Evening all.

Previous Jaguar owner here, (a 1990 XJS V12 convertible), who's off to look at a pretty cheap X350 XJ6 tomorrow.

As my current daily is facing imminent euthanasia when the MOT is due next month, (it will fail it's MOT spectacularly and terminally), the time has come to replace the old beast with something a little becoming of a chap my age. The wife strongly suggested that I get something small, economical, practical and reliable. With her wishes very firmly in the forefront of my mind, I did have my sights set on a X300 / X308 XJR, (no half tidy ones in my budget), or a 4.2 X350, (none in my budget).

Feeling slightly dejected and thinking that I wouldn't find a satisfactory XJ I headed down to Kings Lyn on Saturday for the Anglia Car Auctions classic sale, with my sights firmly set on a Peugeot 306 Rallye in Bianca white, (1st choice), a mint, one owner P38 4.0 Range Rover, (2nd choice) or an Alfa Romeo 166 V6 Lusso as my 3rd choice.

The Peugeot had a fist sized rust blister on the bulkhead and a decent oil leak, (crankshaft oil seal I'd guess) and ended up going for £1500 over top estimate. The Range Rover was very tidy and unsurprisingly sold for £1000 over top estimate. The Alfa 166 was 'fair' in it's condition, but had a long list of MOT advisories for it's last MOT and only had a months MOT left on it. I gave it a wide birth and it ended up selling provisionally for a touch below reserve. To add insult to injury, potential buyers were not allowed to take the car keys to inspect the cars, (to make sure all the electrics worked), which when it came to the Range Rover and the Alfa, really rung alarm bells for me, and one of the members of security screamed at me for daring to unscrew the oil filler cap of the Peugeot to check for sign of mayo. Apparently you're not allowed to touch anything under the bonnet of cars for sale there. Upon reflection, one suspects that I may have dodged a bullet!

After sulking Saturday evening / night, a fresh internet search brought up tow newly listed XJ's close to me. One very tidy, one 'ok'ish. A phone to the vendor of the tidy one gave me good vibes, he was saying all the right things, answering all the questions, I believe, honestly and I've arranged to go and have a viewing tomorrow morning. The insurance company are only charging me a £62 balance to change vehicles for the next 10 months and a quick reckoning-up with the tape measure shows that there is (just) enough room to fit a X350 on the driveway with my wifes' Grand Cherokee.

So, fingers crossed, in 12 hours time I'll have done a deal to return to the Jaguar fold.

As an aside, the word over on Pistonheads is that this is a hell of a forum with a lot of very knowledgeable members, so I'm very much looking forward to sticking around, not only to pick the brains of others on here, but also to detail my own experiences when it comes to fixing and servicing my car.


ps; I would have added a gratuitous picture of my old XJS, but I don't know how to post pictures on here?

 

Welcome to the forum The Moneypit,

Good to have you with us at Jaguar forums.

You should know the Norfolk speciality is turkeys.

I hope the X350 checks out OK tomorrow (or later today as I look at the clock). Follow this link https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-x350-x358-28/ to the X350 forum for help, advice and information. The 'HOW TO' thread at the top is a good place to start for information on regular issues.

You can also visit the UK & Eire Region forum by following this link https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/uk-eire-68/ to find other members in your region.

Enjoy the forums.

Graham

 

What a story of your adventures!! Well written too!
I hope your deal goes through and you can well and truly be a Jaguar owner soon.

Welcome to the forums from ElinorB.
(';')

 

Welcome aboard.

 

Morning chaps.

Thank you for the kind words. I got up early and I'm raring to go.

I've just HPI'd it and it's all clear.

Yes, Norfolk most certainly is full of turkeys. About the only bargins all day were an 'L' reg Renault 5, (3 door), with 54'000 on the clock that went through the block for £180. With the exception of peeling laquer on the bonnet and the roof, it was otherwise very clean. The other was a 'K' reg(?) 21'000 mile Fiat Panda that was absolutely like brand new. That sold for £2100.

A couple of quick questions if I may? How do you go back and edit your posts, (for spelling mistakes etc), and how do you post pictures?

Anyway, hopefully I'll be back on later this afternoon / evening with some good news? All being well, I'll be leaving a deposit today and going back and collecting her tomorrow.

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Welcome to Jaguar Forums The Moneypit,

Good to have you with us.
Editing of posts is time limited, if you need to change something later feel free to contact a moderator.
To post a pic click the icon at the top of the message box and you can either post a picture from the interwebs or upload from your computer.
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

 

Welcome.

Glad to see you listened to the wife who drives a JEEP, fair dinkum, she be brave.

Good luck with the Jag.

Editing has a time limit, and Graham needs some serious bribing ti intervene, haha.

Photos, nope, no idea.

 

welcome to the forum - enjoy!!!

 

A wise man once advised me never, NEVER, to buy the first one that you go to look at.........



Whoops.

Deposit left and I collect tomorrow.

 

It's always a bit of a lottery regardless.

As long as it's not the black one that used to belong to our ADMIN, you should be safe.

Graham

 

Is that for sale in Leeds by any chance?

As for which car, exactly, it is, all will be revealed tomorrow on here; https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...whoops-200175/