Hello from UK and USA!
#1
02-01-2013 | 08:49 AM
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Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 47
Likes: 22
From: UK
Hello from UK and USA!
My daughter lives over in Orlando and I visit her at least 3 times a year, I went on the 2nd of Jan for a few weeks.
I had a lovely Harley but I decided to sell it which I did no problem for $6,000 on eBay so with this amount in mind I set about looking for a convertible car that had enough room for 2 sets of golf clubs and my 8 year old son in the back.
I was on eBay Craigslist etc every day there were plenty of Mustangs but at $6k they were the old shape that I don't like and other American barges but nothing fitted the bill so I started searching XJS convertibles thinking I might be lucky as $6k is roughly £3,800.
There were quite a few available for a fair bit more and the mileage to go and view some of them was as you can imagine huge! The prices were a fair bit cheaper than in the UK but I wanted a Florida car as they never see snow nor do they have any salt on the roads and most cars over there are rust free if looked after.
After about a week a red 96 Celebration appeared on eBay at a Chevrolet dealers in Estero nr Ft Myers at a buy it now of $6k with a best offer option and after being up for only 1 hour someone had already made an offer.
Knowing how eBay works I decided not to make an offer as I thought at that price while I am waiting for a response someone will buy it at the asking price so I hit the buy it now button which was a gamble having not seen the car but if I got there and it was not as advertised I was going to walk away.
The car was 80k miles 2 owner originally from the Ft Myers Jaguar dealership with FSH and clear title but it had a few car park dents in both doors plus the temp gauge needle was totally stuck off the scale which was a bit worrying.
I rang them before I hit the buy now button they were a large dealer and had taken it the day before in part ex against a new Camaro and just wanted to move it on without any warranty, this being their 10th eBay sale.
They assured me that everything worked inc the roof and air con and the previous owner said the engine temp needle had been like that for several years but he had had no overheating issues. Ft Myers was nearly 4 hours away so my daughter suggested a weekend in Captiva on the beaches about 30 mins from there to make it worth driving all that way.
Off we went and as luck would have it we had near record temps of 85 degrees all weekend it was lovely! We ended up getting to the dealers after it had gone dark not a good way to buy a car I had a quick run in it and the deal was done. The next night I drove it all the way back to Orlando with the roof off slightly worried about the engine temp but all was fine.
Once back I had a guy out from Dent Express who for $150 took out the dents in both doors he did a great job, I bought a temp gauge off eBay that was a doddle to fit once the instrument cluster was out that in itself is a doddle as I have restored a 91 XJS back in the UK that I have posted about on the UK forum .
Once the gauge was on it worked but read quite high but after a quick bit of Googling I found out that the temp gauge needs an inline resistor from the temp sender which was another easy job and hey presto the temp gauge works fine.
I bought some leather dye to restore the cream seats and armrest as they had a few creases and signs of wear on the bolsters and gave the car a good clean inside and out. I put in 4 new quality speakers and iPod head unit taking out the original and boot CD changer which has transformed the sound plus a couple of new sun-visor retaining mounts that had broken.
The passenger door mirror did not work so I gave the glass a shove to put it in the right position for me which then made it work, it must have been stuck with not being used.
The body is totally rust free its amazing underneath it really shows what damage our UK weather does to a car compared to the Florida climate.
It drives great it will need 2 front tyres soon but overall I am so pleased with the car that I bid for unseen and drove nearly 4 hours to see it could have been a total waste of time and a complete disaster if the car had overheated leaving me stranded at night hours from home, but all went well thankfully.
What a feeling driving 4 hours late at night in January with the heater off, the roof down and the stereo on....sublime! It was a bargain in my opinion especially when you compare the car to UK ones that are around £15-20k for a 96 Celebration model like mine. Oh and it costs me $170 to fill my XJS over in the UK and only $50 to fill this one over here!
I had a lovely Harley but I decided to sell it which I did no problem for $6,000 on eBay so with this amount in mind I set about looking for a convertible car that had enough room for 2 sets of golf clubs and my 8 year old son in the back.
I was on eBay Craigslist etc every day there were plenty of Mustangs but at $6k they were the old shape that I don't like and other American barges but nothing fitted the bill so I started searching XJS convertibles thinking I might be lucky as $6k is roughly £3,800.
There were quite a few available for a fair bit more and the mileage to go and view some of them was as you can imagine huge! The prices were a fair bit cheaper than in the UK but I wanted a Florida car as they never see snow nor do they have any salt on the roads and most cars over there are rust free if looked after.
After about a week a red 96 Celebration appeared on eBay at a Chevrolet dealers in Estero nr Ft Myers at a buy it now of $6k with a best offer option and after being up for only 1 hour someone had already made an offer.
Knowing how eBay works I decided not to make an offer as I thought at that price while I am waiting for a response someone will buy it at the asking price so I hit the buy it now button which was a gamble having not seen the car but if I got there and it was not as advertised I was going to walk away.
