheel. CHECK the alarm triggered status in the head unit(will be triangle on screen): mine said this was caused by trunk which clued me in to the cause. Whatever door/trunk reports back in alarm triggered is likely the cause for electrical shut down issues.

Bonus: use an advanced car scanner like an autel or creader elite to check if all door/trunk latches report back status to dashboard or some fault code is keeping the car on. Worth the $200 when haggling with car owners and finding hidden non-obd faults.

I purchased mine for around $11k and found the trunk latch worked but was partially broken in that it wasn't keeping the car informed which never shut off the car when parked. Previous two owners had receipts showing repairs where the shop kept putting in non-AGM batteries and unsuccessfully did not fix the battery drain issue.

Needless to say, most mechanics or DIY car repair guys are not electricians.

Do not bother unless you wire resistors in, replacing the rear lights with LEDs: will also throw weird codes randomly. Stick with bulbs on older models.