hi all

I'm looking at this 2005 green xjr with 100kmiles. Asking $6250.
Owner said that its been taking care of at European service center..

What should I look for and is this a good deal?

Thanks in advance.

 

Look in the "stickies" section and you should find plenty to read on your proposed purchase.

 

Service history, the more the better.

documented service history with the trans being serviced at least once. Check suspension, coolant hose under supercharger being done. It's going to be about due....

If none of the above can be documented chop at least $2K off that asking price. (You'll thank me later)

 

Newbie -
In the stickies section of this forum there is a "what to look out for in a x350".

If you're new to these cars, and haven't done your own work on any car, it may not mean much to you or make sense in terms of how to value one of these cars.

So here's the real life low down - I bought my 05 Super V8 for 7,250$, and 136K. Now at 156K. Had many service records which at purchase I did't really go through b/c I really just wanted the car. It had air suspension light on, but drove well, owner was reassuring etc.

I don't do my own work just for reference -

In short I've had to perform EVERY repair or will need to do EVERY repair on the Stickies list. But car runs well over all and I enjoy it. But it's very expensive.
Below is the rundown -

Replaced air suspension with Eibach springs - total cost 1,800$
Car over heated - valley hose repair - 900$ - I was VERY lucky engine did not blow up
New front suspension control arms and wishbone - total cost 1,800$
New front calipers - 700$ each
Plus Centric slotted rotors and akebono pads - 350$ each wheel
Correcting air / heat flow problem - Aux water pump 180$, defrost blend door actuator 180$, service charge 6 hours at 90$/hour - problem not fixed
MEANS - Heater core needs to be replaced - in our Super charged cars the dash needs to come out - YIKES on the cost
3 sets of tires - do yourself a favor and only buy Continental Extreme Contact DWS 06 plus 2 sets of rims 400$ for one set, 350 for the other set (of 5)
Replace driver side mirror, need to replace passenger mirror as well due to crumbling insides or broken housing. - total cost $300
I've also experienced one time in a VERY hard rain water ingress in the rear passenger footwell (somewhat common problem, constant in some cars).
COMING UP -
Transmission fluid never changed in my car, pan just starting to show seepage. - luckily it works great right now even when I push it but it does SQUWAK once in a while.
Oil pan leaking now around seal - - car using oil, needs repair next oil change
Rear suspension arms needs replacing, one side is clunking and ball joint "rusted" - 1000$ for the work, 600$ for the parts
Intermittent air bag fault light on
Engine light comes on, mechanic turns it off and it stays off for a long while. Both times on it showed a different code.
Exhaust is fine but it is a long one piece issue to replace, But there are some ways around this depending on where the fail is.
Headliner falling down
parking sensors work intermittent

What Fraser and Abonano are really saying - none of these repairs are out of line or unusual as all are regular maintenance issues that were not addressed, or that can and do happen to other cars of this age. But they are a bit more to fix in ours, generally. And they all start piling up right around the mileage on your proposed car - 100K
And if they have not been done ---- YOU WILL BE DOING THEM - GUARANTEED.

So check the car out with a trusted mechanic if you can, look at the repair records carefully. In my case if I had done that I would have seen that the seller had not really driven the car much over his last year of owner ship, that these repairs were not done, that having any warning lights on is a BIG NO NO, certainly due to not wanting to to these regular maintenance issues.

Now that the front end and brakes are done, the car is great to drive - but I won't really use it as a daily driver anymore - I bought it mainly to enjoy on longer drives which and it is perfect for that.

There is a current 2004 XJ8 for sale on this site that had had all these issues fixed and more, to the tune of about 16K. It's here in my hometown and I'm thinking of buying it - he's asking 9,500$. It's a bargain at that price - but you are not likely to recoup your repair cost - but that is not at all why people buy these cars.

That's the real world here - good luck with your decision and be wise weed hopper!

Mike D.

 

I'm surprised you say the dash has to come out on the SC cars, as it is my understanding the fitment is no different to the non-SC cars. The process is - (1) remove glove box, (2) remove heater control module and heater fan unit. The end of the heater matrix and its connecting pipes is then visible and removeable. Only thing is when mine was done was they charged for a kit not just the matrix, so the parts were quite expensive even though the labour charge wasn't too bab

For me the biggest no-no on these cars is the short life of some of the suspension bushes with some lasting only 30-35k miles; ridiculously short !. The lower shock bushes are cheap to buy but labout costs add up especially if the front shock lower bolt won't come loose. Then there are the front lower arm bushes, and also the rear lower arm bushes, the anti-roll bar link ball joints, and rear track control arm.

 

Hey Mike D

Thanks for making things a lot clearer..
by the way, i have read all stickies and threads in the forum to research but sometime you want to hear from members and their experiences.

I've been researching between 308and 350.

If I offended anyways, I apologize because that is not my intention.

This forum has been very helpful and actually ive virtually met one member who has been great guiding me through this search and hunt.

I wish everyone happy Thanksgiving

Weed hopper

 

Hey 2 fast -

Not offended - hope I didn't offend you. My experience is common, and can be frustrating at times especially when one does not perform the work or is not a knowledgeable car person like myself. I just wanted to put numbers to the repairs so you would go in with a better idea. It's really no different than buying any other used car of this age.

The more you can verify that regular maintenance of these common issues has been done, the better.

Happy Thanksgiving
Mike D.

 

Fraser -
Thanks for the clarification on the heater core repair - I have heard both and my shop insists that the dash must come out.

I believe you and I appreciate the information.

Mike D.