X350 fourcourt prices.
Discussion
The Desiel XJ looks overpriced IMO - especially from main stealers and only worth considering if you are doing a huge annual mileage, where you'll partially offset the future steep depreciation when prices eventually soften in curent fuel cost savings. The market seems flooded with base V6s so you can afford to be very choosy indeed if that's what you are looking for. In fact all early X350's look very overpriced to me and have started to have problems with corrosion - especially round the boot lid as well as several examples I've looked at that had a really poor paint finish. I've recently driven 20 grands worth of X350 and thought my earlier XJ8 - worth 4k at the most - was a much nicer car to drive.
Best value seems to be mid range models from 2004-2006 at the moment. I'm guessing from experience once the new XJ is launched and a few are seen on the road all X350 prices will soften rapidly and poverty spec 3.0 V6s and Sports - especially those with high mileages and less then pristine will be almost impossible to give away let alone sell for good money.
Don't forget the present consession on road tax for cars in band K between 2001 to 2006 is only that -a consession - that will no doubt be withdrawn at some time in the future clobbering all residuals way out of proportion to the actual doubling of the annual VED on cars in this band. Anybody running a large engined car can only be mugged in the wallet even more in the future by both the 'Mentalists and our car hating government, depressing values even further.
The biggest cost in running a newer Jaguar - unless you are doing more miles than the space shuttle - is depreciation. Sobering thought that. Can you really afford to, and are you actually prepared to even if you can comfortably afford it, to throw thousands of pounds away each and every year on a rapidly depreciating asset?
The only way to mitigate this is to buy the best you can afford and keep it for a long, long time - I'm considering decades not years. Constantly changing and "upgrading" cars is a mugs game that'll eventually bleed you white. Seen it. Been there. Done that. Not impressed. Chances are if you're in the luxury car market you're prepared to spend. If you're prepared to spend naturally you'll have much higher expectations and are therefore actually less likley to find the perfect car for you, one you can own for years without a single complaint so it's better to be a bit disatisfied with a 5 grand example then a much newer one costing (and loosing) four times as much each year.
Cynical? Moi? Yes, 'fraid so - but just a few moments considering the 'Mentalists spin, looking at government policy, flicking through a used car price guide and playing with a calculator will prove my point.
Best value seems to be mid range models from 2004-2006 at the moment. I'm guessing from experience once the new XJ is launched and a few are seen on the road all X350 prices will soften rapidly and poverty spec 3.0 V6s and Sports - especially those with high mileages and less then pristine will be almost impossible to give away let alone sell for good money.
Don't forget the present consession on road tax for cars in band K between 2001 to 2006 is only that -a consession - that will no doubt be withdrawn at some time in the future clobbering all residuals way out of proportion to the actual doubling of the annual VED on cars in this band. Anybody running a large engined car can only be mugged in the wallet even more in the future by both the 'Mentalists and our car hating government, depressing values even further.
The biggest cost in running a newer Jaguar - unless you are doing more miles than the space shuttle - is depreciation. Sobering thought that. Can you really afford to, and are you actually prepared to even if you can comfortably afford it, to throw thousands of pounds away each and every year on a rapidly depreciating asset?
The only way to mitigate this is to buy the best you can afford and keep it for a long, long time - I'm considering decades not years. Constantly changing and "upgrading" cars is a mugs game that'll eventually bleed you white. Seen it. Been there. Done that. Not impressed. Chances are if you're in the luxury car market you're prepared to spend. If you're prepared to spend naturally you'll have much higher expectations and are therefore actually less likley to find the perfect car for you, one you can own for years without a single complaint so it's better to be a bit disatisfied with a 5 grand example then a much newer one costing (and loosing) four times as much each year.
Cynical? Moi? Yes, 'fraid so - but just a few moments considering the 'Mentalists spin, looking at government policy, flicking through a used car price guide and playing with a calculator will prove my point.
mikele pirelli said:
Jaguar steve said:
The Desiel XJ looks overpriced IMO - especially from main stealers and only worth considering if you are doing a huge annual mileage, where you'll partially offset the future steep depreciation when prices eventually soften in curent fuel cost savings. The market seems flooded with base V6s so you can afford to be very choosy indeed if that's what you are looking for. In fact all early X350's look very overpriced to me and have started to have problems with corrosion - especially round the boot lid as well as several examples I've looked at that had a really poor paint finish. I've recently driven 20 grands worth of X350 and thought my earlier XJ8 - worth 4k at the most - was a much nicer car to drive.
