about a month ago I found an '03 XK8 on autotrader. long story short, I called the title bureau in his state and found out the car had a lien on it and the seller had given me a fake last name.

two weeks ago I found another '03 XK8, the exact color combination I was after, less than 30k miles, for under $20k. it was 2000 miles away from me, so the seller agreed to have it inspected at my expense, and volunteered to not show the car to any other prospective buyers. I paid for the inspection, it came back OK, and so at this point I was merely waiting for her to coordinate the money & title transfer with her attorney (this was an estate sale). I had offered - twice - to transfer a small deposit to her in the interim to display my sincerity, she insisted that this wasn't necessary and that she'd hold the car for me.

In the meantime I found a deal I couldn't pass up on ebay for a set of the '06 victory edition style chrome wheels.

...now flash forward to 20 minutes ago (after not hearing from her for a week, prompting an email and a phone call from me), and I get an email from the seller explaining that the car was sold last week

So far in dealing with this second seller I've: lost the cost of a carfax report, a non-refundable deposit to an inspector who supposedly couldn't reach the seller by phone, $110 to some Jaguar shop in the Palm Springs area who did inspect the car, and now I've got a stack of wheels sitting in my garage without a car to put them on.

Oh well. Those wheels sure are purdy to look at

Back to searching.

 

Hey Ohio- My December 2004 XK 8 purchase was trouble free. I suggest the eyeball to eyeball transaction if you have the patience. Less hassle for sure--good luck to you on the XK hunt--you'll be happy once it is sitting in your driveway!!

 

OhioXK
I think I would have waited to have car in hand before investing in the wheels. I'm not sure if the 06 will fit without adapters. Someone else on the forum maybe able to help you on that.
Doug
2001 XKR Silverstone

 

I know this makes the hunt harder but I learned from experience;
1. Carfax has limited value. Many accidents never show up on these reports. Maintenance performed or not almost never shows up on a Carfax
2. Independent inspections are often surface inspections at best. Most of these "inspections" will tell you if the gauges work but will not tell you if the compression is good or if the suspensions is in order etc.
3. I consider Ebay sketchy at best.
For me I have to be able to go see the car myself before I would consider it. I try to keep my "willing to travel" radius in something I can see and be back home in the same day. So I would say a 200 mile radius. I know this makes it harder but no matter how good the pictures accounts and descriptions buying a car unseen always leeds to some degree of unexpected surprises and dissapointments. Keep up the hunt you will come out on top! good luck.

 

I did hesitate before purchasing the wheels due to not having the car yet, however the ebay listing was going to expire within a few hours from when I found it, and the price was simply too good to pass up. If I need to sell them, I should be able to recover most of my money.

I wasn't aware of a need for adapters; I thought all (03-06 at least) wheels were interchangeable?

 

You're good on the 06 wheels, they'll bolt to any 97-06 xk8/r. 2007+ is where the new bolt pattern started.

Keep looking, if there's any here in Dallas/Ft Worth, or surrounding area, let me know...I'd love to help out. Texas Cars Direct is just a stone's throw away...and they always have good cars, and very good deals. They pick you up at the airport and take you to your car also, so I hear.

 

I bought my XKR from 1000 miles away from a small time used car lot on Autotrader. I had it inspected, then made an offer.

The non-jaguar specialist inspector missed worn front brakes (doh), non-functional passenger seat recline, memory, headrest, wear on the drivers seat, missing convertible cover, missing key, a couple of minor dings, rear bumper repaint, a couple of minor converible top piping wear areas and a stained headliner, (and a few other things I forgot by now).

I had put down a $500 deposit after his inspection, and the price was still roughly right for the condition. The seller was fairly motivated, I had the money in hand and I was able to negotiate a few more dollars out of the deal.

I feel I was lucky, but I agree, the process will almost always lead to some surprises.

 

If you want me to check out any cars in the Raleigh, NC area just let me know. I've gotten pretty good at identifying problems on XK8s.

