DRIVING

I'm learning Automatic and I have found that a lot more easier to digest and not be overwhelmed compared to when I was learning on manual. 

DifferentMark said:

I'm learning Automatic and I have found that a lot more easier to digest and not be overwhelmed compared to when I was learning on manual. 

In a few years, all cars will be electric - so automatic.     Manual is only useful for high performance cars

I do hope so. Liberty, here I come! 

As you can imagine, I've had a lot of cars....shortest period was only 3-months - I bought a bargain MGBGT on a whim - what a POS - like driving a tractor - made good profit on that.      Similarly with my X1/9 - 4 months.    I've had many multiples of some cars - lots of Astras, Escorts, Vectras, Omegas, Senators, BMWs etc. - easy to buy, easy to sell.

Now the admiration goes the other way... :c)

I'm really into cars - I know exactly what I'm looking at when buying so I tend to buy low, drive for 6-months and then sell for profit -  zero maintenance costs for 30 years -  I've only ever changed 2 sets of brake pads - rarely ever service a car - only fitted one exhaust part and 4 tyres - I let other people pick up those tabs before and after me.  

I had a Ibiza Cupra with an odd fault caused by a dodgy fusebox - tricky to find without my ODB scanner.

The XJ40 was when they finally sorted the rear suspension and braking setup -  miles better than the XJ6-derived systems and worth money on the spares market..

When I bought my first one, an old and wise friend said "Don't do it. Better people than you have been broken by jags". The XJ40 turned out to be a winner for me, however, but unfortunately they are now both too old to get fixed easily at a reasonable price by your local non jaguar approved jaguar specialist, and fast appeciating in value, so you can't get a nice runner carrying a fault for a grand now. Of course, when you buy one it will have something going wrong with it, that's why the owner wants to sell it! (Unless yo are very lucky, of course). The trick is to be able to identify the problem (if it isn't obvious) and accurately estimate how much it will cost to get fixed. The last one I bought (from a used car dealer) looked minty, but during the test drive just as I could hear the diff start to whine he turned the radio on. I was happy then because I knew what the fault was, I knew my local garage would have a decent late model used spare in stock, and I now knew he was going to accept some serious haggling in order to drop it onto me. I also knew that on a thousand quid Jaguar, if you are going to use it as a company vehicle which I used to, you need to budget for about £1300 a year for maintenance, and if you actually have that 1300 to spend they just continually improve from when you buy them. (particularly if you can save that money when nothing goes wrong in that year! Which happened a lot more more often than I expected).

BUT only the XJ40 Jaguars seem to work that way... I was lucky, I chose possibly the best model they've ever built... But yes, rust gets them in the end and whilst it is curable, with a specialist rebuild, that would require, being able to save up the unused part of that 1300 quid budget, for ten years and probably still take an extra 5K on top.. Which I've never managed to do. I always have to change them when the rust becomes an issue.   

The rule I learned is that luxury cars break expensive, but nowhere near as often as consumer cars, unless you buy a "lemon" as the car trade them. (Tip: NEVER buy a car with a new looking lemon scented air freshener from a dealer (whether official or an amateur "wheeler dealer") or at auction... It will not go wel. Seriously, that's a thing!

Wow - you're brave - I admire you - I've always fancied one but a couple of my friends got bitten badly with Jags - mostly rust and electrical problems - one friend's XJS turned into a nightmare of rust in hidden places.

I was looking at the newer S-type - too many expensive faults.

The bravest car I ever bought was a Renault Safrane 3,0 RXE - it was like a fighter jet - air suspension, pneumatic electric memory seats - all in leather - 1st gen with the Concorde dash.    

Wow - you're brave - I admire you - I've always fancied one but a couple of my friends got bitten badly with Jags - mostly rust and electrical problems - one friend's XJS turned into a nightmare of rust in hidden places.

I was looking at the newer S-type - too many expensive faults.

The bravest car I ever bought was a Renault Safrane 3,0 RXE - it was like a fighter jet - air suspension, pneumatic electric memory seats - all in leather - 1st gen with the Concorde dash.    

As you can imagine, I've had a lot of cars....shortest period was only 3-months - I bought a bargain MGBGT on a whim - what a POS - like driving a tractor - made good profit on that.      Similarly with my X1/9 - 4 months.    I've had many multiples of some cars - lots of Astras, Escorts, Vectras, Omegas, Senators, BMWs etc. - easy to buy, easy to sell.

Now the admiration goes the other way... :c)

I'm really into cars - I know exactly what I'm looking at when buying so I tend to buy low, drive for 6-months and then sell for profit -  zero maintenance costs for 30 years -  I've only ever changed 2 sets of brake pads - rarely ever service a car - only fitted one exhaust part and 4 tyres - I let other people pick up those tabs before and after me.  

I had a Ibiza Cupra with an odd fault caused by a dodgy fusebox - tricky to find without my ODB scanner.

The XJ40 was when they finally sorted the rear suspension and braking setup -  miles better than the XJ6-derived systems and worth money on the spares market..

When I bought my first one, an old and wise friend said "Don't do it. Better people than you have been broken by jags". The XJ40 turned out to be a winner for me, however, but unfortunately they are now both too old to get fixed easily at a reasonable price by your local non jaguar approved jaguar specialist, and fast appeciating in value, so you can't get a nice runner carrying a fault for a grand now. Of course, when you buy one it will have something going wrong with it, that's why the owner wants to sell it! (Unless yo are very lucky, of course). The trick is to be able to identify the problem (if it isn't obvious) and accurately estimate how much it will cost to get fixed. The last one I bought (from a used car dealer) looked minty, but during the test drive just as I could hear the diff start to whine he turned the radio on. I was happy then because I knew what the fault was, I knew my local garage would have a decent late model used spare in stock, and I now knew he was going to accept some serious haggling in order to drop it onto me. I also knew that on a thousand quid Jaguar, if you are going to use it as a company vehicle which I used to, you need to budget for about £1300 a year for maintenance, and if you actually have that 1300 to spend they just continually improve from when you buy them. (particularly if you can save that money when nothing goes wrong in that year! Which happened a lot more more often than I expected).

BUT only the XJ40 Jaguars seem to work that way... I was lucky, I chose possibly the best model they've ever built... But yes, rust gets them in the end and whilst it is curable, with a specialist rebuild, that would require, being able to save up the unused part of that 1300 quid budget, for ten years and probably still take an extra 5K on top.. Which I've never managed to do. I always have to change them when the rust becomes an issue.   

The rule I learned is that luxury cars break expensive, but nowhere near as often as consumer cars, unless you buy a "lemon" as the car trade them. (Tip: NEVER buy a car with a new looking lemon scented air freshener from a dealer (whether official or an amateur "wheeler dealer") or at auction... It will not go wel. Seriously, that's a thing!