Hi all! I continue to be in research mode here, and looking at pictures dreaming about "my" future perfect xk8 vert. I was wondering given the relatively meager budget that I will have if anyone on the forums has had luck picking up an intact but maybe rough around the edges car at auction? If so how did you find it? How bad was it? I love a good story, especially if it gives me hope that I will someday be looking at my xk8, thinking of paint and pulling my hair out trying to fix some unresolved issue....
thanks!
-tbm

 

Here's one for you. https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ter-box-99174/

Found it in the classifieds on this very forum!

 

Have a look at bluexk8ragtop' saga in his My project thread.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...project-77642/

 

...and watching the possible sale of that project. I just wish he'd post an asking price! There is a '99 with a bad motor in California and it's causing salivation....I was just hoping to rattle the tree and see if anyone else had tales of picking up XK's on the cheap....flood rebuilds....gotta be out there....
even if they end up lumped and leaper'd, those lines...every day that goes by I want one more. I know they arent the easiest cars, but I have a friend with an xjr, and his has been very reliable. A guy can dream.
-t.

 

Buy the 99 and drop a used motor in it.

 

You're gonna spend more fixing one up than buying the best runner you can afford.

 

But it's about what I can own, not what I can owe. Plus imagine how much I would learn. I have a lot of flaws, but I don't count lack of ambition in them! The xk8 I was looking at has sold. The hunt continues.

 

You would learn that parts are way overpriced. If you have to borrow to buy a serviceable older car than you really can't afford to own one of these cars. It's like a horse.......could you afford to own a free one?

 

It is better than a horse.

If you don't drive it then you don't have to feed it. And I have never had to muck the garage.

 

For a while I made my living with percheron draft horses. I have some experience in that regard. I think purchasing the best car you can afford is solid advice, of course, but for a car like this, which would not be my daily driver-especially doing what I do, I will buy the best example I can purchase outright. I think having a car that needs work is made so much worse by having to make a payment on it. I have a lot of experience with putting together british and italian motorcycles that other people would have broken up and put on Ebay. because they were "too far gone". I hope that I can do the same with an XK project. There is so much to learn and I am really enjoying my time learning. One day I will be in the right place at the right time. Threads about auction finds, 1000 dollar cars, they make me smile. I was hoping others might be out there too. I can only imagine how many great cars were written off after Sandy. Heck, in the classifieds of this very forum there was an XK with a blown motor for 2k. I was late to the party on that one, but I guess I will keep watching and learning for now.

 

I hear you on the hobby thing. I had a '70 XJ6 in my garage for over 15 years while I raised a family, etc. It ran about half that time, but it was fun for me to play with. Good luck on your search!

 

I cut my teeth rebuilding an older relatively obscure motorcycle, no internet then! Now I can find parts in seconds that I had to build from scratch. SO fortunate to have opinions, expertise and a place to commiserate and enable each other!

 

Send a PM to forum member George Androulakis in New Jersey (screen name "androulakis"). He is a very experienced broker and scours the weekly auctions all across the country. He found my wife's current 2006 XK8 in Jacksonville, Florida just before it was headed to auction in late January 2012. He steadfastly negotiated the seller down to what I was willing to pay and saved me at least $5,000 vs. what I had been able to find on my own in my neck of the woods. I had searched for more than two months with little success, but George made it happen for us in about ten days. My wife absolutely loves her XK8 and George will forever be her hero....

I highly recommend George - he's as professional and honest as they come, and he is an expert on high-end cars....

 

and this is one of the thing I love about the forums dedicated to unique vehicles, same is true of vintage guzzis. enthusiasts helping enthusiasts! There may be a day, and I hope its sooner rather than later that I will find myself with the unaccounted for cash in pocket to get Very Serious about the search for the perfect XK. Dark colored exterior, dark interior, (preferably black/black) 4.2 engine preferably, fairly well cared for....maybe needs a little tlc....
My sensible thoughts of waiting and saving got temporarily derailed by the sighting of the ad of the $2000 XK with the blown motor in Carmel, CA. I have a car nut buddy with a hauler and barn space who lives just hours from there. He was more than willing to check it out, handle everything and store it till he came out here this summer. ( I helped him with the ECU of his tow rig this fall, that's how we roll.)
I could have sold an unfinished TR6R out of my collection with a phone call for that and immediately get it! Sadly, Cash makes no enemies and it had already sold, likely before I ever saw the ad. "Oh well, it wasnt the color combo i really wanted anyway" said the fox under the grapes.
I may very well seek out this fellows assistance, but I dont want to waste his time without having significant resources at my disposal. Then you read tales of $500 craigslist finds and the head gets all spinny. So I thought I'd see if others had had such luck.
I'm well versed in the powerful allure of the classic bike that ends up being a garage full. For years I figured I would find a 68/69 Tempest/Lemans ragtop and fix it up, but I wasn't really as much into cars as bikes.... Then I saw a black xk8 up close and things changed. I really wanted a car like that. Maybe a XK and a Pontiac wagon as a parts hauler someday? A guy can dream. Thank you all, though, I spend hours here just reading about these cars. When I hear of a hydraulic rupture, I feel that owners pain. When I hear of 600 mile trips without incident, I smile too. I'm mostly going back into lurk mode, unless I can add genuine advice to a conversation. I thank all of you that share your problems and solutions for all to benefit from.
Sincerely grateful
-tbm

 

Patience will almost always pay off in the end. Both Jags in our garage were well researched and sought after for months. Then when the opportunity presented itself - time to pounce!