Glad you finally got to drive one, and to hear you liked it. I guess the way you've been talking I would have been a little surprised if you had hated it though haha.

I don't know if its different in the '09s, but in my car the transmission will stay where you put it only if you put it in sport mode. If you're just in normal "drive", and pull the paddles, it'll still shift semi-automatically.

Surprised to hear it made your mustang feel slow... I've never driven one but I thought the straight line performance was supposed to be really good even with the V6. I'm with you on the power thing, I have the 5L base XK and 385hp is still a lot. Are there times you could use more? Sure, I guess, but I've had my car for about 4 months now and I'm still impressed by the power.

Try and be patient, and good luck!

 

Hell no, the Mustang felt completely gutless after driving that thing!

What do you mean by sport mode? I put the shifter to the left and used the manual paddles, and it still upshifted when hitting redline. Are you sure it won't upshift if you hit redline?

That car truly is capable of warp speed. Cars around me (I only went about 50 in a 35) were literally as if they were standing still.

I inquired with the salesperson about what sort of prices to expect in 5 or 6 months. He said that I can expect prices to be around $5k lower than what they are now. Fantastic--right smack dab in the middle of my budget!

The budget for this Jag ownership may lead me to financial ruin, though. It's almost 20% of my pre-tax income. But you know what they say--get busy living or get busy dying!

 

Yep, maybe its different in the '09 or something (I have the hockey puck knob shifter that you push down and twist right to get to sport mode). When you initiate a manual shift in this mode, the screen between the speedo / tach turns into a big gear indicator, and also acts as a shift light (the gear indicator turns from white to orange when you get near redline). The first time I tried it I waited too long and bounced off the limiter in 1st... it definitely didn't shift on its own.

 

Interesting. I wonder if it has to do with the stability control settings you turn on for the 4.2L?

 

I checked the manual because I was positive it was in there... on my car at least you have to have the transmission in sport AND dynamic mode turned on. So what I said before was really only part of the story, it has to be both.

 

Aha. So is that different from the standard mode? This makes the car even more desirable!!

One thing I loved about the car was that it had two completely different personalities. In full auto, throttle tip in is luxury car smooth. But when you put it in sport mode, it's a beast!

 

Well, I believe I might take the first step towards buying an XKR tomorrow. That is, selling my Mustang to a private seller. I will go carless for a couple months (or more precisely, use my girlfriend's car) in order to save up a nice downpayment on the XKR.

 

Hmmm... previously I had gotten a quote for XKR insurance at $200/month. Now I got a quote and it was only $143.13. Hmmm......

I am currently being tempted by a 2007 XKR Coupe in British Racing Green. Any thoughts on the convertible versus the coupe?

I love the looks of the coupe, but I really think I'd want the convertible. Does the Coupe have a moonroof? Anybody have a coupe wish they got a convertible instead? Anybody with a convertible wish they had gotten a coupe instead?

 

The coupe does not have a moonroof. You're totally closed in when driving the coupe. Seems to me that you should already know whether you want a vert or not. I mean, is it important to you to be able to drive with the top down? If yes, then get the vert. If no, then get the coupe.

 

I love convertibles, but the serious lack of trunk space in the XK convertible swayed me away from it. I like the looks of the coupe more. That being said, I was close to buying a dark blue XK convetible...

 

How about visibility issues with the coupe versus the convertible (with the top up)? Are either of them that bad?

Trunk space isn't an issue for me--I rarely have anything in my trunk besides an emergency kit, and I have my girlfriend's Sonata if I need a relatively big trunk for anything.

 

Forward visibility is much better in the XK than it is in the XJ. In any convertible, rear visibility will suffer with the top up, but the side windows are good and side view mirrors are well placed. Top down... well you shoudl be able to see everything then!

 

Thanks. How is the visibility in the coupe?

 

Might I suggest you go to a dealer and sit in each, check visibility, ease of entry/exit, space, features, appearance top and down, etc. Then drive both and test visibility on the road, and try top up and down to determine your preference. That's the only one that matters.

I've never sat in the coupe, don't know how it compares, because for us it was always about the drop top. Take your girlfriend and get her thoughts. My wife had a preference that I can best describe as "inflexible"... had to be the convertible.

Visibility is probably relatively poor with both. I know it is in the XKR vert with top up but I'm able to account for that with a little extra care. I can tell you though that I could enjoy the vert forever and never put the top down it's that good in every respect. It's so quiet you forget it isn't a coupe. The only reasons I can think of to shy away from the vert might be if I didn't have a covered parking spot and was worried about the top deteriorating, or if I had to carry stuff that didn't fit into the vert. Otherwise the vert does everything that the coupe does, and adds the epic joy of top down motoring when you prefer that. The joys of topless motoring are best experienced with an open road and scenic view. It's like an enima for the mind!

Bruce

 

Hmmm... good advice. I'll have to try to make it out to the dealer.

I think I'm going to just have to wait until winter to buy. It just seems like there's hardly any '07s for sale right now, and the ones that are are either ludicrously priced, or have too many miles, an accident history, or are of a color combination that I don't like.

Hopefully there will be more selection for XKRs in the winter?

By the way, I can't bring my girlfriend to the dealer. This car purchase plan is a SECRET!

