Thanks for the warm welcome everyone. I just realized I never said much about the Escape. It's a 2001 black V6 AWD model that my sister-in-law used to have before my parents got it. She didn't take quite as good of care of it as she probably should of so it has some cosmetic issues that I have been slowly addressing. Mechanically it is very sound. Next project is new lugs when my father and I both have some time.
6foot9inchmonster said:
Welcome 2 Big Cats.
Nice XK you have there. Be careful, if you haven't begun to hit the problems, I'm afraid you will be soon. Of all the ones I've dealt with it's pretty much a 10 yr rule for them. I had 3 Jags, an 85 XJ6, 95 XJ6, and a 2000 XJ8. But my parents have owned almost every body style beginning with a 52 XK120 and the newest being an 04 S-Type. We do all the work on them and if I can't help you out, I have plenty of resources to do so.
Thanks for the offer. This car has been very well maintained but it has had a few issues. When I got it there was an ABS/Traction control issue that the dealer initially thought was only a sensor (they were just a used car dealer and didn't know a whole lot about Jags) which turned out to be quite a bit more than that. I'm glad I had them fix it before I took delivery rather than paying a bit less and end up having to spend quite a bit more than the difference to get it fixed. The only other problem it has had was the rear seal between the drive shaft and the differential. After getting under it with a jack I decided I didn't want to tackle it without a lift so I took it to a great independent service center. After finding out the seal is now attached to the bearing (Jaguar changed the design at some point) it ended up costing slightly more than I anticipated, but still $100s less than the labor cost alone would have been at a dealer.
Tribby said:
Beautiful looking shaguar you've got there. I've always been a fan of Jags. I was looking at buying a cheap S-Type before I bought my falcon. S-Type was a beautiful car to drive with great interior but I thought i'd look like a snob driving one (18 year old in a Jag :lol: ) so I didn't. If a few years i'll definatly get one.
What engine configuration has yours got in it?
I'm 25 and most people don't think I look like a snob

I live in a rather small town with a burgeoning drug trade, so a lot of people assume I'm a drug dealer to afford it. Although most of the dealers here drive F150s and Silverados on 22"+ wheels so it's hard to see how I'm lumped in with them.
My Jag is a 4.0L DOHC V8 that puts out about 300 HP and 300 lb-ft of torque.
I started looking for a XKR coupe with the supercharged V8, but I couldn't find one within about 400 miles that was a year I'd consider, with lower mileage, the options I wanted, the color I wanted, was maintained as well as I wanted, for a price I would pay. Then I started looking at convertible XKRs and then coupe and convertible XK8s. Finally when I had just about given up hope and was about to expand my search area, this one popped up on the internet about 30 miles away. There was very little information posted on it, but I almost knew immediately it was the one for me when I saw it. After about 4 months of searching, testing, and haggling I finally had her so I moved pretty quickly. I'm not sure the salesman thought I was completely series when I first test drove it, but it probably helped to have my father along.