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Part I is around here somewhere, describing a Craigslist car with 85K for $13,000. I offered him $10K but later decided that it wasn't even worth that. There was a fair amount of cosmetic damage that needed to be addressed.
After posting that here, several members offered me their car for consideration. All offerings were very nice, but were either too expensive, had too many miles, or both. Or silver. I just. Don't. Like. Silver. Sorry.
I know, these cars can take high mileage, nothing wrong with that. But there are things that wear, especially interior bits, and I just prefer low mileage cars, and yes, I know I pay a premium for that.
So, long story short, one of the members sent me a PM. His dad had bought a 2003 XKR convertible in 2006, and as a retired gentleman who had obtained his dream car, drove it sparingly, and tucked it away, covered, in his garage. Unfortunately, his dad passed away a couple of years ago. He and his mom kept the car, driving it occasionally to keep it running OK, and then finally decided to sell it this year. And then Covid hit, so he didn't make an effort. And then I came along.
So we emailed back and forth, sent pictures, I asked questions, ran a Carfax, and we finally agreed on a price pending PPI. The PPI came back good except for previously noted issues, so I bought the car.
With bad tires, the seller said I could not drive it home (he's in MD, I'm in NC) and I really didn't want to fly up there anyway, since there are no direct flights and, you know, Covid. So I had it shipped. Another long story there; but basically shipping a car can be a nightmare, most "shipping companies" are brokers, who then find someone who will take the car. You don't know who you're getting. The companies like Intercity do it all themselves, but they are very expensive. I decided to use a company that I had used before (Passport) but they lie, lie, lie and kept putting me off and rescheduling and lying some more, so I told them to stick it. Even after that, they continued calling and lying to me. Very annoying. Looking back on the first time I used them, they kept delaying pickup with lots of excuses (weather, truck broke, weather) but in hindsight, that may just be how they operate.
Last week I was driving to work and saw a truck and trailer with "Twin Roses Logistics" on the door. No number. I thought, hey, if these Passport guys don't get to it this week, maybe I'll try someone local. So I fired Passport and researched and then called TRL and they quoted me $250 to move it. All my other quotes were $500-$1200 (Passport was $850) and although it was an open trailer, it wasn't too far away, and they said they could probably get it next Tuesday, so I booked it with them. Sunday they tell me that they can pick it up Monday, and they did, and this morning (Tuesday) I got my new XK-R. I can use the $600 to pay for deferred maintenance.
Right now it has just under 28K miles on it, it needs tires and a light bulb and a new headlight lens (which was included), all of which was disclosed to me. It could probably use an alignment and an oil change, transmission service and some decent gasoline. But otherwise, it appears to be an exceptionally nice car and the wife is thrilled. I thought I was buying it for me...
Picture attached since you've probably never seen an XKR before. LOL This is at work (hey, I had to drive it) right off the truck. It will look even better this weekend after a wash and polish.
Oh, hey, it's got the 20" wheels on it, and I think I'd prefer some nice all-seasons rather than summer tires. I'm open to recommendations.
Oh, and let me add, if I may, that I would not have even considered buying this car if not for the wealth of information already on this site and the knowledge and willingness of the members here to help out everyone else. I thank you all.
Nice find, it's great that you were able to knowledgably communicate with the buyer and make a purchase that satisfied both of you. And a splendid color and condition. Now about the leaper...
And after you have new tires, and a bit of time to enjoy this, it will be time for a name change!
Well done, keep all posted on your impressions and findings.
Congrats on your awesome find, welcome to XKR ownership! Beautiful color. This forum has been such a great source of help and information. Wishing you many years of enjoyment and pride of Jaguar ownership, well done!
A lot of effort to remove it.
Couple of rubber plugs or leave it there, just depends on how much you can not look at it.
Seriously, not a big deal but it will be professional paint blending to get rid of the holes.
Oh that XKR looks amazing! Is the interior as good as the exterior?
And with that mileage I just got jealous.
If you consider selling it in the future please let me know!
Oh that XKR looks amazing! Is the interior as good as the exterior?
Thanks! I cleaned up the interior a bit last night (I'm a smidgen OCD) and took a pic.
Originally Posted by NorXKR
If you consider selling it in the future please let me know!
Thanks, send me a PM, and I'll keep it filed away. I'm pretty notorious for flipping cars, so it's more likely than not that I'll see something shiny next year and think "oh, pretty, Michael must buy this" and I'm already out of parking space.
[QUOTE=BimmerGuy;2308775]Part I is around here somewhere, describing a Craigslist car with 85K for $13,000. I offered him $10K but later decided that it wasn't even worth that. There was a fair amount of cosmetic damage that needed to be addressed.
After posting that here, several members offered me their car for consideration. All offerings were very nice, but were either too expensive, had too many miles, or both. Or silver. I just. Don't. Like. Silver. Sorry.
I know, these cars can take high mileage, nothing wrong with that. But there are things that wear, especially interior bits, and I just prefer low mileage cars, and yes, I know I pay a premium for that.
