So latest update on car search. Bit of a curve ball looking at a 2004 XJR sport at $13500 ex corporate cheuffer car, full service history really good condition but 105000K on it. Will let you know what happens.

 

OK, if you get that I will officially NOT help with any of your posts.......

Sorry, just a tinge of jealousy speaking......

My S Type buds will hate me for it, but the XJR's from 04 to 07 (before the nose job and side gills) are hands down my favorites.....I would not be driving the Chrysler if there was any way I could have gotten one of those with low enough miles to serve as my daily driver... There just was no hope in my price range....

Good luck with that car and keep us posted.... They are beautiful machines...

 

Thanks, car a bit high miles 105000 but mint and with a clean main dealer inspection and 3 month warranty, clean 2 owner car fax. Still seeing an STR today as well but it's in silver not my fav color for an STR. A friend says well you will be driving both on the same day so you will be in the XJR by next weekend! With the fact that this will not be my daily driver just a car to have and tinker with the miles don't really bother me too much.

 

Hmm a 3 day ban, hmmm.......?????

 

If you are still looking I saw this one at this place right by my school. Its a place on 401. If you want my first day of class is Wed and I could stop by and check it out up close. I have only seen it as I drive by.
2005 Jaguar S-Type 4.2 R - Used Cars For Sale FUQUAY VARINA, NC Anchor Auto Sales

 

Hi yep still looking, yep saw that one weeks ago it's a total wreck loads of body damage, interior trashed, some after market pipes that are way too big, car runs like crap. Not even worth saving. Thanks for the offer of looking saw 2 last week near Charlotte one with so much body damage badly repaired, the other way over price. Now looking at a 2004 XJR with 106000 miles on it at Metrolinaautogroup Charlotte offered $12000 thay want$13000 but hoping to get it for $12500 leith Cary know the car and say its good for that price. If this does not come off then I may give up for a while. Metro XJR will still need about $2000 to bring it up to shape but it's a cool looking car. So your old car is down to $18500! I did mail and offer him $13000 but then he changed the miles.

 

So waiting for answer back from dealer on my offer on the XJR but also a new STR has poped up near me, it's BRG tan interior 2003 with 106k on it price $10600 or best offer? It's on Raleigh NC Craig's list. Not much info as yet any thoughts about price.

 

i picked up my 05 with 100k (3.0l) for $8900 from a car lot... the thing looks / smells and feels new. looking at the year i would throw out $9000 and see if he bites. of course everything is relative... my car was clearly babied and maturely driven... got lucky this time.

 

Update, had agreed a price on an XJR booked an inspection with the local jag dealer and the seller pulled out of the sale! So now have 2 STR's to look at a 2003 for $9000 and a 2005 for $12000 the 2005 looks favorite because it has no problems and some history the 2003 has no history and no parking brake! If the 2005 had the color combo of the 2003 slam dunk purchase BRG with cream interior my fav!

 

Jeff Jeff Jeff....

Yeah you could have... U know me... Honestly, when I buy a car heres the order of importance:

1) Cosmetic condition
2) Mechanical Condition
3) Mileage

Cosmetics are really the deal breaker. Paintwork is paintwork, it will NEVER look factory. The closet I've seen is my white XK8. Body guy owned the car, whole car was resprayed, wetsanded and buffed. It was like a mirror, but the issue was the paint was "too nice". It didn't look factory.

Bad body work will always be bad body work. It is what it is, take it or leave it.

Mechanical condition is next. Every car has flaws. Yes they can be fixed. It depends if the car is worth fixing at the offering price. I bought my 07 550i sport with the intention of having to replace the transmission, but purchased it accordingly. It had 61k miles, and was out of warranty, and the original owner got scared of it, and sold it as is. Turns out the transmission pan was leaking badly, and the car was low on fluid. Did a pan and refilled the fluid, and the car has been great for the last 4 weeks and 1400 miles. The previous owner had a BMW dealer tell him it needed a trans, and had limped the car home. (Insert face palm here).

He had a $5800 estimate for the trans. I knew I could get it done for $3500 or less, so I was like if you take the $5800 off I'll take it. Spent $350 on the car.

Mileage wears out wear items. This doesn't include transmissions or motors. I dont consider them wear items. I'm talking suspension bits - inlcuding the bushings, brakes tires and the like. If they have been addressed, then so be it. Otherwise adjust price accordingly.

Actually age, and being static causes much more wear on a car than mileage does.

But people always have been and always will be "mileage" buyers.
So since that is what people place value on, we have to work in the constrains the market has created.

