TL;DR - same car, faster, different colour. 
I’m sure some of you thought this day would never come, and I’d keep my XJ6 so long that I’d eventually fit the owner profile.
However, the urge for more power and more gadgets, combined with cheaper insurance now I’ve turned 21 finally got the better of me.
Initially, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted. It’d certainly have been good to get something different to my old car, and I quite liked the idea of a fast 4x4, so I considered a Cayenne Turbo or a Range Rover 4.2 S/C. Unfortunately, I quickly found out that the amount I’d have to spend to get a decent one would leave me very little left for running costs, which would have been optimistic to say the least, considering the type of cars they are.
So, I began looking at high powered barges – XJRs, CL600s, S55s, 750is, that sort of thing. Even amongst those cars, there were very few examples over the last few months that actually looked decent, or weren’t priced comically high. Finally though, I found one – a nice facelift 500BHP Mercedes S55. The last owner had it 8 years and it had recently had a new ABC pump, along with full service history at Mercedes Ascot. It was however being sold by a dealer (I say dealer, I mean a house with a garden full of cars) in High Wycombe. It was a “family business” which means that not only is it run by a family, but everybody seems to turn up to view cars with their entire family. I’ll leave you to fill in the appropriate stereotypes.
I decided to go along and see it anyway, and at first, it didn’t seem too bad. There were a few dents and scuffs on the bodywork, it hadn’t been cleaned, and the wheels were in need of a refurb, but there was quite a lot of history with it and when it started up it sounded pretty good.
Things started to unravel after that point though. It transpired that the invoice for the ABC pump was missing, but the previous owner had promised to send it on. And Callum who had come with me noticed a hissing noise from one of the air suspension struts, which the dealer’s father insisted was “just the engine, innit”. I decided to leave at that point, with my wallet breathing a sigh of relief.
I then went on holiday for a couple of weeks, and forgot all about looking at cars. On coming back, I entered all my usual ebay searches and found something that looked rather interesting.
It was a 2003 Jaguar XJ Super V8, which to the non Jag bores amongst you, is basically a combination of the XJR and the Sovereign spec XJ. You normally lose the sports suspension of the XJR, but gain the Sovereign options, which is usually a worthy sacrifice.
The ad was light on detail, and only had a day left to run, so I had no time to view it. Nonetheless, I gave the seller a call – he seemed like an honest guy and said the only real problems were kerbed alloys and intermittent central locking. He had loads of history with it and said it drove brilliantly, so I thought I’d take a gamble on it. The next cheapest Super V8 available was £5995 with almost double the mileage, but I’m a tight ******* so I decided to bid £5000.
After a tense few seconds, I won the auction for £4300, confident that unless it was a total shed, I’d got myself a good deal.
The seller met me at the train station, and immediately produced a massive folder of history, saying “I should probably have gone through all this and put it in the advert”. I’d be inclined to agree – on top of the FSH, it has had a new air suspension compressor, new valley pipe, basically every bush changed, gearbox oil and filter done, along with new pads and disks in the last few months. The seller also gave me the plate as an apology for not getting the wheels refurbed (not sure why he felt the need to apologise, as he told me on the phone before I placed my bid that they weren't in great condition).
There were also no advisories on the MOT. I’m getting it serviced again next week, and we’re going to change the supercharger oil just to be safe, but it really wants for nothing mechanically.
It was also a considerably better spec than he mentioned in the advert. He gave me the original build sheet, which shows that it has basically every option available apart from rear TV screens and DVD player. So that means adaptive cruise control, voice control, heated seats and steering wheel, 12 speaker alpine stereo, rear entertainment system, phone, sunroof, xenon lights, PDC front and rear and collision warning system, on top of all the extras you get on a standard XJ. I think the adaptive cruise control and the heated steering wheel are my favourite options so far – I use them almost every time I drive it.
The drive back was on the M25, which thanks to the new gantry cameras meant there weren’t any opportunities to use my vastly increased BHP. This was probably for the best – as certain people on this forum have found out to their cost, the day you pick up a new car can be the most dangerous day of your ownership. However, further testing in the last few days has left me with a permanent grin on my face. It gets to the 155MPH limiter very, very quickly, and planting your foot really shoves you back into your seat in a way that my old one never did. When reading the build sheet, I noticed that unlike every other Super V8 I’ve ever heard of, this one has been specced as a SWB, and with sports suspension, which might explain why it feels distinctly less boat like in the corners than my XJ6. It’s still far too big to be at home on B roads, but the large amounts of power and grip ensure you can still have a lot of fun.
Running costs seem to be sensible too – if you stick to the speed limit on a motorway run it will do 30MPG, tax is £290, you can get premium tyres for £150 a corner, and insurance was only £250 more than I was paying on the XJ6. And as I spent so little on the car, if it does throw the occasional massive bill, I’ll be able to afford it without worrying about it too much.
Other than a service, I don’t have many plans for it other than driving it. I’ve taken the keys apart today and they look badly water damaged inside which would explain the remote locking issue, so I’ll get two new ones coded. I’ll probably get the wheels refurbed at some point, and two new rear tyres, and I might even treat it to a clean inside and out – it was filthy when I picked it up and I’ve been too busy driving it to actually clean it! I did look into some exhaust mods to unleash a bit of the V8 noise, but the mechanic reckoned it would make it quite loud, and I don’t want to drone on the motorway. So for now, I’ll leave it as Jaguar, and my neighbours, would probably prefer.
Once it's had a proper clean I'll get some decent pics, but for now, these will have to do.
