Trying to get a good scope of pricing. Long story long, I found a 1999 XJR with 38k miles for sale. I found it in April of 2020, and it's still for sale. it's being sold as a private sale from a BHPH dealer and they want crack-smoking money. It's advertised at $6000 down, finance $9000. I contacted the seller and asked him a cash price and he said "need to get $12,500."

That was a year and a half ago and he hasn't changed the price.

I want to take another swing at it but wondered what you might pay to get it in your garage.
99 XJR, white/tan interior, 38k miles
clean Pennsylvania title.
I'm guessing tensioners haven't been done and not too keen on Nikasil, but at 38k I might have a bit before tensioners need to be done.

If you were going to visit and kick the tires, what is the stack of cash you would wave in his face to make it yours?

 

nikasil is good

i’d wait them out and offer 8

 

Cost is determined by location....example, ...a 2000 XJ8/R here in FL in mint condition, low miles.. can fetch around 7-10k....in Chicago, you talking 11-15.
Now let me put that in perspective, the difference is about 4k, ...you can fly down to rust free FL (or N Carolina or thereabout) and buy one and drive it home for way less than that 4k difference. So I'd be shopping down south here partner.

I'm not saying your going to find a better deal, ..I'm saying do your due diligence and do some shopping. Then if you do find one down here, ..drive it by them and stick it in their face.

 

Finding an x308 xjr is hard enough. I mean, there plenty e39 m5's to choose from. And, they, imo, are all way over priced. Yes, I've driven them. Good but not deserving of all the hype they get. Anyways, that is clean. Never see them white, low miles. If rust free, that is one hell of a price in my opinion.

 

I have no problem with a fly and drive other than time right now. I'm not only the head of my department, I AM the department. Tech Director, party of one. Unless the timing works perfectly, what usually happens with a fly and drive is that I find the car today and the calendar says "have you considered April?"

 

My real want is a 2001-2003 Super V8. I missed one on here a couple years ago, and there was one in MD at a used lot but it was BEAT. Finding one of 1000 cars from 20 years ago is not an easy thing.

 

I can commiserate with you. I've managed to hire three people in the last two months, but they don't know enough yet to run things if I take off. I've got 21 days of vacation on the books, eight working days left in the year and maybe I'll be able to use four or five of them if I am lucky. I can sell back up to five days and put the money towards a classic car, but when the heck am I going to be able to shop for one? To make matters even tougher, the kind of cars I like in the kind of condition I'd want tend to show up on those seven-day online auction sites and usually over 1,000 miles away. I'd seriously pay top dollar for the right car in mint condition, but there's no way I can ever take two days out of my calendar on a moments notice to hop a plane and travel to see it. Give me a couple weeks notice at least and maybe but only seven days and I feel like its futile to even look at those auction sites. It'll just depress me to see my dream car on the left coast ticking down and I've got five deadlines and a dozen meetings between now and then.

 

If the tensioners have been done, I would pay $10k for it - if it's in as good of condition as it appears from your post. These cars are beautiful, and have a classic look that will always be appealing in my opinion. They have begun to creep up in value, and I believe the values will continue to inch upward over time, especially the XJR's due to the powerful engine. If the tensioners haven't been done, and they probably haven't with 38k miles, it's worth maybe 6-7k in my opinion. NADA or insurance value isn't going to be that high, obviously, so you'll have to be comfortable insuring it for less than it's worth. If you can do the tensioners yourself, it won't cost much and you'll have a perfect Jag for not much money.

 

Can't add anything on pricing in the US, but would highlight that Nikasil engines are great, if they survived the nineties.
A Nikasil engine really runs smoother, and I have driven quite a lot of X308's.
You can perform a simple blow-by test if you check the car, but that's nothing Nikasil specific, and should be done on any car you consider.
Good luck!

 

Just assume the tensioners haven’t been done.

Here’s one question that’s always going to remain. When’s the next time you’re going to come across a low mileage XJR for a semi-affordable amount of money?

Don’t kid yourself, Nikasil is waaay better (IMO) than a steel liner. My daughters 98’ XJR has 267k on the original engine.

 

Had to dig and do a little more research on the Nikasil. I was unaware that it was an old fuel formulation incompatibility. So safe to assume that new fuel doesn't eat Nikasil?

I am a fantastic mechanic/tech/fabricator... who currently has no time and no garage. Very frustrating. I needed U-joints in my truck last month and I just took it somewhere because I didn't feel like laying in my cold driveway. I could do tensioners if I had the time and place... but I don't.

Assuming the tensioners have not been done, what mileage range do they typically fail? I know that might be a wide range, I'm just trying to anticipate if I might have another 25k before I should worry or if I have another 25 days before they fail.

Also, isn't there a coolant line under the blower that likes to leak?

 

They can fail at any time, to say. The plastic cracks on the tentioner cases and the guides get brittle and splinter. If I recall correctly, I did mine at around 90k. Bore scope the guides every so often and all you have to do is pull a cam cover to look at the upper tensioners. You have 2 more on either side of the guides about mid way down the front, in the chain cover.

 

only the 90s bmw and jaguar versions of nikasil had issues with low quality fuel. every expensive porsche (gt3 and up) wouldn’t last a minute in dubai if they weren’t sulfur compatible

don’t worry about the primary stuff you will be fine. drive it home and do the secondaries, 1 hour job

 

That is not the best of advice, I have seen more than one guide broken into pieces.
It might not result into an explosive engine failure like the secondary's, but its still not good practice!

 

i have too, not a big deal. drop the oil pan to check if you have big chunks

primary job is also real easy but he’s working with minimal time and tools apparently

 

That car is still for sale??? I saw that when I bought my 03 XJR in early 2020, can't believe its still available. I didn't really entertain it at the time due to the color combination, but remember thinking they were out of their minds with that price. I still think it's very high, but not many low mileage XJRs for sale these days, and when you do find them prices are going up like everything else...If you like the color combo I'd say $10k is tops for that car and that's if you're going to keep it for a while. These cars are actually rather difficult to sell, that's why you see the same ones for sale for long periods of time. I think a lot of people are scared of them. I got lucky and sold my 03 very quickly at the end of last summer, but it was a black R1 model so that probably helped.

Good luck, it's defintiely a clean car and these cars are just fantastic. I've been casually looking for another since I sold mine but haven't really found anything worthwhile. As far as tensioners just do them, no reason to put it off. As others have said since we're takling about brittle plastic parts failing it can happen at any time considering the age. The coolant line under the blower is common as well, I did mine when I got the car since I knew it was leaking. Luckily mine was an 03 so didn't have to bother with tensioners or secondaries.

 

Here is a MY2003 in Black for $9500.
in AZ so s/b no rust.
https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/l-Used...304475133/NONE

 

This car is up for sale again - Same owner, same pictures, same mileage. Unfortunate that it has been sitting for about 3 years now... I'd think if it wasn't for the absolutely awful color combination it could sell near his asking price these days.

 

Don't know why the link doesn't work, but its a 1999 XJR located in Allentown, PA if anyone is looking for it. White/Tan with 38k miles.