Boats and aircraft, dont have a distance meter, they have an hours meter. Actually the chevy diesel trucks do too. Have you ever thought about how many hours your low mile gem has sat idling or barely moving in bumper to bumper traffic because it was used in an urban enviroment?

Just my thoughts on car buying.

Take care,

George

 

I go for higher mileage, because they're cheaper and I can buy a younger car that way.

Higher mileage tends to be highway miles, which are good for cars.

Suits me that most people don't like high mileage cars.

 

When I look for used cars, I like to be between 30-50k miles. That way you know the car has been driven, but still has some life in it. I bought mine with 47k miles and I am just now at 69k miles.

 

Previous car I bought at 90K and 4 yrs old. Kept it 7 yrs and another 72K miles, when it blew a head gasket and really had more than paid for its keep!

There again, it had a dipstick for the autobox. I kept checking the fluid, thinking it would degenerate and I'd better change it. Right up to 11 yrs and 162K miles. It never did so I didn't change it.

The STR better last more than 96K. I've done nearly 93K now.

It's just nicely broken in...

 

Think the problem I am having is the cars I am finding have too many faults. I can do regular servicing oil, air, brakes, trans, but body work on Jags as George says its never factory again. I keep finding cars that are middle and high milers all with body damage or major suspension probs, I have not found an engine or trans issue in all the cars I have seen. The last XJR I looked at did finally end up at a jag dealer for an inspection and it came back as needing $11K worth of work. So I have 2 STR left to look at one 90K miles one106K miles, all I am looking for is a fare price for a reasonable car without thousands of dollars of hidden expense. I am not trying to get a perfect car for no money but a car being sold for $12K with work needed of $3-5K I am not into. I have spoken to 2 of the Jag dealers I have delt with in the past to have them look out for any cars being traded in and was told you won't get one! Best car I have seen is a BRG 2006 with 73000 on it but it's $17600 and the dealer will not let me get it inspected or will not move on price and will not give a warranty of any kind! Well it is rare I am sick of that!

 

Well that is it I have had enough! Can't find a car so not wasting my time anymore!

 

Robert,

If you're willing to trust me and my judgement, and be patient, and your expectations are reasonable given the current used car market. I'll find you the right car at the right price. But you may have to be willing to comit to buying sight unseen (by you). I know for a lot of people that is a leap of faith that they are simply unwilling to take.

But I have done this for several other people on this board and elsewhere with great success. I can provide you references if you wish.

Remember how you approached a couple of new car Jaguar stores putting a feeler out there that if a car comes in on trade that meets your criteria to let you know, and their response was simply "you won't get it".

Well, I can. All of the cars in your price range are simply too old for a new car jag dealer to retail. They don't want to be bothered. So they wholesale them. Either through a dedicated wholesaler they have a relationship with or at the dealer auctions directly. With a new Jaguar store chances are a wholesaler will act as the intermediary. But the car doesn't just have to be from a jag dealer, people trade all sorts of stuff into all different dealers, simply because they want a change or something new.

Either way I can cherry pick the car off before it gets to your local used car lot. And in your neck of the woods I don't know how many used dealers would buy an older 'r' car simply because they are not a mainstream market car.

I get the overall feeling, simply from the questions you have asked and the statements you have made that you are not really confident in buying one of these cars. There is a level of fear involved, and you are pricing that "fear factor" into your purchase. Hence lowballng cars and pricing yourself out of the market.

There are a few proverbs that hold true in daily life, especially in this business.

1) You get what you pay for. This doesnt imply an eggegious profit to an unscrupulous dealer, but rather the really clean examples (which seem to be the only ones you would consider) command a substantial premium. Both in the wholesale and retail markets. I'll give you an example. I bought a 2002 xk8 at the dealer auction today. Looking at the average pricing of these cars at the auctions, cars in below average condition sold for an average of 3,900, cars in average condition for an average of 6800, and cars in above average condition for 10,750.

That shows you one example of how much of a premium clean cars command. Reason being that most people aren't car nuts like us. They eat in their cars, they have kids in their cars, they drink and spill coffee in them. They park in parking lots and grocery stores and cars get scratches and dings.

Second. There is NOTHING more expensive than a cheap jaguar. Trying to save a few bucks on the initial purchase price may end up costing you big time down the road.

Now, as far as you inspecting cars at the jaguar dealer. I agree it's a good idea and I have done it AND advised clients to do it.

BUT you have to take their estimates with a grain of salt. I chuckled at the one car you mevtioned that was for sale for $13k and needed $12k worth of work. Don't forget that these were 70-90k cars new. The dealers pricing has not changed from that time, in fact it has gone up due to the increase in the price of labor.

