Hey folks! So I'm a proud owner of a 98 xj8 vdp! My fiancé is in love with it so I've started a hunt for a second jag for her! I have found a 2000 xjr v8 supercharger with okay km, decent body except rear quarters, about 3 inch rot both sides! The strut towers in the front are separating but not rotted! Looks rather weird! Maybe hit one hell of pot hole, who knows! Again not unfixable. It also needs a coolant line for the supercharger under the intake! I realize the work needed to I into this car! How ever it's priced to me at 1100$! Runs strong, great shifts! Beautiful car otherwise! Am I gonna be in over my head? Or is this an okay deal!? I'm 24, I own a house, and have a baby! I have a lot of bills! However I'm a motivated, dedicated handy person and don't mind getting my hands dirty if it means owning another lux car!

 

Hi Biklan,

I'm sure you will get a lot of opinions here, so take this as one-seven-billionth of the world's opinion. If you only had yourself to care about, and you were confident you could deal with all the issues on the car, I would say, "Go for it, and send us the pictures when you're done!" But since it's not just you, but also your fiancé and baby you have to worry about now, I would say, "Save up a little more money while you look for a Jag in good solid cosmetic condition that needs some minor mechanical work you can accomplish yourself, but preferably a car that comes with a service history so you know it hasn't been completely neglected."

A 2000 XJR would produce around 370 hp, so if there is any question at all about the structural integrity of the front towers, I would not allow anyone to drive that car, especially someone I love, even after it has been repaired. There are far too many better Jags out there, so my advice would be, "Have patience."

That's the advice I would give to my daughter and son who are about your age.

 

I appreciate your honest opinion! With those towers separating I don't even know if just elevating the front end off the ground would bring them back to position so it can be welded, patched or whatever need be or if it's just structurally dinked period! It would deff be hit and miss! The body work is a no brainer, but then it comes to the coolant hose under the supercharger! Again likely straight forward, but costly part, and then stripping Down under intake, require new gaskets and whatever else I may find! I reframed from placing a deposit on it tonight as I wanted some honest input before buying a lemon! I appreciate your honesty! Would that be a good price to buy it as a parts car? For myself, and as a part out?

 

I'm not an expert in that regard, but I would think that if the engine is good, and things frequently required for collision repair like the front fenders, both bumpers, etc., and cosmetic things like the interior trim and seats and wheels were nice enough that other owners might want them to upgrade their own cars, then you could easily get your money back. How big a profit you could make, or how long it might take to do so, I can't say.

Hopefully others who are more knowledgeable about breaking cars will be able to offer advice.

Let us know what you decide!

Cheers,

Don

 

Honestly dude, I wouldn't. I've got 15 years on you, a few more kids, no bills, but a big mortgage I'm chunking away at… and even I feel as if my little Jag obsession leaves me teetering on the edge of financial ruin! Kind of like how Don answered the question, but if you were my kid brother, I'd tell you to get a beater with a heater, use your time working overtime or a second job to get rid of those bills, save up a fat emergency fund, start investing in your children's education, and pay off the house. If you start that now, by the time you're 30 (it can be done!) you may be able to afford whatever car you want. In other words, by delaying the pleasure and working hard you pave the way for future success.

I know that's probably not the advice you were looking for, but since you asked… Of course, not that anyone will look down on you if you go for it. And there's a lot of support here for when (not if) things go wrong on the car.

Best of luck!
Scott

 

No swet! Haha I do appreciate the honesty! I have honestly let cars rule my cash the last few years, buying a couple Lincoln Ls's, corvette, audi, etc! they all seem to end up being a money pit, in the end I always see that I shouldn't have got the car lol! I've had about 60 vehicles or more in the past 9 years, all that only about 12 have seen the road! That's a lot of cash I've wasted! I just think that knowing if this xjr was fixed up, (and Iam capable of the task) they r worth every cent! A good investment in the future! That being said, I also know that I have a family and more important things ahead of me! Even if I bought it as a project! It's all hit and miss! U never kno what else u may find wrong with it I guess! Part of me says don't even think about it! And the other part says, buy the damn car!