I’m sure some of you thought this day would never come, and I’d keep my XJ6 so long that I’d eventually fit the owner profile.
However, the urge for more power and more gadgets, combined with cheaper insurance now I’ve turned 21 finally got the better of me.
Initially, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted. It’d certainly have been good to get something different to my old car, and I quite liked the idea of a fast 4x4, so I considered a Cayenne Turbo or a Range Rover 4.2 S/C. Unfortunately, I quickly found out that the amount I’d have to spend to get a decent one would leave me very little left for running costs, which would have been optimistic to say the least, considering the type of cars they are.
So, I began looking at high powered barges – XJRs, CL600s, S55s, 750is, that sort of thing. Even amongst those cars, there were very few examples over the last few months that actually looked decent, or weren’t priced comically high. Finally though, I found one – a nice facelift 500BHP Mercedes S55. The last owner had it 8 years and it had recently had a new ABC pump, along with full service history at Mercedes Ascot. It was however being sold by a dealer (I say dealer, I mean a house with a garden full of cars) in High Wycombe. It was a “family business” which means that not only is it run by a family, but everybody seems to turn up to view cars with their entire family. I’ll leave you to fill in the appropriate stereotypes.
I decided to go along and see it anyway, and at first, it didn’t seem too bad. There were a few dents and scuffs on the bodywork, it hadn’t been cleaned, and the wheels were in need of a refurb, but there was quite a lot of history with it and when it started up it sounded pretty good.
Things started to unravel after that point though. It transpired that the invoice for the ABC pump was missing, but the previous owner had promised to send it on. And Callum who had come with me noticed a hissing noise from one of the air suspension struts, which the dealer’s father insisted was “just the engine, innit”. I decided to leave at that point, with my wallet breathing a sigh of relief.
I then went on holiday for a couple of weeks, and forgot all about looking at cars. On coming back, I entered all my usual ebay searches and found something that looked rather interesting.
It was a 2003 Jaguar XJ Super V8, which to the non Jag bores amongst you, is basically a combination of the XJR and the Sovereign spec XJ. You normally lose the sports suspension of the XJR, but gain the Sovereign options, which is usually a worthy sacrifice.
The ad was light on detail, and only had a day left to run, so I had no time to view it. Nonetheless, I gave the seller a call – he seemed like an honest guy and said the only real problems were kerbed alloys and intermittent central locking. He had loads of history with it and said it drove brilliantly, so I thought I’d take a gamble on it. The next cheapest Super V8 available was £5995 with almost double the mileage, but I’m a tight ******* so I decided to bid £5000.
After a tense few seconds, I won the auction for £4300, confident that unless it was a total shed, I’d got myself a good deal.
The seller met me at the train station, and immediately produced a massive folder of history, saying “I should probably have gone through all this and put it in the advert”. I’d be inclined to agree – on top of the FSH, it has had a new air suspension compressor, new valley pipe, basically every bush changed, gearbox oil and filter done, along with new pads and disks in the last few months. The seller also gave me the plate as an apology for not getting the wheels refurbed (not sure why he felt the need to apologise, as he told me on the phone before I placed my bid that they weren't in great condition).
There were also no advisories on the MOT. I’m getting it serviced again next week, and we’re going to change the supercharger oil just to be safe, but it really wants for nothing mechanically.
It was also a considerably better spec than he mentioned in the advert. He gave me the original build sheet, which shows that it has basically every option available apart from rear TV screens and DVD player. So that means adaptive cruise control, voice control, heated seats and steering wheel, 12 speaker alpine stereo, rear entertainment system, phone, sunroof, xenon lights, PDC front and rear and collision warning system, on top of all the extras you get on a standard XJ. I think the adaptive cruise control and the heated steering wheel are my favourite options so far – I use them almost every time I drive it.
The drive back was on the M25, which thanks to the new gantry cameras meant there weren’t any opportunities to use my vastly increased BHP. This was probably for the best – as certain people on this forum have found out to their cost, the day you pick up a new car can be the most dangerous day of your ownership. However, further testing in the last few days has left me with a permanent grin on my face. It gets to the 155MPH limiter very, very quickly, and planting your foot really shoves you back into your seat in a way that my old one never did. When reading the build sheet, I noticed that unlike every other Super V8 I’ve ever heard of, this one has been specced as a SWB, and with sports suspension, which might explain why it feels distinctly less boat like in the corners than my XJ6. It’s still far too big to be at home on B roads, but the large amounts of power and grip ensure you can still have a lot of fun.
Running costs seem to be sensible too – if you stick to the speed limit on a motorway run it will do 30MPG, tax is £290, you can get premium tyres for £150 a corner, and insurance was only £250 more than I was paying on the XJ6. And as I spent so little on the car, if it does throw the occasional massive bill, I’ll be able to afford it without worrying about it too much.
Other than a service, I don’t have many plans for it other than driving it. I’ve taken the keys apart today and they look badly water damaged inside which would explain the remote locking issue, so I’ll get two new ones coded. I’ll probably get the wheels refurbed at some point, and two new rear tyres, and I might even treat it to a clean inside and out – it was filthy when I picked it up and I’ve been too busy driving it to actually clean it! I did look into some exhaust mods to unleash a bit of the V8 noise, but the mechanic reckoned it would make it quite loud, and I don’t want to drone on the motorway. So for now, I’ll leave it as Jaguar, and my neighbours, would probably prefer.
Once it's had a proper clean I'll get some decent pics, but for now, these will have to do.
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