The car was 80k miles 2 owner originally from the Ft Myers Jaguar dealership with FSH and clear title but it had a few car park dents in both doors plus the temp gauge needle was totally stuck off the scale which was a bit worrying.
I rang them before I hit the buy now button they were a large dealer and had taken it the day before in part ex against a new Camaro and just wanted to move it on without any warranty, this being their 10th eBay sale.
They assured me that everything worked inc the roof and air con and the previous owner said the engine temp needle had been like that for several years but he had had no overheating issues. Ft Myers was nearly 4 hours away so my daughter suggested a weekend in Captiva on the beaches about 30 mins from there to make it worth driving all that way.
Off we went and as luck would have it we had near record temps of 85 degrees all weekend it was lovely! We ended up getting to the dealers after it had gone dark not a good way to buy a car I had a quick run in it and the deal was done. The next night I drove it all the way back to Orlando with the roof off slightly worried about the engine temp but all was fine.
Once back I had a guy out from Dent Express who for $150 took out the dents in both doors he did a great job, I bought a temp gauge off eBay that was a doddle to fit once the instrument cluster was out that in itself is a doddle as I have restored a 91 XJS back in the UK that I have posted about on the UK forum .
Once the gauge was on it worked but read quite high but after a quick bit of Googling I found out that the temp gauge needs an inline resistor from the temp sender which was another easy job and hey presto the temp gauge works fine.
I bought some leather dye to restore the cream seats and armrest as they had a few creases and signs of wear on the bolsters and gave the car a good clean inside and out. I put in 4 new quality speakers and iPod head unit taking out the original and boot CD changer which has transformed the sound plus a couple of new sun-visor retaining mounts that had broken.
The passenger door mirror did not work so I gave the glass a shove to put it in the right position for me which then made it work, it must have been stuck with not being used.
The body is totally rust free its amazing underneath it really shows what damage our UK weather does to a car compared to the Florida climate.
It drives great it will need 2 front tyres soon but overall I am so pleased with the car that I bid for unseen and drove nearly 4 hours to see it could have been a total waste of time and a complete disaster if the car had overheated leaving me stranded at night hours from home, but all went well thankfully.
What a feeling driving 4 hours late at night in January with the heater off, the roof down and the stereo on....sublime! It was a bargain in my opinion especially when you compare the car to UK ones that are around £15-20k for a 96 Celebration model like mine. Oh and it costs me $170 to fill my XJS over in the UK and only $50 to fill this one over here!
Last edited by JimC64; 02-02-2013 at 08:35 AM. Reason: PLEASE CREATE LINE BREAKS
#2
02-01-2013 | 08:59 AM
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 120,461
Likes: 16,873
From: Durham, UK
Welcome to the forum barefoot,
A great Intro and a beautiful car. You wouldn't find one in that condition over here for anywhere near the same money.
Follow this link XJS - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the XJS section for help, advice and information.
Remember to add vehicle details to your Signature to help others to give relevant advice. Go to the User CP button on the left of the top menu bar, then Settings & Options under Your Control Panel. Select Edit Signature and enter the details.
You may also like to visit the US Lower Atlantic Region section by following this link https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/lower-atlantic-nc-sc-fl-ga-66/ and the UK Region section through this link UK - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to find other members in your two regions.
Enjoy the forum.
Graham
A great Intro and a beautiful car. You wouldn't find one in that condition over here for anywhere near the same money.
Follow this link XJS - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the XJS section for help, advice and information.
Remember to add vehicle details to your Signature to help others to give relevant advice. Go to the User CP button on the left of the top menu bar, then Settings & Options under Your Control Panel. Select Edit Signature and enter the details.
You may also like to visit the US Lower Atlantic Region section by following this link https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/lower-atlantic-nc-sc-fl-ga-66/ and the UK Region section through this link UK - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to find other members in your two regions.
Enjoy the forum.
Graham
#4
02-01-2013 | 09:56 AM
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Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 6,278
Likes: 687
From: Limousin, France
#5
02-01-2013 | 02:16 PM
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 117,888
Likes: 6,375
From: PHX some of the time
#6
02-01-2013 | 05:38 PM
Thread Starter
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Member
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 47
Likes: 22
From: UK
#7
02-01-2013 | 06:30 PM
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 120,461
Likes: 16,873
From: Durham, UK
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#8
02-02-2013 | 08:36 AM
Hi Barefoot & welcome aboard Jaguarforums ....... good to have you here with us
Now THAT is an intro....lol
Plenty of pics of a great looking car too.....all good
Any useful site information you may need such as how to post pictures, edit signatures, add videos,
use the search facility etc, can be found here within the following link Helpful_information
Please also take the time to check out the regional section for your area!
There are lots of members local to you with the same interests with info on local dealers and possible meets.
Regional - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum
Now how about sharing a few pics of your ride?
I've manually upgraded you to Full forum access so you can better view the site and all its features
Please Jump on in and enjoy the site.................
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