My XKR had 92,000 on her when I bought it. She now has just turned 95k.
Don't let doing maintenance or work be a big issue, every car I have ever owned has needed some sort of work. As I will not buy a new car ever again. Its just not worth the rapid deprecation of value for it.

In hindsight I should have looked for a cleaner XKR that was in better cosmetic condition. I didn't mind the wear on my car but every time I look at it, it should look nicer. I need to get some door dings smoothed out and a good repaint.

If you buy one make sure its a 4.2 motor, and also get the XKR not the XK8.
The XK8 just didn't have the umph that I felt the body style should have.

 

The more I read to get a 4.2 the more worried I become. Paying 30K- 40K for a 4.2 car somehow sounds more and more like a lot.

 

I don't know about prices over there in the UK, but £30-40k sounds a little excessive to me, specially considering the £ is worth more than the $. Are you by any chance looking at aluminum bodied cars? I was expecting prices to hover at about 15k quid for an 05' XKR coupe over there.

 

The first transmission was the dreaded A-drum failure - well documented issue and it just went with no warning. My indie provided a donor transmission so my costs were only $2500


The second failure was the torque converter eating itself - $3200 rebuild. found out from the shop that they had stopped using one particular supplier of rebuilt torque converters due to poor quality rebuilds. It just happened they didn't stop using them until a few months after my first rebuild was complete. Whether this is true or not - we shall see but their rebuilds have come with a 24month/24000 mile warranty


There are a few of us here putting miles on our X100's. One even has over 200K. Check out this thread for some pretty high mileage drivers https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...03-xk8-156360/

 

my '02 is closing in on 20 years old, , so I'm fudging it a little and calling an '02 a "near classic" if there is such a thing.. My e types weren't yet classics when I owned them in the late 1970's - early 1980's, but by that time everyone already was thinking of them that way. So that's where my convoluted logic is coming from. The classic moniker still didn't stop me from driving them coast to coast however.

as far as the milage discussion goes, I think a car needs over 100,000 miles to expose most, if not all potential trouble areas. When I bought my current 2002 XKR two months ago it had 116,099 miles on it. The water pump, cam chain tensioners were done at 115,597, six months before I bought it.

So using my guidelines, I was cutting it pretty close. I would've passed on the car if there had been no records of the cam chain tensioner and water pump being replaced..

Briefly,
1) research the model of car you want,
2) determine if the known problem areas have been fixed already ( I've found out ALL cars have their own unique well known issues, regardless of make ).
3) pass on a car that has not had those issues dealt with, or at least figure the cost of those repairs into the purchase price.

Milage as high as 200,000 miles would not stop me from getting a car IF the repair / maintenance records showed it had been cared for properly, and know issues already fixed

Z.

 

Love the way you set things up so you have a Jag on both sides of your pool table. I built a new house about 5 years ago with a 9 car garage and now it is already filled up with all our cars,pickup and SUV. I made sure to use some of the garage for a custom craft room for my wife to keep her distracted on how many cars I was buying-LOL!

Biggest problem is I did not leave enough room with all the toys to set up a good game room in the garage so might need to sell a few things to set one up. Here is some photos of what I guess is successful "bachelors" parking their cars in their homes so they can really stare at them while they are actually in their homes. I say bachelors because I do not think there are that many wives who would put up with that but then again if the house was big enough you might sneak one in a game room at the end of the house-LOL

 

We are very spoiled in America to have so many choices when it comes to what I call the "Modern Classic Jaguars" at such great prices. I was shocked to find out what our 1995 XJS' are worth now in Europe. They have gotten valuable enough that they are now importing the left hand drive versions back over from North America and they are still commanding top dollar. I see that the XK8 and XKR is now on the upswing in Europe so that in the next 5 to 10 years I am sure you will see more of the left hand drives being brought back over.

With the prices you are quoting for the 4.2 models, I would sure not be afraid to find a well maintained 4.0 with the proper upgrades etc. I have had several friends here with the older 4.0 XK8 and XKR and they have been very happy with them.

Best advice I can share when looking for an older car like a 20 year old Jag is buy the best condition one you can afford and will be happy to drive and live with. So often we talk about the shape of a vehicle mechanically ( which is absolutely important ) but neglect to talk about the shape of the paint, interior etc.

What i have come to understand over the years for myself is if you make compromises on things like paint or interior condition you will most likely just not love driving or being around a car like a Jaguar and then you will really have sticker shock when you start pricing out what it costs to repaint a Jaguar correctly or re due all the leather etc.

This is why I try and find low mileage gems that have not only been mechanically maintained but also have little cosmetic wear. I have just had a much better ownership experience when I hold out for low mileage well kept examples and I try my best to buy directly from 1st or 2nd owners so I really know first hand how the vehicle has been driven, maintained and stored.

Better to spend a few thousand more on the front side than several thousand more on the back side so hold out until you find the right car for you. You will likely look at several until you find the " one " so if possible set aside at least 3 to 6 months to really search out the right car.

