Hi guys,

I bought my x350 a little over a year ago for £4000 4.2se 2003. It has 79k miles and is in really good condition and looked after. I bought it in the hope that I wouldn’t lose money if and when I sell it. What are your thoughts on these models appreciating?

 

Buying something with the hope of it selling it years from now at a profit.
Is the wrong reason to buy anything, & a fools errand, I M H O

 

I'm not sure about the market where you are, but here in the USA, sports and GT cars tends to bottom out around 15 to 20 years old, remain flat for a few years and then start to appreciate again after 20 or 25. They don't really start go up fast until after 30 years old. That's when all the guys who were 15 to 25 years old when the cars were new reach two critical milestones in life, 1) financial security, the kids are through school and living independently, the mortgage is paid off, they're now in management roles at work, etc., i.e. they have the most disposable income and/or savings that they will have in their life, and 2) that they've hit what some call a mid-life crisis, where they seek to fulfill various unfulfilled dreams of their youth, possibly including that sports car that they wanted but couldn't afford when they were young.

Sports and GT cars are first line collectibles because of #2 above. Sedans not so much. Car collectors don't tend to buy sedans until they've either 1) checked off a half a dozen or so sports and GT cars from their youthful bucket list, or 2) if they waited so long that the top five on the bucket list have already appreciated beyond what they can afford. Only then do most collectors start going after other kinds of cars like sedans, station wagons and various work vehicles. If a collector really starts the hobby in his 50s and buys a car every couple of years, then he's in his 60s or 70s by the time he gets that far down his list. So sedans tend to languish at full depreciation for another ten to twenty years after a sports car of the same age would have started to appreciate.

This general rule has seemed to apply to the collector car market for as long as there have been classic and antique coupes vs sedans from which a collector may choose. The trend may change a bit in the future for Millenials as in the 90s and 00s, manufacturers began making only sedan body styles to cut costs (previously there were two and four door versions of most everything) and particularly offering "sport sedans" with powerful engines and race-ready suspension. When I was a teenager, if you drove a 4 door sedan, it meant only one thing, that your parents got a new car and you got the hand-me-down. However, since millenials grew up coveting "sport sedans", they may have a few near the top of their lists, but I suspect it will be the limited production, very high performance editions that they will collect first. I predict a 2003 Jaguar XJ8 sedan is probably still 15 years away from even the first nudge upward in real values (tho prices of all used cars may go up in the near term with inflation, chip shortages and COVID related money supply injection for the US market.)

If you don't rack up a lot of mileage and store it indoors, then it probably isn't going down in value. The "statistical average value" is probably already at the bottom. But condition is paramount so if you are daily driving it and parking it outdoors, then it could drop from a #2 condition to a #3 or #4.

 

Just browse the XJ for sale columns all the way back to '68, but look only at the price/(miles) and see if you can guess what year it might be. Answer: Flat
Or...the only saloon worth a "spectacular" amount seems to be the Mk2 Jag, which is typically 4x the above. And undoubtedly had a full restoration soaking up much of that value.
Fortunately, we connoisseurs just know we bought the best model
and if you look at the price of aluminum, things are looking good!
Aluminum | 1989-2021 Data | 2022-2023 Forecast | Price | Quote | Chart | Historical (tradingeconomics.com)

 

Will these cars appreciate?

Don't think so.. not for a long time anyway. I also think that the rarer models will be the ones to rise in value if any do. So the XJR's and the Super V8's.
However as someone commented the prices have probably bottomed out so you won't be loosing out too much.
And of course, the most important thing is you get to cruise around in a beautiful jag!!

 

Mine sure won't! I enjoy mine too hard. :-)

 

Thanks for your great responses guys, didn’t realise I was driving an aluminium gold mine 😀. They are a pleasure to drive (as soon as I get my sway bar bush and drop links sorted this week)

 

They are far too plentiful in the UK to appreciate in any considerable way, just yet.
Stick in in a barn for 30 years and who knows. Keep it as mint as possible and not only will you enjoy it more but when you do come to sell it, the car sells itself.