Hello fellow Jaguar lovers!

I always dreamed of owning a Jaguar, and finally made it a reality 12 years ago with the purchase of a new, red with ivory interior, 2003 X-Type from Jaguar of Oklahoma City. The buying experience there was the best I had ever had! Sales, service, and financing staff became like good friends and always treated my wife and I like we were their "favorite" customers. I'm sure all other owners were treated the same.

In late 2004, when a slick red/ivory 2001 VDP came into their Pre-owned Certified vehicle inventory with about 40k miles on it, my sales representative called to see if I was interested in working a trade-up deal. Many times, she had watched me drooling over the XJ's whenever we were in the shop for routine service! Even though my wife really loved the smaller size of the X-Type, the deal I managed was one neither of us could turn down, and within a week's time our small garage was packed a little tighter and my wallet was a little lighter!

Other than losing an engine to a shelled out water pump (probably caused by the plastic impeller issue I have since learned about on this forum) the VDP has been a joy to own. My wife loves the smooth, comfortable ride down the road, and I love having the power to pass when I need to blow around a slow driver on the hilly and winding 2-lane highways we have in the Washita valley area of Oklahoma where we live. The VDP now has 135k miles on it and is starting to show a little wear and tear here and there, but we still love that car!

However, as I near retirement (I am 55 and have 25 years of service at my company) I have found myself dreaming of having a more sporty Jag - and especially so since my brother-in-law in Dallas (who, by the way, is doing an excellent job of restoring my 1958 Morris Minor) purchased a 2000 XK8 convertible a few months back. After seeing and driving that sporty, silver rag-top, I began to browse the Internet in search of my own sporty Jag. My hope was to run across a supercharged XJ or XKR old enough to be low-cost, but with low enough mileage to make it irresistible (translated - justifiable to my wife, our financier).

This past Thanksgiving while spending time with my sister and brother-in-law in Dallas, I ran across an online listing for a 1-owner, 2003 XK8 Convertible, Zircon blue with ivory interior, with ~31k miles. Photos showed a well-kept, beautiful car with a stunning color combination! "Damn! Look at this one!", I exclaimed to my brother-in-law as I passed him my iPad. "Hell", he said, "That's just 18 miles away from here. Let's go look at it!" Later that evening, that Zircon blue rag-top sat outside my sister's home with its new owner dying to jump in and cruise her home to Oklahoma the next morning. Needless to say, sleep that night was restless...

As I tinker with the XK and the VDP, I will certainly be consulting this forum and hope to be able to contribute with my experiences as well.

Thank you all for having me!

 

What a cool story! Congratulations on All your successful Jaguar deals.

Welcome to the forums from ElinorB.
(';')

 

Welcome aboard.

 

Welcome.

Great fleet growing there, only 4 more to go.

 

Welcome to the forum

 

Welcome to Jaguar Forums Forrest,

Good to have you with us.
A great story and no need for a link as I see you found the tech section already.
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

 

welcome to the forum - enjoy!!

 

Welcome to the forum Forrest,

Good to have you with us at Jaguar forums and thanks for posting a great Intro.

I can see you've already found your way to the XK8/XKR tech forum so there's no need for a link to it from me. The 'HOW TO' thread at the top is a good place to start for info on regular issues.

Enjoy the forums.

Graham

 

Welcome to the forum! Thanks for sharing with us your beautiful story. Sounds like you have a great new ride, show it to us when you get a a chance. There are lots of great choices for parts, service and many owners willing to help you. Enjoy your time here!

 

Hi and welcome aboard, its good to have you here with us here at Jaguarforums

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 Using JF "How To"

There are lots of members local to you with the same interests with info on local dealers and possible meets.
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