A good independent mechanic should be able to handle 90 percent of your service needs at a substantially reduced rate. Dealers charge $125-150 per hour. Shops charge $75-90 hour here. On an 8 hour job that could be $400-700 in labor savings alone. Dealers also quote parts at full list.

There are certain jobs that require the dealer and any of us here will tell you flat out, for that go to the dealer.

But servicing a $12k car at $70k car service rates is an easy way to very quickly empty your wallet.

I don't know if you are a hands on type of guy or not, but the more you are willing to do yourself, the Lower your cost of ownership will be. Plus you will get to learn your car. You'd be amazed at the number of jobs you can perform yourself with $200 worth of hand tools and an $80 OBD code scanner. And forums like this which act as a support system.

I fully understand your frustration and your reluctance to continue your search, but there is a reason that dealing in cars is a profession and it's not just to make dealers money.

I don't know if you have my phone number still, but PM me if you'd like to discuss things.

Take care,

George

 

This is a good way to look at used cars. This is exactly what I look for. Being able to fix 90% of mechanical things myself helps me guage what I'll pay and what I'm getting into buying a car. The truck I bought to replace my STR had 212000 miles. I talked the lady down to 2000 bucks. I put about 800 in parts into the front end including an alignment which I couldn't do at home. Then I got new tires for 500 and the thing drives perfect. Body looked decent for being a truck. Most I looked at people were wanting over 4000 for a 4wd and they were beat up. I got this one which the 4wd didn't work and was fixed within that 800 bucks and I have a pretty solid 4wd pick-up for under 4000. The nice thing is since it shares everything with the Rangers, junk yards are now my friend. Going to pick up a spare trans soon and rebuild it in my spare time to expand my knowledge since I've never rebuilt a trans and since it will be a spare I can take my time. Once thats done I'll drop that in and probably drive this truck till the doors fall off.

 

George George George.....

You didn't read my comment enough...

I didn't say "Low mileage"... I said "Low ENOUGH mileage" for my daily driver.

I totally agree with your statements and priorities. But you have to accept that even engines and transmissions will only "spin" so many times. They are mechanical components after all.

It wouldn't make sense for me to pick up a car that I need to make payments on with say 80k miles then expect to drive it for 5 or 6 years to and from work to the tune of a little over 15k miles a year without a major mechanical issue.

Can it be done? Sure it can. But it is also a huge gamble..

Now we took a different approach when looking at a car for the wife. Here it was a choice of the limited vehicles she actually liked that would age well. She puts less than 10k a year on a car so things wear out on her stuff with age not miles. Case in point... Her Grand Caravan was mechanically fine (felt aged, but fine). Problem was it had the beginning stages of body rot. So, I started the quest for a well cared for vehicle, and was willing to go up in mileage. We ended up finding a 2006 R350 that was a local one owner car with a full service history. We found it languishing at a GMC dealer where it had been traded. It had around 70k on it. We were able to get it for less than $17k. Yes George, I still had your auction stats that you sent me on that car and we got what I feel is a great deal...

Again, it was condition and not mileage that sold us on the R.

Robert, let me tell you, George is a stand up guy. He will help you in your quest, but like he said, patience is key. We couldn't use George due to the fact that we just simply can't self finance. If it wasn't for that I would have gladly used George to locate our next car.. Heck, if the situation changes when the 300 finally gets too tired, I may use his help then.

Oh, BTW, George... I didn't call you back about the Xenon lights because I figured it was just too trivial for you...but if you can help, please get hold of me..

Also, I'm having a heck of a time trying to find a reasonably priced supplier for the struts on that R350... They are Bilstein struts from what I can tell and man are they pricey. Help?????

 

Thanks George, sight unseen is a great leap of faith but not out of the question. In regard to the 11K repair estimate most of that I discounted the killer of the deal where upper and lower control arms front and rear, all where worn and would need replacing in short order, most of the other stuff I could do myself such as "new air filter $178 really but even my independent service guy said it would cost $2500. And the car was worth $12500 so now we are at $15000 I may as well spend $15000 on a car worth $15000. I can wrench but major suspension components or body work are going to cost. Please keep me in mind if something comes up but as I have no help here in the US for child or dog care I have travel limitations hence why I could not get to NJ to buy yours. Last night I travelled 100 miles each way to see a car that the body both ends would need replacing ant it shimmed all over the road and the guy still wanted $10K for a 100K+ mile car. Hence my frustration

 

That's so good it could be a sticky on the home page of this Forum.