New Member from Concord, CA
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Joined: Apr 2014
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From: Concord, CA
New Member from Concord, CA
Greetings, everyone!
New member from Concord, CA here. I purchased my first Jaguar three years ago and have been hooked ever since. At that time, I owned a 97 Mercury Sable and an 04 Chrysler Sebring.
Three years ago, I was chatting with a good "bar buddy" of mine as we enjoyed a few beers at our local watering hole. I had mentioned in passing that I wanted to replace my Sable with a different car. He casually stated that he was selling his old car as he was going to buy a new Mercedes. I asked him what kind of car he was selling, and he replied that it was a 97 Jaguar XJR.
Now, at that time I knew virtually nothing about Jaguars except the poor reputation they had in the 1980s. I asked him if he happened to have the car in the parking lot and sure enough, he did. We went outside so that I could take a look at it.
I was smitten.
The car was absolutely beautiful - gorgeous lines, immaculate paint job, flawless interior, etc. To top it off, the car had just 70,000 miles on it. He had purchased it 7 years prior when it had 50,000 miles on it. I asked how much he wanted for it and he threw out a price.
At that point, I had decided that the car was mine. I went home and spent countless hours researching it on the internet. I was stunned about the production numbers for the 94-97 XJR's - only 6,547 were built during that four year run with only 318 being built for the 97 model year. Of those 318, only about half were sold in North America. A rare cat indeed! The very next day, we sealed the deal and I was on the road.
About a month and a half ago, I was noodling around on the internet and came across the current used Jaguar listing at my local Jaguar dealership (which just happened to be located right next to my office building). I sorted the listing by pricing (highest to lowest) and scrolled all the way down as the cost of the highest priced vehicles scared the bejesus out of me.
At the very bottom was a listing for what was, perhaps, the most stunning car I've ever seen - a 1997 XK8 Coupe. I researched that year/model and became quite acquainted with the potential issues until I became comfortable with my decision to check out the car in person.
The picture on the website was glorious, but it paled in comparison with actually seeing the car in person.
It.
Was.
Perfect.
And I mean perfect. Not a scratch, dent, fade or anything. The car had just over 41,000 miles on it. Now, I was well aware of the potential problems with low mileage, older vehicles but the story of the history of the car convinced me that I should take the risk.
The previous owner was the original owner, and bought the car from that very dealership brand new back in 1998. The salesman gave me the original registration to verify this. The owner did not trade the car in for a new one but simply sold it back to the dealership as he wasn't able to comfortable get into and out of the car owing to the fact that he had just celebrated his 90th birthday.
Within two hours, the car was mine!
An important point to note: The car had been serviced at that very dealership for the past 17 years and they provided me with all of the service records. The one crucial service that I did not see was the replacement of the secondary tensioners. The dealership was not willing to replace them as part of the sales agreement as they had already invested a little over $4,000 in maintenance when they purchased the car (again, they provided me with the recent work done on the car - serpentine belt replaced, water pump replaced, etc).
I've read the horror stories of what happens if this item is not addressed, so I made an appointment with the service department to have the tensioners replaced later on that week.
It took them two days to complete the job and they gave me a loaner during that time - a brand new XF. To be honest, I wasn't nearly as thrilled to be driving the latest Jag as the one I just bought!
The work completed, I picked up my car and was off and running again. My partner insisted that we take our new kitty out for a spirited spin, so we headed off to a local casino (about an hour and a half drive away). Now, please be advised that my commute is all of 4 miles each way and I don't have to get on a freeway. I had, up until this point, never driven the car over 55 miles an hour.
However, once we got on the freeway for our casino adventure and had gotten to the point where there's a long stretch of two-lane road with virtually no other traffic and little chance of a speed trap I decided to punch it to see how fast the car could go.
OMG!
Kitty has claws! The gearbox is so smooth, so supple, so quiet. The ride gets even better at advanced speed. The wind noise at that speed is non-existent. Once we were really moving, I glanced down at the speedometer and saw that we were doing a little over 110 MPH.
I didn't' keep this up for very long, but for that short duration I was in heaven.
In just three years, both of my Jags (I ended up selling the Sebring) will be twenty years old but I do believe that they are classics and will never get rid of them!
New member from Concord, CA here. I purchased my first Jaguar three years ago and have been hooked ever since. At that time, I owned a 97 Mercury Sable and an 04 Chrysler Sebring.
Three years ago, I was chatting with a good "bar buddy" of mine as we enjoyed a few beers at our local watering hole. I had mentioned in passing that I wanted to replace my Sable with a different car. He casually stated that he was selling his old car as he was going to buy a new Mercedes. I asked him what kind of car he was selling, and he replied that it was a 97 Jaguar XJR.
Now, at that time I knew virtually nothing about Jaguars except the poor reputation they had in the 1980s. I asked him if he happened to have the car in the parking lot and sure enough, he did. We went outside so that I could take a look at it.
I was smitten.
The car was absolutely beautiful - gorgeous lines, immaculate paint job, flawless interior, etc. To top it off, the car had just 70,000 miles on it. He had purchased it 7 years prior when it had 50,000 miles on it. I asked how much he wanted for it and he threw out a price.
At that point, I had decided that the car was mine. I went home and spent countless hours researching it on the internet. I was stunned about the production numbers for the 94-97 XJR's - only 6,547 were built during that four year run with only 318 being built for the 97 model year. Of those 318, only about half were sold in North America. A rare cat indeed! The very next day, we sealed the deal and I was on the road.
