Porsche out, XJR in
Discussion
Hello chaps. Thought I would make you feel sensible by recounting my 'out of the frying pan...' story.
Sold my 1990 964 after two years of relatively trouble free ownership. Absolutely brilliant car, cost about £7k over the period I had it but wasn't geting th use it deserved, particularly in winter. Also, I had that peculiar 'large bill coming' feeling that wouldn't go away.
I live in Leeds but work in Manchester most days so do a decent amount of motorway miles. I've been using a 528i as a daily driver which has been a superb servant for twelve months. However, with the Porsche gone, the BMW wasn't quite quick-enough to hold the fort on its own.
Long story short, I bought a 98 XJR off ebay for four and a half grand. Did all the research, knew it was probably a bad idea, didn't see the car first (though I did ring the garages that had looked after it during its life). Just clicked in a bid with a couple of minutes to go and ended up with the car, pretty much ignoring every single rule I know about used car buying along the way.
Now for the good bit; what a belting car. Got the tensioners done at the local specialist for a fairly reasonable price, along with the 90k service (car has done 72k). As noted elsewhere, petrol consumption is comically bad but the comfort, style and sophistication make that an irrelevance.
Anyway, having been extremely lucky in buying, fingers crossed for ownership. Can't be as dear as the Porsche... can it?
Sold my 1990 964 after two years of relatively trouble free ownership. Absolutely brilliant car, cost about £7k over the period I had it but wasn't geting th use it deserved, particularly in winter. Also, I had that peculiar 'large bill coming' feeling that wouldn't go away.
I live in Leeds but work in Manchester most days so do a decent amount of motorway miles. I've been using a 528i as a daily driver which has been a superb servant for twelve months. However, with the Porsche gone, the BMW wasn't quite quick-enough to hold the fort on its own.
Long story short, I bought a 98 XJR off ebay for four and a half grand. Did all the research, knew it was probably a bad idea, didn't see the car first (though I did ring the garages that had looked after it during its life). Just clicked in a bid with a couple of minutes to go and ended up with the car, pretty much ignoring every single rule I know about used car buying along the way.
Now for the good bit; what a belting car. Got the tensioners done at the local specialist for a fairly reasonable price, along with the 90k service (car has done 72k). As noted elsewhere, petrol consumption is comically bad but the comfort, style and sophistication make that an irrelevance.
Anyway, having been extremely lucky in buying, fingers crossed for ownership. Can't be as dear as the Porsche... can it?
Edited by PaulZR on Thursday 4th September 21:47
Edited by PaulZR on Thursday 4th September 21:53
Good luck with it.
I've been watching every XJR on Ebay for about 3 months, just couldn't quite risk a bid on an unseen car!
Read all the advice I could find on here and elsewhere.
Finally bought one this week although from a private dealer through Autotrader. Great car, drove it 300+ miles home with no problems.
Like you going to get the tensioners done asap but that apart unless you're very unlucky they don't seem overly expensive to maintain.
Just the tyres and petrol
I've been watching every XJR on Ebay for about 3 months, just couldn't quite risk a bid on an unseen car!
Read all the advice I could find on here and elsewhere.
Finally bought one this week although from a private dealer through Autotrader. Great car, drove it 300+ miles home with no problems.
Like you going to get the tensioners done asap but that apart unless you're very unlucky they don't seem overly expensive to maintain.
Just the tyres and petrol
I bought my X300 XJR on ebay. Paid £5K, which is quite high, but with only 33K miles (with good history) and being genuinely near mint, I felt it was worth it. That plus the fact that it's my favourite Jag colour of all - Aqua metallic. Now covered 3K miles in it and have had absolutely no issues whatsoever - a truly superb car that I'll keep for years. The key to buying a vehicle on ebay is to play it safe. I spoke to the seller of my Jag prior to bidding and was satisfied he was above board. His feedback and the fact he's a trader also helped. I also recently bought a Suzuki GSXR1000K1 on ebay. the seller supplied his phone number and I called him. I was satisfied the bike sounded good but told him I would only bid on the understanding that if, when I went to collect, I could walk away with no problem if the bike was not as good as described. He readily agreed, so there was no real risk. I feel any genuine seller would agree and if they don't then I wouldn't bid. When all said and done though, if you bid on and win a vehicle on ebay, then aren't happy when you go to collect, you can always walk away. So what if they leave bad feedback, so will you. They claim it's a legal contract but who would actually put that to the test? Besides, if a vehicle is not as described the "contract" is null anyway. I have also sold a few vehicles on ebay. I swear by it, I've had some amazing bargains on there myself.
Bought my XKR and Sold my Alfa Spider on e-bay. Very pleased with both transactions. Both were cash deals with no actual contact prior to winning bids. Your contract is the description, you can legally walk away if the description is wrong. I would advise contacting the seller prior to bidding, I contacted the XKR seller I wanted to buy from but could not meet his reserve. Bid on another closing at the same time (£2K) less and won it !
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