A MCS or a early 90s Jaguar XK8 convertable? The reason I ask is I saw a green XK8 Drophead Coupe for $21k on eBay. Tempting.... very tempting.....


Matt

 

You are asking MINI addicts which car you should get? Bwahahahaha!

Um...I guess if not for the Jag's reliability reputation, it may be somewhat attractive!


Clover

 

Let's see.. you're between a MCS and a convertible Jag.

Why don't you get a MCSC? or

Mod more the one you have.

 

4 d money its good... but should check history on d late 80`s early 90`s

them joints rock!!

but still i would go 4 another min coop (04 S)

 

I can tell you from experience that those Jags have too many problems. Its one of those, "if its not one thing, its another thing" cars as far as needed repairs (mostly in the realm of electical problems).

MCSc. You know you want it. Fine, ok, I want it. But do it for the People.

 

You need 3 Jags. One for the shop, one to be in the driveway looking good (but broken, awaiting repair) and one to drive. Rotate weekly. Oh, and lots of money.

Yes, I am serious.

 

By golly, it'll have to be an...













MCS!!!!!!!!!!

 

they ( Jag's ) are POS cars ! I have done many of them and all of them have had issues that were pretty expensive. One ( that I know of ) had a ton of problems when it was new.

One in particular just turned 70K and had the hoses replaced and a couple other small maint items and the bill was over $5K

I really wasnt impressed with the ride/power either for the level of car it is supposed to be and the price tag.

 

You don't understand.... it's the heritage beyond the problems, look at us MINI owners! We have our own idosyncrasies, yet we love them to death?! Well I know i do, Hell want a troublesome car? Look for a 1968 BMW 2002 Unrestored, original paint, engine, tires, battery, AND unrusted shock towers.

 

I'd be shocked at any 37-year-old car in the condition you describe. Even shrink-wrap wouldn't work!

Humidity-controlled storage

No sunlight

No ozone

tires kept inflated, then rotated to avoid "flat spots" in sidewalls.

Hey, a fella can dream though, right?

Cheers,
matthew z

 

If that were a shrink wrapped early 60s Jag convertible I might have to give the nod. Otherwise you're looking at two totally different animals and my pet of choice would be the MCS.

 

That's exactly what I've heard from everybody I've known who had Jags.

OTOH, there is, or used to be, a guy in Dallas (I think his name was Jaguar John, if memory serves) who would take Jags and pull out all the troublesome bits. That included engines, trannys, electrical bits, etc. He'd replace them with small block (or for more money and serious craziness big block) Chevy bits. The result was an essentially unresalable hot rod that was fast, reliable, and pretty.

But not a Jaguar. He also used to drop small block Fords into TR7s, which is how I met him.

 

And at $21k, it's not going to loose any more value as long as you don't hit a tree with it. And this one is AREADY a ford, so you don't have to remove the Lucas "Prince of Darkness" parts....

I just find it interesting to look at the different things you can get for about the same amount......

Matt

 

When I had my MB CLK 430, I was always worried someone would key it, or push a shopping cart into it. When I drove it on the street I couldn't enjoy or even appreciate its performance potential. The two good things I did with that car were to pick it up in Germany, where I got to drive it on the autobahn(like a rock at 125mph w/4 people and luggage!) and trade it for my first MINI. I had the center brake light burn out, $32 for the bulb at the dealer, lucky it was covered by warranty.

The Jag would be pretty....
to look at
expensive to repair
expensive to insure
expensive to put gas in
boring to drive(legally)
hard to sell.

Give me a new MCS

 

depends.... do you like working on your cars. The Jag will most likely require more maint. Only you can decide about the looks, style and the type of car you are after... I know which one I would choose... Good luck

 

Between the two I’d definitely go for the MCS. I was looking into a Jag myself not too long ago. Couldn’t afford a new one so I was considering one with a few years on it but still looking great. Well to my surprise even the dealer selling the car... said “NO” don’t get the Jag . They have too may mechanical problems and you’ll find yourself spending more time in the shop then out. I asked the dealer why he was being so honest ? He then said that “I seemed like a nice person and he didn’t want it on his conscious knowing he had sold me a bad car” . He said unless I was in the market for a new one (which he didn’t sell) with full warranty to take care of lengthy and extremely costly problems. It would be in my best interest to simply select another brand of vehicle. It’s too bad every used car dealers isn’t that honest .

 

New Jaguars are essentially rebadged Ford products. The Jaguar X-Type has been a monumental flop for Ford and the car is constantly given away with heavely subsidized lease deals. Jaguars have dismal resale value (Not as bad as Audi's though) and questionnable reliability.


Jaguar's main mistake was to move downmarket with the X and S Type models. the S Type is basically a Lincoln LS with a Jaguar body and assembled in Coventry.

I miss the old "TRUE" Jaguars but even those I would not touch with a 20 foot pole.

Give me a Lotus Esprit or MCS instead.

 

Cooper. S. Convertible. Done.

 

The older the Jag the worse your experiences (read-$$$$). Seventies, eighties and early nineties were especially trouble prone. Now if someone has a 66 XKE for sale I might be persuaded.

 

That it would be near universal.....

Before I got my Mini, I was interested in the Jag XKR, but I couldn't get in in the beautiful blue. Oh, and I didn't have the $80k +! I know it's not as tight as a 911 or a Mini, it's more a freeway cruzer than a canyon carver. But the price ratio would be like getting a MCS for 8 grand......

Maybe it would be a girl to date, and not marry! I kept a Porsche 944 for 6 weeks (fun little fling). Bought it for $1750, and sold it for $1780 (added watter wetter and a nice keychain!) And at $21k, I'm sure you could move ithe XK8 covertable on without taking a big hit, if any at all.

Anyway, I hope you all don't see me as sacraligeous! I'll keep modding my car (SC work next) and keep going faster. But I'm getting to the point where I'm gonna have to add a Vortech to the Mustang, it doesn't feel as much faster as it used to!

Matt

 

i'd say get both - unless you could get a early 90's mini that would be way cool

 

Around here (Tampa) it's really common to see those nice older Jags with chevy V8 conversions - makes them 10x as reliable and finally as fast as they look!

 

Hahaha... some friends of mine had a late 80's Jag a while back that was affectionately dubbed the "Yard Cat" because it was always broken down in the front yard.

It looked nice though.