Welcome to the forums yet another welcome regarding suggestions lol

Well, I would go for X300 Jaguars , 1995-97 4.0 ,6 cylinder

 

Hi Kinsale and welcome to the forum..
I personally love the XJ range.....beautiful examples. Like you, not the biggest fan of the S type although the STR is awesome mostly because of the power I guess....lol
With that budget and a love of the Xj range I'd ask Ken@britishparts for some advice

Good luck

Jim

 

Caddy hit it dead on. Without a local specialist, I would stick with the 95-97 XJ6 series. Most of the work can be done with regular OBD II scanners. No special programs to flash, etc. Reliable and and still look up to date. No one would ever guess it was, at the youngest, an 11 year old car.

 

Welcome, as a newbie myself I can say what you are looking for can be had. I just got an 03 XJ8 for $11500.00 out the door and driving home. Couple minor issues that I can fix, seat heater drivers side and headliner sagging, but hey I didn't spend the price of a new one so even my wife was happy.

 

Yes, it's easy to get most parts for the 95-97 models. Things to look for:

1. steering column motors: both tilt and reach motors (these cost $$)
2. dash clock: this is a fairly easy fix
3. suspension components: this is a heavy caryou will go through ball joints, control arm bushings, shock bushings
4. differential whine: you are pushing a lot of weight around
5. rear view mirror: the interior mirrors turn into lava lamps ($$)
6. cup holder in the center console tends to break and flop all the way open. ($125)

The list looks long, but it's a solid car. Engines and trans are solid. Interiors hold up well. Remember, at the youngest, it's an 11 year old car. (In dog years that's 77 and in car years that's like 99) Still looks up to date though.

 

Great advice from Ken n Caddie there Kinsale as always........good luck with your hunt.

Jim