Looking to buy my first jag
Discussion
Hello there Jaguar Forum!
I am thinking about buying an X300 for myself. Why an X300 I hear you cry?! Because of insurance. The XJ8 and XJ40 variants are just too expensive to insure, while I can get a nice 3.2 X300 insured for £950 and a 4.0 for £1200 (I know that is stupidly high for a classic Jag, but cheaper than a bunch of other "more sensible" things for a 19 year old!)
I have done some fairly extensive sleuthing on these forums about these cars. It seems I can expect 25 mpg and that the minimum requirements to consider when looking are 12 months MOT and FSH. I have also located several buying guides of things to check for when buying.
My real problem here is my parents. They are reluctant for me to "get into a hypercar and kill all my friends" and that it will be too expensive for me to run... I rely on them to pay for the insurance, and so I am stuck until they understand the lack of risk
The real reason for this post is to ask a couple of you what your running costs are like? People always say to buy a good one, but I don't know what a good one is. Is anyone aware of any "good ones" for sale at the moment for a limited budget? Any pointers for how to persuade them that this isn't a car that will be vandalised and picked on?
Another pointer that was given is to go for the highest spec car possible: this both appeals and doesn't appeal. Firstly, the insurance is a couple of hundred pounds more, and I have to pay anything over £1000, which eats into my car budget. Secondly, while I love the Daimler seats, there are so many additional things to go wrong in them as opposed to a nice 3.2 sport! I really, really want leather, but other than that, spec isn't that important.
Lastly, I really fancy the idea of a manual X300: they are very rare, and the only good one for sale at the moment is £2500 on Ebay, with quite high mileage considering the price. Is anyone aware of any manuals being sold, or coming up for sale? £2500 is really the top end of my budget, and insurance may still piss on my manual parade...
Thanks very much for all/any replies to my ramblings, and apologies for the roundabout, waffly way in which it is written: well done for making it to the end!
I am thinking about buying an X300 for myself. Why an X300 I hear you cry?! Because of insurance. The XJ8 and XJ40 variants are just too expensive to insure, while I can get a nice 3.2 X300 insured for £950 and a 4.0 for £1200 (I know that is stupidly high for a classic Jag, but cheaper than a bunch of other "more sensible" things for a 19 year old!)
I have done some fairly extensive sleuthing on these forums about these cars. It seems I can expect 25 mpg and that the minimum requirements to consider when looking are 12 months MOT and FSH. I have also located several buying guides of things to check for when buying.
My real problem here is my parents. They are reluctant for me to "get into a hypercar and kill all my friends" and that it will be too expensive for me to run... I rely on them to pay for the insurance, and so I am stuck until they understand the lack of risk
The real reason for this post is to ask a couple of you what your running costs are like? People always say to buy a good one, but I don't know what a good one is. Is anyone aware of any "good ones" for sale at the moment for a limited budget? Any pointers for how to persuade them that this isn't a car that will be vandalised and picked on?
Another pointer that was given is to go for the highest spec car possible: this both appeals and doesn't appeal. Firstly, the insurance is a couple of hundred pounds more, and I have to pay anything over £1000, which eats into my car budget. Secondly, while I love the Daimler seats, there are so many additional things to go wrong in them as opposed to a nice 3.2 sport! I really, really want leather, but other than that, spec isn't that important.
Lastly, I really fancy the idea of a manual X300: they are very rare, and the only good one for sale at the moment is £2500 on Ebay, with quite high mileage considering the price. Is anyone aware of any manuals being sold, or coming up for sale? £2500 is really the top end of my budget, and insurance may still piss on my manual parade...
Thanks very much for all/any replies to my ramblings, and apologies for the roundabout, waffly way in which it is written: well done for making it to the end!
25 MPG is optimistic unless you drive carefully and avoid city centre traffic. You'll get up to 28 on a gentle motorway run, high teens to low 20s in general stop start and shorter journey use and mid teens if you drive hard.
An old XJ isn't a hypercar. It's actually a heavy rear wheel drive car with modest levels of grip and little or no steering feel. If you try to keep up with one of your mates driving a hot hatch right on the raggedy edge it'll almost certainly try to kill you. Driving an XJ fast you need to concentrate hard on anticipation and maintaining balance and make love to the road and not just simply grab it and shag it.
As far as running costs go then make sure you buy a good one. Don't let high mileage put you off but use it as a bargaining point Not much tends to go wrong with an X300 except brakes and suspension work hard and get tired. Buy on condition, not colour or spec. You might find one for a few hundred quid on ebay but if it needs tyres and work on the brakes it'll potentially end up costing double what you paid and still only be worth a few hundred quid. Rust is the killer so a new MOT from a garage you trust is a good start, but look carefully at the tyres as replacing those will cost from £400 up. Parts are cheap 'tho unless you can DIY you'll be looking at up to a days labour for a front suspension rebuild.
Be prepared to travel, look very carefully and ideally buy an enthusiasts car. Try jagads, carandclassic or Jaguar World magazine classifieds.
