Consider looking at what the XKR does really well for you and then find a car that doesn't do very well at those things but instead does very well at different things.
If you can have multiple cars, go for cars that give you an entirely different enjoyment than the one you have.
That said, the XKR is an incredible compromise that does very well at so many things.

You could get a plug in hybrid, and get in MPG competitions.

 

Not a bad plan. Besides my XKR I have an X-Type, which I very much like and serves as my daily car and I also have a pickup! The three couldn't be more different. But if I could have only one car, it'd be the XKR because, as you say, it does so many things so well. The sole thing that it can't do is carry four people, which is another reason I have the X-Type (and also for its AWD capability when the roads are slippery around where I live, which is quite often in the winter months). However, I rarely need to carry four people so, still, if I had to choose just one, it would be the XKR. There really is nothing like it at anything like the price or the cost of ownership. Of all the big coupe GT style cars - Aston, Ferrari, Continental GT, etc - none ticks so many boxes as the XKR.

Plus.... it still looks 'current' and always will and it never fails to turn heads or draw remarks at the gas station and so on. Most people I encounter don't know what it is unless they see the badge, and they all assume it has cost way more than it has. The one thing they all agree on is that it looks "very quick".

 

Even though just about every design element was done in the US along with the manufacture of the car and its parts? I don't consider it a Japanese car so much.

 

The fee to enter and fees to keep in the game can be quite at odds in the used fancy car spectrum. 150K new car will always be a 150K when it comes time to fix it.

 

Oddly i feel the XK has more affordable parts compared to other cars in its same original msrp bracket. I also feel that they are generally reliable compared to their peers and not very needy in terms of needing parts or repair. That said it generally holds true what is said.

To own my 2000 X100 XKR Convertible for a decade now, it's been all in about a grand and a half a year. That includes all of the depreciation, maintenance, repairs, consumables other than fuel, wheel refinishing, paint job and new leather in front. I would say objectively the x100, while near and dear to my heart, it's not near as well made or robust as the x150. If in a decade I've spent 15k overall to own my 07 XKR, I'll be on here toasting having enjoyed such a great car for a pittance. Depreciation likely to be the bigger expense than maintenance and repair.

Honestly though, double the 1500 to 3000 a year if you had to pay labor, still a relative bargain for what you get.

 

This is how I moved on from an XKR...



Jaguar 2011 XKR 175, bought 2012.






Jaguar 2013 XKR w/dynamic pack, bought 2014





Jaguar 2014, Dynamic R, bought 2019 used w/13,000 miles

 

When was an Alfa not incredibly promising....and when was that promise ever worth the other heartaches.

I think people have less of a stomach these days for the grief that comes with an Alfa because you cant just take it to a gas station to be worked on, like you could in the old days and Tony would show some patriotic enthusiasm. Nowadays, Pedro wants as much as the dealership- no joke.

I can show you several 2 year old Alfas with 3000 miles for $20k- and this was one of the best car designs in the last few decades. 0-60 in 3,2sec, incredible sounds, handling to die for.

 

One of the last cars designed to go 450,000 miles, in every aspect. Remember when the Mercedes were made that way, and they went as much as a million miles. This Lexus had all the modern comforts and yet amazingly simply.
It had better craftsmanship than anything on the road today made by robots. Because there was a time in the 90's economic crash, incredible Japanese labor and engineering with thousand years of manufacturing tradition (think legendary metallurgy) was cheaper than the unskilled labor in Mexico.

The XK150 had a small element of that too, at least in the design sensibilities, it was an overlap of some tradition and modern manufacturing. No one can argue, Grace, Pace & Space formula was absolutely preserved while still having all the latest manufacturing ability that JLR has today decade later. But get this; went to see an F-pace to replace my loss. Astonishingly, it was designed around the cup holder. What a waste of space. We looked at a Mazda- it had a better interior and exterior- even though thanks to Jag depreciation a 2 year old Fpace is incredibly cheaper that a Mazda of the same age.

