I'm considering the merits of putting in an offer for an XKR that supposedly sustained fresh water damage. Would I be a complete idiot for doing so? Does anyone out there with knowledge of these cars' electrical systems know if this would be worth taking on, or would it be an impossible task? Thanks for any valid input you all can offer.

 

Also, I have zero knowledge of the incident, nor do I know if someone tried to start it afterward. Mainly, I'm hoping to find out if this is even worth taking the time to pursue. Again, thank you all in advance.

 

These cars haves literally dozens of electronic modules, which are not water friendly and control every aspect of the vehicle.

Some of the modules will need to be programmed to the vehicle even if you find replacements. Then, if you manage to get it working you could still be looking at a lifetime of intermttent issues.

Unless you have at least dealer level diagnostic equipment, strong electronics skills and more knowledge of just what happened this can be a costly frustrating nightmare.

 

I would advise against that purchase. I suspect that any factory warranty would be invalidated by the water issue. The electronics are far too complex and expensive on this car to take a chance. You did not mention the price but, that could be a factor. For me to consider something like that it would have to be nearly given away free.

Albert

 

Wouldnt touch it...
Also leery of the term "fresh water" vs all Hurricane Sandy's Salt water cars now showing up on the market....

Hose off the salt crud and call it "fresh"?

 

It's in Washington, so I'm going to assume it's a non-Sandy car for now. The thing is, it's a French Blue 2012 XKR-S, which is my absolute dream car. I am having a very hard time saying no, and this is why I need all the educated input I can get. Still waiting to hear about the incident details, I should know something soon.

 

They regularly ship cars across the country following auctions.

Be very careful. I know, the attraction of a great deal an XKR-s is hard to resist but, you could be taking a HUGE gamble. Also, when it comes to selling, you'd have problems because no decent dealership would trade-in the car and very few individual buyers would even consider it.

Albert

 

Ok, the verdict is in. You all make excellent points and after talking with multiple Jaguar technicians, the consensus is that it if got wet at all, I should run, not walk away from it regardless of how wonderful and perfect and incredible a French Blue XKR-S is. The guy was asking 25,000 for it, I guess I was hoping I could justify the expense. Thank you all for your input, I'm going to go crawl into a corner and just be mad at the world for a minute or two. Heh.

 

$25,000!? Jeeze... at that price, I'd be at least tempted to check it out. I'm sure it would give me one or two weeks of trouble-free service...

 

I'm curious...did you find out the specifics of the water damage? Was the car completely submerged? Did the water only get into the floorboard area?

 

I know, right? Other than the water issue, the car is perfect. At 25k, I was having an awful hard time finding reasons to say no. I'm pretty sure my wallet was actually vibrating a little in my back pocket.

 

The seller said "I have no info besides it got wet." When I informed him that I was going to pass on the offer, he said "Yes it's not worth rebuilding this one, it is best suited to rebuild another car and part out the remainder."

Now I'm thinking, What parts can I pick from it to make my Portfolio a little more awesome? I can't leave this alone....

 

Sounds like a salvage car which likely does not start or run. If that is the case, indeed RUUUUUN!!! For all you know the engine and transmission internals may be water damaged and rusted.

For a certain buyer it might worth $25K as a display item.

Albert

 

at 25K and buying another non-rain wrecked XK for 30K, you'd still be way under if you could piece them together.

 

Way under what? Water? The market value of an XKR-S in good condition?

But then you wouldn't have a real XKR-S. Unless of course you're using the $30k used XK as parts to put on the salvaged XKR-S!

 

Depends. How much to replace each computer that might be ruined? Versus how much a regular used xkr would cost.

If it was a Ferrari F40 for $25,000 it would be worth the gamble to me!

 

Yes, he'd have a pieced together "XKR-S" for under 60K (not including labor).

Does the flood damage car turn over? Way too much for me to get involved with, but someone who's handy, it may be doable???

 

It might appear to make sense to buy it and restore it. You could probably buy it for $25k, restore it for $50k, and be in it $75k--this would probably be well under the cost of a non-water damaged used XKR-S.

However, reselling it would be near impossible (I doubt anyone would pay you more than $40k for it, especially with a salvage title). Even then, with every passing moment, a non-salvage 2012 XKR-S would be depreciating at a rate of hundreds of dollars a month, as would this repaired one, although probably not as badly!

 

There's two facets to this posting:
#1 - should YOU buy it? By the sound/tone of your posting it sounds like you are very emotionally attached and looking more so for validation for purchasing it than you are for advice... and realize that you're getting all this advice for free and it is worth that you're paying. We cannot answer your question until we know FAR more info:
What is your budget?
What is your mechanical aptitude/knowledge and access to a decent workshop?
what is your end goal? (a daily driver, flip it, etc?)
how bad is this car? (you cannot trust what the seller is telling you here)

#2 - your question was "would I buy it?" - no. I do ALL my own maintenance on all my vehicles. (Porsches, BMW's, motorcycles, Honda's, etc) so I am well above most out there in terms of dealing with issues. Many have mentioned possible damage to the computers but what about EVERY electrical connector, wiring harness, brakes, rust on critical things like small springs, leather damage, delamination of the wood, bolts rusting together, rust in places you cannot see... starting to get the picture? I've seen MANY cars listed as "excellent condition" that were badly repainted but most would not have noticed and thought they were saving a few grand. Salvaged cars often cannot get financing, sometimes have trouble getting insurance, and are FAR tougher to sell taking much longer to unload for a reason. Do you have access to discount Jag parts, if not this couldbe a killer. Likely whomever buys this will have endless issues both when they try restroring this car and from there forward as the issues will constantly creep up - and that's IF in fact it was only fresh water... salt water is MUCH worse.

In the end how much could you be saving versus how much could you be stuck with? If you are parting it out it MIGHT be worth something but figure in your outlay and your hours invested... if this is a driver for you and you think you're saving maybe $20K this will likely be a nightmare with never-ending issues. If it were an accident, like someone else bought on this board, then at least the damage is known and parts can easily be replaced, this is not the case here.

Good luck, you sound like you really want this car and might be only looking at the best case scenario not realistically especially with regard to the risk/reward.

 

Yes, I forgot about the marked title. That would definitely factor into the equation!