When Porsche, Ferrari, or Aston Martin rolls out the latest luxury coupe, fans tend to drool. It’s an intense desire to have something that, let’s face it, is simply out of reach for the vast majority of drivers. Just take a look at the latest generation of Porsche 911s. For 2026, the base-model Carrera starts at $137,850. Not exactly wallet-friendly. There’s hope, though, for the car enthusiast with champagne tastes and a domestic beer budget.
Depreciation. I know, the boogeyman of new car ownership has a bright side. Some used vehicles, like stunning luxury coupes, become surprisingly affordable after they hit peak depreciation. Depending on your budget, options include two-door, smile-inducing offerings from Maserati, Aston Martin, and BMW. All well and good, but there’s one other posh European luxury coupe with an eye-wateringly attractive post-depreciation price tag.
Once Expensive, Now Affordable
For 2026, the average price of a new car is around $50,000. That’s up well over $10,000 in 10 years. The $20,000 new car is dead. And $50,000 is a far cry from the cost of a new luxury coupe. In short, car buying is pricey, and even spendier for those who want two doors, a posh cabin, and enough thrust to delight.
Consider the 2026 Aston Martin DB12, one of the gold standards of a luxury GT car. The DB12 starts at $265,500. That’s less than $5,000 from the median home price in Arkansas. Fortunately, however, you don’t have to sell your home and internal organs to shop for a used, post-depreciation luxury coupe.
The Impacts Of Depreciation
On average, a new vehicle will lose 41.8 percent of its original value in the first five years of ownership. Such is the reality of buying a new car right off the lot. That number also depends on the segment. An electric vehicle, for instance, might depreciate as much as 57.2 percent, while a hybrid may shrug off 35.4 percent in the same five years. Some sports cars do a better job of value retention, like the Porsche 718 Cayman’s 9.6 percent average. However, other luxury coupes shrug off mass quantities of the original sticker price, providing enthusiasts with a chance to buy something that was once much, much pricier. Something like Jaguar’s now-discontinued, Aston Martin-esque coupe.
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Jaguar XK: Aston Martin Looks On A Budget
The second-generation, X150 Jaguar XK debuted back in time for the 2006 model year, replacing the outgoing X100. And just look at it. When it first arrived on the scene, some critics faulted the V8-powered coupe and its drop-top sibling for looking too much like an Aston Martin. Famed Top Gear journalist Jeremy Clarkson found the criticisms laughable, responding that a complaint like that is akin to giving a person a hard time for looking too much “like Brad Pitt.”
Granted, there are irrefutable similarities. But there’s a good reason for that. The sculpted body was penned by legendary car designer Ian Callum, the same man behind the Aston Martin DB7, Vanquish, and the Porsche-fighting Jaguar F-TYPE. The body is an aluminum affair, keeping things as light as it is stylish. A convertible is part of the equation, though the coupe adds rigidity and added practicality with a hatchback-ish liftback rear end. And for those who find the original body style a bit dated, Jaguar refreshed the XK for the 2010 model year, bumping up displacement in the process.
Don’t think the naturally aspirated formula fits your horsepower addiction? Check out the Jaguar XKR, a supercharged variant with up to 510 horsepower (and 550 for the XKR-S). Better yet, buying an XK, or even an XKR, doesn’t have to cripple you financially, despite the swollen price tag it had when it was new.
Average Jaguar XK X150 Pricing
Back in 2007, a pre-facelift Jaguar XK had a starting price of $75,500 when it was sitting on showroom floors. Fast-forward to today, and an early-model X150 is a much, much more affordable proposition. Last year, the average used car sales price of a 2006 model and a 2007 model was $10,600 and $16,820, respectively. The 2010 model, the first year of the XK’s update, sold for an average of $18,656 last year. The supercharged XKR, on the other hand, demands a steeper ask. A 2010 Jaguar XKR has an average sales price of $23,363.
As you might expect, a later model example is a pricier affair. On average, a 2014 Jaguar XKR cost around $34,890 on the used market last year. An earlier XKR is more affordable, with a 2008 model ringing in at around $22,893. See? A svelte luxury coupe for much, much less than the average price of a new car in 2026.
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V8 Power Is The Only Option
Unlike the F-TYPE, V8 power is the only option for the pre- and post-facelift XK. In earlier examples, the standard powerplant is a 300-horsepower naturally aspirated 4.2-liter V8. Adding the extra grunt of an Eaton supercharger bumps things up to 420 horsepower in the volcanic XKR. The update saw continued V8 power, though displacement bumped up from 4.2 liters to 5.0 liters. In the standard, supercharger-free XK, the 5.0-liter V8 pumped out 385 horsepower. With forced induction at play, the 5.0-liter XKR produced a tire-vaporizing 510 horsepower.
2010 Jaguar XK Specs
|
Engine |
Naturally Aspirated 5.0-Liter DOHC V8 |
|
Transmission |
6-Speed ZF Automatic Transmission |
|
Horsepower |
385 HP At 6,500 RPM |
|
Torque |
380 LB-FT At 3,500 RPM |
|
Curb Weight |
3,770 LBS |
A Practical GT
Practical? How could a luxurious, V8-powered, two-door Jaguar possibly be practical? Well, the XK is a GT car more so than a sports car with a teeny-tiny footprint. The 2010 model, the first year of the refresh, offered 11.7 cubic feet of storage. When that space is exhausted, the XK’s 2+2 configuration means overflow storage behind the front seats. Of course, it is a coupe, so fitting full-grown adults in the back seat requires some contortionism. As for a driver and passenger, though, the XK Coupe is a viable road trip companion or a stylish way to get to and from the golf course.
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So, Should You Buy One?
There are few luxury coupes out there with the X150 Jaguar XK’s formula. A sonorous V8 up front? Check. A posh, comfortable cabin and a sculpted aluminum body? Check. Oh, and an attractive used car price tag? Double check. Better yet, if performance is a factor, a post-facelift XKR and its 510-horsepower V8 can launch from a standstill to 60 mph in around four and a half seconds.
Of course, depending on the model year, a second-generation XK or XKR could be approaching two decades in age. While reliability issues aren’t common, things can break down over time. An independent pre-purchase inspection (PPI) is a must when purchasing any sort of classic or aging luxury car.
Sources: Jaguar, Classic.com, Edmunds, Forbes, Kelley Blue Book, Reuters