First six Weeks of Ownership

Wessex · November 14, 2015

Hello again fellow cat lovers!

It's been six weeks since I picked up my car and it's been a bit topsy turvy to say the least. However the light at the end of the tunnel is shining bright and clear. Here's what's happened.

First day after picking up the car discovered no heat from the heater. Rang the ranch (cowboys don't use garages) and spoke to the cowhand that sold me the car. Arranged to bring it in the following Saturday. They looked at the car and apart from cover the wings, roof, window and front passenger seat with Oil did precious little else. There were hand prints all over the place. Considering they were just looking at fuses where did all this Oil come from? I had had a gearbox fault come up on the dash and when turned off & on again it cleared. I mentioned this to them but they were just so none plussed. Told to bring it in the following week and they would have a "Jaguar Expert" look at it. The fact that the car had been abused meant that it would never go anywhere near them again. Perhaps that was their plan......

Anyway, started looking at other forums and found that there was a common fault with no fog lights, no headlamp levellers and Fuse 3 blown. Replaced but blown again. Disconnected the sounder and replaced the Fuse. Success!!! Fogs, levellers and heat. Incidentally, the sounder electronics are encapsulated in rubber. After 15 years it was the nicads that had shorted out through age not the ingress of water. I tried to dig into the rubber but ended up destroying some parts on the circuit board. I have bought another sounder and it blips on locking and unlocking the door but blows Fuse 3 when the ignition is turned on so when next under the wing I'll look for the fused feed and disconnect that and then see if the unit still blips.

I then looked round for an independent to do a service and found one not to far away. Charged £215 for a service and I asked them to check and reports on any corrosion found. Just a small amount on the front off the sills where they met the wheel arch and a couple of small holes under the front footwell. Charged me £56 for this information and then quoted me £800 for welding! They also said the lower ball joints had worn and it would cost £200 per side for the arms and £245 to fit. £774 + £800 = £1574 plus other essentials they said needed doing around £420 for front discs & pads. The discs are a little lipped but there is still plenty of meat on the pads. A couple of other things and the quote came to a little over £2,150.

After the initial feeling of panic had disappeared I rang Hollygrove Jaguar, I had been recommended to them, and they told me they press new ball joints in the suspension arm. £20 each side and £18 for new bushes. So £38 per side and labour. Cash price £340. Welding was investigated and quoted £480 Got that sorted this week before a trip up to Chesterfield last Thursday return Friday. The car never missed a beat. New suspension parts being fitted this Thursday. Had a nice payday from work so looking forward to owning her again.

Buying a compressor and tools to give the rest of the sills, box sections and underside a thorough going over with Hammerite. Waxaoyl. Roll on the next few years before I have to sell her.