Hey everyone,

I just had a really strange experience while viewing a car (1999 Jap import)

The owner had passed away, so their friend was selling the car. Although the friend was not present, I was still able to view the car (but no key = no test drive)

Here's what I found:
All of the door locks were in the unlocked position (you could see the lock sticking out). You could see the driver's door was also unlocked, but when pulling the handle, it would not open.

When I opened the rear door, the alarm went off.

Is this a headache?

That's all the information I have for now. FOMO is real as the bid ends this Sunday, but no one will be present this week to provide a proper viewing, so they're expecting someone to buy the car without giving it a proper test.

 

I guess it depends on how much you like it. Without knowing if it runs and drives, it’s a mystery. Did you see how many kilometers are on it? What year is it?

 

It’s an awkward situation. I informed the seller that I don’t want to win a bid, only to realise the car needs work. He replied don’t bid to avoid disappointment.

FOMO is real as it has the rare 19” BBS XJR100 wheels. Service history is little. No confirmation of timing chains being replaced but it’s an import so little rust and is black on black, with HK speakers. Memory seats, too. It’s everything I want.

The wood panel around the instrument cluster was loose so I do wonder what work the owner was doing..

BUT the deceased owner was an enthusiast. He rebuilt a 50s Jag from the ground up.

It’s ‘99, and has 107,000 miles so 172,000km.

If the price is within reason, I can only think to win the bid, and inspect the car properly. If it’s not up to scratch, I’ll refuse the sale. No harm there.

I’ll set my budget to £5000. A shame, really as a minted XJR that was also black on black sold for £5150, and had all work done to it. This would be the riskiest purchase ever so a pre purchase inspection is detrimental to handing the money over lol.

 

That sounds a bit more promising as it’s owned by an enthusiast. The 19” Montreal’s is a huge win! If it doesn’t run, maybe it’s due to dead battery, bore wash or dead fuel pumps. Plan on it being towed. I suppose it depends just how bad the rust and paint are. Bid £3600 and see if you win? 🤷‍♂️

 

IMO it sounds like you are looking at trouble, especially if there is rust. A jag enthusiast would never
let a driver door get to a point where it would not open.

 

The seller did say it was well looked after and runs fine. He isn’t free anytime to provide a test drive so I’m not sure he’d hand the key over even when the bid ends.

The current bid is sitting at £4500!

 

I gave a visual inspection, and there was no visible rust.

 

I think it will depend on your skill level?
It looks like there will be repairs needed which is to be expected at this date.
Can you DIY or will you be using a shop?

I am just afraid if using a shop the cost will spiral out of control very quickly?
.
.
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Seems a tricky one, did you take pictures of it?

*EDIT*

If, which it must be, it's this car, it looks straight. Too far for me to go and check it out unfortunately.

The central locking sounds like the Fob needs batteries.

The MKII is an early 60's car by the big bumpers, but the arches have to go, it maybe on S type axles (independent IRS)

 

correct - this is the one!

That MKII Jag was built from an XJR floor pan.

There’s a lot of watchers at the moment, and if I’m going off my last auction, people will bid in the last few mins. I have a sensible budget in mind.

I suppose I could go over, knowing those wheels are worth something.

I'm curious to know how the central locking works. My understanding is the remote sends a signal to the car to lock/unlock. The lock motors are powered via the battery so surely they’d lock/unlock all the way, regardless of the remotes weak battery?

I did wonder if the cars battery was weak, but the alarm went off for a while. Three intervals of blasting your ears before it came to a stop.

 

You can operate the central locking via a central dash button. Your assumption is correct, but if either signal from fob is weak, or the car's battery is weak, or a combination of both there will be an interrupt in function.

Remember these cars need 12.5V plus to function correctly, the battery will be in need of a recharge. If you win it maybe have a fully charged battery for backup.

It's not just wheels, there is mention of the Brembo brake kit possibly again from a 100. That's an expensive/exclusive package, and people will be adding something to their final figure bids wise because of the rarity.
Also, a *lot* of dreamers watch, and people wanting to sell to get market value of one going through auction, take 10% of watchers as potentially serious about a bid.

 

I am now thinking from the perspective of the difficulty of replacing the brake system when needed.

As I would hardly drive the car, I don't think this would be a problem albeit the set costs £600.
https://www.adamesh.co.uk/jaguar-bre...scs-7425-p.asp

It also seems that if I wanted to sell the wheels and replace them with the Asteroids, I won't be able to?

 

less than £300 here...
https://www.britishparts.co.uk/class...-xj-xjr/brakes

 

Yes, since posting that message, it occurred to me that I thought the car had the “R” package brake system, so it would require the Brembo discs.