Best value seems to be mid range models from 2004-2006 at the moment. I'm guessing from experience once the new XJ is launched and a few are seen on the road all X350 prices will soften rapidly and poverty spec 3.0 V6s and Sports - especially those with high mileages and less then pristine will be almost impossible to give away let alone sell for good money.
Don't forget the present consession on road tax for cars in band K between 2001 to 2006 is only that -a consession - that will no doubt be withdrawn at some time in the future clobbering all residuals way out of proportion to the actual doubling of the annual VED on cars in this band. Anybody running a large engined car can only be mugged in the wallet even more in the future by both the 'Mentalists and our car hating government, depressing values even further.
The biggest cost in running a newer Jaguar - unless you are doing more miles than the space shuttle - is depreciation. Sobering thought that. Can you really afford to, and are you actually prepared to even if you can comfortably afford it, to throw thousands of pounds away each and every year on a rapidly depreciating asset?
The only way to mitigate this is to buy the best you can afford and keep it for a long, long time - I'm considering decades not years. Constantly changing and "upgrading" cars is a mugs game that'll eventually bleed you white. Seen it. Been there. Done that. Not impressed. Chances are if you're in the luxury car market you're prepared to spend. If you're prepared to spend naturally you'll have much higher expectations and are therefore actually less likley to find the perfect car for you, one you can own for years without a single complaint so it's better to be a bit disatisfied with a 5 grand example then a much newer one costing (and loosing) four times as much each year.
Cynical? Moi? Yes, 'fraid so - but just a few moments considering the 'Mentalists spin, looking at government policy, flicking through a used car price guide and playing with a calculator will prove my point.
yes Steve..........I've noted that comment beforeBest value seems to be mid range models from 2004-2006 at the moment. I'm guessing from experience once the new XJ is launched and a few are seen on the road all X350 prices will soften rapidly and poverty spec 3.0 V6s and Sports - especially those with high mileages and less then pristine will be almost impossible to give away let alone sell for good money.
Don't forget the present consession on road tax for cars in band K between 2001 to 2006 is only that -a consession - that will no doubt be withdrawn at some time in the future clobbering all residuals way out of proportion to the actual doubling of the annual VED on cars in this band. Anybody running a large engined car can only be mugged in the wallet even more in the future by both the 'Mentalists and our car hating government, depressing values even further.
The biggest cost in running a newer Jaguar - unless you are doing more miles than the space shuttle - is depreciation. Sobering thought that. Can you really afford to, and are you actually prepared to even if you can comfortably afford it, to throw thousands of pounds away each and every year on a rapidly depreciating asset?
The only way to mitigate this is to buy the best you can afford and keep it for a long, long time - I'm considering decades not years. Constantly changing and "upgrading" cars is a mugs game that'll eventually bleed you white. Seen it. Been there. Done that. Not impressed. Chances are if you're in the luxury car market you're prepared to spend. If you're prepared to spend naturally you'll have much higher expectations and are therefore actually less likley to find the perfect car for you, one you can own for years without a single complaint so it's better to be a bit disatisfied with a 5 grand example then a much newer one costing (and loosing) four times as much each year.
Cynical? Moi? Yes, 'fraid so - but just a few moments considering the 'Mentalists spin, looking at government policy, flicking through a used car price guide and playing with a calculator will prove my point.
about corrosion around the bootlid area, on other sites by our
cousins across the Pond, of all places.
I take it these weren't " dry State " cars , I can't imagine this
being an issue on California or Texas / Arizona reg'd one's.
It's obviously an issue here though.........strange on an AL
car ?
I just like the sound ( not literally ) of the Tdi. CGI,
vermicular graphite block, apparently only 15 kilos heavier than
the AJV6 petrol, better torque, better MPG.
Plus the TG episode when Clarkson drove one back from France
did impress me, I have to admit.
As stated this would be the daily hack, so might just
justify itself. In saying that, I think I'll wait and see. I
definately want an X350, the EXACT derivative is still to be
decided upon.
I've read corrosion on the X350s is down to electrolysis - contact between dissimilar metals - in which the weakest one fails. I have not seen it on the ones I've looked at but the paint finish on two of the early cars I considered was pretty grim. Very orange peely on the vertical surfaces, so much so that it looked like it'd had a village garage respray - but no, aparently they left the factory like that.
Worth noting that the paint finish on many modern cars is similar. I've parked next to various BMWs, VAG Group, Ford and other manufacturers cars recently and been truly shocked by the dreadful quality of the paint - orange peeling mostly, but some with paint runs on the lower panels (that's a Ford thing mostly). Seems particularly bad on current BMWs, to the point that I would have rejected the car due to the quality of the paintwork for some that I've seen.
Dave
Dave
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