Got one!
Posted: Sun May 29, 2016 11:31 am
A chance meeting with robv12 while with davidr at Stoneleigh earlier this year reminded me just how good the X-350's are and that perhaps one might be the solution to my problem of what to replace an ageing Discovery and a CLK500 with. The obvious choice (so I thought) was the TDVi. I decided to attend the X-350 seminar, conveniently just a few weeks later and though an excellent seminar (as normal) was put off buying a diesel within the first hour! So my thoughts turned to a petrol one and then perhaps a petrol one running on LPG. When I discovered just how fast the super-charged ones are it became an obvious choice to get an XJR or a Super V8. I settled on a LWB Super V8 to maximise speed, space and comfort.
I got close to buying one for a shade less than 10k from a dealer in Kent, but the deal fell through on price and servicing. Then a cheap, high miler popped up on Autotrader. It was in Green with cream leather, a combination I was attracted to as I felt it looked less like a limousine in Green. The only problem at this stage was that the car was in Leicester and I in Aberdeenshire. And that's when the power of the JEC showed itself! I got in touch with Mike, the regional coordinator for Leicester (not realising that I had spoken to him at the seminar when he showed me his LPG converted XJR) hoping he could suggest someone close by in Leicester to take a look. Mike was good enough to go himself and did so within 24 hours. A deal was quickly done, knocking down the trader a few 100 pounds. He had taken it in as a part-ex with the usual X-350 faults (the ones I had the benefit of knowing how to fix, thanks to the 350 seminar) and was keen to get shot of it quickly.
That was on the Friday and on the Monday, I drove to Yorkshire to drop off the Discovery to someone I had arranged to sell it to and then on to Leicester to collect the 350. The next day I took it to Paul and Greg at Hyper Engineering in Oxfordshire. These are guys I have known for a long time since driving XJS's in the '90's. Given, that I had given them less than 24 hours notice, they were absolutely great. Between us we gave the car and oil and filters change and they had a good look over the car with me writing out a list of jobs to do. Overall it seemed the car was in pretty good shape and generally got a 'thumbs up' for the money. I now have a longish list of jobs to do, but again the boys were great, putting me in touch with their regular suppliers, so discs, pads and banana bushes were ordered from Birchwood Jaguar in Berkshire and a steering rack was ordered from Eurojag. That was picked up the next day when I drove back to Scotland. Back home, I gave the car a wash and polish and its looking fantastic. So far a new battery and a door seal has been fitted and a bonnet pull, parking sensors and suspension pump are soon to be fitted. And then a few other jobs to finish it off.
I got close to buying one for a shade less than 10k from a dealer in Kent, but the deal fell through on price and servicing. Then a cheap, high miler popped up on Autotrader. It was in Green with cream leather, a combination I was attracted to as I felt it looked less like a limousine in Green. The only problem at this stage was that the car was in Leicester and I in Aberdeenshire. And that's when the power of the JEC showed itself! I got in touch with Mike, the regional coordinator for Leicester (not realising that I had spoken to him at the seminar when he showed me his LPG converted XJR) hoping he could suggest someone close by in Leicester to take a look. Mike was good enough to go himself and did so within 24 hours. A deal was quickly done, knocking down the trader a few 100 pounds. He had taken it in as a part-ex with the usual X-350 faults (the ones I had the benefit of knowing how to fix, thanks to the 350 seminar) and was keen to get shot of it quickly.
That was on the Friday and on the Monday, I drove to Yorkshire to drop off the Discovery to someone I had arranged to sell it to and then on to Leicester to collect the 350. The next day I took it to Paul and Greg at Hyper Engineering in Oxfordshire. These are guys I have known for a long time since driving XJS's in the '90's. Given, that I had given them less than 24 hours notice, they were absolutely great. Between us we gave the car and oil and filters change and they had a good look over the car with me writing out a list of jobs to do. Overall it seemed the car was in pretty good shape and generally got a 'thumbs up' for the money. I now have a longish list of jobs to do, but again the boys were great, putting me in touch with their regular suppliers, so discs, pads and banana bushes were ordered from Birchwood Jaguar in Berkshire and a steering rack was ordered from Eurojag. That was picked up the next day when I drove back to Scotland. Back home, I gave the car a wash and polish and its looking fantastic. So far a new battery and a door seal has been fitted and a bonnet pull, parking sensors and suspension pump are soon to be fitted. And then a few other jobs to finish it off.