So, long story short, one of the members sent me a PM. His dad had bought a 2003 XKR convertible in 2006, and as a retired gentleman who had obtained his dream car, drove it sparingly, and tucked it away, covered, in his garage. Unfortunately, his dad passed away a couple of years ago. He and his mom kept the car, driving it occasionally to keep it running OK, and then finally decided to sell it this year. And then Covid hit, so he didn't make an effort. And then I came along.
So we emailed back and forth, sent pictures, I asked questions, ran a Carfax, and we finally agreed on a price pending PPI. The PPI came back good except for previously noted issues, so I bought the car.
With bad tires, the seller said I could not drive it home (he's in MD, I'm in NC) and I really didn't want to fly up there anyway, since there are no direct flights and, you know, Covid. So I had it shipped. Another long story there; but basically shipping a car can be a nightmare, most "shipping companies" are brokers, who then find someone who will take the car. You don't know who you're getting. The companies like Intercity do it all themselves, but they are very expensive. I decided to use a company that I had used before (Passport) but they lie, lie, lie and kept putting me off and rescheduling and lying some more, so I told them to stick it. Even after that, they continued calling and lying to me. Very annoying. Looking back on the first time I used them, they kept delaying pickup with lots of excuses (weather, truck broke, weather) but in hindsight, that may just be how they operate.
Last week I was driving to work and saw a truck and trailer with "Twin Roses Logistics" on the door. No number. I thought, hey, if these Passport guys don't get to it this week, maybe I'll try someone local. So I fired Passport and researched and then called TRL and they quoted me $250 to move it. All my other quotes were $500-$1200 (Passport was $850) and although it was an open trailer, it wasn't too far away, and they said they could probably get it next Tuesday, so I booked it with them. Sunday they tell me that they can pick it up Monday, and they did, and this morning (Tuesday) I got my new XK-R. I can use the $600 to pay for deferred maintenance.
Right now it has just under 28K miles on it, it needs tires and a light bulb and a new headlight lens (which was included), all of which was disclosed to me. It could probably use an alignment and an oil change, transmission service and some decent gasoline. But otherwise, it appears to be an exceptionally nice car and the wife is thrilled. I thought I was buying it for me...
Picture attached since you've probably never seen an XKR before. LOL This is at work (hey, I had to drive it) right off the truck. It will look even better this weekend after a wash and polish.
Oh, hey, it's got the 20" wheels on it, and I think I'd prefer some nice all-seasons rather than summer tires. I'm open to recommendations.
I have a 2004 XKR Coupe and I just replaced my tires with what was on there: Continental Extreme Contact D6. They hold well and wear well. They have the designation on the thread “DWS” that stands for “Dry, Wet, Snow”. The letters are different depths with snow being the least and dry being the most, indicating the tires remaining capability as these letters wear away.
I purchased the car 2-1/2 years ago with these tires and they still had 7/32” remaining or roughly half their tread. They were however seven years old and even thought they showed no signs of dry rot, I decided to replace them.
Look at these and give them a shot. I think you will
like them. They are ZR rated, which is above 149 mph and I thing the maximum speed is 186. Don’t worry, you cannot go beyond 155 with your XKR unless you know how to bypass the electronic speed limiter.
I just replaced my tires with what was on there: Continental Extreme Contact D6. They hold well and wear well. They have the designation on the thread “DWS” that stands for “Dry, Wet, Snow”. The letters are different depths with snow being the least and dry being the most, indicating the tires remaining capability as these letters wear away.
Ha! I just ordered those tires, will have them installed Saturday. Great minds think alike.
I remember seeing the letters in the tread, and thought it was just a marketing thing. They're actually functional, how about that! Thanks for the education.
.
“...... Don’t worry, you cannot go beyond 155 with your XKR unless you know how to bypass the electronic speed limiter.
Surprisingly, many of the road tests I’ve read are reporting a timed top speed of 159-164 mph. Reportedly on cars that had no bypass of the speed limiter.
my diminishing reflexes had me backing off of the throttle @ 140 mph, so I’m personally unable to verify the top speed of my ‘02 XKR.
It looks grand.
With the truckers: it all depends on the tip.
If it is attractive it gets towed straight away.
With all due respect if your tip was a bit meagre than the 'lies' issue forth as more lucrative tows are taken up by the haulers.
I think they post the 'tows' and truckers buzz around like bees taking the best ones first.
A tip to remember with towing interstate.
It looks grand.
With the truckers: it all depends on the tip.
If it is attractive it gets towed straight away.
With all due respect if your tip was a bit meagre than the 'lies' issue forth as more lucrative tows are taken up by the haulers.
Thanks, but I'm confused. How am I supposed to specify or communicate the tip amount ahead of time?
Before you have the car aligned, it would be a good idea to check the front upper mounts and springs. The front seems a little too low. This deteriorates with age alone, not mileage.
Before you have the car aligned, it would be a good idea to check the front upper mounts and springs. The front seems a little too low. This deteriorates with age alone, not mileage.
Adventures in XKR shopping, part deux
