my new to me jag adventure and introduction
#1
02-23-2014, 11:03 AM
my new to me jag adventure and introduction
i just joined the fourm been reading for a couple weeks. I have been in the market for a xjs convertible for a little while mostly i was looking for one with a v-12 and in north Dakota where i live you just don't ever see them much less see one for sale.
I went down to kentucky to visit my brother and while i was down there i got a chance to drive his 95 xjs-6 with the 4.0L straight six and decided if i could find one with the 4.0 i could live with that over the v-12. he told me about a xjs that had been sitting on a dealership lot down there for a while so we jump in his xj-6 to go check it out
I really didn't think i would be able to make a deal on it because it was sitting on a dealership lot i figured that they would want way too much for it. We get up there and from a distance it looked pretty nice get up closer and the first thing you notice is a very amateur paint job on the car. it looked ok from 15 feet away any closer you start noticing some very heavy orange peel some small runs and 6 inch wide stripes on the trunk and hood i'm guessing they shot the black in direct sunlight in the summer time. but i have done a good bit of body and paint work in the past so not a total deal breaker and the car is solid no rust. new top on it so im still interested.
i go talk in and talk to them still figuring a deal to be made on this car is not going to happen. they start showing my nada book value on the car being 9k ect. so i stop them right there and make it clear that i am no where near that number on that car. and he agree's that the car isnt worth that much he just thought it was interesting that nada has it priced so high. he tells me he would take $3500 cash for it. so i figure well were close enough a deal might be able to be made after negotiation. so i take the car for a test drive
car fires right up and sounds just like a jaguar should. drives down the road like a dream but not without some issues. parking break indicator is on. bulb fail light comes on when any lights are on. temp gauge was reading high (very close to the upper line on the operating range but holding steady there. hood latch pull handle is mangled seats are not in great shape with some lame seat covers over them. lacquer Finnish in the center cover is cracked everywhere.
so i pull off in a grocery store parking lot away from the dealership to give the car a good inspection. i serch the car top and bottom for any signs of rust pulled up the carpet in the front checking the floor pans truck, look under the car looked very closely at common rust area's for any signs of rust or improper repairs of rust (very much a concern considering the amateur paint job) there was absolutly no rust to be found anywhere on this car. everything under the hood looked right the motor did not seem hot despite the temp reading on the gauge also durring the drive the gauge rose to around 3/4's and stayed steady right there not rising further on hard acceleration or sitting in traffic. i felt pretty cofidant that the issue was fairly minor. if it was even actually running hot at all.
so i head back to the dealership ready for negotiation. still thinking i probably wouldent be able to make a deal on the car. so i talk to the owner of the dealership and tell him well the turn signals don't work its over heating theirs a couple idiot lights on and it has a bad paint job on it. ill give you 1500 for it. then he tells me well it has a bran new convertible top on it good tires and runs like a champ he would come down to 3000. i tell him ill do 2000 $100 bills that's my top offer. he comes down to 2500 i stick to 2000 he says he cant do it and we go back and forth on it several times. i want the car cause its solid and all the issues are pretty minor and i can re-paint it for my time and material costs. i had looked at others that were in alot worse shape they wanted more money than what we were at on this one. after many back and forths on 2000-2500 i offer 2250 and he agree's and the deal is finnished and i drive off in my car.
i get the car back to my brothers house break out some tools get the turn signals works varify the car is not actually over heating that the gauge is just reading wrong. and some stuff like that. i also have to drive this car 1200 miles home from ky to nd. so go threw change fluids ect normal new to you used car type stuff. put about 1000 miles on it running around town and some highway. enough to gain enough confidence in the car for the trip.
now for the trip home. my visit is over and it time to head home. part of this trip included buying a couple 2wd pickups at auction up here and re-selling them down there i was going to buy a 4wd at auction down there for the return trip. so anyway i carried a boat load of tools down with me. so now iv got me and the dog and a boat load of tools to load in this tiny xjs convertible. i manage to get everything in the car behind the seats is stacked to the roof trunk is full to the brim ect. we leave out in the morning everything is going good car is running great 100's of miles feel like you have hardly been driving.
I cross into Indiana and i'm driving along and i pass by a cop sitting in the middle of the interstate and he pulls out get behind me and pulls me over for no plates on the car. writes me a couple bs warning tickets . Then starts me some questions about why i bought a car in ky and am driving it to nd how i got to ky ect. he had already wrote my warning tickets and i had already been there a while and say "well im not here to chat it up with you am i free to go on my way." he starts telling me how my story sounds suspicious and normally people that drive one vehicle to one state buy another one cash and drive it somewhere else are normally involved in trafficking of drugs or guns.
