Thanksgiving Intro
#1
11-23-2017, 07:47 AM
Thanksgiving Intro
Happy Holidays Fellow Jaguar Enthusiasts,
Although this is my first post, I've been a frequent visitor to this site over the past few months. As for me, I am a student, from Virginia, studying accounting in Southern California. (Multifamily Real Estate is my area of interest, if anybody cares). I'm living with my sister in Long Beach who is a Professor where I go to school in OC, and working as her part-time driver/ full-time little brother (aka flunkie).
It all began around 6 months ago, when the deal was closed that brought a 2004 Jaguar XJ8 into our family. (Really it started last year, when my sister had a little fender bender in her Honda that the dealer estimated would be over $2500 to fix. I digress.)
For years my sister has talked about loving Jaguars, and when the opportunity came to make that happen for her I jumped at it. Based on her specifications I began the hunt. For about 4-6 months I searched for the right one. In the beginning, the mid 2000's S-Type was on my radar. But after finding a really well maintained 2004 I realized that it wasn't quite fitting for a man of my stature. (6'5") That eventually led me to the XJ8.
When I first saw the pictures online, I knew she was the one. It didn't take much to convince my sister, and we made our way from Long Beach to LA on Mother's Day 2017. We met with a used car salesman named Kevin, who said they rented their cars out for movies. You could tell she needed some TLC, but all in all we were sold. We looked, we checked, we drove... We looked, we haggled, we closed.
About 6 months later and we are still quite pleased with our decision. It's the perfect car for the PCH commute, and we look forward to many more years of majestic journeys in our very own mobile saloon.
PS: We do still have some things to take care of. Like all older cars, things just start to malfunction. Here's the list I'm working on as of this post.
1. Engine code P0430: Catalyst Sytem Efficiency Below Threshhold (Bank 2)
May not pass smog in April.
(muffler shop recommended BG44k and reset the code. I have the BG44K.)
2. No AC/heat (blower motor?)
3. upper control arms (ball joints) and tie rod ends
4. squeaky brakes (mechanic says it's brake dust. needs to be sprayed.)
5. No radio (water damage to amplifier in trunk) Learned that from searching the VIN (after I bought the car)
6. center console broken latch (won't open)
7. missing wheel badge
*. Sometimes, she'll just do weird stuff, like the lights will start flickering for no reason, or the steering wheel doesn't move when I shut her off.
Any suggestions or comments are appreciated.
PPS: During the course of this whole process I fell in love with the Jaguar XK8. I saw one at an auction lot in Ontario and I knew. This whole experience will serve me well when we go after another Jag.
Although this is my first post, I've been a frequent visitor to this site over the past few months. As for me, I am a student, from Virginia, studying accounting in Southern California. (Multifamily Real Estate is my area of interest, if anybody cares). I'm living with my sister in Long Beach who is a Professor where I go to school in OC, and working as her part-time driver/ full-time little brother (aka flunkie).
It all began around 6 months ago, when the deal was closed that brought a 2004 Jaguar XJ8 into our family. (Really it started last year, when my sister had a little fender bender in her Honda that the dealer estimated would be over $2500 to fix. I digress.)
For years my sister has talked about loving Jaguars, and when the opportunity came to make that happen for her I jumped at it. Based on her specifications I began the hunt. For about 4-6 months I searched for the right one. In the beginning, the mid 2000's S-Type was on my radar. But after finding a really well maintained 2004 I realized that it wasn't quite fitting for a man of my stature. (6'5") That eventually led me to the XJ8.
When I first saw the pictures online, I knew she was the one. It didn't take much to convince my sister, and we made our way from Long Beach to LA on Mother's Day 2017. We met with a used car salesman named Kevin, who said they rented their cars out for movies. You could tell she needed some TLC, but all in all we were sold. We looked, we checked, we drove... We looked, we haggled, we closed.
About 6 months later and we are still quite pleased with our decision. It's the perfect car for the PCH commute, and we look forward to many more years of majestic journeys in our very own mobile saloon.
PS: We do still have some things to take care of. Like all older cars, things just start to malfunction. Here's the list I'm working on as of this post.
1. Engine code P0430: Catalyst Sytem Efficiency Below Threshhold (Bank 2)
May not pass smog in April.
(muffler shop recommended BG44k and reset the code. I have the BG44K.)
2. No AC/heat (blower motor?)
3. upper control arms (ball joints) and tie rod ends
4. squeaky brakes (mechanic says it's brake dust. needs to be sprayed.)
5. No radio (water damage to amplifier in trunk) Learned that from searching the VIN (after I bought the car)
6. center console broken latch (won't open)
7. missing wheel badge
*. Sometimes, she'll just do weird stuff, like the lights will start flickering for no reason, or the steering wheel doesn't move when I shut her off.
Any suggestions or comments are appreciated.
PPS: During the course of this whole process I fell in love with the Jaguar XK8. I saw one at an auction lot in Ontario and I knew. This whole experience will serve me well when we go after another Jag.
