Ok i might be soon sitting on some reasonable pile of cash (no, calendars are not sold and i am not getting rich, but some cool project comes my way maybe). I will maybe get very good whole year project which needs lot of driving (70000km/year). I am not comfortable to throw all of it at my cat even though i would like to.
So i will probably need a second car which will add me some redundancy or just keep the cash for repairs (inclusive those preventive to keep it 100% reliable) and use my cat for all of it.

So it leaves me with about 20-23000 Eur for car costs in 2013.

So here are my options:
1) I was thinking about LR Defender (love that car and had it already for few days) but it is too expensive, though service free. It is perfect complement to Jaguar but cannot afford it?

2) Then about XJR, many says it is better, more reliable daily car, but to get one in reasonable condition i would need about 15000+ Eur, they are very expensive here. Makes sense?

3) another xj, keep one in shop making it genious car and second as daily driver, use the one which is at the moment problemfree. Probably cheapest option with advantage of sharing parts,...? 20000 would give me two almost perfect cats, mine and the new one fixed?

4) keep only one cat and plan the repairs so i dont need two cars. Put moneys into making it "better then new"?

5) newer jag which is more of a daily driver, probably not so pretty, but which?

6) owning one jag is already pretty "wow", but two is nonsense, right? so get completely another car? But it would be probably cheapo (like my Rover 25 was?) and i would hate to use it for 300km+ long trips?

WWYD?

 

Hi Sandy, great news on the new project. I drive a chevy S10 pickup for long trips to LA plus it's a useful spare vehicle.
So I would go for a small SUV as you like the Land Rover, great for long trips as there is plenty of room to spread out. Or how about an X type estate I think you can even get 4 wheel drive.

 

As I grew up in the snowy Midwest, I implemented the habits I've learned over there, once I ended up living in Munich.

I had an underground garage spot for my car (735), and the black car was in pristine condition. Snow starts to fly, I cover it with a nice lined cover, and it leaves the garage only on weekends for pleasure driving (down to Austria, Slovenia, or all the way to Adriatic and Italy). For the daily commute I employ a "winter beater" (term these cars are given, in and around Minneapolis).

Mine in Germany was also a BMW, but an older 320 with few dents, rust, and the usual. Mechanically sound, but totally liberating on the snowy roads,.....no worries about fender benders, slush, dirt, etc.

Come Spring, I sell it for about the same money I paid for it in the fall (plenty of "guest workers" looking for a cheap transportation). Next year in the fall, I do it all over again. Winter beater stays parked on the street, and the ice, scratches, and all that goes with it doesn't bother it.

That's what I would do. I understand you will be driving through out the year, but I would leave the Cat securely garaged, and drive something cheap on the daily basis. Some German made cheapo (VW?) with tons of cheap parts available. Sure it would have to look decent (scratches and blemishes don't show on the winter beater through the salt and mud, but it will show on your "daily driver").

I would save money for keeping the Cat in the MINT condition, and spend the minimum neccessary to keep the DD on the road. I would use the Cat at night, going out for dinner, on the weekends for pleasure, and put the miles on the DD. If you shop for a DD, find one that is not perfect (look on all tankstelle while you're there!), and look for people that need money. The expense of buying a beater, and keeping it on the road, will be far less than buying another Cat. When the gig is done, you might get your money back when you sell the beater.

 

Vanden Plas- Long wheelbase for a comfortable ride. If you can find one with a S/C motor all the better.

I used to take 800+ mile round trips every two weeks or so for work and drove a 300SEL, which had no personality but the ride was like relaxing in my living room on the couch. I think what you need is a smooth ride so that you are not so fatigued when you arrive to your destination.

 

thank you for the comments, it would sure make sense to get some cheap car but the problem is that i would end then driving most of the time in it.
Problem is that i don't know if i want to put 70000km per year on my cat, i used to drive 5-10000km per year.
Second jag would allow me to keep the experience and have one as daily cat and one as "pet".

