Man 'had to buy' top-spec Jaguar XKR after it lost 95% of its value but he quickly learns if it was the right decision

This man bought a top-spec Jaguar XKR after it lost 95 percent of its value, but had he made the right call?

This XKR originally cost $93,282 (£70,000) when brand new back in 2004, but went up for auction at $4,531 (£3,400).

For YouTuber Shifting Metal, this was a car he had to take a chance on.

But would he soon be feeling the full force of buyer’s remorse?

Cars sold at auction can carry big risks and big rewards

Buying a car at auction is often like playing a game of Russian Roulette.

You’re never quite sure what you’re going to get.

You could either score yourself a diamond in the rough, or a total dud.

But one thing is almost always guaranteed – there’s bound to be some surprises along the way.

One Oklahoma man certainly found that to be the case with this stolen Dodge Charger R/T.

Sometimes the surprises can double up as cautionary tales – just check out this guy who got a salvage 2019 McLaren 720S.

The old adage ‘If it’s too good to be true, it probably is’ can certainly apply when it comes to auctions.

Would that be the case with this Jaguar XKR that lost 95 percent of its value?

Taking a closer look at this Jaguar XKR

The car had some cosmetic defects, including a pushed-in rear parking sensor, mismatched tires, and cracked wheels.

And the issues continued on the inside, with sagging headlining, cracked passenger wing glass, seat belt clip issues, and a split on the driver seat bolster.

At auction, it was listed as having only one service, but a physical service book had 19 service stamps.

When taken out for a test drive, the car performed well.

“How good does that sound?,” the YouTuber commented.

“You just get that supercharger whine and it goes. You feel those 400 horsepower.”

He went to praise it further, despite its age.

“I know this is a bit of a granddad car maybe, but whoever the granddad was that drove this, he was a bad, bad man,” he said.

And he means ‘bad’ in the best possible way.

One minor – but admittedly annoying – defect presented itself in the form of a driver’s seat that wouldn’t heat up.

The passenger seat still heated up though.

What was this YouTuber’s verdict on the Jaguar XKR that lost 95 percent of its value?

So evidently, there was a fair bit of work to do.

But there was still a lot to be happy about – an underside inspection with a mechanic showed that the underbody had structural integrity even after 23 years and 102,000 miles.

The team got to work fixing up the car, which meant everything from removing melted orange foam from the backing board to fixing up the split bolster on the driver’s seat.

By the time the car was ready for its big reveal, it was looking a whole lot better.

Approximately $7,987 (£5,998) had been invested into fixing it up.

“So for once, we’ve actually had a blinding result with this,” the YouTuber concluded.

That’s British slang for hitting the jackpot, by the way.

He knew this was a risky move.

“I knew there was a good chance that this classic Jag could be past the point of salvation but I really wanted to be able to save it and share the story of the car and its amazing specification,” he told Supercar Blondie.

“It took a lot of work but the gamble definitely paid off in the end!”