At $12,500, Is This 2011 Jaguar XFR A Roaring Good Deal?

The ad for today’s Nice Price or No Dice Jag explains its sale is owed to the car being too much powerful for the present owner’s daily commute. Let’s see if it’s priced well enough for a new owner to attempt to tame this wild cat.

The Audi RS6 Avant GT Is One Wicked Wagon | First Drive

The general consensus is that if you want a small British sports car, the smart choice is always going to be a Japanese Mazda Miata. Some people want to go against that flow, however, and for those rebellious souls, yesterday we had a 1986 TVR 280i in very nicely restored shape. Not only that but it had been fitted with a Mustang V8. Being tidy and having a rockstar engine can go a long way. Unfortunately for the TVR’s seller, most of you didn’t find that it went so far as to command a $19,500 asking. That was proven by the 64 percent No Dice loss the plucky Brit suffered.

Considering that the issue with yesterday’s TVR centered solely on price and not country of origin, let’s stick with the British Isles and look today at a big cat from Coventry. It’s a worthwhile glance too, as this 2011 Jaguar XFR sports some serious specs. For starters, the 5.0-liter direct-injected and Eaton supercharged V8 manages a staggering 510 horsepower and 461 lb-ft of torque. Even more impressive, the latter number is available all the way down at 2500 rpm. With a little more than 4,300 pounds to pull around and just the rear-wheels doing the pushing, that can make for some serious fun when a toe is dipped into the go pedal.

These cars aren’t just all engine, either. The ZF-sourced six-speed automatic has been massaged to make the most of the V8’s output, while the “Adaptive Dynamic System” controlling the suspension makes the car feel like a track shoe and not the fancy brogue its shape and size implies. A comfortable, well-equipped, and luxurious cabin featuring leather and wood and some seriously hilarious touches in the moving air vents and shift knob also comes along for the ride. Taken all together, it begs the question, “Why aren’t these cars more popular?”

Oh yeah, I forgot. There is Jaguar’s reputation for questionable reliability that any prospective owner would need to contend with.

That just means staying away from un-cared-for fright pigs and high mileage cars and instead focus on the least-used and demonstrably best-cared-for cars. This one seems to fit the bill. Not only does the seller describe it as being “rock solid” and having been gone through with “a fine tooth comb,” but we can see the care it has been given in the ad photos. Those show the car with a sunshade in the windscreen, floor mats that wrap up the console protecting both that and the carpet, and, not one, but two pine tree air fresheners hanging from the rear-view ensuring olfactory enjoyment in the cabin.

The interior looks just as good as it most likely smells. The black perforated leather upholstery is complemented by a tasteful amount of real wood trim and a gray Alcantara headliner. This is a modern enough car to have niceties such as dual-zone climate control and a nav screen, albeit a smallish one. There’s also a laudably sparse number of buttons and dials, so focus can be directed toward the car’s dynamic aspects made possible by the long pedal on the right.

On the outside, it appears just as tidy. The black paint and trim lends a stealthiness that’s only interrupted by a tasteful smattering of chrome bits on either end. The XF’s design is neither bold nor boring, so it has aged with aplomb. Adding to that look is a set of gunmetal alloys that are sufficiently open-spoked to offer a good view of the red brake calipers beneath. We do have to ask the question of why the car is shown with its tow hook in place rather than in its usual home hanging out with the space tire and jack in the boot. What’s that all about?

What we do know, according to the ad, is that the car has 110,544 miles on the clock, is accident-free, and comes with a clean title. The seller claims it to be too much car for their daily commute but is “on the fence” over its sale since they really seem to like it otherwise. Could a new owner find it equally appealing? I guess that will depend on how that new steward feels about spending $12,500 to make the purchase.