Hey folks. I've read the new member post, and also what to look for when when buying a jaguar.

I'm in a bit of a pickle. neighbor down the street has had his jag in the driveway for some time. last time it was tagged was 2011... so now the county has given him 10 days to move the car or get it legal...

My daughter is turning 16 in january. No this will not be a kids car. I will probably turn over my wifes 2008 saturn vue green line to my daughter and the jag will become the runabout....Or the jag will get flipped/traded/sold

So I'm looking at this jaguar as a project. Met the guy today, battery is flat. even when put on jumper cables just get a single click when the key is turned over. but all the warning lights light up, radio and HVAC turns on. could not figure out how to get the map working. right rear window is partially open and inoperable.

tires are showing signs of dry rot. some of the wood trim inside looks like that the clear coat has clouded over. looks like the leather could use some tlc, clay bar on the outside. (silver)

Engine bay looks immaculate fluids look good, rotors have surface rust..

I've worked (engines and trans, rear ends, ect) on cars and motorcycles before so but they were all older, ODBII and earlier, and american/aisan. I do my own maintenance on my vehicles.

The only European vehicles I have owned were a 1976 r100rs bmw airhead and a 1987 k1000LT bmw.

So I'm a bit nervous of dipping my toe into the european car repair/hobby.

He threw out an initial number of $5000...

Nice thing is I have a garage and can at least get it under cover and out of prying eyes while I work on it.

Thoughts, suggestions, horror stories...ect...

 

Marc, good price, but a little lower would be nice. See if you can get the price of a set of run of the mill tires just for a little bit of meat off the bone. You could be looking at $5000 in repairs, not including labor, (you). So it's still not bad and you have a great looking car.
What part of Virginia are you, as Gus, one of the leaders in repair and advise on the forum is in Virginia. Great bunch here, hope to see you around.


Wayne

 

The car will never start with a completely dead battery and jumper cables.
There is too much voltage drop across most cables with the low resistance of the battery and the demands of the electrical system. See if you can get a charged battery in there.

Any idea why it was parked? If the engine or transmission need major repair you should be paying much less than $5K.

 

I guess the question I have is why someone would have a nice car like that sitting in the driveway for 4 years or more without being used?

Doug

 

Northern VA Vienna/Tysons area

Been on tire rack, just browsing the 19" tires for car looking at $550 (sumimotos) on up. I have access to a tire machine at work, so mounting and balancing is free... I work at a university and am good friends with the Shop manager so I even have access to lifts...

I'd like to think I could maybe get the car for $4000. Event at 5, if I put 5 into. I still have a $15-20K car. so if I end up selling the car or trading it on a new car for the wife, I should easily get my money back and then some.


No idea why the car was parked. The guy is a bit on the eccentric side, a bit disorganized. He doesn't live in the house. He doesn't drive, he lives in an apartment about an hour away. He's in the music business deals in rare and collectible instruments. I don't get it either.

I guess, one way to look at this is as a "barn find" so to speak.

I'm thinking if I spend the money on a new battery, and install it...he'd at the very least give me money for it...

he also asked if he could store it in my garage for a short time to get the county off his back... so at the very least there could be some storage fees to be garnered.

 

is the 2006 any better / worse than any other year? it was the last model year for that body style was it not. were all the kinks worked out of the system?

 

Why did he stop driving it is the most important question. Sitting that long could not have helped anything. However, if the car is overall good with a strong engine and tranny, $5000 seems a very good price for a 2006 with that mileage. But chances are, there are some issues.

 

Yes, 2004 to 2006 are the best years, but there are still a few troubles spots, such as the plastic thermostat housing that and the top hydraulic hoses. Electrical systems sitting for a long time outside, unused can develop corroded contacts also.

I am pretty familiar with these cars and in nearby Arlington, VA, so contact me if you need a hand assessing it. You can use the contact page on my website below if you do not have forum Private Mail privileges yet.

 

i know the rigth rear window is not working. IE something electrical, and if there is one electrical problem, there are going to be more. I noticed that in the door handle inside there is a little pocket and it had some water in it. which means water is getting inside somehow. when I sat down the seat was dry as was the carpet??? and there was no musty/mildewy smell nor any visible mold/mildew inside. but we did have several inches of rain thurs-saturday that came down in buckets with tornado warnings...

I would think that a car of this pedigree would not leak... so that's got me a it concerned. IE what is wet behind the door panels...

 

A complete answer to the above question is worth a lot. Getting it to run after 4 years is going to take some time and some expense just to be able to evaluate what is wrong with it.

