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I live in Grand Rapids and have some experience with that dealer. They share a warehouse with a tile company near furniture giant Steelcase. In Grand Rapids and the West Michigan area we have a lot of money from people at Amway, Steelcase, Herman Miller, Meijer and some other places. Given their placement, I wonder if they are going after the executive market.
I looked at a 91 Lotus Esprit Turbo SE there and they were definitely selling what appeared to nice vehicles for ridiculously high prices. It was a nice car but high miles (for an Esprit) at 51k. They stated that it had a new clutch and the associated bearings, seals, etc that you'd do, along with the timing belt in the last 10k. That's a big deal. With the claims, that's a 5k value easily. The price was not really GREAT, but I considered it maybe a grand or two above market value IF they had done the work. They claimed it was done at a reputable local shop, I forget if it was Fulton Street Auto or Euroautowerks; both excellent shops with excellent reputations. Shops that would reproduce receipts for legitimate work. I thought, eh, these cars don't usually come up 10 miles from my house. I could definitely deal with a little inflation for not travelling, driving back or shipping. When I inspected the car, it really was a clean example. However, on inspection, I saw nothing physically to indicate that the claims of repair were true. They also mysteriously had no receipts and weren't able to get new ones... The salesman tried to talk over me, I don't know if it was because I was a female or not very old being mid twenties, but I drove up in my XKR and was asking all the important questions; and asking never test drove it because I don't drive a car until I'm sure everything is up to snuff elsewise (to prevent myself from falling in love and overlooking issues).
I still think about that car because I really do love the Stevens Esprits. I do have a hard and fast policy that if something seems off or a story without backing info, walk away. That may have been a great car. It may have all been true. I just got a bad feeling. I also a few years later found they were selling a 73 Triumph GT6, LITERALLY MY FORMER CAR, same VIN. There were claims about it that simply weren't true about the rust, originality and other items.
They pull the same crap on men, too. I looked at a Range Rover Supercharged there and walked away for many of the same reasons.
I'm familiar with this dealership. They have nice cars, an impeccable reputation, and seem to like X100's.* They produce interesting (and often funny) videos for the cars they sell - the above one, at almost 20 minutes, being no exception.
*not meant as an endorsement - just stating the facts.
They're straight shooters there. A couple of years ago I traded my wife's '05 BMW 6 series for a '13 SL550 and the deal we made was very fair. The BMW was low miles and cherry so a couple of days after the deal was done the sales guy called and asked me if the car was really as good as it looked cause he wanted to give it to his wife. It was and he did. They just moved from a high visibility corner location to a side street behind the new Porsche dealer facility with virtually no street visibility. Not sure of the logic in that decision but I wish them well and would certainly recommend them.
I started to think about buying one after talking to someone that owned a 2001 XK8. He said the top didn't work and it would cost $5K to fix and the car wasn't worth enough to justify the repair. When I started researching these cars, I was amazed at what they were going for, so when I found one I liked for a good price, I pulled the trigger. It had a couple small problems, but was able to fix them myself, including the top hoses. I am very impressed with the car so far. To buy a car that went for over $90K 14 years ago (2004 XKR) for the mid teens is a screaming deal IMHO. I don't know if they will appreciate, but I can't see them getting much cheaper. A similar Mercedes SL500 is about the same cost and I like the Jaguar better. It looks like the Mercedes 560 SL's are going up in value now and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the Jaguars did too eventually, especially since they are scarcer. They are beautiful to look at and seem to have greatly improved in reliability since Ford bought the company. When I was a kid, my first car was a 66 Triumph Spitfire and Jaguars were the ultimate British luxury car. I never thought I would own one. Sure am enjoying it though.
Last edited by PSP; 10-01-2018 at 08:04 PM.
Reason: adding more
No, East coast. But I bought my car in Naples and Autohaus comes across as a reputable operation. As does the 'Aston Jag Advantage' service shop over there.
If you enjoy car shows and wouldn't mind the road trip over to this coast, I'd highly recommend this annual one. Not sure if you have a similar event over there.
Last edited by MediaBobNY; 10-02-2018 at 05:25 AM.
I'll check out that show - we do go over there frequently. Thanks for the reference on Aston Jag Advantage. They're going to do my upper tensioners in a couple of weeks and I was impressed when I visited their shop. We have some good shows here in Naples and, of course, Naples is home to the REVS Institute, an awesome private collection/museum. revsinstitute.org
After nearly two decades of relentless depreciation, supply constraints finally seem to be supporting the North American X100 coupe market.
An extra clean 2001 XK8 coupe with 46K miles recently sold at a classics dealer in Michigan for $18.9K. The car had been on the market for 10 days and was purchased for the asking price after heavy interest, according to a salesperson at GRautogallery who confirmed the car is no longer available.
The Jackie Collins car I think should be considered an outlier; it's basically a preservation piece with a relatively cool owner for most of it's life.
Those other cars though, those are decent prices. I wonder if they'll compress with X150 depreciation or hold their own. I know my 07 is objectively a better handling, better braking, better built and faster car than those; but the X100 has style points that might make that irrelevant and make them hold their own.
I don't know if these are going to appreciate and turn into a sought-after classic, but I can say that they're a relatively rare sight on the road. And wow, has this car aged beautifully. It's an absolutely timeless design that will still look fantastic in 50 years.
The coupes are devilishly rare, especially the late ('03 +), especially in the West. I searched obsessively for a late coupe for many months before I found an acceptable one. Bought an '06 XK8 coupe in black/tan, sight unseen, in Oregon, chancing that it would pass a California emissions test when I got it home. It passed. Two years later, I'm quite happy but not completely satisfied. I really wanted BRG/tan (not Jaguar racing green, which is unfortunately metallic). Furthermore, my dream XK8 coupe, I now realize, would be a 2004, although I don't recall ever having seen an '04 coupe listed for sale. Why '04? Driving my '06 in Ukiah, California, I scrape the chin a lot, on valley gutters and driveway aprons. I would therefore prefer not the have the '05-'06 aero "enhancements." I do however prefer that those years also deleted the rub strip along the flanks. I have read that the (hypothetical?) '04 has the earlier body style but also has deleted the side strips. If a low-mileage, well-maintained '04 XK8 coupe in BRG/tan came along, in northern California, I would be very tempted to buy it and sell my black '06. Until that dream might be realized, I'd prefer that the prices stay low.
09-30-2018, 06:02 AM
