Going to go look at a blue-ish/green XJR with tan interior today. Older gentlemen has owned it for the past 9 years. Unfortunately he does not have any service records he says they are all at the dealer if I need them. Car is a 2000 XJR with 85k and has not had the chain tensioners replaced so I'm thinking they are due for peace of mind. Pretty excited and hope this is the car I have been waiting for.

 

Have to say Good Luck! In a way, I like to think that if things are running and ok, but some preventative work not done, it is part of the bonding process after getting the car to do some of your own work and make 'her' yours.

Good luck and welcome to the family!

 

condition wise it wasn't what I expected so a little bumed there. It needed valve cover gaskets and it had a horrible squeak from the front of the supercharger. It didn't sound like a loose belt either but maybe the front snout bearings are going south. I will probably pass since he wants over 10k.

 

this

 

If you have the 928 cars in your sig you know that no service history is a no no. Car sounds like a turd and because the owner is older means nothing to me. Older folks neglect anything like a younger person may for any given reason. I bought an Acura Legend from the proverbial little old lady. The car turned in to a pile of **** even though she claimed to have loved the car from day one. She had no history and I ignored this knowing better.

If someone really loved a car then they could have proved it without question. This older gentleman that owns the car never took care of it. Lack of records proves it.

 

I have to admit, the older my dad gets, the worse his vehicle maintenance has become. He's truly a sweet old man, but takes horrible care of his vehicles now. He used to be meticulous. I try to do as much for him as I can when I get a chance, but I'm not there nearly enough.

 

Wouldn't the two points be bargaining chips? If the body is straight, all systems work, and you CAN gather the history from the dealer, I'd go in low. The valve cover gaskets are an easy job and a good introduction. Most 10 year old Jag's are not going to be showroom, are they? Supercharger, need more descriptive information, could just be the idler/tensioner pullies, again cheap and easy fix.......

 

Good point, thats what I would do.

 

And, if he indeed had the car serviced at a Jaguar dealer each and every one of the invoices can be printed out with the owners permission.

I ended up with a completely documented history of my car that way.

 

When I go looking for an older luxury car I hope to find a low mile garage kept car without any accident history. This takes care of so many problems - as they normally have a nice interior and paintwork. You have to pay a little premium for these.

With 80k that car did not need all that much maintenance - and since it came with free maintenance in the beginning you know that the early stuff was all done and a nice dealer will tell you the later history. Most people in the USA don't keep good records - I can't think of a used car that I have purchased that had good records.

I don't want to buy what looks like an old car. Many owners decide to sell when the miles reach 80k. The car is getting old and often needs tires/ brakes and a major service around that mileage. The owners know they are not going to keep it for another 2 or 3 years so they don't want to put the money into it. These cars require work but are the best ones to purchase.

A proper inspection is a must before you finally buy. The leaking covers are very common - the SC's are very robust so that would need to be investigated.

I once bought an older mercedes that had a little transmission problem - the owner did not even notice it. The car was in fantastic condition and the shifting problem could have been caused by a number of items short of a rebuild. So I made him a deal -- if the rest of the car checked out i would pay for the minor fixes and we would split the cost of a partial or full rebuild.
I knew the car would not last if I passed on it -- ended up being one of the minor problems.

 

I'm not afraid of any of those problems when it comes down to getting the car at the right price. Lets be reasonable though the guy just listed the car and he's firm on his 10,500 price. Nows not the time to low ball him. Plus the condition wasn't really what I was expecting seemed like it had more than the 85k miles on it as far as wear. Don't get me wrong this car was a strong runner, pulled hard and shifted in all the gears correctly. Could use tie rod ends as I felt a little slop and probably 4 shocks which are all minor things for any DIYer.

About the only high dollar thing that this car could need would be the front supercharger bearing if it was going south like I had thought.

 

I agree with the above statements. IF you could have negotiated, and IF the service records could be verified, I too would not be afraid. But, the price is actually what threw me. Granted, 85k miles is wonderful, but I picked up my 99 XJR for $4500 w 125k ish miles. I know, it's over the 100k mark which changes everything, but that's still a big difference. My car already had all the major failures done before me. Throttle body replaced twice, thermo and housing, all tensioners, etc... As far as clean goes, the photo in my signature was taken the day I bought it. It was SUPER clean, in and out.

I still see these go regularly for $6500. I tell everyone I know they are missing out on a great ownership opportunity.

This has been my second best purchase, but favorite vehicle, and I've owned around 100 cars/trucks, few dozen bikes, in my short 44 years...

 

10500 seems high to me as well, especially for you folks south of the border. I picked up my '01 three years ago for 15000 and it only had 85000 kilometers (a little over 50000 miles) and was in immaculate condition. Given how silly prices are in Canada I would think you could lowball a fair bit and use the money you save for the repairs.
If you were immediately going to do the tensioners anyway then the valve cover gaskets wouldn't be a big deal. Hell, while you're under there, if the S/C noise is an issue, go for the twin-screw blower change out and really have fun.

 

This isn't the last car I will be looking at. I gotta another one lined up thats more reasonable priced and from the pictures seems to be in a whole another league as far as condition!

 

Yeah, don't give up, you won't regret your purchase. Even if you end up doing a bunch of work, it's worth it in the end.

 

I also forgot to mention the airbag light was on that car. Is that a common issue with these XJR's?

 

Never heard of it as a "glitch".

However, if it means that the airbag has deployed, you know that replacing it may be big money.

 

The airbag light is probably the biggest thing I'd be worrying about. The squeaking supercharger belt is common, there is an updated belt and pulley arrangement that needs to be done most likely. Changing shocks is not terribly easy on the front end, the lower control arm needs to be practically detached if I remember correctly and you need a spring compressor to keep the spring compressed or it will go flying out sideways into your face. Down here in Texas XJR's go for well under 10 grand, probably closer to 8K for a decent one.

 

Good luck. I didn't do my due diligence, but I got a good price which gave room to play. I've been replacing parts and learning a ton of things from the good folks in this forum. I like the feeling of putting new parts in my car and knowing that every week it's getting better and better. I found a good indie mech with 17+ years of jag exp (he's owned many of them) and I buy my own parts online cheap and he charges fair labor.... does the work here at my home. I now know more about cars than I ever did and feel good about the process. Best of all, when I get in this car I feel like a million bucks. It's gorgeous. I paid just 11% of original avg dealer retail. I'm driving a $70,000 car comparatively for peanuts.

Some may say, "Yeah... well it WAS worth $70,000 in 2001... not now!"

My reply?

"Perhaps the MARKET VALUE has changed, but that doesn't change the fact that it STILL features the QUALITY parts of a $70,000 car. The parts haven't changed. The gorgeous styling hasn't changed. Neither has the sumptuous walnut burl... the rich Connonlly leather seats... the sparkling leaper on the hood... the lambswool carpet... and so on. The reduced market value simply means I'm one hell of a smart car shopper. I own $70,000-quality car for a few thousand. Now get back into your tin box and leave me alone."

SirJag