Anyone else puzzled by the low mileage, low bids on the frost blue '07 base model XJ8L? It was bad-mouthed by most of the commenters because of the air-ride replacement, which might have scared people away? As I can see by following the forum, driving a Jaguar is a bucket of smiles, regardless of the suspension choice. At any rate, on BaT the winning bid was pretty low for a 39 K one owner car, then the car was immediately posted on eBay in the same general area of Pennsylvania, attracting a bids in the $4500 range last time I checked, then it was posted as Sold.
For the record, I've had 3 sedans with air-ride, one replaced with coil-overs by me, one came already converted, and one still has air-ride. The sum of those experiences? I've had 3 Jaguars. Nah Nah Nanna Nah Nah.

 

It ended up selling for $10,500. Personally more than it should have in my opinion. Granted it was low miles but had several other issues besides air-ride replacement. Had several dents on various panels, paint imperfections, faded headlights on one side (like they replaced the passenger side but not the drivers), curbed rims, and lacked decent interior detailing. Not a good example of a 39k-mile automobile. But can see why some have issues with air-ride being replaced. Seller listing it as an upgrade was a poor choice of words. Maybe a fix, but not an upgrade to the Jaguar air-ride. Looking at the comments some found an issue with that. Not sure why they listed on eBay before BaT ended. The auction should have been canceled at that point.

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2007-jaguar-xj8-12/

 

I followed this listing closely. While I can only speak for myself, I believe the price came down to lack of confidence in the seller vs. the quality of the car. For someone willing to accept a non-ECATS car, this provided a good opportunity. For someone wanting ECATS, the seller made it VERY easy to walk away. Here's the backstory:

The car was originally purchased by an older woman in Bethesda, MD. She appeared to put normal suburban retiree miles on it through 2010/11'ish, after which the miles decreased rapidly. She likely stopped driving altogether around 2016'ish. The original owner passed away in February 2023. The car was donated to charity in late fall 2023, I assume as part of settling the estate, and then sent to auction, where seller purchased it 2 days before Christmas. He slapped some Armour All on various bits and pieces and immediately submitted it to BaT.

Overall, it didn't appear to be a bad car. There were a couple of visible scratches and some broken trim, but there was an excellent dealer service history. The issues weren't with the car but with the seller. The seller was a shill, dismissive of valid questions and continually provide incorrect information even when it was contradicted by the pictures he put in the listing! Here's the clearest example:Bidder Question: Has the air suspension been replaced?
Seller Answer: There is no evidence of the Jag ever having an issue with the air ride or anything that suggests that it was changed. This Jaguar is a one-owner automobile that had its regular service at The Jaguar dealer. The Carfax report will give the service history of this cat from the beginning up until the current date.

This was the 3rd time the question was asked - and here's a picture from the listing:

After being told he was full of it by a user (see post by u/ giskard 10:26AM on Jan 25), he admitted to knowing nothing about XJ8s and claimed the springs were a $10,000 upgrade. At that point, I wouldn't have bid on the car at $8k. The higher prices often seen on BaT are based on seller reputation and trust. This guy didn't earn or deserve any.

The other item that caught my attention was the damage to the firewall insulation (see pic 2 above and yellow below).


I have seen this type of damage from chipmunks taking up residence under the hood for a winter, which could also explain the reason the ECAT system was replaced so early in life (gnawing on pneumatic/electric). Could I have asked about evidence of rodent activity? Sure but I knew I would never be comfortable on the seller's reply. Overall, it's a base model in a good color combo from a non-transparent seller who didn't engender any trust. Given that setup, final price was fair and about where I expected it to be.