So logically i would most want either same XJ8 or XJR, but owning two jags is pretty weird. Hm choices. I could also rent a car for two weeks and put my cat to jag shop for complete recovery for 10000 make it essentially new car which would eat those 70k as nothing? Hm.

this is what relevant search returns:

Angebote zu: Jaguar, XJR, Preis von

???

 

C'mon,......you are talking to a 27 year old woman! She should have no "fatigue" word in her vocabulary at that age. In her age I was running forced recon marches of 50 miles in full gear.

 

Cats WILL take miles, no problem. My concern (for my Cat) is the rock chips on the freeway, and vandalism. Fender benders are acceptable risk for me, but I fret over potential vandalism, and the trucks that dump rocks and all kinds of things on the freeways (just yesterday (!!!) there was a TREE on the I-10 in Redlands! It fell off of the truck that was transporting few of them. Many cars hit it, and by the time I came to it, it was just the BIG trunk and roots wrapped in the jute bags lying in the middle of the "fast lane"!!

Here in CA, if you end up parking in the wrong part of the town, you can "look forward" to stolen Leapers, car being "keyed", or parts (including wheels!) gone missing when you return to it. When I go to the movies in Banning (example), I take my truck! I don't feel safe leaving any other car in that area for 2 hours unattended.

My job takes me to meetings and appointments all over SoCal, and few months back, I came back to my Hummer that was missing the front turn signals (luckily they removed them "profesionally", with no damage!). I was in San Bernardino, and gone for a little over an hour, in the broad daylight. Stuff like that upsets me a great deal. I had wipers missing off of my X5, a friend of mine found his BMW on the bricks, with wheels missing, back in November,.......the list goes on. My wife's Volvo S80 was "keyed" front to back in 2011 (sold it like that). Hell,....another friend was just broadsided in his S class by a drunk Mexican, with no insurance, no DL, and no way to pay for the damage!

Insurance scam is just that in the States,....a SCAM. If you have a legitimate claim, ...."insurance" company will try to wiggle out of it, and IF they pay what they should, ....they WILL increase your premium! So in the long run,....you WILL pay for it anyway, just in smaller instalments.

There are people in this world that are VERY envious of something nice, someone else is driving, and WILL damage it, just to make themselves "feel better" in their misery.

Driving a nice car, on the daily basis, increases the risk of damage, and it will ruin the car. Miles? No problem,.....the Cat will take them with grace, and ask for more!

Sorry about the rant, and taking your thread off topic, Sandy.

 

Hi Sandy,
I have lived that life on the road on my last job, put about 130,000km on my 4runner in a year and a half. I am not sure what your new job entails so it will be hard to peg the best car for the job. Few key pieces of advise:

1. Get something comfortable, you will be living inside the thing.

2. You should also look at where you are going to be, if you break down will there be parts available and people able to work on the car. Even driving a Toyota, some of the remote locations I was at people would not have a clue what to do with the thing. We are talking Chevy, Dodge, and Ford pick-up country.

3. Are you paying for gas? that 4runner drank as much fuel as my Jag does, and when you have to fill it up more then once a day it hurts.

4.Get something you can have fun in; the road can be a lonely and boring place make sure you get something to have some fun in.

5.Get something reliable, you don't want to get stranded

Hope that helps

 

Daniel, if your going to the movies in Banning, get on the 10 and move to AZ, that's what we did, Socal was getting to 3rd world, I agree entirely with you're rant

Back to Topic, Sandy buy a beater

 

Assuming you will be traveling in Europe, it would be logical to get a car that can be easily and reliably repaired everywhere, and a Jag does not fit that requirement. Like danielsand said, a BMW makes a lot of sense, and you know they are comfortable cars to drive. Maybe VW orAudi are good choices also, but I am not familiar with them in recent years. Good Luck

 

Apologies to Sandy for posting off topic again. But I "needed" to answer this.

