I bought my 1995 XJ6 3.2 (X300 - UK spec) in March of this year and it was only last week that the V5c document in my name got to me from the DVLA. For any Americans reading, that means I just got the registration docs back from the DMV in my name. The paperwork when I bought the car was all kosher and I got the tear-off section along with all the old MOTs, Service history, bills and invoices etc.
So anyway, last week was when i found the name and address of the previous owner and I thought it would be a good idea to write to him and ask why he got rid of the car. This wasn't the same guy that I bought the car from. I bought the car from a garage where the previous owner had traded the Jag in.
I wrote the guy a letter explaining that I was the new owner and gave him some details of the car as proof. I explained that I would be interested in knowing if he had got rid of the car after finding a major issue which it would be in my best interests to know about yadda, yadda, yadda. I gave the guy my e-mail address and my phone number and posted the letter.
The guy rang me on Saturday morning and we had a long chat. He told me that he had bought the car a year earlier with 12 months MOT and that he had enjoyed every minute of ownership until he came to MOT it. He said that everything passed except for the Co2 emissions which were very high.
He priced fixing the problem but at £750 it was more than he was prepared to pay so he traded it in.
What I would be interested in knowing is this, providing that the garage did a proper repair of the Co2 emissions problem rather than a botched job just to get the car off their hands (I have no indication that the job was NOT done to a good standard) and then had the car MOT'ed prior to selling it with Co2 levels well within accepted levels with paperwork to show this, would the repair be expected to see the car through a couple of MOTs or would it be expected that the Co2 emissions would cause an MOT failure next time round?
Cheers for any info,
Steve .... AKA ... The Worrier.

 

You can get the results of previous MOT tests on your car. You need to go Check your vehicle's MOT status and history online : Directgov - Motoring
and follow the instructions. I believe too LOW CO2 is CATs performing badly - I'm not sure what too high CO2 is the cause of though.
If I were you, I'd chuck a bottle of reddex or similar in your tank and give the car a good old italian tune up. Drive as much as possible in 1st 2nd or 3rd gears with as high revs as you can acheive from the auto box without ending up with a speeding ticket. When the tank is near empty refill and drive hard to a garage to perform an emissions test. Can't be more than £20. Then you will know where you stand. If it fails, report back.

 

Steve:
You know, dude, there are too many important things to wory about- like war, peace, the rapture and so on to worry so much about a 15 year old car. You need to just enjoy owning and driving your kitty. There will be enough real stuff to fix to waste time worrying about stuff that ain't broke. Jus my observation.

 

sparkenzap .... You're absolutely right. I worry about things that I should just let slide. The problem is that I am a little bit different from most folk on this forum. Most, but not all. As I see it, there are folk on this forum with day jobs needing 10 years of training and they are now earning big bucks. There are other guys who own their own businesses or are high earners in somebody elses. As for me, not so much. I have been disabled with a badly damaged and distorted spine since 1972. I can get about the house OK with hand rails and a stair lift and outside on the flat like in a supermarket or Mall I have a small electric mobility scooter.
We have a little Nissan for everyday use which runs as good as any car that we have ever owned. The snag is that I have always hankered after a Jag of this vintage and it was an itch that just needed to be scratched. I saved and saved to get the money together to buy the car and pay for the insurance and Road Tax and even though the total was just over £1,300, it took a lot of doing, helped mostly by giving up my 10 cigs a day and by cutting back to 3 cans of lager per week. As you can see, sacrifices were made.
So, you see .... I'm not looking for tea and sympathy. What I need is some kind of reassurance that, providing the problem with the emissions was fixed properly, the car will go on to give me a handful more years of joyous driving. The thing is, if I were to get another 3, 4 or 5 years of motoring out of this Jag before the emission Devil struck again, I can't see it as a viable option to spend £750 or more to repair a car worth £500 at most.
If not, and the car may fail the next MOT, it may be best to part company sooner rather than later and, to all intents and purposes, be left with a car worth zilch and illegal to drive.

Anyway, cheer up .

 

Stevie:
I understand your predicament, but my concern is that with all this worrying, you are potentially not enjoying the ownership of a great car. Other than taking care of maintenance items like oil changes and responding to noises and odd road feel, whatever will happen will, then you can deal with it.
You are wisely learning about the car in general so that you can identify the important versus the annoying little things, and will be a more informed customer of the garage when you need help. Thats all good. But if you worry about so many what-ifs, it detracts from the enjoyment. Unless of course you are one of those folks (like my dear departed mother) who just seems to enjoy worrying for its own sake.
I don't know about your side of the pond, but entire engines for the X-300 cost less than some sensors over here. There is a significant cost to install one, but nothing is the end of the world. Used catalytic converters should be way less to have installed than the price you quoted, with a little looking around, and that is what is probably the WORST needed if your CO2 is high.
And, again my $.02, you need to find a good independent with whom you can build trust to work on your car. It is not so sophisticated that it takes a super specialist, but it would be good to find one who is familiar with Jaguars. Or maybe through a local club you can identify someone who does repairs on the side, since you do not need you car every day, and can wait for his spare time.
I just detect a little ongoing stress from your keystrokes and want you to enjoy the car now that you have it. In the words of the American musical icon Bobby Mcferrin, "Don't Worry, Be Happy!"
Good driving, kind sir.

 

sparks ... I have just seen your location and I have to tell you that I hate Atlanta. . Nothing personal, you understand, but the only time I went there I was driving a hired mini-van from Miami up to the airport in Atlanta for the flight back to UK. This would be about 1993 or 4.
All I can remember is being scared poopless by a 7 lane Interstate when all I could see in front of me was a dead straight road with nothing but skyscrapers to see in front of me, or at least, that's the way it seemed.
The thing is, on your side of the Pond, you have driving rules that we don't have over here. An example is that, when driving on our motorways, you can only enter or leave the motorway at an exit or entrance ON THE LEFT.
But you guys seem to get on or off from either side. So the thing that scared the Bejayzus out of me was driving at 55 mph and having massive trucks joining the road on the right and wanting to get back OFF the road a mile further on on the left and they just drive across all 7 lanes to get to their exit. It gets worse when you have trucks also doing the exact opposite and joining on the left to get off on the right.
It was a nightmare and my wife just couldn't look. Still, we made it to the airport in one piece.
ps ... I hear what you're saying re worrying. I guess it's just a part of my make-up to worry about stuff.

 

Stevie, I like your posts as you show enthusiasm to learn more about your car. That's good. But please try to not worry about something which may have been fixed. I agree that you should enjoy the car and take the rough with the smooth if the time comes.
To get back on track. As Sparkenzap says the worst it can be is replace the cats. Ebay says £79 for dp cats 2nd hand. You can dispense with the underfloor cats and still pass emissions but you'll need some pipework made up to connect to the next sections of the exhaust.
If the cats are your problem (and £750 might just fit the bill there) PM me as I've a UK DP cats with slip joint for 3.2/4 litre.
For what it's worth, I regard the majority of people who use these forums as mechanically minded enthusiasts that offer their mechanical knowledge and lifelong experiences to others for free - a sort of good samaritan approach. Whatever their earnings doesn't come into it. It's a guy thing. Women like to talk about baking, knitting etc. Men like to talk about cars, football and sex. That's life.

 

Your statements are so true Striaght6

 

I suppose I'm just getting my worrying done in advance. The MOT isn't due until 11-03-12 . lol

 

Stevie:
"giving up my 10 cigs a day and by cutting back to 3 cans of lager per week."

Ah- ha! I now know the source of your paranoia, worrying, and general malaise towards your jaguar.... Its your cigarette and brew withdrawal!
Cheers.