JaguarForums Member Commits to Saving This Jaguar XKR Flood Car
When you tip-toe the line between bravery and stupidity, you can sometimes be rewarded with a phenomenal sports car.
With the massive flooding in Texas last year from Hurricane Harvey, there were a lot of cars that hit auction sites. Buying a flood car is always a risky proposition, but if you find the right car, you can end up with a great machine for cheap. You just need to buy smart.
Or, instead of playing it safe and buying smart, you can do what JaguarForums member MidnightOwl did and buy a 2000 Jaguar XKR. An XKR convertible, no less.
Yes, this is a man with more bravery than King Arthur. After months of eyeballing the auction sites, MidnightOwl picked up the XKR based on images of an immensely clean interior and no clearly marked water line. That led him to believe the car hadn’t actually seen that much water. Fast forward a few weeks and things were…less than ideal.
When the car showed up there was a lot of water in a lot of weird places. Some of it could be flooding. Some of it could have been from an overzealous pressure washing. Or, some of it could be from rain during storage as it sat in a lot with the rear quarter windows down. All in there is almost no way to really gauge just how much water this car had seen and from what sources. A moldy glove box, seat electronics that don’t work, and a throttle body full of water were just some of the issues they have dealt with over the last few weeks.
ALSO SEE: Jaguar XKR Models Are Absolute Bargains Right Now
And then, through what can only be described as a sheer act of magic and supernatural forces, MidnightOwl and his brave compatriots got the damned thing running. And not just running, they took it more than 50 miles on its first drive.
There is still a lot of work that needs to be done, but this journey is staring at the bright end of the tunnel. If you want to follow through all the wild ups and downs, make sure to hit the main post. MidnightOwl was very good about providing nearly daily updates of the good news and the bad. It’s a whirlwind ride that is certain to entertain.
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