 

also, for what its worth. I do have access to ALLDATA at work so getting info/diagrams will be easy...

 

My advise is to take Steve, WhiteXKR, up on his offer.

These cars are great daily drivers exspecialy if you can do your own maintenance but at times they can make you wounder why you ever bought it.

I love mine but it is a hobby car not a DD.

 

yeah I'm hoping to get back in the car on Wednesday and talk with the owner some more.

Probably the only time to do something longer would be saturday this weekend

I could buy some more time by letting him store the car in my garage for a week. which would give me a chance to do some more troubleshooting before I made the call to buy it...

The owner is a bit disorganized and a scatterbrained... Having white on hand would be nice if we could arrange it....

we'll see...

 

I have had an 06 for over four years and it has been very dependable so far. There have been minor problems and annoyances but it has been as good or better than other cars I have owned. I believe that may be because I drive it a lot. It is my belief that modern luxury cars need to be driven or they become very unreliable. I have vacationed in places where people have second homes with cars and regardless of make they seem to have never ending problems with their stored cars. So a car that has sat for four years outdoors would worry me. However, that is a very attractive price and i would jump at the opportunity provided you get it running first and rule out a major problem. I would also add some fresh gas before testing it and then drain that old gas asap if you end up buying it.

 

IF you could get the car for a day or the weekend and find a usable battery (do a search for CCA/Size) and use it for testing. Keep in mind the Gas is probably crap so you may also what to throw in a few gallons of fresh at least. Check the oil and ensure it's at a good level, There is a fuse you can remove (someone hopefully will chime in here) to remove that will allow the engine to cycle without firing, this should be done first to repump oil through out the engine and prime itself since it's been sitting. IF and when it starts or not you will need a obdII reader or dongle with torque app to see what codes are thrown.

OF course if Steve can stop by you're in good hands. Good Luck.

 

I agree that gas powered vehicles, boats, toys, tools that don't get used have a tendency to degrade unless you have rigorous maintenance program In place. Which is a hobby in and of itself.

Hope fully I'll get some good info with anothe chat this afternoon

I have an elm327 Bluetooth obd2 interface and torque so if I get the car running we can see what codes, if any get thrown.

I would think that pulling the fuse for the fuel pump would give you ability to turn over with firing. No fuel nothing for the spark to ignite.

 

In the four years and 50,000 miles that I've owned my 2005, here is the list of repairs it has needed:
New anti-sway bar and upper A arm bushings
New brake pads/rotors
New thermostat housing
The infamous green shower
The equally infamous brake light switch

The last three are pretty much routine maintenance items on these cars. Other than oil changes and two sets of tires, that's all I can remember. For a 10-year old car with 105k on the clock, I'd say that's damn good. I frankly don't think any of my other cars have been that reliable. And I still get a charge out of EVERY drive I take – and a lot of them are pure joyrides with no purpose other than to drive. I hope Marc is able to get things sorted out and buys the car.

Addendum: I forgot I changed the transmission fluid and filter. That, too, is really routine maintenance.

 

My wife's daily driver is her 2006 XK8 Victory Edition, now pushing 95,000 miles. We acquired it in February 2012 at 36,000 miles. The key is to be able to perform the vast majority of maintenance and repairs yourself but as others have said, you are going to have some heavy up-front expenditures to get this car running properly again after sitting for so long and possibly suffering from water intrusion....

This forum will become by far the best tool in your toolbox for doing so and if you can indeed arrange to get Steve (WhiteXKR) on location to go over the car with you before you commit to purchasing it, that will be a stroke of genius for you....

Good luck and keep us posted....

 

I will keep you all posted as things transpire. Hope to see the seller today after work...Maybe I can talk him into leaving the key behind...

if I can get something set up for saturday maybe I can talk Steve in coming over.

I'm thinking if I allow him a week or two storage to give him time with the county it woudl also give me time to go over the car a bit more.

My other concern, since the car hasn't been tagged, have the property taxes been paid on it? I' d hate to buy a car and then go to the dmv only to find out that its got a tax lien on it...

I ran a car fax, and it came out clean. passed VA emission inspection in october 2012

carfax made no mention of any liens.. the current owner is secondowner of the vehcle. first owner was a corporate owner in california and they owned it for 3 years.

I wonder if there is a way to check for a tax lien against a vehicle...???

 

Well, not to leave you all hanging...

Was supposed to to have a second meeting with the seller. When I arrived, The seller was not there and the car was gone. So I'm assuming that he found another buyer, or got it towed to a shop.

I left to messages and sent an email so far no response.

So I guess it was not meant to be...

Just wanted to thank you folks for the support and great forum.