Buying an XJ tomorrow

Tell him not to worry about the nikasil issue now, if a car with a nikasil engine has lasted till now it will be fine, it was the sulpher in petrol that killed the engines and that was removed from petrol in 2000.

There is also a train of thought that says a nikasil engine if undamaged is actually stronger than a steel lined one too.

I agree with that.

My uber mile e39 had its Nikasil block replaced with a new Nikasil block @ 48k, 200k+ later, the replacement block is fine. :)
 
The 18's look immense though mark! :-)

I'm going to check the aerial is not a fuse yet as I was thinking it might have frozen and then popped its fuse when the radio has turned on. If not I will get the replacement you posted thanks.

The paint on the car looks free from stone chips which is amazing as I've had 2000 mile BMW which are peppered with them before. It is completely flat though so needs a machine polish.

The more I think about this if I run the car till the weather clears properly (maybe March) sort out the little problems and get one of my mates to give it a full buff I reckon It will be absolutely mint and attract top money when I do sell it.

On the point of the wheels I think I will check the tire pressures etc first.
How much is a suspension refresh going to cost me mark?

Strange one this as I keep thinking about fixing things/spending money on it and I supposed to be only keeping it a few months to sell on.
It just feels like a car that deserves to be mint!
 
A full on suspension refresh cost me 1100 quid, but you can do as much or as little as you want.

Im only going to say this one last time cos im sounding like a stuck record :) Those cars only make the top money 5-6k with everything done, a polish wont work.

Anyone contemplating spending top money on a Jag that age knows about Jags and knows what is involved.

Dont drive yaself mad hunting for a profit in that car, there is none. Just enjoy it for what it is.

That car advertised at 5k will invite the following questions from potential buyers....

Hello mate have the tensioners guides and chains been updated to the latest ones?

No

Ok mate, thanks for your time.... dialling tone.
 
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Parts prices seem to be extremely reasonable from that site you posted earlier.

£136 for nearly a complete front suspension "refresh" kit. From what I'm used to that's an absolute bargain! Like wise bits for a major service is half what I pay at Lexus.
 
I've just been looking at that site. It does look reasonable! If only I had some mechanical nouse it would be a reasonably cheap barge to run!
 
Parts prices seem to be extremely reasonable from that site you posted earlier.

£136 for nearly a complete front suspension "refresh" kit. From what I'm used to that's an absolute bargain! Like wise bits for a major service is half what I pay at Lexus.

That refresh kit only works if you can press the bushes out as i said in an earlier post.

If not you end up buying the components they sit in, which is less of a bargain :)
 
I've just been looking at that site. It does look reasonable! If only I had some mechanical nouse it would be a reasonably cheap barge to run!

It will be a cheap barge to run, in fact it wont cost anything because they dont go wrong once the preventative measures are taken, trouble is the preventative measures cost a few quid :)

You also have the advantage of being next to arguably one of the best Jag specialists in the country :) Deffo the best priced anyway, get on Mark at JoJags he will keep you right.
 
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Driving impressions

Just thought I would give an update after a few days with the car.

At first I wasn't sure about it but now I really like it. The engine is smooth and quiet the gearbox is excellent too. Although I love the engine gearbox combo the 16mpg it produces is ridiculous considering it isn't a quick car by any stretch of the imagination!

All that being said I am thinking of keeping this for a while now as driving it puts a smile on my face!
It gets such a mixed reaction though. My GF and other female friends think it is a ridiculous car and don't see why I would every drive it.
On the other hand I had it cleaned yesterday and then had nothing but comments/people staring at it at the lights etc.
Now I do admit that none of these people looking at it were under 35 years old but it definitely provokes a reaction.
I took it to my parents last night to show my Dad and he was amazed by it. He sat in it for 20 minutes and thought the look and quality of it was Immense.
Bear in mind I was in the motor trade for 6 years and have brought all sorts of prestige cars home (mostly BMW) such as F02 760i, E93 335i, Z4 35i and various others never once has he gave any other car that sort of attention.

Now there are a few bad points on the car I have discovered.