2 1/2 hours later after a drug sniffing dog that barked at my dog after my dog barked at it witch lead to a complete vehicle search including removal of the door panels ect. all my stuff being set out on the side of the road they couldn't find anything illegal and i was finally on my way.
the rest of the trip went without a hitch made it 1200 miles in less than 24 hours including my Indiana delay and a quick cat nap about 180 miles from home. i had originally planned on getting a hotel room in Iowa for the night but blizzard warnings in effect starting at 9am the next day cancled that plan. so i just pushed on and cancled my reservation. the jag drives so nicely that 1000 miles feels like a couple hundred so fatigue never really was a issue. knocking out around 350 miles between stops was done without much discomfort other than needing to pee really bad...lol
made it home rested for a day and got some pressing things at home taken care of. then i decided to see if i might be able to salvage this really poorly done single stage paint job someone else had done to the car so re-painting it wouldn't have to be top priority on it. so i start wet sanding and buffing out some test spots on to my surprise i was able to make it look decent. still flawed when you look really close but you can walk right up to it and not go oh damn that's a bad paint job.
so now that iv bored you with my long story that i probably need to go back and edit to make it more readable the part I'm sure your all waiting for is some pictures.
as it was when i bought it these pictures don't really do justice of just how bad this paint job looked up close
after wet sand and buff
some more pictures to come soon
I went down to kentucky to visit my brother and while i was down there i got a chance to drive his 95 xjs-6 with the 4.0L straight six and decided if i could find one with the 4.0 i could live with that over the v-12. he told me about a xjs that had been sitting on a dealership lot down there for a while so we jump in his xj-6 to go check it out
I really didn't think i would be able to make a deal on it because it was sitting on a dealership lot i figured that they would want way too much for it. We get up there and from a distance it looked pretty nice get up closer and the first thing you notice is a very amateur paint job on the car. it looked ok from 15 feet away any closer you start noticing some very heavy orange peel some small runs and 6 inch wide stripes on the trunk and hood i'm guessing they shot the black in direct sunlight in the summer time. but i have done a good bit of body and paint work in the past so not a total deal breaker and the car is solid no rust. new top on it so im still interested.
i go talk in and talk to them still figuring a deal to be made on this car is not going to happen. they start showing my nada book value on the car being 9k ect. so i stop them right there and make it clear that i am no where near that number on that car. and he agree's that the car isnt worth that much he just thought it was interesting that nada has it priced so high. he tells me he would take $3500 cash for it. so i figure well were close enough a deal might be able to be made after negotiation. so i take the car for a test drive
car fires right up and sounds just like a jaguar should. drives down the road like a dream but not without some issues. parking break indicator is on. bulb fail light comes on when any lights are on. temp gauge was reading high (very close to the upper line on the operating range but holding steady there. hood latch pull handle is mangled seats are not in great shape with some lame seat covers over them. lacquer Finnish in the center cover is cracked everywhere.
so i pull off in a grocery store parking lot away from the dealership to give the car a good inspection. i serch the car top and bottom for any signs of rust pulled up the carpet in the front checking the floor pans truck, look under the car looked very closely at common rust area's for any signs of rust or improper repairs of rust (very much a concern considering the amateur paint job) there was absolutly no rust to be found anywhere on this car. everything under the hood looked right the motor did not seem hot despite the temp reading on the gauge also durring the drive the gauge rose to around 3/4's and stayed steady right there not rising further on hard acceleration or sitting in traffic. i felt pretty cofidant that the issue was fairly minor. if it was even actually running hot at all.
so i head back to the dealership ready for negotiation. still thinking i probably wouldent be able to make a deal on the car. so i talk to the owner of the dealership and tell him well the turn signals don't work its over heating theirs a couple idiot lights on and it has a bad paint job on it. ill give you 1500 for it. then he tells me well it has a bran new convertible top on it good tires and runs like a champ he would come down to 3000. i tell him ill do 2000 $100 bills that's my top offer. he comes down to 2500 i stick to 2000 he says he cant do it and we go back and forth on it several times. i want the car cause its solid and all the issues are pretty minor and i can re-paint it for my time and material costs. i had looked at others that were in alot worse shape they wanted more money than what we were at on this one. after many back and forths on 2000-2500 i offer 2250 and he agree's and the deal is finnished and i drive off in my car.
