Hi there.... first post so please be gentle

I am admittedlynewto Jags... have owned an '00 E320 Benz and 2 7-series BMWs('97 740il & '01 750iL), but never a Jag.

Looked at this car today at a used car lot. Interior and exterior actually look nice (only exterior issues I see off-hand are tons and tons of paint chips at the front, leading edge of the car and front wheel-wells...). Interior is surprisingly very nice for a car with this many miles (my '97 740ilhas 150kmi and the leather isn't near as nice as in this Jag).

That being said, when I test drove the car I was fairly gentle with it until we got to the highway and then I pushed the pedal to the floor to see what the straight 6 would do... well, up to about 3000 rpm it was fine.. then basically the engine and tranny disengaged from each other... If it was a manual transmission (stick-shift) I will describe it as if the clutch was slipped... so engine continued to rev (although never beyond 5000rpm) but the tranny was slipping so there was no acceleration... car would NOT go above 60 mph.

As we drove back to the car lot, I decided to push it harder from a stoplight and basically it didn't matter what gear I was in, once the car reved to around 3k rpm, the 'slipping' occured. Up to 3000 rpms, it had power and accelerated normally...

So, couple questions:
1. any idea what's causing the slipping?
2. I could get the steering wheel to move in/out (telescope), but not up/down (tilt)? Assuming it should, is that controlled by a different lever?
3. other than this, the car seems well-maintained in and out. It's a 2-owner car from Massachusetts (no obvious rust anywhere). Prior to purchase I would take it to either a private mechanic or the jaguar *********** for a thorough inspection. I first saw the car on-line (Autotrader) listed at $4k, however the sticker on the car says "$5k cash". Assuming the tranny slipping is fixed and the cars checks out, I was thinking of offering $3k cash and working from there. The car needs tires... they are bald! Am I in the right price range or should I stay away from a car with this many miles? This would be my daily driver, as is my 740 now. I drive 10 miles to/from work in traffic everyday and minimal other driving besides that. Although I would want a car reliable enough totake on afew hundred miles trip, it would not be used for family vacations.. mainly just around town.

sorry for being long-winded...

 

well, this board doesnt get the traffic bimmerboard gets! Regardless, I found a great deal on a 96 vanden plas over the weekend and jumped at the deal!!! I'm stoked. Need an owners manual. And there's a leak in the rearend I need to look into, but overall its in really good shape for 123k miles. Memory seats not working right (probably needs module), clock doesnt display (think there's a DIY fix for that), and I think there is a light problem somewhere... Idiot light is on I think... Looks like an upside down skull with a 'X' through it.
Can anyone tell me if the seat should pull back and steering wheel pull up when I exit the car?

 

thanks Ken, I'll be trying the business card trick soon. I ended up with a '96 vanden plas and will be buying your filter kit and hub bearings very soon. Thx!