looking to purchase face lift 2005 4.2 xkr conv. with mileage circa 50k - 80k FSH. To be honest there is only a handful of cars fitting the bill. There seems to be a large variance in price which I don't believe is down to variances in condition. Have these prices bottomed out and are they starting to increase and dealers playing the long game or is it down to shortage of supply at the moment. Thanks

 

In Texas it is what the dealer can get. They purchase them cheaply at auction because the previous dealers held them for so long in inventory that they couldn't sell them for what seemed like a no brainer price but...unless the car is exactly what a buyer is looking for they (the dealers) find the cars sit on their lots or in their showrooms for months and months eventually going to auction, I've watched several cars change hands (dealers) over the past six months and it seems the new dealer doesn't have a clue what the car will actually sell for. Not much help I know, sorry.
wj

 

Think low supply and low demand, so anything goes. Take your time to pay what you are ready to pay for the car you can live with. Be ready for some travel.

 

Most dealers want to move what sells. I've seen a million times cars come into a lane at the auction and the guys that know the cars have a number and stick to it mostly. Mostly.
There are plenty of other dealers there too that just figure "I gotta be able to sell it for this or that." without really knowing the car. That affects what they sell for.
Then there's the fact that the older the car the harder it is to finance them. The vast majority of cars that dealers sell leave with a loan on them. Our cars are gonna be a tough loan. Miles make it worse. There goes a large chunk of the market.
Then there's the fact that people want what they can't get.
Then there's the guy's 1999 XK8 conv sitting at the consignment lot surrounded by 2 feet of grass and he wants $16k for his car. High miles and not nice at all...maybe a 3-4 grand car if it runs.
I watch these cars and I feel they are on the rise, even with the financing issue....but it is very difficult to time the market in cars or anything.
I feel nice examples are the best you can do in car for the money still...I'm very happy with mine. Most of the time.

 

Welcome to the forum JJSS,

Over and above a FSH, a twelve year old XK8/XKR with that range of mileage should have had a lot of money spent recently.

All rubber components - tyres, cooling hoses and rubber suspension parts (there's a lot) deteriorate over time. A well maintained example will have had all these replaced at around ten years old with a fat file of receipts to support the work.

Although not in Jaguar service schedules, a transmission fluid and filter change at around 70k miles is recommended by the manufacturer and known to extend transmission life.

Factor this work into the equation and there's a significant difference between buying a "FSH" vehicle with 12 stamps in the service book and one that has been properly maintained "regardless of cost".

Graham

 

In 2011 I was looking for a XK8 and ran across one local. Bad paint, top didn't work, battery weak and a back set with a big spot on it. He wanted $16K and would not come off a cent. This was when really nice ones were $12.5K.
It's now 2017 and the car is still setting there, looking very sad.

Wayne