 

The Jag is my first convertible. I love it. That being said, it does have an almost worthless trunk. That matters little to me as I have a number of other vehicles to drive if I need capacity, but it might be rough if it was my only car.

But any complaints against the convertible are quickly forgotten. Like in about 15 seconds. Which is how long the roof takes to come down.

 

I think there is no way I could even consider the coupe. I must have a convertible. My first love was my 1994 Mazda Miata. I spent countless days after class blasting through the mountains, enjoying the mechanical sounds of the engine and having the crisp mountain air blow through my hair. There is no substitute!

For me, having an automatic transmission versus a manual is compromise enough already!

 

Well I went for a second test drive of a 2009 XKR Convertible, this time in black. It was great! I really like the way it feels. It's very comfortable, the driving position is great, and if you don't look to closely, the materials feel great to the touch. Extremely beautiful on the outside. Just all in all a great overall package.

However, at $54k, this car is over $14k outside of my absolute maximum price range. I asked the manager who was with me whether or not he expects to get a 2007 or 2008 XKR Convertible in stock within the next 2 months or so. He told me that I better hope that I don't. If he were in my shoes, he would wait a couple months until the dealerships are very desperate to get rid of their XKRs. He told me that it has been a very strange convertible season. Convertible season is practically over (in terms of sales), yet they haven't sold very many of them at all. I was there for a test drive about a month and a week ago, and every XKR convertible on the lot that was there is STILL there, and then some. Yet the asking prices have not come down much.

Even if the dealerships got really desperate, I doubt they're going to give me the car for $14k off their asking price. Luckily I don't have to buy the car there. But even at other dealerships, they don't seem very willing to budge on price. IMO, I don't think I should have to pay more than $40k for a mint 2007 XKR Convertible with under 50k miles. Everyone seems to have them priced at $45k or so, but I've been keeping an eye on inventories around the country for at least two months or so, and nothing is moving! Prices are coming down a little bit, but are still pretty high. And virtually everything that was listed before is still listed online.

When are dealers going to face the music and realize that there just isn't that much demand for expensive used convertibles like these right now?

Just for ***** and giggles, I got an instant trade in value from Autotrader.com (a real cash offer) on some cars I've been looking at. In general, a real-world trade in value for an XKR vert right now is about $8-10k less than the asking price. How can this be? Such a huge disparity! I think something like $4-5k is more normal.

It's unfortunate, because I just don't think I would be willing to buy an XKR at $45k. As much as I feel it is worth the $45k, the market seems to be dictating that it's just not worth that much right now.

Any thoughts? What do you think I should do? I'm not going to pay $45k for a car that I could only sell for $35k the day after I bought it.

 

The problem isn't dealers asking prices, or current values in your area... it's your very restrictive budget. Not many of these cars (or their direct competitors) sell new, not many sell used, and they don't sell quickly. Your Ford dealer is able to make his income from selling relatively huge numbers of cars at a lower per unit profit than what a Jaguar dealer can given they both have huge overheads to cover. That's the nature, and the challenge, of trying to sell a high end and high priced product that only a small percentage of the market can afford.

What you should do is make the best deal you can on the car you like the best when you can afford it. You can probably get the price down a bit, and if the dealer is able to make a profit after reconditioning that $35k car, repairing anything they discovered before putting it on the lot, put a warranty on it, advertise it, finance it while it sits, fix anything the purchaser discovers at time of purchase, fix anything that breaks on it during the used car warranty period, and pay a wide range of other business expenses...then it's possible he'll still be in business when you need him later.

"A mint 2007 XKR Convertible with under 50k miles" for $45k from a dealer is a tremendous bargain any way you look at it. That's practically a new car at a savings of over $50K! I wouldn't expect a dealer to get desperate anytime soon, although he may become more motivated as the season progresses, and you might find prices may fall a bit after the redesigned XK is released. Or maybe they've already bottomed out and will start to rise along with the new model's increased pricing!

Bruce

 

I respectfully disagree. At least if I take what the dealer told me at face value, nobody is buying these things, and it's been a very unusual convertible season. If nobody can afford it, and none of them are selling, it's simply priced too high. Very little demand, but the prices still remain very high? It would be different if these cars had sold, but as I said, they didn't sell one used XKR over a month during convertible season (and they had 4 used ones, now they have 5), and the price on some of them had been dropped $6k during that time.

It is true that they have to make up for low volume by selling very high, but something still doesn't jive. I'm predicting that there will be a huge fire sale nationally in a month or two, when dealers realize that they have bet too much and are forced to fold.

Again, I would gladly raise my budget to $45k if I felt the market commanded those prices. Unfortunately there just isn't any evidence that it does. I don't think the dealer can say "$45k is the price! Take it or leave it!" They will be stuck with that car for 6 months or more, paying insurance and interest on it. Heck, some of the cars I've seen on the internet have been on the market that long, if you can believe it! Can you imagine a fine car like this going ownerless for so long? It brings me to tears!

This article is pretty interesting, and although it's talking about used Lambos and not used XKRs, I think the same ideas apply:

Used Lamborghinis Linger on Hong Kong Lots Amid China Slowdown - Businessweek

With the economic uncertainty, people who normally buy these second hand luxury with their incomes rather than their savings are pausing to make big ticket purchases. I think that's exactly what's happening right now, and I think dealers are just starting to realize it.

The strange thing is I'm sure that new XKR sales are very strong right now...