2011 XJ Supersport X351

Trade auction at BCA, I was the only bidder and that was the reserve. Of course there is an exciting element of risk involved in that, but if there is an issue I could have used some of the £10,000 I'd saved over retail to fix it

Today a SWB 2010 on 80k miles got a single bid at £8,200 and a LWB 2011 on 100k miles got a single bid at £6,800. I'd have bought the SWB if I was after a car, it looked a very nice one.

A private buy should be 10% - 20% or so over trade value, as someone buying from a private seller you need to be mindful that his alternatives are the likes of WBAC or trading in at a dealer for a bag of Skips and a cup of bad coffee, a lot of private sellers seem to think if a Specialist like QCT or Parkway can ask £20k+ they'll sell their car if they are £500 cheaper.

It's quite common to see them advertised privately at very hopeful prices and then turn up at BCA via WBAC, last week a 2011 55k mile XKR convertible that had been advertised at a dealer since March at £25,000 went through the lane at BCA for the 5th time and they took less than £14,000 for it. In the last 3 months I could have picked up half a dozen 40k - 80k mile 5.0 XKs and XKRs for £10k - £15k each.

It's not 2021 anymore...

ETA - another example

This car sold the same week as mine, so the end of April 2023, from memory it got £10k - £11k.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202303034...

8 months later he still has it advertised, it's droped from £18,879 and has been at £16,999 since October and he still has it. If you went in and offered him £14k and no part ex to deal with I think a deal could be done. I wouldn't though, drab colours and that carbon fibre is a bit Audi A3 for me. The point is that it is very much a buyers market, and while the guys like QCT and Parkway can sit on a car forever without worrying smaller non specialist dealers and private sellers can't or won't.

So just to clarify, you can remove the coating off the buttons and it just becomes a plastic button, still with the graphic showing? Would I just use some kind of solvent to achieve this.

And also, tell me about the 1200w B& W system, that is a real plus for me......................

You can scratch it off with a fingernail, or use a plastic scraper. Lots of people use makeup wipes to soften it. Yes you get a nice smooth button with the writing still on it when you're done. Lots of stuff on the internet about it on cars ranging from Audis to 90s Ferraris.

The B&W system really is really very good indeed for an in car system and the quietness of the cabin helps no end. I found the XF B&W system to be a muddy lead footed thing, rather disappointing, and the B&W in my X150 would be considered good as the upgrade choice in a 5 series but is a mile off the X351 system for volume, bass extension, separation and so on, it also has an annoying tendency towards harshness on certain types of music. I enjoy the stereo in the X351 enormously.

I have also used the later Meridian system, both the "Surround" badged one and the "Reference" that was a £3k+ option or standard in late Autobiography cars and was really surprised to find that I didn't like it nearly as much, it was unpleasantly shrill. Maybe some more time spent fiddling with it could have got better results, but I didn't find it in any way superior to the 2010 B&W system on initial acquaintance.

I also think Tata knocked quite a lot of cost out of the X351 (and X250 XF) over their life, an early car "feels" much nicer than a later one, I looked at buying a 2018 Autobiography but was really disappointed in it. The cabin in a facelift XF also feels a bit low rent compared to the launch models too.

You can also see it in the specs, and by the time the X260 XF turned they were making loads of stuff optional that was standard in a high spec X250. We all know how the Tata "like BMW, but not as good" strategy worked out.

Yes think it came in for the '13 MY with the ZF8 so cars registered from September-ish 2012 I suppose.

I should add that audio is very much a personal thing, and you could doubtless find people who think the Meridian is a huge improvement over the B&W. You also get used to what you have, so there is a built in confirmation bias.

I don't have a chip in the game - I have an XJ40 which though rather crap by any modern metric other than the way it rides is so wonderfully charming that I love the thing!

I like the X350 but feel the X351 is quite a lot better - indeed surprisingly so. Of course there is more to car choice than the car's ability and if you prefer the style of the X350 then that is the one to buy.

Thread resurrection...

Did you try one MOBB?

I used to work at Jag and borrowed a X351 Supersport for the weekend when they were new, I took it all round Wales and was blown away, it did the wafty barge thing very well but could really hustle down a back road. The cliche of the car seeming to shrink around you and being surprisingly agile is true.

My personal 'high point' Jags were always the supercharged saloons, and I think the duality of limo / sports car is key to the appeal.

Anyway I am now looking to get rid of my E46 M3 and find one. Thanks for the buying tips Genius, this one is perfect but what would you offer? 13,500?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202312214...

MoT runs out this month. The mileage is nice. The price is punchy for a private sale. I see it nearer £10,000.

I watched a tidy one with a few more miles fetch £8,800 at BCA.

Hehe I imagine I would get told to FO offering £10k but I definitely see where you're coming from with regards to resale... turd in a swimming pool LOL.

The photos look very "late summer" although the date on the ad (from the URL) is 2023 12 21. Maybe it came off the market and went back on again.

My ideal spec is:
LWB
Black
Black headlining
Bordeaux leather (very deep almost purpley-red... saw this in a XJL in a showroom in China years ago and I was "OMG that's gorgeous" ... one day)

I think there might be one UK car out there in that spec, but if howmanyleft is correct there are only 31 LWB Supersports in the country so the car I linked to is close enough.

The other shortlisted cars would be a W221 S63, but it's a bit too bargey, and shouty, and every d1ck in a S-Line / M-Sport whatever will want to race. Bentley Flying Spur, too much VW content, don't like the image. Audi A8 too much like an inflated A6, ditto 7 Series. The only exception might be a super-spec Exclusive / Individual example. Quattroporte, hmm... probably fragile. I've driven S63, Spur and Quattoporte and the Jag blends the best attributes of all of them. I love the fact a Supersport is subtle - it looks like any other X351 but doesn't shout. I've driven the later XJR and whilst it might be a smidge faster it looks like its drowning in bodykit and the quad pipes look naff compared to the tailored-to-fit Supersport finishers.

Thought I would chime in, that Jag XJ has been on the market for a long time, well over 6 months. I know this because I have been looking at the XFR/XJ/XKR market for the last 2 years. Some of these cars have been sitting on there for a year now and if I'm being blunt they are somewhat deluded.

I've recently seen an XJR (this week) and XKR and even an XFR-S (last week) sell within 18-24 hours of being posted on Autotrader, the reason why is because they were up at a good price.

Private sellers need to understand they cannot be charging prices like it's 2022, unfortunately the market has dipped.

Was it the blue XFR-S by any chance?

Also how refined are the 3.0 V6 diesels in the XJ?