Go to as many British car shows so you can talk to the owners first hand,sit in as many as you can and drive as many as you can until you know you are getting the best fit for yourself. Just the color of the car you pick for yourself can have a huge impact on how you feel about the car so again take half a year if possible and really get to know the model and then you will know when you have the right one. I have a red and a blue one and though I really like both I have to admit the blue is just stunning with the blue top and light grey interior.

 

Not pounds. Euros. 30-40K euros. In the UK I believe they are still selling for good prices.

What do you mean aluminum bodied cars? Were there aluminum bodied X100s?

 

Ok. I wish you luck this time around with the transmission.

 

Me personally I would not be comfortable buying a car with 200k miles. Unless it looked absolutely fantastic, with a full service history from new till now and I knew the seller. Even then, I can't see how things like interior and especially seats and paint would look great, unless it had been restored.

100K miles is a different matter and I'm thinking I will have to get used to that idea unless I want to pay 30-40K for it, which to be honest, I'm not sure I do.

 

If you go to www.autotrader.com, you should find that there currently are eight 2001-2006 series XKR coupes offered. The asking prices range from $10k (USD) for a high mileage 2002 to $29.9k (USD) for a 2006 Victory Edition with 46k miles. They all claim to be fully functioning.

 

I have not looked at XJS prices for a while. So they are so high already that dealers are bringing them over from the U.S. to resell here?

I wonder how much longer X100s have before they start getting stupid expensive. I think they eventually will. Not sure if 5 to 10 years will do it. But eventually. I think they are future classics for sure. The sin is that we never got a manual one. They would for sure be the most expensive ones.

Even the Esprit climbed up the last few years and first generations seem to be fetching close to 100K now. The V8s never really dipped bellow 50K. Not too long ago you could buy 80's Esprit for a few thousand pounds. Now they are above 20K for a reasonable one.

I have to agree with you about cosmetic wear and high mileage X100s. Like I said, unless restored, a 200K miles car won't be pristine cosmetically and that counts as much as mechanically, as you say. Maybe around 100K miles is the sweat spot for having had all the needed service done while still possible to have a good interior and paint.

 

I'm not sure I follow. I'm in Europe.

 

Your location was not specified in your id, but i should have surmised based on earlier comments re your experience with Astrias. I am not sure what the European equivalent of AutoTrader online used car market is, but if the price difference between US cars and EU cars is as significant as you seem to think, you might consider buying a California low mileage car or one of the other clean low mileage cars listed and shipping it back. The market for CA used cars (and boats) was very popular with foreign buyers a few years ago when the dollar was weak. If you think I would net $30k (EU) on my 2006 XKR coupe with 33k mi, i could be interested. Good luck with your search.

 

 

The biggest site for car sales in Europe is autoscout.

I'm not sure buying one in the U.S. makes sense. After shipping and import taxes you can probably just buy a local one.

Besides U.S. cars probably have different specs which won't match European law (?). Also many European cars are de-tuned when they are sent to the U.S. Or they are heavier because of extra safety stuff the U.S. requires. I'm not aware of the changes in specs. So unless I could have them for much cheaper even after shipping and import taxes, I will stick to an European car.

 

Sure. Like I said, mechanically speaking, what you said makes a lot of sense. But cosmetics is also very important. Much easier to have a 200k miles car running great than looking great. Especially the leather and paint.

 

Just came across a very interesting review/buyer's guide:
Posting it here as it may be unknown to people in the UK and U.S., since it's from a Dutch site. But it has English subtitles.

He gives a very long list of issues and things to check. Most of the stuff was covered in the thread. But there are a few things which I'm hearing for the first time. From more major things like suspension problems to smaller things such as the key battery issue.

He also mentions some body panels are plastic and others are aluminium? I was not aware there were aluminium panels. Maybe the subtitles mistranslated it. Although somebody also mentioned aluminium in the thread. What parts are aluminium, if any? And I'm thinking plastic are only the front and rear bumpers?

 

Jeager the suspension components are not bad to replace as DIY. The bushings and upper shock mounts are rubber and deteriorate over time. I've replaced my front upper shock mounts, shocks, springs, upper ball joints and all front bushings with ease- forum has all the steps necessary

 

I've been visiting this thread on-and-off.





This brings me to something I've been meaning to mention. More specifically, I've meant to ask if the OP was an avid DIYer. If the question came up before, I must've missed it.

To at least some degree, but I think a large degree, personally, the opinion of a car's reliability, and overall ownership experience, will be higher among DIYers.

A non-DIYer is faced with different and often greater challenges than a DIYer. There's the much higher out-of-pocket expense, inconvenience of waiting for shop scheduling, finding a trustworthy shop, and so forth.

A DIYer faces less expense, does repairs on his own schedule, and....as often as not....actually enjoys repairing and servicing the car. Doing so it part of the enjoyment; there's lots of personal satisfaction involved. Of course everyone has their limits but a DIYer will often shrug off as "no big deal" something that a non-DIYer finds to be very expensive, inconvenient, and aggravating.

Cheers
DD