i get the car back to my brothers house break out some tools get the turn signals works varify the car is not actually over heating that the gauge is just reading wrong. and some stuff like that. i also have to drive this car 1200 miles home from ky to nd. so go threw change fluids ect normal new to you used car type stuff. put about 1000 miles on it running around town and some highway. enough to gain enough confidence in the car for the trip.
now for the trip home. my visit is over and it time to head home. part of this trip included buying a couple 2wd pickups at auction up here and re-selling them down there i was going to buy a 4wd at auction down there for the return trip. so anyway i carried a boat load of tools down with me. so now iv got me and the dog and a boat load of tools to load in this tiny xjs convertible. i manage to get everything in the car behind the seats is stacked to the roof trunk is full to the brim ect. we leave out in the morning everything is going good car is running great 100's of miles feel like you have hardly been driving.
I cross into Indiana and i'm driving along and i pass by a cop sitting in the middle of the interstate and he pulls out get behind me and pulls me over for no plates on the car. writes me a couple bs warning tickets . Then starts me some questions about why i bought a car in ky and am driving it to nd how i got to ky ect. he had already wrote my warning tickets and i had already been there a while and say "well im not here to chat it up with you am i free to go on my way." he starts telling me how my story sounds suspicious and normally people that drive one vehicle to one state buy another one cash and drive it somewhere else are normally involved in trafficking of drugs or guns.
2 1/2 hours later after a drug sniffing dog that barked at my dog after my dog barked at it witch lead to a complete vehicle search including removal of the door panels ect. all my stuff being set out on the side of the road they couldn't find anything illegal and i was finally on my way.
the rest of the trip went without a hitch made it 1200 miles in less than 24 hours including my Indiana delay and a quick cat nap about 180 miles from home. i had originally planned on getting a hotel room in Iowa for the night but blizzard warnings in effect starting at 9am the next day cancled that plan. so i just pushed on and cancled my reservation. the jag drives so nicely that 1000 miles feels like a couple hundred so fatigue never really was a issue. knocking out around 350 miles between stops was done without much discomfort other than needing to pee really bad...lol
made it home rested for a day and got some pressing things at home taken care of. then i decided to see if i might be able to salvage this really poorly done single stage paint job someone else had done to the car so re-painting it wouldn't have to be top priority on it. so i start wet sanding and buffing out some test spots on to my surprise i was able to make it look decent. still flawed when you look really close but you can walk right up to it and not go oh damn that's a bad paint job.
so now that iv bored you with my long story that i probably need to go back and edit to make it more readable the part I'm sure your all waiting for is some pictures.
as it was when i bought it these pictures don't really do justice of just how bad this paint job looked up close
after wet sand and buff
some more pictures to come soon
The following users liked this post:
GGG (02-23-2014)
#2
02-23-2014, 11:16 AM
Veteran Member
#3
02-23-2014, 11:20 AM
Welcome to the forum Ezrider,
Good to have you with us at Jaguar forums. This IS what I call an Intro and I think you got a great deal on the XJS.
It sounds like you probably already know your way to the tech section but if not, follow this link XJS - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the XJS forum for help, advice and information. The 'HOW TO' thread at the top is a good place to start for info on regular issues.
Please 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 can also visit the US Central Region forum by following this link https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/c...d-sd-ne-ks-36/ to find other members in your region.
Enjoy the forums.
Graham
Good to have you with us at Jaguar forums. This IS what I call an Intro and I think you got a great deal on the XJS.
It sounds like you probably already know your way to the tech section but if not, follow this link XJS - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the XJS forum for help, advice and information. The 'HOW TO' thread at the top is a good place to start for info on regular issues.
Please 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 can also visit the US Central Region forum by following this link https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/c...d-sd-ne-ks-36/ to find other members in your region.
Enjoy the forums.
Graham
#4
02-23-2014, 11:23 AM
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#5
02-23-2014, 12:12 PM
thank you for the welcome ill Finnish getting my profile setup and vehicle info in my sig here soon.
its a 1993 jaguar xjs convertible 4.0L I6 had 134k on it when i bought it a few weeks ago already up to 138k...lol its got enough miles on it that it hasn't rotted from sitting on it but what i would still consider low millage for a vehicle of that age.
here is a few more pics of the car.
its a 1993 jaguar xjs convertible 4.0L I6 had 134k on it when i bought it a few weeks ago already up to 138k...lol its got enough miles on it that it hasn't rotted from sitting on it but what i would still consider low millage for a vehicle of that age.
here is a few more pics of the car.