See if you can tell which is the premium car. Only one of them has warming wood.

 

I rent cars constantly for work. Mazda leads the pack for interior refinement for regular cars. I like their exterior styling too.

 

I am hoping to find a reasonably priced Stelvio Quad to replace our XC60 when the lease ends.

 

You have the stomach and experience for it, it also helps that you are in a very advanced part of the country when it comes to repairing exotics.
My favorite car show was out of Harvard Square, from the law office of Dewey, Cheatem & Howe.

Check this one out- you cant find any Mazda for this price and this low of miles. 2018 for $25k, only 4k miles. Its an incredible car for a give away price. Dont know why they are so reasonable?
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/d...0930/overview/

 

I dunno, the 'salesman' photo that popped up on my screen looked like he was still in high school... maybe he's selling daddy's car to pay for college.

 

Wow, that is some deal. How much warranty is left?

 

That is a decent deal, but it is just the base engine NOT the more powerful V6...

 

Who knows why these cars are being sold 60cents on the dollar even with almost no miles and 2 years old? across all models. BTW the Fpace is the same story.

I love Alfa and the formula, but cant own one. I cant take on yet another Pomeranian that requires monthly trips to the beauty parlor- ironically because I first need a pitbull that lives outside and makes all the luxury possible.
There is an entire genre of cars missing these days, remember the cars you could invest in and you could depend on them come hell or high water, and any time you spent on them was returned when you handed down to family.

I am hoping the Land Rover Defender is going to be that car again. There are some signs of it, those plain cheap steel wheels tell me they are not making these affordable by making lease queens, or spreading the burden across 4 owners. Which sadly is what so many cars are designed for these days.

 

Maybe their algorithms have determined Alfa buyers fit the Kevin Spacey mold.

 

During car ownership, there are particular wear items, and not all of these will wear evenly car to car.
The extra cost might be from weighted switches with stronger mechanisms that will last longer.

The more expensive car might take items that wear out quickly on a cheap car and instead have a design that lasts.
You could go the entire ownership without need for replacement.
It really comes down to the priorities of the engineers and manufacture.

Tires are tires, oil is oil, filters are filters. Outside of a car designed to competition spec these items will not have a huge variance.
I can spend just as much on tires on a cheap car as an expensive car, the same applies to filters and fluids.

An Aston Martin Vantage will be more expensive to work on because placement has been done based on performance over ease of replacement.
In contrast, my XK has placed items that need to be replaced for easy access, sacrificing tight and ideal performance packing in the process.
This means lower hours to do the same job. A cheap car can place items with initial assembly in mind, yet not pay attention to the need for later replacement parts.
This means more hours even for a cheaper part. No savings.

I would agree that maximum risk from catastrophic will indeed be higher.
The best thing is to not pay more for a used luxury car than you can afford to light it on fire and buy a second one.
That kind of price threshold shopping gives a lot of peace of mind.

 

Which items on the V8 Vantage are harder to work on or access than on the XK? I don't buy that one after owning each. V12 Vantage, maybe since it's pretty tight inside. V8V and XK share the same lower half of the engine, albeit the V8V is a dry a sump. Parts costs are significantly more on the Aston's. Shop rates at the dealer are more for Aston than Jaguar.

 

Hmmm, not sure the air filters fall into the "items placed for easy access" category. At least not on an R.

 

This might be how you move-on from an XKR. Yes it really belongs in the other thread discussing 'yet another XK"

This one will be the real deal- Mazda has designed the engine first (unlike Supra) they have effectively cracked the code on how to make a diesel engine with gasoline. 30% gains.
Combine that with new British technology of Camless, Timing Chain less, lightweight engine and we are talking I-6 with 1200hp and 50mpg. Konisegg is doing it now, getting 600hp from 3 cylinder using electronic valves.
Yeah just make your XK last till all this happens, anything else is just another car from last century's technology.