I have several properties (and a home) in AZ. My DL is still in AZ (and it always will be). After my last divorce (in AZ), I married an opthamologist from CA that doesn't want to quit working. I had few businesses in CA as well (sold in 2010), and I was commuting from AZ (had a condo in CA, and a home in AZ). After we got married, we bought a ranch in CA and sold my condo. Now the home in AZ is rented out, and I am waiting for her to stop working. After that I will be back to AZ (maybe just long enough to sell everything, because we are planning to move to Europe).

I am an avid gun collector, and I HATE CA gun laws (among other things!). Can't wait to get out of here.

 

maybe we should bet together and layout some lead in AZ , I live in Goodyear so not too far over the border

 

I bought a G3 in Goodyear five years ago (from you!?). Just kidding. It's very hard for me to leave, even for a day (have to hire someone - not hard, but trustworthy - much harder!) to take care of five horses and five dogs. I lay plenty of lead on the ranch though. All I keep in CA is six shooters, shotguns, and Winchesters. All my military collection is in Scottsdale (that's all illegal in CA as you know).

Sandy,......couple thousand Euro will buy you a roadworthy (but not pretty!) Daimler. Beat the crap out of it, and keep the Cat new!

 

If you say that fuel is not a problem then the world is your oyster.

I am a big BMW fan and am jealous of the fact that you used to have a Z1. I am always on the hunt for one, but there are maybe less then 10 in the entire country here. You can never go wrong with a good 8 Series. My dad actually has two of the them, one as a daily driver and the other as a show car (he never leaves me the keys to that one). Like any car I have to emphasise the word "good". The major problem with these cars is mostly related to mechanics not knowing how to work on 8's and destroy the car in the process. That car is as comfortably as my jag in the city, and I would prefer it on long trips. I drove that 8 across Canada in 4 days and felt fresh as a daisy after each day. It would be a shame to put that kind of miles on an 8 though, so few around.

 

Like always, Sandy is receiving tens of answers in her topics, we all love to help her!
Fuel is no problem,... Defender ... and 1000 km/day are words from 3 different worlds.

It's the same thing to pay for 13 l/100 km petrol or 7 l/100 km diesel? Most people don't think the same probably, at least in Europe, unless you are making pictures for Hugh Hefner.
Defender..., I am driving a Discovery 2(for the last 5 years) , far more comfortable than a Defender will ever be and after driving Osnabrueck to Passau in half day , my bones were broken, right foot was paralized (and I am used to drive a lot on broken roads for the last 15 years). Plus, the Defender have the aerodynamics of a brick , every km over 100 /hour is a real gain, 140 is a nice dream, this is the opinion of most Defender owners.
For 1000 km/day, meaning 6-8-10 hours daily, you need a comfortable and safe car, automatic probably, this is pushing you to VAG group..., but they have very tough suspensions for the first 30-40 th. km.
Good luck!

 

Well,.....despite the satelites, smart phones, iWhatevers, Facebooks, and Tweets, the old chivalry is still well and alive.

Maybe her getting all these answers has something to do with her being a beautiful, young woman, asking a bunch of men for help? Neither one of us (present on this forum) invented this. This is something that was inbred in us for generations (maybe since Eve wanted the apple, and Adam climbed the tree to get it!). Education, home environment we grew up in, and the society in whole, teaches us to extend the helping hand, and the outmost courtesy to the "damsel in distress". Sure,.....some men have more nefarious objectives, but they are the ones that hunt anything that wears a skirt, just because they can not make at least one woman happy, for at least a brief moment.

 

What a hell is "VAG"? I know the Internet slang word,....but a car!?

 

Volkswagen Aktien-Gesselschaft (or Auto Gruppe) or so whatever

 

In your previous link I saw a 2003 with slightly more miles, for under 10K Euro. 2003s are worry free. Higher mileage does not hurt them at all. If that's the route you are going to take, get a 2002 or 2003.

 

For this money,actually less, I found an XJR100.