I am in the position of trading my 2011 XFSC (20.5K miles) for either of 2 cars.

The first is a 2010 XKR 16K miles 1 owner but had a carfax incident of repaired left front door and quarter but local dealer (My service advisor actually) gave it a clean bill of health 54K

Second car is a 2009 MB SL-550 31K miles clean carfax one owner 51K.

I am leaning twords the SL but have major worries aout warranty stuff as the Jag wil be covered for at least 39K more.

Any help would be appreciated,
Thanks

 

I've moved your post to the later XK section.
Lower mileage + guarantee says XKR to me - and Heck! the other one's a Merc.....

 

Mercedes is the car of the mass. It has no soul. It is not to be compared, with respect.

 

Would hardly call SL class a car for the masses though..

 

As a side note does anybody know if R-Academy follows the car or the originalowner. I'm pretty sure that the originalowner didnt register for it..
Would be a deciding factor for me..

 

Just mercedes then...I will expect there is more for sale etc...

MA_XF_SC I totally respect your choice i did not want break any feelings, I personally feel jaguar are closest cars from motorcycles, they are breathtaking. I personally love how it drives, performs, accelerate, moves etc...a real thrill. I do not find that with bmw and mercedes at all.

 

Your obviously going to get biased views from this crowd, and I myself know little to nothing of the 550, so in that respect I'm near worthless in advise between the two.

My concern is the bad Carfax.... As that is a blemish that will devastate it's value from this day forward by a solid 20%. Seems to me a 2010XKR with better records can be had at that price, without the extra baggage.
We all know today's quality repair shops can do good work, so maybe a parking lot "sideswipe" of two panels is all that happened, but I would want to know for sure first. Determining the full damage done is outside the expertise of you Service Advisor and his available staff unless they have their own repair facilities on site.

My advice, stay clear of this XKR unless you and your SA can actually come up with the repair records to back a simple "scratch and dent" theory. Or maybe get it to the authorized Jaguar body shop and ask them to advise you of the extent of the repair.

2cents
Vince

 

Correct and at this price you can find others...

 

Come man, your from Mass u know how we roll. The right choice is the Top of the Line Model. e.g You would have to decide between the XK"R" and the Merc SL 65 "AMG".

R and 65 AMG being the top of the line in that model.

Of note the 2012 and later R-S would be comparative to a SL Black Series.

 

XKR! That sounds like a good deal to me with only 16K. I would take that any day over a German tank. Drive both cars and you will not look back on the Mercedes.

 

I think you're going to get a slightly biased view here (as you would asking the same question on a mercedes forum). Before we bought my wife's XKR she drove the SL and her opinion was it lacked character, she called it clinical German efficiency vs British eccentricity. Now some may like that German efficiency, but she went with the XKR (plus in SoCal SL's are a dime a dozen compared to XKR's) and she absolutely loves the car.

Honestly you need to drive both and seeing which one you prefer, and I think the CarFax blemish needs to be investigated in detail have a body shop or similar export look at it to establish the extent of the damage and repair - at that price there are other XKR's out there.

 

Have you driven either? These can't be the only 2 cars out there for sale, so don't let it boil down to no warranty vs wrecked. Look for an SL with extended warranty if you prefer the SL for whatever reasons, or an XKR that hasn't been in an accident if you prefer it.

How did you like your XF and Jaguar dealership experience?

 

I read it as Jaguar 2010, XKR, clean title, lots of warranty left, only 16k miles from new. Superficial accident, for $54K. A great deal vs a German tank with no warranty and a year older.

I would research into the accident to find the body shop that did the repairs. Get the receipts to view the extent of the damage and the quality of the repair. If receipts are unavailable I would have the areas of concern thoroughly investigated to determine the quality of the repair and any unrepaired damage. After your PPI you can further negotiate the deal based on your findings and any concern over resale value due to minor accident. I would not let an accident deter you from purchasing a car. At least it is disclosed and you know what you are dealing with--most accidents are not disclosed and the damage is hidden.

The Mercedes is not even an AMG, a year older, no warranty. Forget SL550 and buy the Jaguar XKR before someone else recognizes the good deal.

 

Bruce,

I love my XF... My dealer has been awesome. I also bought a 11 LR2 for my wife there so that may have helped.. I drove both cars today, I can say that I liked both of them for different reasons. In the end the XKR was my pick, I am going to have it checked out at the body shop this week. There are only a handfull of cars for sale up here, I really wanted a convertible before i bought my XF but a four letter word (wife) got in the way so ended up with the sleeper... I have convinced her that it is ok to be having a mid life crisis and this wil help me through it... I actually started out looking in Jan , had my heart set on a Audi S5 Cab Prestige but cant find one anywhere. I will say the resale values on a S5 are impressive,actually all Audi's that I looked at. that being said, I have now come to grips with the depreciation that my car has and can move forward..

Will keep updating as it progresses.

 

Bring the car to a body shop and see what they to say. XKR is more unique, you know how lovely the Jag V8 is already. SL's are a dime a dozen. There other XKR's out there and you should consider looking nationally and ship the car home. Who's to say the SL hasn't had paintwork? Just because it's not listed on CarFax does not mean something never happened to the SL either.

Drive both and report back.

 

There are only 5 XK's avail in 100 miles of me
Only 1 are dealer cars

2010 - 27279 miles 50K (XK) waranty till 12/2014

Just drove it and although I will miss the pure performace supercharged is, I dont really need it. I have enjoyed it but I other than track time dont really need it... I appreciate the feedback, I think I have eliminated the XKR due to the bad carfax rating. I talked to my SA and he rememebrs looking at it said it was in good shape and looked loiek it was only exterior body panels not interior one but the beating i wil take in 2 years when I trade it in on the F-type will hurt me more later. speaking of the F-Type, saw it today in the dealership. I like the way it felt and loved the return to a stickshift style. One more car to look at tommorrow a loaded S5 Cab . One bummer i noticed on both 10 XK's is there was no HD radio. I am really going to miss it, teh sterio is same as my current but no HD. I did see a HD radio head from a totaled XFR on ebay that I may look at if it fits for a few hundred bucks. I found ioyut it was an orderable option on the 10's Will keep updating as it goes

Thanks

 

That's why I had mine shipped from North Carolina.

 

So you did end up with the SL? When you test drive both, how do you characterize the difference in steering feel, and car character? I'm kinda in the same boat, been mulling over changing car - for a long time.

I looked at MY07-09 XKR, 2010 XKR, MY05-06 SL55 AMG, and SL550. For whatever reason, I just don't get the sense of special occasion stepping into the SL .... even the AMG ones, even though those have enough torque to awaken the dead seems like.

 

I would not let a bad carfax report deter you from buying a car. A carfax report can indicate a "total loss" only because the car had an insurance claim. A brand new car recovered from a theft will be a "total loss" "salvage titled" car without a scratch, which could have 10 miles on it. Obviously "total loss" and "salvage title" is misleading. One needs to understand the car/insurance/reporting industry to intelligently assess a car. The above "total loss", "salvage titled" car is a better car than 99% of the resale cars available through dealers and private sellers. My point is all "salvage title" and bad carfax reports are not the same. In a lot of cases the smart buyer will realize this and use it to his/her advantage. One needs to do their research. Some "salvage title" and "clean title" cars aren't worth crap.

Good luck and play smart... Let us know what you buy and how things work out for you.

 

for 15k$ I will do the carfax investigation but for 54, you won't see me buying car with a report.