The electric aerial is not going up or down properly as discussed earlier.
one of the 4 head light glasses has a crack in it.
There is a knocking from the suspension it sounds like it is coming from the back on the drivers side but I cant be sure. Its not bad but it is noticeable with the roads as they are at the moment.
The rear passenger door lock is getting stuck. I thought at first it was just frozen but now I think the motor is on its way out or something. I can open it with a bit of jiggling about of the handle and the button does at least move a bit when I press the central locking.
last thing I have found is that only one of my remotes works and even that has to be very close to the car. I assume this is just 2 crap batteries.

I am getting a nice set of jag main dealer plates made up today by my mate who works there as it has some generic motorfactors plates on at the moment.

All in all I am really happy with it. I did intend to turn a quick profit on it but after that was shot down by Mark I will probably keep it for a while and increase my tiny mechanical experience by doing a few of these jobs on it.
 
The aerial for the remote is in the back, try using it from behind the car for better range.

The knocking at the back is probably top or bottom shock absorber bushes.

The door lock could be anything.

If you are keeping it, put it in JoJags and get the niggles fixed.

For **** sake stop worrying about image and how old people are that look at it :)
 
I have perfected the smug look over the last couple of days :)

Go for the full size back number plate, they look the best :)

Image01101.jpg
 
Driving impressions

Just thought I would give an update after a few days with the car.

Now there are a few bad points on the car I have discovered.

The electric aerial is not going up or down properly as discussed earlier.

If the aerial is dirty the headunit will give a headsup (clean aerial) so sounds like a problem else where, the whole unit can be picked up quite cheap on ebay and take minutes to change over

one of the 4 head light glasses has a crack in it.

Again £15-20 on the bay

There is a knocking from the suspension it sounds like it is coming from the back on the drivers side but I cant be sure. Its not bad but it is noticeable with the roads as they are at the moment.

Rear suspension knocking could be the normal bushes or ball joints however our suspension is well knock to trapping the old stone under the coil and creating a knocking noise, this is an easy fix when up in the air

last thing I have found is that only one of my remotes works and even that has to be very close to the car. I assume this is just 2 crap batteries.

This could be a problem, of course check the batterys first simple fix if this is the case, otherwise you have the same problem I had a year ago, unfortantly the damp gets into the remote central locking ECU and this has to be replaced and arent cheap, I luckly found one on ebay for £40


Answered a few of your questions, glad your happy with it, although your return of 16MPG seems quite poor, I get more in my X308 XJR, a work collegue has a XJ8 and gets around 25MPG on average. Ask away if you have anymore problems :D
 
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Answered a few of your questions, glad your happy with it, although your return of 16MPG seems quite poor, I get more in my X308 XJR, a work collegue has a XJ8 and gets around 25MPG on average. Ask away if you have anymore problems :D

I live in Liverpool City Center and therefore the vast majority of my driving is around there seeing clients etc. I did drive to Warrington the other other day and got about 27mpg when taking it very easy in the snow.
As I have said Before Im doing around 6-8k a year at the moment so I'm not that concerned I have actually found the unsuitability of the car for my purposes quite amusing upto now for some reason.

Thanks for answering my points I will crack on with the fixes over the next couple of weeks.
 
If hes driving round town 16 is about normal, your mate is doing amazing getting 25 :)
 
it isn't a quick car by any stretch of the imagination!

Can you go into a little more depth into this?

I fully understand it is not supposed to be a racing car, but I've heard some pretty "bad" stuff about the performance of the 3.2 such as it needing to drop down a cog once in a while to deal with slight gradients on a motorway

I'm not after "Fast" or even "Quick", but it must be brisk if that makes sense.
 
Can you go into a little more depth into this?

I fully understand it is not supposed to be a racing car, but I've heard some pretty "bad" stuff about the performance of the 3.2 such as it needing to drop down a cog once in a while to deal with slight gradients on a motorway

I'm not after "Fast" or even "Quick", but it must be brisk if that makes sense.

Its brisk enough to make holding out for that elusive 4 litre not worth the bother.
 
What's the gearbox like? When you give it some is it keen to kickdown or is it happy to hold itself in gear?

I have to say that's my main gripe with the Box I've got in the Toyota. Far too keen to drop down a cog or two with barely any throttle.
 
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