I want to ask some of my fellow Jaguar ownwers if it is time for me to trade this car or keep it.

I have 92k miles and have put in close to 1.5k in suspension work. I have replaced the struts, the front upper control arms, and the lower control arm bushings. Late last year, I put in 1k in cooling system repairs. Had I known it would cost that much, I would have done the work myself, but I got suckered.

Prior to that, I had the transmission serviced, the water pump and expansion tank replaced, as well as a new $140 battery.

At this point, more things have broken:

1. The rear door locks.
2. The A/C. The car doesn't cool very well when idling.
3. The stabilizer bar bushings.
4. The sagging headliner
5. The left drivers window.

Even if I replaced this stuff on my own, I'd be out a bunch in parts.

Cosmetically, the formerly beautiful FloridaJag needs new paint on the hood and the left side fender. It also needs the wheels to be redone, as they got destroyed by that stupid tire grease mixing with road grime.

I am really at a loss on what to do.

I am considering a 2010 Subaru Legacy for $16,599, which is a really easy car to work on, but doesn't perform like the Jag. A main reason I like the Subie is the bulletproof reputation and the easy maintenance access for an impatient maintainer such as myself.

Although I have put a ton of money in my car in the last year, I am skeptical of trading a paid off car for a car payment. Worse yet, the insurance costs are worse with a new car than with my 9 year old Jag (I took collision off).

At some point, the duty cycle of my driving may change into a heavy city traffic commuting pattern.

Need advice. Should I go the car payment route or not.

I hope I am not

 

I always felt that it's not wise to throw alot of money into a car since is still going to depreciate no matter what. When the cost to repair the car is more than or considerably close to the value of the car, I would say it would be better to replace the car.

The only issue is, make sure you get a good offer when you go to trade it in. Usually they try to "rob" the car whenever someone comes in with a trade.

 

It's time, floridajag. The trade will likely knock $5000 off the Suburu and demand they knock off $1000. $10,500 over four years will make a more easily digestible monthly payment ($350/month).

 

I found the stype really easy to maintain.
But that is my opinion

 

Tough call, FloridaJag. But I understand. Most 2003-and-newer S-Types owned by forum members have held up better than yours. Willingness to DIY the maintenance and repairs is critical to keeping these S-Types running for acceptable out-of-pocket costs. If you don't want to DIY, it may be time to go for the Subaru....

 

So you've invested $2600 that you'll never recoup unless you keep the car.







How much? Hard to say with the A/C, probably. Is $1500 a fair guess for the above repairs?




Another $1500 to paint the hood, fender, and refurbsh the wheels?







We've all been there. "When do I stop the bleeding?" Tough call.

Will spending another $3000 make you love the car again? Love it enough to soldier on with it for a few more years? Knowing full well that the money you've spent ($2600 + $3000) is probably more than the wholesale value of the car?

It sorta sounds like the love affair is over and you want someone to push you over the edge and dump the car.

Consider yourself pushed :-)






Another choice is to "run the wheels off of it".....squeeze every bit of life you can out of the car over the next 2-3-4 years with very minimal new money invested. Live with the existing faults; get some value out (use) out of the repairs you've already done. If something big breaks, throw the car away.

Lord knows you wouldn't be the first Jag owner to take this route !

Cheers
DD

 

FloridaJag don't trade if I were you. You are better off selling it privately and not losing out with a trade in value. Trust me, right now the value of used cars are up and people are spending the money to buy them at the moment which is hard to believe with this economy. So just throw her on craigslist and try to fix up the minor problems from scraping your parts from a junkyard to save money. Call LKQ they are a recycling parts company selling used parts for cheap.

P.S there's a A/C fix mod pertaining to exactly what your describing "A/c not cooling on idle" take a look at the attachment.

Good Luck.

 

~Thanks, Doug

I am carefully considering the last option, although my confidence in this vehicle is pretty shaken. I have heard that next big $1000.00 expense to go is the throttle body. I can live without paint, a drooping headliner and maybe even an A/C problem (though it seems to be easily fixed with that TSB), but it is the uncertainty of the next bloodsucking expense. If I had two cars, it would be one thing - I am not afraid to turn wrenches- but since the car is my only way of getting around, I can't have the car down for much more than a few hours at a time. Some of these repairs take all day long and may not turn out well if I do it myself.

One thing I have thought of is to take the car off insurance for a while, make the monthly payment on a newer car and slowly fix the problems myself. Its an expensive proposition, but I still really like driving the car. That's one option.

There are hosts of others.

 

The TB probably won't go bad but if it does they're not $1000.