Greetings.

This is my first forum of any kind. I joined after reading several conversations on various topics. Clearly, there are many experienced owners who seem willing to share their insight. I'm quite impressed.

I don't own a Jaguar, and I've never owned a powerful sports car of any kind. Since I was 10, and like many people, I have admired the Porsche Carrera, hoping that one day I might have the chance to own one. Unfortunately, and for reasons I can only partly understand, the used market has priced me out of ownership. I can't justify spending six figures on a used car for weekend drives and long road trips.

When I was a boy, my dentist drove a beautiful red Jaguar E-Type with licence plates that read "FANG." I started thinking about Jaguars again recently, out of Porsche frustration, and fell in love with the XK online, particularly the latest models with the popup gear selector. But regardless of the manner in which you tell the car which direction to go, the lines and shape of the car — pre- and post-facelift — is breathtaking. And the sound of those powerful V8s ... well, suffice it to say I can't fathom what Jaguar is thinking with its recent commitment to EVs and the total abandonment of gas engines. Even the X100 remains stunning (my neighbor has a Silverstone edition in his garage with 11,000 miles on it, nearly perfect save for wome curb rash on one of the Detroit wheels. Orignal owner.)

Anyway, I will turn 61 this year and my wife and I are planning on retirning in the next 3-5 years. I really want to have a grand touring car we can enjoy together. Unfortunately, I am not mechanical and the extent of my hands-on work will be rubbing the car with a diaper in my garage. No doubt I can learn some things on this forum.

This brings me to a question for anyone kind enough to respond. Recently, I spoke with the owner of a respected local European car shop (mechanic, not sales) about Jaguar ownership. Although he would be happy to help me determine if any example I find is a good one by way of a PPI, and I have no question he would work on any car I purchase, he largely discouraged me for owning an XK/XKR because of the difficulty in finding parts. For his existing Jaguar customers, he said he is having to source used parts from dealers and junk yards.

This has put a damper on my enthusiasm — a least a little — because the joy in finding an X150 for, say, under $30,000 could be outweighed by not being able to have the car repaired/maintained when needed. Let's be honest, I don't just want to rub it with a diaper. Since this would be a third car for us, I don't mind being without it for a couple of weeks while parts are sourced. That's one thing; it's quite another to not be able to get parts at all.

I would be grateful to get your helpful input. Should I abandon what has become a pretty emotional dream, or is there some nuance in my mechanic's advice?

 

Most of the mechanical parts like suspension and engine parts are easy enough to find and not really pricey because a good number are either used in other Jags or a bunch are from Lincoln LS cars. The BODY parts like fenders, headlights, glass and things like that are the expensive bits. Also some of the electronics can get up in price, but USUALLY some generic Ford parts will work for those.

 

@Cee Jay Is spot on. It really does depend on how resourceful one needs to be and can be. As you can see, there's a whole community here that's active and willing to help if such a problem ever exists. While I have not officially launched and am and more of the collection phase at the moment, I have seen and recognized this potential future challenge and have begun collecting Jaguars, mostly modern for now, that are unfortunately no longer fully roadworthy, but fortunately has a ton of parts still available. You do sound like you have the passion to to be a proper Jagger owner, though. The hesitation does make sense and is reasonable. At the same time I think all of us have really overcame that fear and put it out of our mind because having them far outweighs the cons of trying to fix them. I mean, fix them. We have to and we do, but it's not at the forefront of our mind.

 

You ever talk to a plumber? They HATE plumbing.