I have a lead on a low mileage X308 that appears to be a cream puff. The seller seems to be very open about the car and hasn't hesitated to provide me with pictures as requested.

I did notice that the door sticker VIN doesnt match the VIN that is in the windshield or on the title. The VIN on the door is from an X308 that is a year older yet the paint and trim codes match that of the car.

Best case scenario is that the drivers door was replaced for some reason at one point. I dont like the mismatched VIN but the car seems nice. Unfortunately it is 300 miles away and now I am trying to decide if I should cancel my appointment to see it. What are your thoughts about this situation?

 

It sounds like the entire door was replaced at some time. As long as the VIN on the car body matches the title there probably isn't a problem. A lot of cars have those VIN labels to discourage the use of stolen parts. If the door came from a wrecker, no problem. If the door came from a chop shop and returns to a stolen vehicle, big problem. While no one is probably ever going to check, I would ask the seller to contact the local office of the Highway Patrol and have them do a VIN inspection. They can get an all clear before you buy the car. In California, if the problem came to the attention of the CHP, they might require the owner to submit to a VIN inspection. They could at least run the VIN to see if it returned to a stolen vehicle. Since it is an older car it's not unreasonable to assume that the car has had some collision or other repair work done. If you are friendly with any local cops you could ask them their opinion. Good luck.

 

Agree, sounds like the entire door was replaced at some point.

Earlier this year when I was looking for another X308 XJR, I flew around the country to look at several super clean cars before finding one that wasn't messed with in the past. One had 80K on it and looked pristine, that was until I noticed that the paint on the boltheads for the bonnet and both passenger doors was flaking off at the bolt points. That was an indication that the doors were off the car for some reason, same for the bonnet. I'd passed on the car primarily because of that - I didn't feel comfortable with a car that'd had so many panels removed for an undisclosed reason, even though it had an impeccable service history.

Perhaps ask the seller if they can send you some pics of the hinges for that door? Looks for areas on the bolts where paint is lifting/ peeling back, and grey areas around the hinges. A good body shop would re-spray everything, whereas any body shop can replace and realign a door without touching up the bolts.

 

I ran a carfax on the XJ8 and it is showing 4 previous owners. The seller swears his grandfather was the only owner but with the mismatched VIN I am starting to loose trust in the guy. Thinking I am going to pass on this one.

 

What do you think of the carfax?

 

what is a reasonable price for a 2001 XJR?
100K miles clean, also what would potential problems be?
ron

 

Carfax looks good, but you never know if it was just in the family since new and that explains the several owners, or if it's been moved around a lot. It's been in TX it's whole life and looks to be serviced relatively regularly. I'd see what they tell you about the door.

 

Yeah happens @ times w/ body repairs, just do your due diligence

 

Thanks for the feedback. I decided to let this one pass. It may have been a nice car but too many things just didn't line up for me.

 

I think you made a wise decision.


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to late 2001 , 100K clean ,sold for $3000. bucks,, nice car always garaged !