Unfortunately Jaguars are just a corollary to the old joke - 'What's the most expensive car in the world? A used Ferrari'.

 

It's all about staying ahead of the curve. Almost all cars drop in value until age and culling make them collectable. Even horrible cars follow this pattern (see 1971 Chevrolet Vega $94,995 or 1972 Morris Marina £5,795).

At the bottom of the curve, especially with Jags, widows and daughters sell them when liquidating dad's estate. The ones with a fat file of religiously-performed dealer rape are the best, provided the car was driven enough that sitting did not deteriorate. One-owner, always garaged, never driven in salt are the holy grail, and with Jags, those are not as rare as with lesser cars. That's the time to buy.

Then instead of treating it like a fully-depreciated car where every dollar/pound/Euro tossed at it is a dollar burned, get ahead of the curve. Look at it ten years hence. Spend on it like it is 2030, not 2020. Do a classic car restoration, or if not needed, a refurbishment. Ask the experts what is known to fail on the X350 and replace it all at the same time. Keep the old spares. If you have the garage space, buy a matching parts car or two. Especially replace all rubber bits. Replace the headliner. Upgrade where necessary to keep it current. Where it looks like future parts will become hard to find, buy and store. Also, in looking for a car to buy, don't be afraid to look overseas. New Zealand has plenty of ex Japan and Singapore cars as well as some NZ new, but it does not salt the roads because the snow and ice stays in the mountains and in underpopulated South Island.

Unfortunately, the only flaw with this time-tested approach is the end of petrol. For the aficionado who does not wish to do an electric transplant, do an LPG conversion now. Or plan to run it on Aviation Grade petrol (gasoline)

If you look at the car in this way - and plan to be driving it in 20 years, you will get great enjoyment in the meanwhile and can justify it to your wife.

Examples: I just sold my 1970 Bristol 411 for $38,000. Bought it for $1,200 in 1994. I only sold the Bristol because Bristol Cars Ltd finally went into liquidation during Covid lockdown, which means parts are going to be hard to find. If Jag goes under, not so much of a problem, because they made 83,000 whereas Bristol tended to make between 40 and 100 of each model and about 4,000-8000 total from 1946 until the end.The 1982 G-wagon I paid $1,300 for in 1997 is said to be worth five figures... and it has 405,000 miles on the clock. It doesn't get a lot of use, but when brute force is needed (like pulling stumps or hauling 2 tons of stone), it fires up and sees the sunlight. My 1969 Alfa Spider that sits next to the 280GE in the garage is said to be worth $50,000. I paid $4,000 in 1988 and have enjoyed years of delight on the track and on sunny summer days. As soon as I paid $4,000, I went to the top Alfa shop in the region and asked what goes wrong with Alfas? I spend another $2,500 (back when that was real money) and it never let me down. Now my future classics include a 2001 SLK that gets regular use and the most recent acquisition a 2004 XJ6. Dove grey interior, walnut wood, 17" tyres (I'm looking for grand touring not hard-ride racing) and the V6 motor that is all one needs in a country with an 100-kph speed limit. The only thing I wished it had was a sunroof.

All you need is a bit of money, a bit of time, and a dry garage... and a different outlook on your 2030 classic, collectible 2003-9 X350/358.

 

Too many Jaguars... so little money. I feel your pain.

 

Funny thing about this thread, is I was just starting to think of the car as crack...you get a little taste of the good stuff and can’t stop chasing the high. Now I’ve never done drugs but can imagine that’s what it must feel like.

One of my old friends/neighbor had a Ford Taurus. One thing would break, he didn’t fix it. Another broke, he didn’t fix it. After a few more issues the car becomes a pile of garbage.

I’ve been conversing with JCalhoun quite a bit on transmission issues. What is yours doing? Or not doing?

I suppose I need to get to the new member section and introduce myself. I’ll do that while I’m kid free.