Hi everyone,
Hope everyone is doing good.

I came across a 2004 Jaguar XJR in BRG and exact spec that I want with extremely low miles - 19xxx. I am not sure of how to negotiate on the price as the seller is asking for upwards of $20k. The seller is a second owner and the car is mostly kept indoors and driven rarely for short drives. They have service records that they can fetch from the dealer.
Any help on pricing the said car would be helpful.
Secondly, I am unsure if such an old and low mileage car possess unseen issues which I would have to handle. Looking for experienced XJR owners and how there maintenance costs went when the mileage was this low.

Thanks.

 

Search previous sales on the Bring a Trustfund and Cars n Bids websites for premium average prices, i.e.,

https://carsandbids.com/auctions/9ea...ar-xj-super-v8

https://carsandbids.com/

https://bringatrailer.com/jaguar/?q=jaguar

 

Probably the best advice is to understand what your buying?

It's a 20+ year old Jaguar. It WILL require repair and maintenance regardless of the low miles. Can you DIY any of this?
The Jaguar dealers will not work on this old of a Jaguar. Call a few and see?
Unless you have a top notch local independent shop or you can DIY this will not be a happy purchase?

Have you owned a foreign luxury car before? If your OK with the cost go ahead but if I was NOT DIYing my car I could not afford to drive a Jaguar.

Now the positive side of this is again it's a 20+ year old Jaguar! So all the problems and fixes have long since been figured out and posted on this forum. It's a known car at this point. Plus the forum has a group of experienced owners to help out too!

Welcome aboard if you get it!
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I can't speak to price, as all cars I buy have high mileage. But I would look at it and negotiate from a standpoint of what is a fair price, and also what has not been done or is broken.

For example I would start with -
Are there recent service records? What has been replaced? The rubber is all 20 years old. It does go bad. Have all the fluids been changed? How old are the tires?
If none of that has been done then that is work off the bat that will need to be taken care of.

Any of the shocks leaking? That is another big expense and they don't make OEM any longer.

Headliner sagging? That costs a decent amount to do and was prone to these cars.

There is plenty more to dive into, but those are some easy first things to look at.

 

This low mileage +R will command higher price.
As far as maintenance it is anybody's guess. I do my own maintenance, as any shop will charge exuberantly. The only time car seen in shop is annual inspection.
Be prepared to replace suspension at all 4 corners: mine has 60k now and 20 years. While top ball joint covers are still passing ball joint covers are shredded, known problem. CA bushings holding but needs to be replaced. Headliner replacement; compressor seal; all ignition coils and plugs. That is mine experience. in 2 years of ownership.
FYI: Shop wanted $1000 for gearbox oil change, it cost me ~300 with some additional seals and 2 hours of work with car being on car lift.
Another shop quoted about $700 for front break job! To me, it's like "go away" quote.
But then again: another shop that I use a lot with my daily driver RAV4 quoted $1600 to replace exhaust that cost me $200 in parts on Amazon and 3 hours struggling with rusted bolts without car lift. This is just an old man's gripe "what this world is coming to!"

 

If this was in Europe I suspect the BRG would also help push the price up.

 

What is "BRG"?

 

BRG is the colour, British Racing Green

 

Please when you either seal the deal or lose interest post the ad here 🙏🏻

 

Thank you everyone for your comments and suggestions. My knowledge about maintenance work is very limited and hence mostly would be relying on a trusted mechanic. What I understood from the comments is that things would break but I would do a PPI to ensure that they don't break as soon as I buy. Would post my updates here. Going to meet the owner shortly.

 

"British Racing Green"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...racing_colours

Note that it is one of the FEW colours that has been remotely consistent in use.

Mind, it looked more APPROPRIATE on a Bentley of the brass fittings and leather driving-helmet era than on ..... ANYTHING newer, really..

 

"Trustworthy" Mechanics have surely existed. "Free Lunch" has never.

JLR motorcars call for rather higher 'play money' budgets than average.

 

This is exactly my story. My wife and I owned a white 2004 VDP some years back and we loved it. But something started going wrong, so I sold it. We always wanted another one. After looking for years for a white VDP, I purchased a 2005 VDP 70K miles thinking it was no big deal to repair. Boy, I had a rude awaking. I bought it for 9K and it was in terrible shape. I have spent another 20-25 K rebuilding it. I do some of the repair but most of the repair I had someone else do it. I have replaced everything. Front suspension, rear suspension, Motor mounts, transmission mounts, transmission rebuild, shocks, tires, brakes, rotors, etc, etc, etc. Now that I have almost finished completely rebuilding the car, my wife has become ill. So it has been put on hold. Number one: unless you can do all the work yourself, you will be hard pressed to find a good reasonable Jag mechanic. You had better really really want this car. You cannot find parts. Period. If you do find parts, they will be expensive. You will be constantly looking for parts in every jag website you can find. I am a perfectionist. I want everything as new. From interior to exterior to suspension.Granted, after finishing the rebuild, the car drives, handles and looks like new. BUT you better have deep pockets. 20 years old cars need everything, I mean everything replaced. If you do still want one here is my advice if I had to do it again. Buy a Jag VDP in the latest model. 2009 was last year in this body style. I would buy a 2009 VDP with the lowest miles I could find exactly like you want. Be patient for the right one. Go ahead and pay a little more it will be worth it. Pay to have a Jag mechanic that you trust go over it.You will need to know all the major and minor problems before you buy. You will still have to replace parts but this will give you a step up before buying. As far as pricing your car, look on bring a trailor website. I have seen a 2006 XJ Super V portfolio with 17k miles sell for 56K and everything in between. Always bid low as you can always go up but never go down on price.

Now for the pricing and this car. After reading over your post again, here is what I think. It sounds like you found the car that you want. Low miles, right color, right car. If it is priced close to 20K, how low will they go. Do they really want to sell it? The low miles will bring a better price but how much better. Low miles, the less you will have to fix right away. Have someone look it over that really knows Jags. See what they think after looking at the car. Good luck.

 

A low mile car is good for three main things. 1) Exterior body is in excellent condition, 2) Interior is in excellent condition, and 3) engine wear is minimal.

Those aside, time degrades seals, fluids and suspension parts. If you do your own work these can all be addressed and the work enjoyed.

Any car with an air suspension has air bladders which time degrades - regardless of miles (sure less than being driven, but still aging rubber).

I bought a low miles Z4 and ended up changing all sorts of seals and hoses - but it was cheaper to get to great condition than a high mileage one needing a paint job and new interior.