Like the question says. Sure you could have purchased a different car but instead you chose to purchase a Jag instead. What was your decision ?

 

Standing 50 feet away and just looking at one.

Happened to me in a parking lot. Never seen one before. Had to have one.

Had nothing to do with performance, comfort, reliability, or any of the other things. Just had to have one.

 

Ironically, it was the depreciation.
Of course it's a great looking, nice riding, good handling, and reasonably peppy car. And bonus, I can put the top down when it's not raining.
I've lusted over jags for decades. When the warranty runs out they get cheap. Ford improved on the reliability for a few years and we're enjoying the runout of that.
What other car is out there that left the showroom north of $70k and I can find a well kept example for 10-15% of what it cost new? I haven't found it. Thanks to this forum I find it easy to troubleshoot, maintain, & repair. At the level I'm at salvage value is not much different than the original capital investment. I've put 50k on it since that original outlay.

Mike

 

Agreed. The looks, but on closer inspection, the wood, the leather, the luxury, the purr, the performance and the exclusivity. Also, the discovery that a used one was in my price range. I caved and bought one. ha

 

Saw what I believe was a 'Sea Foam' Conv with the top down about 10-12 years ago and fell in love with it.

I have a Phoenix Red one now, but when the chance came to get my present one for the price, color was not a question.

Besides, being a 'creature of habit', it matches two prior vehicles of mine, a '66 Mustang Red Ext/Blk Int and '72 (I believe) Dodge Charger Red Ext/Blk Int (anyway it's was the Model Year before the Dukes of Hazard without the numbers and way before the TV show hit the air waves). So I guess it was fate with the Red/Black combo for the XK8.

 

Howdy Folks:
My wife and I were with another couple one Sunday afternoon on the sidewalks of Blowing Rock NC, when my friend (He drives a Pontiac retractable) questioned me about a parked top down XK8. He knew I was in the market for a retractable (Caddy XLR, SL55,or SLK55). I proceeded to tell him about the bad reputation that they had. The more I bad mouthed it, the more I wanted one. That was Spring 2010. I had a 66 Skylark Conv. that I had to sell first. I bought mine in Oct 2010 and I still do not regret it.

 

I fell in love with Jags when I was a kid in the 1960s and 1970s. I still think that the XKE is the most beautiful car ever made. Then a couple years ago I was searching eBay for a car and saw that Jags were actually affordable. Did some research and learned that Ford had improved their reliability and finally found this forum which gave me the confidence to take the plunge. I think that next to the XKE, the X100 style XK is the most beautiful car ever made and realized I could own one without having to sell a kidney on the black market. I looked for about 10 months and found a 2002 Quartz (gray) XKR with 34k miles for $20k and bought it. I now own my dream car and I love it.

Mark

 

Having been lucky enough to have owned an XKE roadster many many years ago I was hooked on Jags and these of course are the closest thing to the most beautiful car ever created but alot more reliable...... well, once ya fix the little buggers in them.

 

Just look at it. how could you NOT want it?

 

Me too... Always loved the XKE. Got to drive a V-12 in high school and was hooked. Loved all the Leyland cars.. have owned a bunch. Even a couple XJ's in my earlier life. I had been wanting another convertible and had the bug for a Honda S2000. But, in shopping found I could get the superior XK for the same money. Then, as I shopped, found I wanted a newer (post chain tensioner) model, and ended up finding my 2004 at a very reasonable price. I am very happy. I understand the care and feeding required for cars like this, and can do the wrenching myself, so barring any catestrophic problems-- I am extremely happy with the choice. MC

 

+1 on all above.

I've had several Jags from late 79 on up, always wanted an XK Coupe...not many around here locally until mine turned up. Drove a few convertibles but wanted the coupe.

An associate has an Aston DB-7...great car, but in all honesty..I think the Jag is as pretty and my vintage has the best interior..I like it better than the DB's...love that huge slab of wood with the three gauges.

Plus, my 7 year old daughter fell in love with it when she figured out she can put her Micky and Minnie Mouse dolls in the back seat and buckle them in..(actually still a tight fit for them).

Funny, even though it had the rear main seal replaced prior to my buying it, it has a small oil leak...I love the smell of a British car when I open the garage in the morning...

 

The price for the combination of performance, luxury and style was pretty darn good. New, I would've been hard pressed to buy an XKR over an SL600, but given the Jaguar has a better reputation for reliability and significantly lower parts costs, it made it a no brainer.

This is the first car that I honestly would replace with exactly the same car if it got totalled. That means something.

 

I'm a masochist.

 

I never considered a Jag. in my initial research of convertibles. I had decided I wanted a vert after 2 of 3 kids finished college and I figured it was time to get another one after owing several during my youth. I was actually looking at the Honda 2000S until i drove one---ugh---I discovered I wasn't 18 any longer. It was a hoot to drive and handled very well but it beat me up inside of 30 min. I then drove a BMW M3---it was nice but way to loud with the top down. Plus it was just another BMW in the Asheville area. I saw a XKR in the paper at the local Jaguar dealership and decided to test drive it---wow it hooked me after the first drive. I didn't buy that one because of excess miles but I started the search until I found mine which was located in Grand Rapids, MI. I had it checked out by a friend and shipped it to NC. The thing I liked about these cars is that you don't see one very often in this area and the depreciation hits a sweet spot after 4-5 years.

 

I owned Jags in the past. They "stink" of Coolness.. They always have. When I saw the XKRs, and heard they were pushing 390 HP supercharged, I knew I would have one . It's a Jag..what can I say?

 

I had a 63 XKE when I met my wife in 69. Kept the car until we had kids.
When I was looking to replace an unreliable Olds 40 yrs later,Iwanted something not many people had around here. Seems like BMW,Mercedes and Audis are pretty common in SLC. So I got a 2007 X Type.
Then I was looking for a convertible last summer and found the 97 XK8. I was reminded of the XKE we had and all of a sudden I was 22 again (in my mind)!

 

I wanted a nice, comfortable, affordable rear-wheel-drive sedan for my wife to use to make her solo drive to and from Tampa six or seven times a year to visit her elderly parents. Our 2005 S-Type was the best bang-for-the-buck out there at the time (December 2008) during the depths of the recession. I did the research and determined that Ford had indeed fixed Jaguar's reputation for unreliablity. And you cannot beat the depreciation if you buy three or four model years back - I stole our S-Type for "Honda money". We've taken this S-Type from 18,000 miles at purchase to 70,000 miles now, and I've enjoyed every minute of it....

As for our XK8 convertible, I made the mistake of taking my wife out to drive one just for ***** and giggles on a beautiful early November Saturday morning last year. She had no idea what it was, but as soon as she saw it and drove it, she had to have one and hammered me about it for nearly three months until we finally found hers in late January thanks to George Androulakis here on the forum. My wife has had this car for not quite seven weeks and it is all she wants to drive now. If I would have minded my own business and just stayed home that November Saturday morning, I wouldn't have had to purchase yet another car. But George did get me a great deal on a beautiful white 2006 XK8 convertible that lived in California and Florida. I highly recommend him if you're serious about finding the right car at the right price....

 

I need my head testing

 

I looked at Porsche and Jaguar. I thought the Porsche rode like a chuck wagon. The interior of the Porsche looked cheap and plastic. It was an easy decision.

 

Because of the "out-classed by a Jag" look on the face of every $100K Audi driver I see with their high-tech matt paintwork, drug-dealer wheels and ultra-bright LED DRLs dazzling everyone else off the road