I noticed the wood colors as well, I shrugged it off on the camera angle.

Is that the emergency brake pedal duct taped up?!

 

I've read all the contributions here, and the car sounds like it could easily be a money pit.
It's not a good year, you can see obvious flaws, the only good thing is that it's an "R".
At that sort of price, I'd move on. They aren't giving it away.
Leedsman.

 

They do that when photographed sometimes. I dunno why. It does look like it's lighter that it's supposed to be though. I highly doubt there's an issue with that.

I think that's the foot rest spot. Jag didn't provide a pad on the carpet. That's just god awful looking.

 

I agree. I wasn't aware that 2003 was considered a bad year for these cars over here? Is perhaps a different issue in the UK?

 

Hardly ever seem to be issues with that year on the UK forum.

 

I don't recall seeing any evidence that 03 was a bad year, and I'm sure I would remember.

However this car is worrying.

 

I have heard about 03 being a "bad" year before, but have not seen evidence to support it. Wasn't 03 the year with the most STR volume sold? So perhaps that is why there may be more complaints.

 

My 03 has been good to me so far. As an example when I purchased the car the only know issues were needing new front brakes and 1 lug nut tin hat broken. The car is in great condition otherwise. My purchase price: $11k on the dot with an extended warranty until 125k miles. I would stay away from this one.....

 

I respect that you are a dealer (dont know your background) and you are sharing some inside information, but what you are saying is shady business. I 100% disagree to say that it is smart for dealers to "not fix things" in order to give a better value to the buyer. That's like saying: "I left a huge gaping hole in the house I am selling because I know you can get a better deal than I can on fixing it." In fact, dealers should have more efficient resources relative to fixing "easy" things and minor maintenance. Therefore dealers should provide a turnkey vehicle that does not need thousands of dollars of repair. Good value is having a 100% running car. Also the dealer should be transparent with everything that is wrong with it and not play games to see if the buyer knows whats wrong. I found 5+ big things that were wrong with the car and the original poster found a few more. Again, that is shady business and not how I would run my business or how I conduct myself at my job.

I also disagree with this statement. I don't have any empirical research but I would wager a lot of money to say that there is a correlation with the wear and tear on a vehicle and how well it was maintained. You can't see from the pics, but these wheels are shot. So shot, that someone had almost every opportunity to scrape them on whatever protruding surface they could find. Underneath the front fascia is also scraped extremely bad. If you have the money to buy a $65K car, you would imagine that it would at least have semi good looking wheels, or have the money to get new ones or have them fixed. Next time you are at a car event, look at everyone's wheels. Now go to a grocery store parking lot and look at the normal cars. Compare the two sample spaces and I think you will see my point.

 

Just post whoring for now. lol

My 03 i took some pics today, sent them to the OP. i took some more, ill put them up later.

 

Now heres a fine example of a well maintained vehicle! Lookin' good Jason...

 

Every car I looked at last year had some curb rash on them. The car I bought was pretty darn clean and very low miles but 3 of the 4 rims needed attention and they got it. I'm a very careful driver about this stuff but guess what. Once again 3 of 4 are rashed, one moderately and two are minor. ARG! I don't abuse my cars but the roads here do and I made one mistake and tried to hump a curb one day. Go figure! A pothole here can really devastate the rims on these cars (STR). They also use a lot of belgium block style (granite) curbing in the NYC metro area and what that can do to a rim is horrific.

This is one of the disappointing aspects of this car. That and not being able to judge very easily where the RH side of the car is. In that respect this car is the worst I've ever owned. The front spoiler lip is a complete B**** too. Automatic positioning backup mirrors would be a nice touch. Using the second memory setting is clumsy and when you have two drivers for the car it's no longer an option.

I've decided that given where I live I'm just going to have to live with having some of this kind of damage until I can do what looks like it's going to be annual wheel touch ups. Get some practice on that one guys if you live urban. I'm glad you have such high standards but perhaps you don't live in the same environment as some of us do?

Used car dealers aren't typically going to fix this stuff on an eight year old used car with this sort of mileage. They usually try the low resolution photos and creative photography techniques first. So caveat emptor. If it were me I'd fix it.

I was at the local Jag Picnic last Sunday and while there certainly were the almost perfect examples present most cars had some issues like this. Those were the driver vehicles which is what most of us have. There were no abused cars there. Well maybe the XJS with the life sized Jaguar stuffed in the boot. Stupid. But that's car shows!

 

What "is" and what "should be" are not one in the same. If a dealer/seller has found they can profit from selling vehicles that are not in tip top shape, then they have little incentive to correct issues. Not saying this is fair, ethical, or what I would do, but it is a known practice.