 

Attached are a few photos of the car *note rims do not come with it!

 

Run Forest,Run!!!

 

Lol well so far 3 strikes! Which is curving my thoughts!

 

Sec question then! I can buy those wheels on the front (there is all 4) it for 600$ Or the stock xjr 17s for 350$! Are either of those a good deal?

 

Listen to midwestjag- he speaks wisdom.

You will be much happier buying a project with "spare change" later in life than "grocery money" now.

 

Sorry, but that's a parts car, not even close to rebuilding. XJRs are wonderful, I have one, but rust free cars are easy to find for low dollars, making this one not worth it.

 

stock XJR wheels are 8J x 18, not 17 inch.

 

My apologies! I don't kno a tonne about these cars yet as I recently purchased my xj8 few months ago! Are those prices for the wheels fair? Both sets?

 

Joined this forum just to respond to your thread...

I looked at this car back in Feb. when it was listed by it's (I'm assuming) previous owner in Schomberg for $5k. It is a PARTS CAR!

You've obviously gone over it pretty well yourself, and you're right, the engine does pull strong and the trasmission shifts okay but unless the current owner has done some work to it you know it needs basically everything else. FYI: if you didn't already know, the car had been sitting for over a year in a barn after the previous owner's son who had been driving it prior to that moved to the UK.

I considered it for $1000 at the time with both sets of wheels (and their bald tires) but he apparently had an offer of $3700 so I just walked. In hindsight I probably would've regretted wasting $1000 on that pile of rust if he had accepted my offer.

Just my $0.02

 

Haha welcome! Thanks! Yes I'm glad the forum members here have gave me the right advice! Really thankful I didn't put a deposit on it' more interested I think in the grill, and them wheels! Yes bald! But rims are good shape! Lol again welcome to forums!

 

Thanks for the welcome!

IMO you made the right decision; it seems like a no brainer at $1100 until (like I did) you do the math on how much $$$$ you would need to spend just to get it into a serviceable & safe condition. And you'll still be left with a 14 year old Jag with 200,000 km that has a ratty interior and worn down paint. I assume the current owner had the same idea as you did but realized after buying it that it needed more work than it was worth and decided to cut his losses & dump it.

Another note to anyone considering this car: it overheated within a couple minutes of my test drive; I pulled over to let it cool down but who knows how many test drives it was on before & after that and if it was run hot for an extended period of time.

 

Exacty! It's one of those things u see, u have money u want! But u have to really consider the pros and cons of it! Ur right! It's only good for parts! I didn't take it far, I just went up and down the road and around block! Could deff smell the coolant burning off tho for sure! I talked to the guy to either talk him lower in price then 1100$ or I was not interested! He told me he is going to keep it now lol

 

I replaced the heater hoses on my 2000 XJR about a year ago. The parts are actually very cheap (about $15 for one hose and $20 for the other). And replacing them is not particularly difficult, just time consuming and you must have a good complement of tools. It took me the better part of a weekend. It's a very doab;e job though if you are mechanically inclined and have a full tool set, don't let that job scare you.

But the shock towers sound scary. Any chance of pics of the actual separation? And the rust in the quarters makes me suspicious that the dreaded torque box rust is there too. Look under the car very carefully for more hidden rust.

All in all it sounds like you have more on your plate than what would allow for a sub $2000 XJR. it could be a hell of a steal, but I would expect a LOT of work down the road. I'd wait and find a more solid car, which can be easily found in the $6000 range and would likely be a lot less headache.

 

I had got my 98 xj8 for 1300$ beautiful body, floors are in good shape! All she needed were the rear hub career bearings, 124$ from jag for all 4 and secondary tensioners 200$ beautiful car! So I was hoping for another steal lol