Really glad it worked out for you and yes, that looked like a super clean car and luckily he probably didn't own it for long

They are definitely getting harder to find...I'm currently looking for one and definitely not as easy as it was even back a few years ago. I sold my R1 and miss it every day, such an experience these supercharged Jags are. They have a presence like nothing else on the road in my opinion. Not to mention getting a nearly 400hp car with a ride like they have would be near impossible for the money they go for.

 

Good you discovered before any drama. But yea I'm old school no paperwork, it didn't happen lol.

 

I will second that motion!

 

I'd definitely let his eBay seller feedback reflect his penchant for misleading info. to warn future buyers.

 

I wouldn't worry so much about the seller feedback, as I would to report him directly to eBay about false and misleading statements about product.
There are millions of sellers on eBay, and they won't see it to do anything about it. I've reported a few folks on there.

 

I ended up buying the car after the end of the auction away from ebay so no feedback option. Oh well

 

I purchased a vehicle from Ebay once. It was a Ford Flex and the posted pictures made the vehicle look great. The CARfax was clean
and the miles were fairly low, so I went out on a limb, and had it shipped here. It arrived and thats' when the bough broke. The rust on
the undercarriage was bad enough, the pictures must have been retouched or something because there were obvious flaws all over the
body that the pictures should have revealed. The real dealbreaker was the smell in the interior. It smelled like a wet dog lived in there for
many moons, and although I managed to tone it down considerably, it was never quite cured. I lodged a "not as described" complaint with
Ebay and got most of my money back although the lesson was learned. I ended up giving the car to a friend who used the 4 wheel drivetrain
to transplant to another Flex.

 

That's rough, sorry to hear. At least you got something out of it. To this day I've never bought a car without putting my own eyes on it and don't think I ever will. I've traveled pretty far to look at cars on Ebay, BaT, etc. just to come home empty handed and relieved that I went to see it. One time I drove 6 hours to WV to look at a 98 Cobra Convertible that was for sale through an estate. Car had 13k miles and looked immaculate in all of the photos. I wasn't even out of my car yet and knew she wasn't going home with me. The entire driver side quarter was rippled and full of bondo, there was barely any metal there. The rest of the car was pristine and Carfax was clean as a whistle; 1 owner, serviced, etc. but no mention of a severe accident that would have caused that type of damage. I was not a happy camper that day...

 

I have bought three cars sight unseen - two 1992 Series 3 VDP’s and a 2001 XJR. Flew from Edmonton to Victoria each time and drove them home. The key is less seeing them than knowing who you are buying them from and the records/history that comes with them.

 

Yes great point. If I knew the person or they were a prominent member of a forum or group then a totally different story. History/records alone can be a huge gamble, you never know what can happen to a car that doesn't show up on a VIN report.

 

I bought a Penta rim from a guy in Chicago, mine didn't have a spare when I got it. As soon as I received it I took it to my closest tire shop and asked them to spin it. The damn thing wobbled more than a drunk. Then when I reported it, the guy wanted to argue it was good. I explained to eBay I'd be happy to send them a video and the guy at the shop said he'd vouch it was bad. This was before rim repair was available. I got my money back and made him pay to take it back.
I'm betting he pulled it out of a yard and never checked it.

 

Bad FB warns future buyers, reporting to eBay does notta these days lol.

 

Yes, Ebay has changed things to make it a little easier for sellers to "negotiate" around negative feedback.
Then of course you have the sellers with 50 ebay memberships, so that if they get several bad feedbacks,
they just jump to a different name. Ebay can be a great place for new items, but it is always "buyer beware"
for anything of a used nature.

 

I have (2) accounts...one for buying and one for selling.

 

This supposed shop owning doofus also overfilled the 722.6 by what looks like about a quart. The 13 pin plug was leaking, so I jacked the front passenger side up quite a ways and pull the plug out and of course about half a quart poured out and I couldn't get the conductor plate dry, so had to drain another quart out before I could keep the pin area dry. Poured 600ml in and the level is now correct. This person should not be allowed near any car...ever.

 

Fortunately, we have a great transmission repair shop locally. All of my cars visit him for regular checkups.
What is fantastic is that they seem to know their way around Jaguar Transmissions, to my delight. In the
past, I have had some shops try to sell me a line, and of course, it is then time to move on.

 

I guess i'll update this and make it my ownership/build thread.

I noticed a bit of clacking from the blower so figured the coupler was shot and it was. Pulled the blower, noted that the hoses in the valley were fairly new and soft, but ordered replacements anyway. Rebuilt the snout and threw in a 6% supercharger pulley from Euro toys while I was at it, along with the upgraded Mercedes/Bosch 010 intercooler pump.

Decided to do new water pump (ac delco premium), all new gaskets and o-rings, a few new hard bleeder lines, and while I was at it, some new front bilstein shocks and OE bumpstops.

Also going to replace some of the worm clamps PO-idiot (as he shall now be named) installed because he either lost or was too cheap to find replacements for when he did the few easily accessible cooling lines.

Just about every step along the way I've cleaned, corrected, or replaced things that were bodged, poorly repaired, cheaped-out on, etc. For instance, the EGR was nearly completely blocked. might explain the occasionally wobbly idle. It will never be a concours car, but its special and deserves to have things done properly.

I've spent way more time and money than I wanted on this car that "needs nothing" as stated by PO-idiot, but hey, can't take it with you. Now I also will feel confident that the cooling system will be good for a long time.

I also put together the pieces for a 3.5" intake the should hopefully require only one tube and 2 silicone couplers for a clean look.

Will update when all is back together.

 

Nice to hear you're taking good care of her, a lot better than the PO that's for sure. Nice part about doing all of that yourself is that you know it's done and done properly. I have a feeling I'll be replacing the coolant hoses under my blower at some point. Even with low mileage I'm sure they'll start leaking at some point.

About the 6% pulley, do you need to tune the ECU or do anything else when upgrading the pulley? Will definitley look into that if I ever have to remove the supercharger.

 

Thanks and yes, the peace of mind is important on such things. Without records (again, I should have asked for them before I bought the car), its hard to know what was done and these things can go poof without much warning. The hoses had definitely been done, as had the water pump, but who knows when. The water pump impeller had some signs of cracking so I was pleased I did it also. The parts are not horribly expensive, but $50 here and $100 here start adding up.

From my research, the car is able to cope with increases in boost without any tuning, within reason. An upper pulley OR a lower pulley seem to be within the range of acceptable on the stock tune, but you risk some detonation with a lower AND upper. 6% is only about an extra 1.5psi, so that should be no biggie.

If you go this route, make sure you use the specific supercharger pulley puller as others won't work or may damage something else. That damn pulley is on there.

 

Yea, I'm familiar with the Eaton pulleys. I still have the remover for my M90 but not sure of it will work on this one. Either way I agree, the proper tool is essential.

I'm sort of in the same situation as you with the car I just bought, but luckily not due to being intentionally misled...Mine is a 98 with 66k and the previous owner had it serviced here and there, but didn't keep records and didn't really care what was done to it. He just took it to the shop for oil changes and let them do whatever needed to be done. I bought it because the body/interior are perfect and mechanically the car is good, just not meticulously maintained. Doing the tensioners now since they were original, and pretty sure at least some of the coolant hoses were replaced by looking at them, but I doubt the blower has ever been off so that will probably be a project for the winter.

Side note - I think you're in Jersey, correct? If you ever happen to change the wheels on your car and want to sell the silver Pentas let me know. Or if you see any in good shape for sale locally I'd be interested. Trying to replace the OE chrome Pentas on my car, just too much shine between the chrome wheels and stainless window trim for my taste.