I'm not sure what color combo you're looking for, but check out this one. It's an 03 XKR for $19K. 2003 Jaguar XKR Convertible Supercharged White Navigation Low Miles

 

If you live in a part of the country where there aren't many of these cars, it can get real difficult - any delay on a good car and you loose it, and and the time to arrange an appraisal or travel is usually up to a week. The cars that 'hang around' always seem to be ridiculously priced and/or have problems (either with the car, or with the seller, if you check references on Google/Edmunds etc)

A few weeks ago I had a car (literally) taken out of the appraisers hands and sold to a 'walk in' customer as he was appraising it (dealer didn't even call me to tell me, or ask me if I wanted to make an offer). I wonder if they would have done that had I been the one looking at the car?

Today I was planning to fly to VA to view (and probably buy) a car, only listed on Monday. This time the dealer was good - called me yesterday to tell me the car was sold, but now it's back to oodle and cars.com...

In fairness, this dealer had asked me to put down $1000 'to hold the car' - but the form he sent me for the cc details just indicated it was a 'deposit'. Verbally he indicated that 'of course it was refundable if I decided not to buy' - but I don't trust that unless it says it on the form.

I'm coming to the conclusion that next time I just have to get on a plane mid-week once I see something tempting - but that's going to get expensive fast....

-Steve

PS Sam - if anything else turns up in NC I may take you up on your offer - unfortunately white's not my color! (but I am looking for an 04 or 03)

 

wow, I'm very grateful... thanks h20boy & Rev. your offers were totally unexpected and generous

glad to hear the wheels will fit.

Rev, thanks for the link. I may as well post what I'm looking for here, perhaps someone has a lead.

My ideal, and probably impractically specific, car: '04 XK8 Black/Black top/Dove interior & the 3 gauges rather than the satnav.

What I'd consider:
03-06 convertible, though I really prefer the 03-04 front.
Black / Black top
Dove (preferably) or Charcoal interior
under 45k miles. preferably under 30k.
I'd actually prefer an XK8 to an XKR, but I'd consider an XKR.

btw, here's the one which started me on this quest a couple months ago: http://www.ecarlist.com/showroom/995/photos/762954#05 the seller wanted $28k for it, but I saw a similar one sell for $22k elsewhere and didn't want to overpay.

@thefixer: yeah there's not many of these in my area. I've seen a total of 4 since the model debuted ~15 years ago. Ferraris, while rarely seen around here, are more common.

 

New member here. Steve, my wife and I want to say THANK YOU for not putting a deposit on the car. I mean that in the best possible way. We have been looking for about four weeks for a car, any car, to replace the Lincoln that was about ready to die. I never in my wildest dreams imagined that I would be able to get what I consider to be one of the most beautiful cars ever built.

Be patient, you will find the car you are looking for.

 

now thats ^^ a strange coincidence, isn't it?

 

Yes, it is strange. When I read his post I was surprised!

We are still giddy about owning the car. For example, we went to the grocery store today to pick up some stuff. When I drove the car back to the loading area to put the groceries in the trunk, my wife just stood there.

Me: Honey, aren't you going to bring the cart over here so I can unload it?
Her: [Breaking out of a trance] Oh, sorry! I was just staring at the car.

 

Here is one that might be worth contacting. It is a bit far from you, but it is So. Cal. so the car shouldn't have been exposed to harsh weather. No pictures and a weak description, but I wouldn't shy away from ads like this unless it really smells like a scam, which this one doesn't. This is how I found my XJR, a CL ad with no pics and a weak description. It took calling to tell it might be the right one.

 

If you weren't limited on colors, there is an 06 in Nashville TN. Silver with Black on Black, 65k for 21k. I've looked in my area and that's about all I can come up with.

 

Hi Ed,

That just goes to prove how few of these there seem to be for sale (at least the '04s). Hope the car's a good one - I'll just keep on searching!!!

-Steve

 

The only value I see for Carfax is to see if a vehicle isn't salvaged, a lemon, and to check if the owner was good with regular maintenance.

Of course it doesn't show that an owner may have maintained a car themselves, but it will show you if they've had their maintenance done by the dealer or by a tech that actually submits reports.

I felt very reassured that my vehicle's carfax showed a long and steady report of regular servicing... nearly 40 entries. And in the end, it proved to be better than I had expected, but ymmv.

 

I find they vary - but I'd always check it (also AutoCheck - often one picks up things the other doesn't). That said, looking at the car yourself is very hard to beat.

-Steve

 

When I tried selling a car on autotrader, all I ended up getting were flakes as respondees. So I guess it goes both ways.


Doug

 

This has to be one of the funniest/saddest threads ever.