After my second total hip replacement in fall of 2013, I was ready to start looking for a new to me car. Of course rehab takes awhile so it wasn’t until summer of 2015 before I actually started looking in earnest. I had been riding my bike 10 miles round trip to work each day because my legs were actually “begging” me to do that! I started looking online for used vehicles and I wanted something that was a cut above, never even considering Jaguar. I had found a Lexus 250 IL (or something) that was sharp and a little fancy, but I was too late as it sold as soon as it hit the internet. So I hunkered down for the long haul, not wanting to settle for the first pretty face but wanted to get a fair deal on a good car. Scouring auto.com and other sites every day for weeks, I started to get the hang of things. I’m a little slow on the uptake even though my father sold used cars for decades after retiring from the Air Force. I bought my first new car from him.....a brand new 1985 midnight blue Camaro 2.8 fuel injected, T-Tops.... the works! I drove that car into the ground eventually punctured the oil pan and seized the engine! Dumb kids!! So, back to 2015 and my online search.....getting the hang of how online car shopping worked, I ventured outside the normal venues and delved into Craigslist where I found a massive amount of cars to sift through.....even when I just narrowed my search to my geographical location. I scoured daily, or I should say nightly after my swing shift each night, sometimes up until the light started to come in through my blinds. It was then I came across a group of photos of used BMWs and Lexus’ and other “fine” cars since I still wanted that extra swag....if you will. They all had the same contact info but no name just a number. But what caught my eye was the photography of these vehicles was astonishing. They were all shot in upscale neighborhoods and perfect sunsets and immaculately detailed! And then it happened.....I saw my car for the first time. A 2002 Jaguar S-Type. She’s a glossy black with beige leather interior and an instrument cluster that blew me away. The Leaper on the hood seemed to be winking at me. My wife didn’t really get it. She would say “that’s nice” or “it’s up to you”, but I was hooked! She was as beautiful to me as the first day I saw my wife 27 years earlier! I kept checking every night to make sure she was still there, while getting info from kbb.com to make sure I wouldn’t be ripped off. Everything was perfect, but I was extremely skeptical because, after all, it was Craigslist. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore, I had to have her! Problem was.....we didn’t have a car to get to her 70 miles away! You see, my oldest daughter had wrecked our minivan while I was rehabbing and the insurance said that she was not covered for that vehicle while she was visiting from college! So no repairs for our Kia Sedona....well, I did replace the radiator twice myself, and did everything I could to the smashed front end but with all the styrofoam behind the bumper, I was way out of my league! It did run....for a little while. But I couldn’t make it any better no matter how much I tried. So now, how do I get to this beautiful black beauty 70+ miles away? I finally called the “no-name” contact for “The Jag” as we were now calling her. The guy “seemed” ok, but there were still soooo many things that could not be right. We made a date to see her, and my wife and I decided to take Amtrak to get there. What a great ride that was! We loved it! Except, halfway there, we had to disembark the train and take a bus the rest of the way! We got to the city and decided we had enough time to grab lunch before hitting the bank for cash and taking a city bus to “The Jag”. So far, so good! We had a map, we had our cash and we hopped on the bus......45 minutes later, we get off the bus and realize we are still a good 2 miles away from the address given to us by the owner. We started walking and realized we had to go under an 8 lane freeway. Now, we stood there looking at the road going under the freeway. It was easily a mile, a straight mile but it was barren and not in the best part of now another town outside the city. I was nervous to say the least! My wife on the other hand, says “ I have my knife on me, let’s do this”. It was the longest mile I ever walked, $6000 in cash in her purse, no cell reception, walking under an 8 lane freeway! We made it! But.......still could not find the place. Mind you, it’s summer in Northern California and temperature approaching 100, were dying of thirst and heat exposure, still couldn’t find the place! We’re on foot, finally get some cell reception and call the guy who rips us for being late!! We explained that we had walked for the last 2 miles or so and he told us exactly where we needed to go. We get to the address and it’s a storage company! I call him again and say we must be in the wrong place and told him where we were and then it happened........very slowly around the corner, my wife says “look over there...” “no turn around....” “The Jag” comes slinking around the corner purring like the badass cat that she is and I almost passed out!! She’s so beautiful!! All of the things I wanted to check to be a “smart buyer” went out the window! Let’s go for a ride I said. My wife said, “I’m not getting in that car, you go and I’ll wait here” Mind you, she had the $6 Grand in her purse! So I get in the passenger side and we take off. I said not too far, can we find someplace to get a soda? We’ve been walking in this heat! So we stop at a convenience store and get a couple sodas and head back to get my wife. So the guy now asks, “well what do you think?” I immediately said I love it! Let’s do this! He says hang on I have to call my fiancé. Ok. Why? Oh she’s gonna follow us to my office. Uh-oh..ohkay. So she rolls up 10 minutes later and we take off again. My wife in the backseat says “I do have a knife” “wait-what?”, says the guy. “We don’t know you”, she answers.... “how far is your office anyway?” “Oh it’s about another 20 minutes”. WHAT?? Again....the longest 20 minute car ride of my life, I mean, the guy “ seemed“ ok and all, but don’t they all? Finally we pull in to this actual business for high end used cars! This little tiny place is sweet! There’s a beautiful Porsche in the showroom and it’s totally legit! We did the paperwork, got him down to $5100 and we’re now about to drive away in this beautiful black Jaguar!! Uh......how do we get back to the freeway? I drive off, we’re both giddy and basically punch-drunk from heat exposure at this point, so we find a Starbucks and get a cold one! Immediately people in the parking lot are taking notice of this sweet ride! We’re shaking! Did this all just happen??!! When we leave the Starbucks after making some immediate friends outside that were admiring the car, I said to my wife, “you know you get to drive her home” (since my license was suspended after our daughter got in that accident with our minivan ). She LOVED the way she begged for curves and handled like a dream!! It was definitely an adventure, one that we will never forget!!

 

I'm really glad to see this get so many replies. I love story's and these were great . Long live the S-type!