Anyone who owns a fussy car really needs to own an unfussy one to preserve their sanity.

"Honeybunchesofgoats" (honeybunche0fgoats) 05/29/2016 at 18:02 • Filed to: Jag, Town Car, Beer

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This is my first post on Oppo, so I thought I would introduce my two cars.

I have two cars. Fred Astaire Town Car and Cary Grant Jaguar (because he’s an Americanized Brit). Both are silver, RWD sedans with V8s that get around 18 MPG marques owned by Ford. The similarities stop there, however. Astaire is a 16 year old Panther tank with almost 200,000 miles on the odometer and yearly maintenance consisting of regular oil changes and a new air suspension and wiper motor every three years. Cary is a Jaaaaaag .

Cary recently developed a click when opening the door. On an X308, this is inevitably because the check arm, which is between—and independent of—the hinges (because, Jaguar), has pulled its bolts through the door. The fix usually consists of taking apart the door, bending the metal back into shape, and adding fender washers that should have been there from the start.

Pictured: Step 3 of 13 to remove the door card.

But Cary is special. After an hour and a half of dismantling the door and being terrified of snapping the walnut inlay in two while prying it out (Jaguarforums.com confidence boosting tip: “once you remove the inlay, it will always rattle”), I discovered that rather than pull the bolts through the door, the plate that secures the check arm had instead decided to break in two (this is preferable?).

Since I stupidly did not have a spare check arm in my toolbox, this meant ordering a new one online and reassembling the door for now (because I happen to prefer driving with a complete door).

At the same time, Astaire the Town Car’s battery finally gave up the ghost, which meant putting in a new one. The battery is held into the harness with a plastic wedge and a 6" bolt. Of course, the bolt was rusted, so it snapped in half when I tried to take it out.

After debating whether it was okay to drive with an unsecured battery (probably), I decided to just pull out the battery harness and try to get the old bolt out. After about five minutes, four bolts, and half a beer, the harness was out, but what was left of the bolt wasn’t budging. Now, on the Jag, this probably would have meant buying a new harness for the battery or else the drive shaft would fall out. But since this is a Panther, I just drilled a new hole, stuck a new bolt in, and clamped it down with a wing nut. I’m pretty sure I just added to the resale value by doing that.

Steve in Manhattan > Honeybunchesofgoats 05/29/2016 at 18:05

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And no doubt with 2 very similar wiring harnesses, which Ford certainly knows how to build.

djmt1 > Honeybunchesofgoats 05/29/2016 at 18:07

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The X308 had air suspension?

#Jumps on Auto trader and finds 4.0 LWB Sovereign for £300#

I want an X308

#Jumps on Direct line to get insure quote#

Well that was a nice dream.

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > Honeybunchesofgoats 05/29/2016 at 18:09

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I’d take a chance on an X358 - do they have the same trubbles as the X308?

Honeybunchesofgoats > Steve in Manhattan 05/29/2016 at 18:11

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That's what happens when you outsource your wiring to MC Escher.

Honeybunchesofgoats > djmt1 05/29/2016 at 18:14

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Forgot about that, thankfully not. I think the 358 does, and the XJ6 had some sort of weird voodoo going on with the rear. Some 308s have CATS, which mine luckily doesn't.

Honeybunchesofgoats > Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom 05/29/2016 at 18:20

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They don’t have nearly as poor of a reputation. By that point, Jag had figured out that plastic timing chain tensioners are not a great idea, and I don’t think the transmission is nearly as prone to committing suicide as the X308's.

On the other hand, you don’t get that bum.

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > Honeybunchesofgoats 05/29/2016 at 19:18

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Is the V8 preferred over the I6? Assuming there’s a choice on the X358..

JGrabowMSt > Honeybunchesofgoats 05/29/2016 at 19:35

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I thought it was hard owning a pair of Diamler Benz products....

Honeybunchesofgoats > Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom 05/29/2016 at 19:36

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European X358s could be had with a V6 out of the S-Type, but I have no idea how they stack up. Honestly, in spite of its early problems, the AJ-V8 is a pretty great engine, so I can’t imagine the V6 being preferable.

Honeybunchesofgoats > JGrabowMSt 05/29/2016 at 19:55

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In all fairness, you probably do have it slightly worse. I’m pretty confident that I could never change the oil again and the Town Car would still make it to 300k.

JGrabowMSt > Honeybunchesofgoats 05/29/2016 at 20:03

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I would be very badly punished if I went more than 15k between changes. I push it to 10k, only due to cost/quantity of fluids. 11qts in one, 7 in the other.

I am seriously considering getting myself a little Honda commuter car though. If I could find a manual CR-Z probably next year, I would daily that, or at least use it more than the current stable. Between Chrysler wiring/computers and Benz part costs, I am not getting a break so far this year.

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > Honeybunchesofgoats 05/29/2016 at 20:22

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I see the U.S. market car was V8 only from X308 onward.

V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches > Honeybunchesofgoats 05/29/2016 at 20:55

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Can confirm, owns W220 S600. I just bought a ‘97 Lexus LS400 to have a reliable car to go with the horrifically unreliable S class.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Honeybunchesofgoats 05/29/2016 at 22:05

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!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

for every jalop vehicle one should have a normal car. bosses will only accept the my car is broken so many times before they become an unemployed jalop

Honeybunchesofgoats > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 05/29/2016 at 23:18

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Already owning a reliable car was exactly how I justified buying the Jag to myself.

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > Honeybunchesofgoats 05/30/2016 at 13:51

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I spent an hour on Fleabay last night looking at X350/X358s. I’m pathetic :(

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Honeybunchesofgoats 05/31/2016 at 11:29

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I drove my unreliable car all of last week. I definitely feel the sanity check thing. Of course, my “reliable” car has a vacuum leak that requires me to pop the hood to switch it off, but it’s reliable in that.