I started to respond to a couple recent posts concerning CHEAP parts, etc but found that my tone could be construed as rude and or snobbish. So, please excuse me if that's the way it sounds but...

I sometimes feel a bit irked when I see discussions about our cars and "cheap" alternatives in the same sentence. I like to save a buck just as much as the next person, but we drive Jags. We shouldn't be looking for cheap wheels, or using electrical tape to hold things together.

I can understand saving money by DYIing stuff because we are so inclined as enthusiasts, hobbyists and/or have mechanical aptitude. I can even see finding sources of help (like this Forum) other than dealerships that although seem to charge an arm and a leg for everything, have to make a profit too, but let's remember that we are lucky enough to drive a Jag (some have more than one) and that should carry some pride if not prestige.

So, if you are like me and have a Jag without a warranty, you just have to get used to the cost of ownership. Not unlike a Porsche or Corvette or Bimmer. What about wallet sucking muscle cars? I've been there as well. It's what we've signed up for. But, if it's not in the budget, get a Honda or whatever and look like everyone else out there. "Sensible" and "Jag ownership" are not synonymous. I love my Kitty and will put up with her until I can't afford to. But I won't cheapen her.

I mean no offense to anyone who is trying to manage ownership as best they can afford. I'm simply saying that some time you have to realize that ownership of a beautiful car like ours can carry costs.

 

I've trimmed your post in the quotes above. I hope you don't feel like I've lost it's original context. I know you are not trying to offend, and so I haven't taken offense. Even though I can certainly see some offensive (to me) sentiments emanating from your post.

My medical Doctor is also a car-nut. He runs a by-appt-only car dealership on the side, called Car Snobs. You can take his "screening exam" to see if you suffer from this affliction here: http://www.carsnobs.com/philosophy.php
This is all very tongue-in-cheek. He is a very nice guy, and very tolerant of whatever one chooses to drive. He simply tends towards being an enthusiast. I suspect you are very much the same, (though to be honest, I haven't gone and looked-up your posts to get a better idea.)

That being said: when you say:
I wonder who SAYS we shouldn't? You? Why do you get to determine this for me?

or when you say:
What makes you think that I am 'Lucky'? Is it possible that I have discovered that if I'm willing to save some money on service by DIY-ing some things, and or buying less expensive accessories or aftermarket parts (read: "Cheap" to you) then I can drive a nicer car than would otherwise be possible? You write Pride and Prestige and I read 'Snob' and 'Narcissistic'.

Many years ago, I went through a long and sordid love affair with Ducati Motorcycles. Now, you could certainly find ground to equate the two experiences. There were many... MANY 'Ducatisti' who were offended at my so-called '*******ization' of my various race-bikes. I often said that I could build ANYTHING with a sawzall and a die-grinder. I found ways to build parts for next to nothing in a world where everything smaller than your fist costs $500... and prices go up from there. Some of those creations can be seen here: http://www.dansfam.com/motorcycleindex.htm

What did I get out of this? Many, MANY enjoyable memories of racing a Ducati, that would otherwise have been a pipedream never realized, just as it is for 99.5% of the Ducati-owning community.

I guess my point is this: Own what you want, and do with it what you want. I may not like 20" wheels on an X-type. You may not like the lowering spring kit that RacerX used. I might decide that I can afford to pay the mechani at Jaguar to install my shocks, while I shoot hoops with my son... (or maybe I can't afford NOT to?) but I also might decide that I want to teach my boy, and do it ourselves.
When I was newly married, I bought a $200 pickup truck to haul my a** and my tools to work and back every day, while I put my wife through the most expensive private university in town. When I threw a rod through the block, and I couldn't afford to buy a new motor, I didn;t decide I couldn't afford to drive.... I cut-off the rocker-arm, welded a patch and drove it as a 3-cylinder for 6 months.... (this is NOT an exaggeration)

Let ME decide how to spend my automotive budget, and I'll do the same for you.

(That's what me not being offended looks like )

 

Very well put McJaguar.[sm=smiley32.gif] BTW is that you on your Ducati in your avatar pic? Im partial to Busas myself. [sm=joke.gif]

 

my couple cents here. this is a little back ground on me. for the last 10 years i have made steel exhaust pipe. we run the same pipe day in, day out. they go on caddies as well as a focus. now when you go to the shop to get an exhaust, guess what, i might have ran that too.when i hear somebody say i got brand x pipes on my car and they are THIS MUCH BETTER, i have to laugh. i don't try and pay more for a name.
that being said yes i drive a jag(ford/tata). and i love it but it is a name. just like my buddies porsche, no matter how you look at it it is still a VW.

 

Actually Queenmb, that IS me in the avatar, but not the Ducati. That is 'THE' 2005 AMA ProRacing, Formula Extreme Championship winning bike. Miguel Duhamel's bike, to be more specific. Miguel rode it in the Daytona 200 in '06 (after winning the Championship on it in '05) and then 2 weeks later Honda brought it out for a couple of us to ride, before it got moth-balled. Miguel and I were comparing notes one day; it seems I outweigh him by almost twice.... and yet that was still the easiest bike to ride fast.... (not as fast as Miguel, of course... )

 

WTH, i'm gonna go put stickers on the side of my car that say's VOTE FOR ME! :-)

 

TeeHeeHeeHee.....[]

 

There is nothing wrong with driving a Jaguar, but having the attitude of a pompous *** hat is not part of the deal. I love my Jag as much as the next guy, but it doesn't make me better than anyone else. If anything, I am an idiot for spending more money on a car than I had to.

I'm not saying that you are arrogant for paying more for parts than you should or have to, but to judge someone else who likes "cheap" parts is none of your business. To each his own and if someone wants to put electrical tape on something, let them. It's their car, not yours.