 

I would tend to agree Chris.

Being a person who has purchased several vehicles from ebay "dealers" (all of which were converted gas stations), I have found that everyone of them states "I am a car salesman, not a mechanic" on pick up. Fair enough, but a car salesman "sees" the road/curb rash, the flaking paint, the missing fog lamp cover etc.. in the OPs initial post. Does the "salesman" mention that, NO.

I have found all the "dealers" that I have purchased unseen auction vehicles from fail to state such obvious "details" when describing the vehicle in their ad, and stating the said vehicle is in "EXCELLENT CONDITION". Besides the little disclaimer at the bottom of their ad, stating that, this is a used vehicle and may have signs of blah blah......

Many of these "ebay dealers" have the vehicle go through a 120 point inspection. I have found that the "mechanic" must have been a used car salesman in his prior life, simply as I have found the inspections aren't worth the paper they are written on.



Sorry to ramble on, but I will use Joyces Jag as an example (3rd ebay vehicle), first couple of threads on this site that I had posted.

You will find:
"Exterior, Interior and Mechanicals in EXCELLENT condition, carfax report -ZERO accidents, (HA). A thorough 120 point inspection failed to mention: oil pan, valve cover gaskets leaks, IMT-s leaking, front wheel bearing shot etc... The belly pan looked like there were 2 gallons of used motor oil resting in it. If The ad stated the above I may have walked on past the ad, I did my homework and bid on the vehicle in the last 8 secs (yeah I am one of those bidders). As you all know I do ALL my own mechanics on everything that we own, Joyce and I put $500.00 in parts and we still could make $2,000/$2,400 on the vehicle if we sold it today.

So in final diarrhea of the fingers here, I have found rasputin to be spot on with his contributions to this thread!

 

I don't know about all the other defects being mentioned but I sure wouldn't generalize all cars with curbed wheels as being neglected.

Laurie's came with 20,000 miles and I think there is one wheel that hasn't been rubbed. They were also caked with brake dust. I ran the VIN# with the selling dealer and it showed the car had been brought in routinely for serviceing. The battery was replaced with a Jag one in 2010 and 4 new Bridgestones in 2008.

From other clues, I have deduced this car was owned by on older female. After some light cleaning, the interior is impecable, like new. So just cause the wheels aren't show quality doesn't mean the oil never got changed.

 

My STR needed rear lower control arm 'cross axis' bushes after just 24,000 miles so do not forget to inspect these for signs of leaking fluid. Front and back.

 

There's an old saying in retail (in which I spent about 20 years), and that is:--
"EYE APPEAL IS BUY APPEAL".
A retailer selling high-value second-hand goods like cars who can't even be bothered to present them properly in my book is a rank amateur.
If I were selling second-hand cars, all visible flaws would be fixed, as would mechanical problems. The price I charged would be reasonable for the type of goods. In UK, professional car vendors, called "trade" here, are responsible in law that the goods they sell should be "fit for purpose".
Inside a few years, my reputation as a vendor would be so good that 'the world would beat a path to my door' removing the necessity for expensive advertizing, and bringing lots of repeat business.
Leedsman.

 

I couldn't agree more!!

 

You're not terribly familiar with the used car business in the USA are you?
There are such dealers here and they're usually high priced. Most of that is for cosmetic presentation and is no guarantee of mechanical quality. Warranties come on a roll over here.

Jag S-Types are not really considered high end used cars either. For most used car dealers they're just another car. At some point in a cars resale life most cars enter this stage. The Jag S-Type just did it a little earlier than some. This is why a really clean one is such a good bargain.

 

A girl-friend of mine here in UK has a Porsche: When she needs anything doing to it, she calls the dealer -- he then sends a man in a loan-car to her door, collects the Porsche leaving the loan car. When the Porsche is done, it is returned the same way.
Now that's how to run a car business!
The customer should only have to pick up the 'phone and sign the cheques.
There are enterprizing car vendors who will bring a car to your door for your inspection and approval here in UK, I know there are because I bought a Renault Megane that way. I felt particularly flattered because I had no car at all at that time, and the man was making it highly convenient. Another old homily in retail -- "make it EASY to buy".
Now that's how to run a car business! Reprise.
Leedsman.
p.s. That vendor is Paul Hamnet car sales, Beetham cottage, Milnthorpe green, Wakefield, West Yorkshire. Tel: 01924 229640. His prices are reasonable, the cars are immaculate and everything in them works. He's a semi-retired ex-general manager of a large Wakefield car outfit, and does it from his beautiful home which is a small ranch.