Don't let your mates take the piss either. Buying a Jaguar doesn't mean you're an old man, just more mature and adult than they are
An old XJ isn't a hypercar. It's actually a heavy rear wheel drive car with modest levels of grip and little or no steering feel. If you try to keep up with one of your mates driving a hot hatch right on the raggedy edge it'll almost certainly try to kill you. Driving an XJ fast you need to concentrate hard on anticipation and maintaining balance and make love to the road and not just simply grab it and shag it.
As far as running costs go then make sure you buy a good one. Don't let high mileage put you off but use it as a bargaining point Not much tends to go wrong with an X300 except brakes and suspension work hard and get tired. Buy on condition, not colour or spec. You might find one for a few hundred quid on ebay but if it needs tyres and work on the brakes it'll potentially end up costing double what you paid and still only be worth a few hundred quid. Rust is the killer so a new MOT from a garage you trust is a good start, but look carefully at the tyres as replacing those will cost from £400 up. Parts are cheap 'tho unless you can DIY you'll be looking at up to a days labour for a front suspension rebuild.
Be prepared to travel, look very carefully and ideally buy an enthusiasts car. Try jagads, carandclassic or Jaguar World magazine classifieds.
Don't let your mates take the piss either. Buying a Jaguar doesn't mean you're an old man, just more mature and adult than they are
Edited by Jaguar steve on Monday 21st July 06:41
Hooli: Yeah, it does vary from month to month: for a while, and XJ40 was cheaper, but now (for the same price) I could insure a V8 XJR!
Ecurie Ecosse: Thanks very much, helpful feedback. As above, I did try insurance on an XJR, it was £1.8k on insurance and dreadful mpg... hopefully at later point in my life though!
Jaguar steve: Thanks in advance for your buyers guides: everywhere I look, people are raving about them! I had appreciated that the Jag would find "being shagged" a challenge, so no need to worry about racing my mates. I hadn't heard of Jaguar World classifieds, but I will take a look
Ecurie Ecosse: Thanks very much, helpful feedback. As above, I did try insurance on an XJR, it was £1.8k on insurance and dreadful mpg... hopefully at later point in my life though!
Jaguar steve: Thanks in advance for your buyers guides: everywhere I look, people are raving about them! I had appreciated that the Jag would find "being shagged" a challenge, so no need to worry about racing my mates. I hadn't heard of Jaguar World classifieds, but I will take a look
You've seen the light YR, top work sir! Much the same as you I considered one as a daily, now is the time to buy because they are so, so cheap. The fuel consumption on the XJ-S is enough to cause me a small heart attack but obviously that's only a toy, and one of these is going to be a lot more economical relatively speaking. As Jaguar Steve has said you can't jump in and hustle a Jag along a windy country lane cack handedly, it is a bit of an art and I'm fairly sure along the same road I could eat it alive in my 1.4 Skoda. Somehow having a big lazy car like these encourages a more relaxed driving style anyway, it's a nice place to be and you simply have to sit there wafting along in comfort and silence watching the world go by outside. You won't regret getting one I'm sure, they really get under your skin, and it's something brilliantly different to the sea of hatchbacks people our age drive.
LewG: My god, just seen your garage! I don't mind admitting that I nearly passed out with elation when I saw your XJS again... my favourite car under 10k at the moment, bar none! I just can't justify buying one and I dont have the budget (being a student) to lavish the care that my love for them would require. Thankfully, they are a little above my budget too, otherwise PH might find itself with another "V12 sized gamble"
Lovely to hear your impressions though, and I'm glad you approve of my (nearly made) decision!
Lovely to hear your impressions though, and I'm glad you approve of my (nearly made) decision!
Edited by YoungRestorer on Monday 21st July 18:11
A good X300 is great, a bad one will cost more than it's value rapidly. There's a lot of shagged ones around, but plenty of really good cars within your budget, mine's cost less than a grand.
They're not supercar fast but i find you can make reasonable progress on a twisty road, they handle better than you would expect(on decent tyres)
You will realistically be in the mid teens, average fuel wise though.
Buy a good one for £1500, spend the grand on extra petrol
They're not supercar fast but i find you can make reasonable progress on a twisty road, they handle better than you would expect(on decent tyres)
You will realistically be in the mid teens, average fuel wise though.
Buy a good one for £1500, spend the grand on extra petrol
Thanks very much, as it's a bit more of a closed shop in this part of the forum I'll let it be known that I only paid £2100 for mine. I got lucky with that and it was a gamble that has sort of paid off, there are so many out there that are absolute dogs, even being advertised for quite good money.
As you can see I've already done a fair bit of work to it myself, admittedly I could have easily driven it as it was and left it looking tatty in places but that's not the way I like to do things. I would say that so far, 8 months in I've spent the actual purchase price on it, so it owes me a shade over 4 grand.
Personally I would say only ever buy one as a toy, particularly if you have to have a V12. With prices being so low I know it's tempting to buy a cheap one but that's through very, very rose tinted spectacles. Honestly I think if you bought a rough one tomorrow you could easily blow 10k just getting it somewhere near up to scratch. It may be an older car but you're buying into an exclusive marque after all with occasionally exclusive prices!
