I decided to check out Pick-and-Pull for the first time today. I read some posts online about the procedure and what to expect, and I found a '97 XJ6 on the list for my local P-and-P, and it said its been there for less than a week or so. Great!

I packed my fabric Craftsman tool bag with sockets and wrenches and screwdrivers and bits, and headed out.

I paid the two bucks, got my hand stamped, and made my way through the surprisingly orderly junkyard. Every single car in the yard was resting on four steel wheels, which were upright, and resting on another steel wheel, which was laying flat on the ground. This raised the cars up a good deal and allowed for good access.

I got to the '97 XJ6, Carnival Red like mine, and found the date written on the car to be June instead of October like it said online. The body was in good shape, I wonder what sort of issue it faced to be scrapped. The interior was ripped and torn, but I made off with a good unbroken driver's side vent outlet with the wood surround (mine is broken, two of the vertical louvers don't move with the others). I tried removing the switch pack for the driver's door, but couldn't get that one screw which faces the inside of the car, so I left it.

The radio was gone, and the car had the non-premium system, so nothing was interchangeable. I checked for the spare tire and wheel, and the tool kit, No dice. I grabbed the security module in the trunk. The driver's fog lamp was smashed, but the passenger's was quite good, so I grabbed it. Nothing under the hood really interested me as I have a XJ12.

I took one last look around the car and peered back inside again. It hit me. The cupholder was latched shut! If there's one thing you almost never see, it's a X300 with a cupholder latched shut, doesn't matter whether the car is beat or pristine.

Somewhere along the line, the broken cupholder bugged a P.O. enough to have it replaced with the new-and-improved version with metal hinges. I went to work removing it from the nasty torn leather console lid, saving all the screws for spares, along with all the extra screws that happened to fall in my tool bag while I was disassembling stuff... Oops! It's always nice to have a good assortment of spare fasteners around for these cars.

Brought it all home, cleaned the nastiness out of the crevices, greased the gears and tracks, and installed it in my Autolux console lid. I can't tell you how nice it is to be able to rest your arm over the console lid and place a hand on the shift knob without that pesky cupholder in the way.

Cupholder - $4.99
Security/Lock Module - $16.99 (I told the guy it was the lock module, he rang it up as a lock solenoid because it wasn't in the list...)
Fog Lamp - $14.99
Vent Outlet - $4.99

There was a fresh black XJR in the employee-only area , I'll be waiting to see when it hits the yard, and may check that one out, too. Overall, a good experience, quite relaxing and therapeutic. The nearest person to me was about half a dozen cars away.

Nick

 

Hey Nick, I went to pick and pull in August and scored heavily too!

I got a like new set of plug wires, two beautiful VDP door kick plates, a FPR (sold to me as a pcv valve), a power antenna in excellent shape and quite a few other trim pieces, grommets and fasteners for the grand sum of $18.40 ...A good day in Jag land!!

Larry

 

my x300 cupholder assembly works perfectly. I don't use it to store any tea/coffee as I am sure repeated use will break off the hinges, but I agree with you... feels nice when it's all there and works well.

 

Yep, I check our local LKQ pick/pull almost every week for a number of different makes/models our family has.

The X300 is a little harder to find, as is my 1995 Riviera, but they show up every month or three.

I also just like going and looking around at various other cars while I'm there, wondering how they ended up there, or just generally inquisitive.

.

 

My 97 works perfect, use it everyday to and from work. I'm really unsure why people tend to have so much trouble with these things.

 

Cupholder in my 97 XJR is working order as well.