I posted an introduction thread, but to briefly recap, I am looking for a 2003-2006 XKR convertible, not silver, decent miles. I found a local one, '03, black, 85K and looked at it Saturday.

It's a three owner, service records only for the current owner of about 3 years. He's spent about $6500 at the dealer for suspension and brake work and has put on some tires and miscellaneous trim bits. He also hit the stairs in his garage causing a crack in one of the "teeth" of the front grill, which was replaced and the bumper was badly painted. The leading edge of the hood has some bubbling which he tried to fix with superglue. The rest of the paint appears good but with a lot of haze and scratches as one might expect from normal use. There doesn't appear to be any repainting although the passenger door is a bit wavy. The top looks good and works well although the headliner is dirty. The beige seats are worn and the car smells a bit musty.

Mechanically it feels strong and solid, steering is tight and responsive, the transmission shifts well and the engine runs smoothly with proper performance. Brakes are good with some very light squealing but no pulling or pulsing. Fairly bad knock from the cowl area on uneven roads, otherwise fairly tight and mostly rattle-free once the thing warmed up and the tire flat spots evened out. The knock is all aural, i.e. not coming from the suspension as far as I could feel.

Wheels and tires are good, there is some torn weatherstripping on the top, the headrests make a gawdawful noise when you lean either seat forward (as it tries to lower and raise them) and all of wood trim is intact except for the center console, which has one bad crack, no flaking.

He's asking $13K. I gave him a non-offer of $10K pending PPI. I figure an interior refresh plus painting the front clip would probably run me close to 3K. I didn't want to insult him with that offer, but told him that if/when he got tired of dealing with people trying to sell it and just wanted to get rid of it, I'd be a buyer at 10. I'm now wondering if even that is high. I would prefer lower miles.

Yeah, yeah, I know, 85K is nothing in the grand scheme of things, but I tend to be fickle with car ownership and I figure it's going to be a tougher sell when I get ready to move on and it's got nearly 100K.

$13K seems to be about where these cars are at, but that's a retail price really and I expect something selling at retail to be retail ready. Am I expecting too much?

Seller's pictures, based on the surroundings (not his current house) and condition looks to be from when he bought it several years ago:

 

Not fond of 'musty'. I generally pass on cars with this 'feature' since this tends to be persistent, even with substantial effort.

It also seems pricy for body problems in the front and the general description (KBB agrees, even for 'very good', 10K is at the top of the range, yet this doesn't seem 'very good'). And, as you know, how much the owner spent on various bits in the past has limited influence on the value.

On the plus side, the headrests are an easy and well-documented fix.

 

Musty could be from the AC drain, they can get get stopped up or the hose come loose and then water ends up around tunnel in the foot wells.

 

what's the fix for the headrests?

 

Update: the buyer texted me this morning to say that he would accept my $10K. I had already decided that $10K is still too much considering how much I'd have to put into it.

 

never mind, i found it.

 

Used, abused, and neglected. Forget it. It will take twice what you're thinking to get this XKR back into a lasting condition. WAAAAY too many expensive issues. I've seen nicer ones for less....but not near where you or I might live. That underhood groaning is possibly the shock tower mounts. I've done mine, but the parts are not cheap and it involves taking the entire suspension and shock assembly out. I'd say that if the rest of the car is this shabby, the engine has been run like a scalded dog and not maintained properly. Plus, that tranny should have already had a complete service and fluid change (BS on that 100K miles crap).

Good luck, but move on to a better car.

Ken