XJR Advice

[DBParkie]

Hi All

I am thinking of buying an X358 XJR, I have seen 2 I am interested in one has 112k, Grey with ivory leather & rear ent £11k. The other has 97k, Blue with grey leather £10.5k.

Now being honest I love the blue colour, its really metallic, but not a fan of the interior grey leather, grey carpets & wheel etc. I much prefer the ivory leather with black carpets & wheel etc. The grey car looks in great condition inside & out, I think a little better than the blue (but that's not to say a good clean, reconnolisation (I don't think that's a word) & mop etc wouldn't get the blue there), but I think my biggest query is the mileage, I do approx 10k a year but the grey is £15k more miles for £500 more. Also I'm struggling a bit spending £11k for a car with over 100k miles on.

So for an 11 year old XJR is the thing to not worry about the mileage & go on condition?

Do the prices seem about right?

And really silly question I know as only I can answer, but would the right interior be preferable over exterior colour?

I know if I had them I'll come out in the morning & see the grey & kinda like it but then Ill get in & love the inside. But I'll see the blue & think 'yeah love that but maybe feel a little let down by the interior.

Hmmmmmm!

Cheers

[Piersman2]

Are these really holding their money this well? I sold my last XJR about 5 years ago for £11K 'ish, 2008 with about 100k miles, seems they haven't gone down in value since!

With regards to you question, I wouldn't be overly concerned on the mileage, as ever condition is king.

[P700DEE]

These cars thrive on miles , 15K is nothing. Buy on condition. It's much easier and cheaper to change the interior colour than the exterior and you could DIY. Interiors do come up for sale on the bay and the trim. If the seats need a bit of work I would guess grey to Ivory is a possible.

[sjc]

Look for history and maintenance.Have the big jobs been done ? Any signs that the owner was an enthusiast, had preventative stuff done like the gearbox oil changed, valley pipe etc ?All that will be more important than mileage/colour as an ownership proposition.

[alabbasi]

Hold out for the right color combo. you're going to be staring at it every day.

[independentLee]

Ahem...

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Whilst not a Supercharged one, it's an early X350. They are remarkably good value for money, but the Bork-Factor can be very high if you aren't comfortable with the Fettling-tools.

Edited by independentLee on Wednesday 27th February 13:55 - Spelling

Edited by independentLee on Wednesday 27th February 13:56

[andylaight]

What are the 'big jobs' 'preventative maintenance' that I should look for having done?

[Rik Blythe]

Hi
I’d look for the car that best suits you best. I looked at loads and waited for the right car. When I found it it had 115k, partial history and scratch on the side but I fell in love with it. It’s black with cream interior. I sold it a few years ago with 175k still going strong. Best car I ever owned!!!!!
I now have a SV8 350. Nice but different.
Good luck

[Piersman2]

andylaight said:

What are the 'big jobs' 'preventative maintenance' that I should look for having done?

Err... well none really. That doesn't mean nothing will go wrong with it, but they don't really have a unique weak spot. Other than standard servicing most would suggest getting the gearbox fluid changed out around 100k miles, but it may not even need that. some might suggest the 4.2 engine valley pipes be changed, but I'd wait to see if they ever start leaking before spending a lot of money changing them as preventative.

My two X35* XJRs were both over 100K miles when I sold them. The earlier one (2003 IIRC) had an occasional message about suspension height, a slightly chonky change from 1st to 2nd on light loads, and a stereo that would have trouble working on cold mornings. But nothing went 'wrong' with it in 2-3 years of ownership. The second one (2008) had EML messages for two years about CAT effciency but ran OK until it eventually started to NOT be able to get over 100mph. New CATs resolved that issue, but it was still triggering the EML codes. I had a terraclean (sp?) done a week before I sold it and that seemed to finally get rid of the codes. Other than that, nothing more than usual, brake discs, pads, tyres etc...

[P700DEE]

Piersman2 said:

andylaight said:

What are the 'big jobs' 'preventative maintenance' that I should look for having done?

Err... well none really. That doesn't mean nothing will go wrong with it, but they don't really have a unique weak spot. Other than standard servicing most would suggest getting the gearbox fluid changed out around 100k miles, but it may not even need that. some might suggest the 4.2 engine valley pipes be changed, but I'd wait to see if they ever start leaking before spending a lot of money changing them as preventative.

My two X35* XJRs were both over 100K miles when I sold them. The earlier one (2003 IIRC) had an occasional message about suspension height, a slightly chonky change from 1st to 2nd on light loads, and a stereo that would have trouble working on cold mornings. But nothing went 'wrong' with it in 2-3 years of ownership. The second one (2008) had EML messages for two years about CAT effciency but ran OK until it eventually started to NOT be able to get over 100mph. New CATs resolved that issue, but it was still triggering the EML codes. I had a terraclean (sp?) done a week before I sold it and that seemed to finally get rid of the codes. Other than that, nothing more than usual, brake discs, pads, tyres etc...

Valley pipes, do get them done at about 10 years as they went on both my XKR and 4.2 S type at that age and just over 100K. The XKR was fine as I got a leak but the S Type dropped all its fluid on the M5 200 miles from home so was much more expensive to sort!

[DBParkie]

Gents

Thanks for all the good advice, so it seems like in general these are pretty robust cars that can handle the mileages well.

It looks like I may have to delay the purchase for a bit as that ever moving life thing has got in the way (again).

Will keep this thread updated when things change.

Cheers

[cornershop]

I bought my 2006 in Dec

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Preventative maintenance:

Valley pipes
Expansion tank
knock sensors
Radiator hoses
T-stat
Coolant change
Heater matrix flush
Oil change
Diff fluid
New tyres on XK Nevis wheels

Gearbox flush planned but undecided on the specialist

It’s still losing some coolant - further investigation needed.

[Dodsy]

My 12 year old x350 XJR Has just hit 190k miles pretty much everything works , the engine is the one thing i dont worry about its still going strong with recent mot showing vietually zero emissions.

I do have to run it on super as it doesn't like 95 for some reason that no one can work out but i still get 30 mpg all day long

Mines got black seats and carpets and the alloy dash which i prefer to the wood

ETA its worth oh about £2.5k but i love it , not sure id pay huge sums for an x358 , i only paid £14k for this one when it had 38k on the clock and was 6 years old

Edited by Dodsy on Tuesday 19th March 23:21