About a month and a half ago, I was noodling around on the internet and came across the current used Jaguar listing at my local Jaguar dealership (which just happened to be located right next to my office building). I sorted the listing by pricing (highest to lowest) and scrolled all the way down as the cost of the highest priced vehicles scared the bejesus out of me.
At the very bottom was a listing for what was, perhaps, the most stunning car I've ever seen - a 1997 XK8 Coupe. I researched that year/model and became quite acquainted with the potential issues until I became comfortable with my decision to check out the car in person.
The picture on the website was glorious, but it paled in comparison with actually seeing the car in person.
It.
Was.
Perfect.
And I mean perfect. Not a scratch, dent, fade or anything. The car had just over 41,000 miles on it. Now, I was well aware of the potential problems with low mileage, older vehicles but the story of the history of the car convinced me that I should take the risk.
The previous owner was the original owner, and bought the car from that very dealership brand new back in 1998. The salesman gave me the original registration to verify this. The owner did not trade the car in for a new one but simply sold it back to the dealership as he wasn't able to comfortable get into and out of the car owing to the fact that he had just celebrated his 90th birthday.
Within two hours, the car was mine!
An important point to note: The car had been serviced at that very dealership for the past 17 years and they provided me with all of the service records. The one crucial service that I did not see was the replacement of the secondary tensioners. The dealership was not willing to replace them as part of the sales agreement as they had already invested a little over $4,000 in maintenance when they purchased the car (again, they provided me with the recent work done on the car - serpentine belt replaced, water pump replaced, etc).
I've read the horror stories of what happens if this item is not addressed, so I made an appointment with the service department to have the tensioners replaced later on that week.
It took them two days to complete the job and they gave me a loaner during that time - a brand new XF. To be honest, I wasn't nearly as thrilled to be driving the latest Jag as the one I just bought!
The work completed, I picked up my car and was off and running again. My partner insisted that we take our new kitty out for a spirited spin, so we headed off to a local casino (about an hour and a half drive away). Now, please be advised that my commute is all of 4 miles each way and I don't have to get on a freeway. I had, up until this point, never driven the car over 55 miles an hour.
However, once we got on the freeway for our casino adventure and had gotten to the point where there's a long stretch of two-lane road with virtually no other traffic and little chance of a speed trap I decided to punch it to see how fast the car could go.
OMG!
Kitty has claws! The gearbox is so smooth, so supple, so quiet. The ride gets even better at advanced speed. The wind noise at that speed is non-existent. Once we were really moving, I glanced down at the speedometer and saw that we were doing a little over 110 MPH.
I didn't' keep this up for very long, but for that short duration I was in heaven.
In just three years, both of my Jags (I ended up selling the Sebring) will be twenty years old but I do believe that they are classics and will never get rid of them!
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 120,439
Likes: 17,009
From: Durham, UK
Welcome to the forum bassdude9,
Good to have you with us at Jaguar forums. Thanks for a great Intro. In addition to the luck with two cars, I hope you were as successful at the Casino!
Follow this link XK8 / XKR - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the XK8/XKR forum and this one XJ X300 / XJR - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the X300 forum for help, advice and information. The 'HOW TO' thread at the top of each is a good place to start for info on regular issues.
You can also visit the US Western Region forum by following this link Western US - AK CA NV OR UT HI WA ID - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to find other members in your region.
Enjoy the forums.
Graham
Good to have you with us at Jaguar forums. Thanks for a great Intro. In addition to the luck with two cars, I hope you were as successful at the Casino!
Follow this link XK8 / XKR - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the XK8/XKR forum and this one XJ X300 / XJR - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the X300 forum for help, advice and information. The 'HOW TO' thread at the top of each is a good place to start for info on regular issues.
You can also visit the US Western Region forum by following this link Western US - AK CA NV OR UT HI WA ID - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to find other members in your region.
Enjoy the forums.
Graham
Hi and welcome aboard, its good to have you here with us here at Jaguarforums
If you need any further help with the site moving forward, please just ask any moderator, veteran member and we'll be glad to assist.
In the meantime, any useful site information you may need such as how to post pictures, edit signatures, add videos, using the
search facility etc, can be found here within the following link Helpful_information
There are lots of members local to you with the same interests with info on local dealers and possible meets.
Regional - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts ForumNeed a Manual, a TSB, or General Info' about your Jag? Check out our >> DOWNLOAD AREA <<
I've manually upgraded you to Full forum access so you can better view the site and all its features.
Please Jump on in and enjoy the site........
If you need any further help with the site moving forward, please just ask any moderator, veteran member and we'll be glad to assist.
In the meantime, any useful site information you may need such as how to post pictures, edit signatures, add videos, using the
search facility etc, can be found here within the following link Helpful_information
There are lots of members local to you with the same interests with info on local dealers and possible meets.
Regional - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts ForumNeed a Manual, a TSB, or General Info' about your Jag? Check out our >> DOWNLOAD AREA <<
I've manually upgraded you to Full forum access so you can better view the site and all its features.
Please Jump on in and enjoy the site........
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 121,065
Likes: 6,652
From: PHX some of the time
Welcome to Jaguar Forums bassdude9,
Good to have you with us.
Enjoy the forum.
If you haven't done so already you should add your car details to your signature to help others to help you.
If you need help with getting around and using the forum follow this link for some help Forum Help
Good to have you with us.
Enjoy the forum.
If you haven't done so already you should add your car details to your signature to help others to help you.
If you need help with getting around and using the forum follow this link for some help Forum Help
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