Just my .02

 

with the economy going to hell, within two years we'll all be using duct tape to keep our rides together! lol.

While I feel some of what the op said, my basic instinct is "you do you" like others have already said. I've tricked out Supras before, so I know what its like to want to change everything on a car and customize its looks and performance. While I have the opposite desires for my X-Type, I try my utmost not to judge others who want to drop theirs a few inches, tint all windows, chrome up everything, etc. To each his own.

Also, if I had time, space, and skills needed to work on my jag, I'm pretty sure I'd want to know where to get cheap parts too. Some dealer parts are simlly ripoffs.

 

I guess I fall under your description for a cheapo. I know I am cheap but i have no alternative. To tell you the truth, this Jaguar X-type is my first car. And i am 16 years old. Before you start to judge me, my father drives a 98 Toyota sienna (mini van) and my mother drives a 2003 Lexus ES 300. We aren't the average jaguar owners. The way I stumbled upon a jaguar , was my dad's good friend bought an Audi A8, and was selling his Jaguar X-type. We got the car for exactly 8500 dollars with 43000 miles. This is because the AC compressor is somewhat on the line and is not working the best but works good with the fall weather now, but still needs to be replaced. But besides the fact, I have attemped to fix almost everything wrong with my car myself. The bumper was scraped a little. I went out and bought some CHEAP touch up paint and just painted over it. I want a Jaguar ACM, but the price is killing me. I took an old FM transmitter, soldered a 8 foot antenna to it, and taped it near were i thought the jaguar's radio antenna is. I know you can call this "gehtto" but it works for me. Of course i have hidden the wires as much as possible. I change the oil myself. And I am thinking of adding a subwoofer and amp, but not sure of how to go about it. I have an idea of soldering wires to one of the rear speakers getting the audio signal from there, but not sure. If anyone can help me on that, i would love to get a tutorial. But yea, everyone comes form somewhere differnt, and have differnt ways of doing things.

 

yea..
Mcjag. 100% with you.
And that is so friggin tight. I just got rid of my bike and I miss it dearly.
It was a honda cbr1100XX Super BlackBird.
she was so smoooooth and fast.

 

and btw, i don't recall any of Jaguars parts from the dealership being moderately priced. i just order 2 washer jets for my 02 X-Type and they were $40 a pop from the local dealership. Online price: $25 a piece plus shipping. Moderately priced my ***.

Why did I pay more at the dealership instead of ordering online? Because I am an idiot who wants everything now and can't stand a dirty windshield any longer.

And I agree with gupdah, do what you can to make your ride look and drive money. you don't have to have genuine Jaguar parts to have a sweet ride. i have an FM transmitter too bc I am a cheap college student and it works just fine.

 

[] now you done it!

 

Right-on, Gudpah! That's not so different from my own.
I couldn't afford the gas in my old Pick-up any longer, so I satrted looking around at cars under $4k (which I figured I could get out of my truck, even in this depressed, pickup-truck market). But ya know what ya get for $4k these days? Junk. Pretty much Junk. And more Junk. So I finally opened-up my search to $6k... and I found my '02 X-type. 106k miles when I bought it. Some small issues (needs struts, brakes, etc) but it's a nice car.
Not even close to the most expensive car I've owned (or currently own, for that matter, as my other current vehicleis an '08 Jeep Commander, and I'm about to plunk-down $30k-ish on a track-day car) but I sure take a ration of crap about it at work. I finally told one guy witha new Fusion that "If I could afford an ugly Ford like yours, I would've bought one... but I couldn't, All I could afford is this Jag."
I really dislike the snobbery that is assumed about me because I drive this car, and so I guess I bristle when the OP tries to propogate it!

Now if I were truly wealthy, I'd be doing what it sounds like RacerX does.... punch the motor out, build it high-HP, aluminum sway bar bushings, stiffest springs I could find, a leather-wrapped roll-cage to top it off and then I'd go play with the guys at Miller Motorsports Park, which is sort of like my favorite place to be when I'm not at home....

 

You gotta have some fun in this crazy world.....
Punching out the engine and doing all sorts to it is my way of "relaxing" other then drinking beer....

 

I just love the feeling in the inside after you fix something yourself rather than paying someone to do it for you. I even made my carpets myself out of some leftover from my basement. It matches the leather great, but its only temporary.

 

i get the same thing folks, man I would have loved the dependability of a loaded low miles honda for work, but could only afford the jag, ran into parts price problems with my rover, way crazy parts prices. now am in the possible position of high ticket repair after getting car fixed at body shop and they found a pretty serious leak... find out on wednesday...have warranty on big ticket items,but...

 

I knew this was going to turn out bad...guess I AM a snob and have to deal with that. My opinions are mine alone. One thing I forgot about. Some (and only some) X-Type owners stumbled upon or settled for the Jag because it fit in the $6000 price range and they couldn't afford the high mileage Honda they really wanted...to you I say you made a wonderful choice. BUT, if you went that route with blinders on andwithout knowing this thing was going to cost youto maintain, you may have made a bad choice.I'm all for DIYers, a bit distressed by too many mods (to each their own), but don't really want to see a X-Kitty with duct tape holding body parts together or homemade chicken wire "mesh" grills. That would be sad if that's what's coming next as the value of these lovely cars depreciates to nothing. But that's only me and my opinion.

Guess I need to move up to an STR. Anyone got one for sale under 10 grand that won't need any repairs or maintenance...ever

 

Life is too short[:@]If someone wants to hold up the exhaust system with a cloths hanger and the other guy wants to give Jaguar $1,000.00 to fix it SO BE IT. why worry about it. I have seen plenty of bimmers and merc on the road with duct tape in various places.
So what if you use 89 octane and Racer uses Vodka who cares

 

How dare you insult Vodka like that! I would never waste it on a Jag!