#6
02-23-2014, 08:16 PM
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Hi and welcome aboard, its good to have you here with us here at Jaguarforums
If you need any further help with the site moving forward, please just ask any moderator, veteran member and we'll be glad to assist.
In the meantime, any useful site information you may need such as how to post pictures, edit signatures, add videos, using the
search facility etc, can be found here within the following link Helpful_information
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
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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........
If you need any further help with the site moving forward, please just ask any moderator, veteran member and we'll be glad to assist.
In the meantime, any useful site information you may need such as how to post pictures, edit signatures, add videos, using the
search facility etc, can be found here within the following link Helpful_information
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
Need a Manual, a TSB, or General Info' about your Jag? Check out our >> DOWNLOAD AREA <<
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........
#7
02-23-2014, 08:33 PM
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Welcome to Jaguar Forums Ezrider,
Good to have you with us.
If we had an award for intro of the year you would be in the running.
Enjoy the forum.
If you haven't done so already you should add your car details to your signature to help others to help you.
If you need help with getting around and using the forum follow this link for some help Forum Help
Good to have you with us.
If we had an award for intro of the year you would be in the running.
Enjoy the forum.
If you haven't done so already you should add your car details to your signature to help others to help you.
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#9
02-24-2014, 10:51 PM
Veteran Member
#11
02-25-2014, 08:01 AM
[QUOTE=Ezrider;917567]
2 1/2 hours later after a drug sniffing dog that barked at my dog after my dog barked at it witch lead to a complete vehicle search including removal of the door panels ect. all my stuff being set out on the side of the road they couldn't find anything illegal and i was finally on my way.
Wow. Unbelievable start to XJS ownership. Congrats on the deal - great looking car.
2 1/2 hours later after a drug sniffing dog that barked at my dog after my dog barked at it witch lead to a complete vehicle search including removal of the door panels ect. all my stuff being set out on the side of the road they couldn't find anything illegal and i was finally on my way.
Wow. Unbelievable start to XJS ownership. Congrats on the deal - great looking car.
#12
02-25-2014, 12:28 PM
thanks, I am very much enjoying my xjs
i found it odd in this day and age that the cops found it suspicious that i bought a car out of state and was driving it home. i got lucky the weather was beautiful. i would have been in a much worse mood about the situation had the weather been worse.
another thing is if i was involved in some kind of trafficking i would have bought a car that stood out less and had more cargo room than a jaguar xjs. although i would understand there reasoning a little more with my story had i been driving a ford Taurus.
I am glad that i was somewhere that no one would know me, it would be quite embarrassing to have someone you know drive by as your pulled over on the side of the road with 5 cop cars behind you and all your stuff stretched out along the side of the road.
i found it odd in this day and age that the cops found it suspicious that i bought a car out of state and was driving it home. i got lucky the weather was beautiful. i would have been in a much worse mood about the situation had the weather been worse.
another thing is if i was involved in some kind of trafficking i would have bought a car that stood out less and had more cargo room than a jaguar xjs. although i would understand there reasoning a little more with my story had i been driving a ford Taurus.
I am glad that i was somewhere that no one would know me, it would be quite embarrassing to have someone you know drive by as your pulled over on the side of the road with 5 cop cars behind you and all your stuff stretched out along the side of the road.
#14
02-28-2014, 11:58 AM
well i figured id throw these pics in this thread too. there was nothing that could be done to make the existing paint on the trunk look decent paint was too thin to try to do anything with it so i re-painted the trunk. ill eventually do a complete re-paint on it but want it to be presentable till i get around to a complete re-paint.
#15
03-06-2014, 11:41 PM
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03-07-2014, 08:57 AM
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#17
03-08-2014, 08:50 PM
thank you.
the xjs is a lot of fun.
mines not beautiful yet but it will be, so far its gone from a 15-20 footer to about a 3-4 footer...lol. i have plans to eventualy make it into a show quality car, but i have it looking presentable now, and working on getting little issues worked out of it. put in new valve cover gaskets today and cleaned up the engine bay and the oil off my driveway.
the xjs is a lot of fun.
mines not beautiful yet but it will be, so far its gone from a 15-20 footer to about a 3-4 footer...lol. i have plans to eventualy make it into a show quality car, but i have it looking presentable now, and working on getting little issues worked out of it. put in new valve cover gaskets today and cleaned up the engine bay and the oil off my driveway.
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