The XJs you're looking at currently still seem like a good bet, I can really see the attraction and I hope you do decide to go for one, just purchase carefully and do your homework beforehand. Don't go and put a blind bid in on eBay
Whereabouts are you in the country? If you're ever close to Bedfordshire I'd be more than happy to take you for a spin in the beast.
As you can see I've already done a fair bit of work to it myself, admittedly I could have easily driven it as it was and left it looking tatty in places but that's not the way I like to do things. I would say that so far, 8 months in I've spent the actual purchase price on it, so it owes me a shade over 4 grand.
Personally I would say only ever buy one as a toy, particularly if you have to have a V12. With prices being so low I know it's tempting to buy a cheap one but that's through very, very rose tinted spectacles. Honestly I think if you bought a rough one tomorrow you could easily blow 10k just getting it somewhere near up to scratch. It may be an older car but you're buying into an exclusive marque after all with occasionally exclusive prices!
The XJs you're looking at currently still seem like a good bet, I can really see the attraction and I hope you do decide to go for one, just purchase carefully and do your homework beforehand. Don't go and put a blind bid in on eBay
Whereabouts are you in the country? If you're ever close to Bedfordshire I'd be more than happy to take you for a spin in the beast.
Humper (ace username btw): Cheers for the advice
LewG: Don't worry, I'm not as brave an ebayer as you, although I did bid on that XJS manual that Harry Metcalfe just bought... when it was around 1.8k
thats the exact reason why I didn't just do it, my overdraft would have been used every day maintaining it. I just couldn't risk THAT Jag... THIS Jag on the other hand is completely different.... I'm based in South West London, if I am ever around your neck of the woods, I won't hesitate, thanks for the generous offer
LewG: Don't worry, I'm not as brave an ebayer as you, although I did bid on that XJS manual that Harry Metcalfe just bought... when it was around 1.8k
thats the exact reason why I didn't just do it, my overdraft would have been used every day maintaining it. I just couldn't risk THAT Jag... THIS Jag on the other hand is completely different.... I'm based in South West London, if I am ever around your neck of the woods, I won't hesitate, thanks for the generous offer UPDATE:
I went to go and see my first X300 today. It was just beautiful, so wonderful. The seller took me for a 90 min test drive, and I'm fairly sure I need this car. He later emails me to explain that he has fallen back in love with the car after the drive and wont be selling it: a disappointment as I was hoping to buy it tomorrow!
I'm going to see a manual one tomorrow, but I really need a car for next weekend. Does anyone have any recommendations for good X300s to see in the South West London area?
Any contributions are, as ever, gratefully received
I went to go and see my first X300 today. It was just beautiful, so wonderful. The seller took me for a 90 min test drive, and I'm fairly sure I need this car. He later emails me to explain that he has fallen back in love with the car after the drive and wont be selling it: a disappointment as I was hoping to buy it tomorrow!
I'm going to see a manual one tomorrow, but I really need a car for next weekend. Does anyone have any recommendations for good X300s to see in the South West London area?
Any contributions are, as ever, gratefully received
They're absolutely criminally cheap! To think you're getting all that executive luxuriousness that someone paid an eye watering amount for once upon a time. Good to see you're still seriously on the hunt. The right one will come along, shame the seller backed out. Like I said, they get under your skin!
LewG: this one... http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/131237526189?nav=WATCHING_...
I wanted it so much, and I felt appalling as it flew over the buy it now price I had begged my parents to lend me some money to cover. Some get away I guess!
News re my car: I pick it up tomorrow! Keep your eyes peeled on the Readers Car thread for more details
Thanks to everyone for your help, I couldn't have done it without you
I wanted it so much, and I felt appalling as it flew over the buy it now price I had begged my parents to lend me some money to cover. Some get away I guess!
News re my car: I pick it up tomorrow! Keep your eyes peeled on the Readers Car thread for more details
Thanks to everyone for your help, I couldn't have done it without you
It's easy to get carried away in auctions so it's maybe for the best you missed out on the XJ-S.
Best of luck in your hunt for the right car within budget though. I admire and envy your energy and enthusiasm. I wish I could combine the same from a younger version of me with the spending power of the current version!
Best of luck in your hunt for the right car within budget though. I admire and envy your energy and enthusiasm. I wish I could combine the same from a younger version of me with the spending power of the current version!
jamieduff1981 said:
It's easy to get carried away in auctions so it's maybe for the best you missed out on the XJ-S.
Best of luck in your hunt for the right car within budget though. I admire and envy your energy and enthusiasm. I wish I could combine the same from a younger version of me with the spending power of the current version!
Yes. Best of luck in your hunt for the right car within budget though. I admire and envy your energy and enthusiasm. I wish I could combine the same from a younger version of me with the spending power of the current version!
And yes.
Car is bought: thread is up in Readers Cars here
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
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