so, i just got the few things on my car fixed, and the mechanic, and my family are advising me to sell the car, just becuase of the cost of repair. There are rust issues with are going to be fixed, and the mechanic told me to ethier A park it int he winter and buy a beater, or B sell it and just get a regular ordinary car, i posted this before but ddn't get a good opinion. And the other option is, this one is my idea, is to winter proof the car, with mud flaps, to protect the paint, and other stuff. Also is there anyways to switch off the heap lamp washer cover motors, so they won't keep breaking. Ones no splashing water ont he headlights, and these small inconviences are realyl pissing me off and are geting frustrating. Whats ur guys opinon on this.

 

My guess is that you want to keep the car. Seeing as you came up with the idea of winter proofing it. How bad is the rust? Under seal the entire car and sort out the rust that you already have. If it's fixed properly you shouldn't get any more problems for a while.

 

yeah, all the rust ont he body's being taking care of, and the mud flaps, i went to canadain tire, how long should they be, the mechanic told fin the shortest ones, and i kinda wan something that looks good, i got a set of winter tires with it aswell, how many of u guys drive your x's int he winter, the mechanic told me these cars are meant to be stored

 

I drive mine during winter. There is rust under the car, but how can you avoid that in Canada? The body is flawless.

 

yeah, thats what im concentrating my BATTLE ON, i'm in alberta, and the winters are brutal, as long as i can keep the body in good tape, then ill be happy, and for some reason, my drivers side headlamp washer isn't squirting.

 

I know, I don't live in Canada, but I do live in Nebraska, USA and we do get some winter weather here. My X is a daily driver so it does get driven in the winter, no matter how bad it gets. Our road get plenty of chemicals put on them when the weather turns nasty and that can really play heck with car bodies. What I do even in the winter is whenever the temprature is going to be above freezing for a good part of the day I get to the car wash and make sure to hit the underside too. After the wash I dry it off good making sure to get around the doors, trunk lid and hood so nothing will freeze shut when the temp drops again at night. I only have a little surface rust on the underside where there are spots that the paint has worn off. Most of these spots I have treated with End Rust and painted though. There is also one very small spot on the left rear wheel opening that is under the paint which was there when I bought the car. I will take care of that when I do some touch up on a few dings that have accumulated over the years.
As for the mechanic that say these car should be stored for the winter, he's simply crazy. I believe I'd find a different guy to work on my car. I don't have that problem, I do my own work. I enjoy driving mine on ice and snow, it's close to impossible to lose control. What does your mechanic think the AWD is for if you only drive it in fair weather.
Unless your car has a whole bunch of expensive problems, I say fix it and drive it no matter what the weather does. Ofcourse they aren't very good in really deep snow so if your roads aren't well maintained then you probably will need something else in the winter.

 

Gee, Stu, that IS a tough on. From reading a number of our posts since getting the car on all the issues you have had with it since getting it it must be frustrating. The heart is telling you one thing and the head (reality setting in) is telling you another. Sounds like you have already put a lot of sweat and money in her already. Maybe you have taken care of all the immediate needs, but you don't know. You can still get nickeld and dimed on this and won't know when it will all end. You love the car, but it's killing your wallet. Most of us have been there at some point. I know I have. For what it's worth, I would get it looking as good as I can and see what you could sell it for. Then get something reliable and save your money for a later model 3.0 liter, watch Autotrader, Cars.com, etc. until you find another exactly what you want based on your learning experience with this one. I know it's a cool car for a 16 year old, but what good does it do you if you don't have money (or a car) to take the chicks out on a Saturday night. A used car is always a crap shoot no matter what brand, but with all teh insight you gained with your car at this point will make you an especilly educated buyer the next time around and in a year or two a 2005 or later model might be cheaper than what you paid for your current car. Man, good luck with your decision.

I live in Wisconsin and it is an awesome car in winter. I drove in more than one 10+" snow storms and it's almost fun to drive in snow. I don't have dedicated winter tires, but good all seasons (Continetal Super conti) and the car is very very good.

 

Yeah, i've spen a ton of time under the hood, fixing little things here and there, i love driving it in winter and its quite an amzing car, i really don't want to trae it in, i just don't see the point anymore,sure the chevy's and doges i love are nice and powerful, but i just the interior, thats one of the greatest things about this car, when i come out in minus 40 degree celcius weather, its jsut comforting to know that little jag is better in snow then all the jacked up trucks you see here. I think i am going to keep, i've just dumped too much money into to give up now, that was my original plan, to get everything fixed on it, and then take it to a dealership see what i could get for it, i don't hate jaguar like many others, you just need to know what your looking at, and its quirks and benefits. As far as the car goes, im keeping it, i wouldn't mind some tips on how to winterize it, not store. Even when i told my dad about he mechanic he was like, wtf awd and store it in winter. And i also noticed some rust by my licnces plate, i think becuase it got pressure washed and the plate moved scrath the paint. IS THEre and way to disable the headlamp washers at all.

 

My rust is slowly starting to expand from the inside door area to the outside of the car.

 

im not going to lose the battle on the rust lol, i know i will eventually. SO what the cause of the drivers side headlamp washer not spraying, is there away to disable the washers, becuase my bumpers kinda not aligned properly, so when ever it comes out its going to want to break, thats what happened to the other one. Anyways, pulling a fuse or anything would be greatly appreciated.

 

Why dont you align your bumper and call it a day? Also if its not spraying then check to ensure all lines are connected and no breaks, and try pulling the spray jet out of your bumper carefully and inspect it to see if any debris is stuck to it.

 

the mechanic tried to align it, i can't remeber what bs excuse he gave, and he gace me some other bs on the spray get. This ar ethe major probelms, and the mounts for the wheel liner are gone ont he bumper, so ill need a whole new bumper, or something.

 

It doesn't look like the previous owner took care of it very much.

 

I knew the previous onwer, she told me it was in good shape nothin wrong with it, but her dad drove it, and she said all the sudden he didn't like it, i had my suspicions but the dealership did a inspection and said everything was good, 2 weeks later the fuel sytem was effed.

 

Keep fighting the good fight, Stu!!! Hopefully when you get the last isues sorted out you'll have a dependable ride. I understand where you are coming from about loving the car. I was giving your dilemma some thought yesterday as I was cleaning my car. I took the clay bar to it, polished and waxed it and when it was all done smooth as glass and shining like a jewel you just can't imagine driving anything else. Then I when I went to get gas a police car pulled up at the station and the woman cop that got out asked what year it was and said how nice it looked. Makes all the more worthwhile. Hang in there, maybe the best days with it are coming!

Sounds like maybe you should have talked to the father instead of the daughter before you bought your car. If you had suspicions before buying it probably relying on the dealer's word everything was ok was as not as good a choice than having it inspected at a neutral third party. But that's in the past. Move on and enjoy! Good luck with it!

 

yeah, so i've decided just not to use the headlamp washers. I decided to sit in my car, and really think hard about it, so im NOT selling, and so what if the bumpr isn't ligned, it looks the same, but later on when i find some rims i like i might get everything done by a real mechanic, other then that all the rust is beig sorted out and its pretty much a hundred percent. Im getting window tint on it next week so well see how it looks after.