[TR] Moving up the British ladder.

[Glenn A. Merrell]

Kurt Johnson wrote:
> It's a one owner '95 coupe with the I6 engine.  It has
> 56,000 miles.  I have a friend who is an executive
> with an insurance company and he find wrecked cars for
> me. the car has minor, repairable damage to one
> fender, the front bumper, and some other cosmetic
> damage. but otherwise was in execellent condition.  I
> believe I can get the car for 2,000-2,500 dollars. 
> I'am I nuts to buy this car?
>
>   
For a sanity check, go browse the XJ-S Forum on jag-lovers.com.  Spend 
an hour or two reading about other owners questions and solutions.  This 
will give you a good overview of what you are in for.  And you are in 
for it of course.  These cars have no real resale value and can get 
really expensive to fix, so you gotta love 'em and not really expect to 
get your work and parts expense back out of it.  If you have a good 
cheap panel beater who can hammer out the old body panels and do the 
painting, that is good.  Otherwise, expect body work to be pricey on 
those years XJ-S.

Me, I do all my own mechanical and electrical work, and I have a 4 post 
lift in my garage.  Things that are cost prohibitive to fix at the 
dealer (at $200 or more an hour)  I fix for little cost and a lot of my 
own time.  I use Jag-Lovers quite a lot for advice and locating parts, 
and have a full set of manuals for my Jaguar, plus computer scanning 
software.  Without those tools and realizing you are going to do your 
own work to keep from going bankrupt, forget it.

-- 
Glenn A. Merrell
Chairman, Triumph Stag Club USA (2007-2009)
The best trophies are miles on the odometer, stone chips in the paint, dead bugs on the windshield!