Best smoker barges 1-5 large [Vol 12]

[Motorrad]

0a said:

A fantastic price for one of the best examples of these wonderful cars out there. I'd just find some storage and keep it. Plenty of garages advertised around here, or see if a friend has space. But then I'm useless at selling cars. I am not the one to advise.

This really is the right time of year for convertibles as well. Here's mine (formerly yours!) a few moments ago. £50 of fuel sucuessfuly burnt today without any particular destination in mind, just a nice drive on a crisp autumn day. Wonderful.

That's the good life right there! I miss my SL.

[0a]

phil_cardiff said:

mattman said:

I had a black on black 04 645 - was a lovely motor and did everything from a cruise to a blast.

Needed a louder exhaust for the V8 which i never quite got around to - and cup holders!

Excellent value for money and i personally think they have aged well - still love the buttresses at the rear on the convertible - and 4 useable seats (just)

That doesn't look 13 years old at all. Back to Autotrader I go!

Are the automatic gearboxes reliable?

Edited by phil_cardiff on Saturday 21st October 07:32

Just catching up. I think these look pretty good as a convertible. Better than the coupe. I don't really see the point in a coupe that doesn't drive particularly well by all accounts (may as well have the 745) and doesn't look very good. A smooth and comfortable convertible makes much more sense.

[Patrick Bateman]

I'd agree in principle but, much like a 3 series convertible and such like, it just looks like an angle grinder's been taken to the roof.

[Philv8s]

I must disagree. The cabriolet is designed as a cabriolet hence the flying buttress roof and when lowered looks uncompromised in design. The cabriolet is probably better looking than the coupe roof up or down. Used prices would suggest as much.

[TheLordJohn]

Which house is that?

[Philv8s]

Not mine 😔. Chateau Impney in Droitwich, a homage to the French chateau’s the original owner built to make his French wife feel at home apparently.

[TheLordJohn]

Philv8s said:

Chateau Impney in Droitwich

Thanks

[phil_cardiff]

Philv8s said:

I must disagree. The cabriolet is designed as a cabriolet hence the flying buttress roof and when lowered looks uncompromised in design. The cabriolet is probably better looking than the coupe roof up or down. Used prices would suggest as much.

Used prices for convertibles are often more than their coupe siblings as us brits love that wind in the hair feeling twice a year. And it simply can't be about looks in this case...

[zizgag69]

Recent hood and FSH. https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[CharlesdeGaulle]

That SL, in that colour (Beryl Blue?), looks bloody brilliant.

[Krikkit]

On 15-holes and with the soft-top exposed to break up the colour a bit, agreed.

Should it also be gingered?

[Zonergem]

Vivianite green. Quite loud.

Beryl Blue is here for 80k



and also here for 9k.

Still a 500, just not the AMG 6.0 treatment and Sultan of Brunei provenance.

[TheLordJohn]

On slightly related news, I may be doing a deal on an E46 M3 tomorrow.
Terribly un-thread (manual, convertible) but it means there'll be some cash coming my way which will help with the initial costs of (hopefully) our next 'house' purchase.

[cat220]

TheLordJohn said:

On slightly related news, I may be doing a deal on an E46 M3 tomorrow.
Terribly un-thread (manual, convertible) but it means there'll be some cash coming my way which will help with the initial costs of (hopefully) our next 'house' purchase.

Sounds good, be sure to post up details. I've been considering these amongst boxsters, s2000's, xk's, sl55, to replace my integra.

[SpamCan]

With the sale of my Mustang looming I am going to be needing a 'replacement' car.

I find myself drawn to Luxo barges, but with a £4k max budget and wanting to stick with RWD and automatic my options are limited to, Jaguar, BMW, Mercedes and Lexus it seems (might be the odd, oddity floating around - I still need to look for a Lincoln Town Car yet).

However, the Jaguar XJ (circa 2000 - 2004 vintage) has piqued my interest, probably the XJ6 rather than the V8 Sovereign as I fear the latter will make my 4.6L Mustang (which gets 20mpg day to day) seem positively frugal. Are petrol XJ's generally reliable or am I better off with a Lexus?

Lots of research to do!

[SpeckledJim]

SpamCan said:

With the sale of my Mustang looming I am going to be needing a 'replacement' car.

I find myself drawn to Luxo barges, but with a £4k max budget and wanting to stick with RWD and automatic my options are limited to, Jaguar, BMW, Mercedes and Lexus it seems (might be the odd, oddity floating around - I still need to look for a Lincoln Town Car yet).

However, the Jaguar XJ (circa 2000 - 2004 vintage) has piqued my interest, probably the XJ6 rather than the V8 Sovereign as I fear the latter will make my 4.6L Mustang (which gets 20mpg day to day) seem positively frugal. Are petrol XJ's generally reliable or am I better off with a Lexus?

Lots of research to do!

The X308 to 2002 was only available as a V8.

The X350 from 2003 onwards is a good car, and excellent on fuel as a V6.

[dbdb]

SpeckledJim said:

SpamCan said:

With the sale of my Mustang looming I am going to be needing a 'replacement' car.

I find myself drawn to Luxo barges, but with a £4k max budget and wanting to stick with RWD and automatic my options are limited to, Jaguar, BMW, Mercedes and Lexus it seems (might be the odd, oddity floating around - I still need to look for a Lincoln Town Car yet).

However, the Jaguar XJ (circa 2000 - 2004 vintage) has piqued my interest, probably the XJ6 rather than the V8 Sovereign as I fear the latter will make my 4.6L Mustang (which gets 20mpg day to day) seem positively frugal. Are petrol XJ's generally reliable or am I better off with a Lexus?

Lots of research to do!

The X308 to 2002 was only available as a V8.

The X350 from 2003 onwards is a good car, and excellent on fuel as a V6.

My brother had the supercharged V8 version of the X350 in the mid 2000s. He found it to be surprisingly economical - as much as 23/24 mpg at times. He found it to be significantly more economical than either its predecessor Mercedes S500, or its replacement BMW 740iL. The BMW was the thirstiest of the three, but he claimed to find it slow, thus needed to thrash it. The X350 Jaguar Super V8 was stolen and I lent him my XJ40 for a short time. He got 14mpg using it and declared it "frustratingly slow." The supercharged Jag had spoiled him!

[Krikkit]

dbdb said:

My brother had the supercharged V8 version of the X350 in the mid 2000s. He found it to be surprisingly economical - as much as 23/24 mpg at times. He found it to be significantly more economical than either its predecessor Mercedes S500, or its replacement BMW 740iL. The BMW was the thirstiest of the three, but he claimed to find it slow, thus needed to thrash it. The X350 Jaguar Super V8 was stolen and I lent him my XJ40 for a short time. He got 14mpg using it and declared it "frustratingly slow." The supercharged Jag had spoiled him!

I think the Aluminium construction helped a lot with the X350, great cars.

[Patrick Bateman]

Isn't there little difference in mpg between the 3 litre and the 4.2 in practice?

[SpeckledJim]

I got 30-35mpg out of my V6. No experience of the V8, but I'd be surprised if it was very close.