So the garage came back with a quote for the work - a few quid short of a grand! Hmmm, at twice the anmount we paid for the car it doesn't sound like a good investment. What's that they say about throwing good money after bad?
First things first though - I got straight on to eBay to see what savings were to be had. A spectacular amount, it seems. Some guy who takes apart Jaguars in a shed in Wales has offered to mail all the parts across for the grand total of £110 - a saving of about £700. Excellent stuff. Now with £200 labour it seems we might be on the road again for just over £300 - now that's more like it.
Furthermore, it seems that the trader who sold us the car misled us (more than just a little bit), and there's laws against that sort of thing. So, an email, a letter and a phone call later, he's made his position clear - he ain't coughing up a penny, despite selling a car which was potentially lethal.
My next project, therefore, is attempting to get some kind of recompense through the small claims process. I think we've got a fairly strong case, so watch this space.
Monday, 21 January 2008
Monday, 14 January 2008
Unlucky For Some
I've never been that superstitious, but when buying our luxury motor from a trader in Essex, I commented to Bob that the date was the 13th - possibly not the best day to do this. "It'll be fine," he said "I got married on Friday 13th". That put my mind at rest - after all, his marriage is going very well. However, my ease was short lived, as the car is going not so well.
We paid (as per the rules) a princely sum of £500 for our 1990 Jaguar Sovereign. Not a bad deal considering it has 6 months MOT, electric everything, and a 3.6 litre straight-six engine. However, less than 2 hours after handing over the cash I applied the brakes at a roundabout to be met with a bang and a grinding/ratttling sound. I limped back to Bob's, at which point I heard the tinkle of metal on tarmac. Bob retrieved one of our brake pads from the road (basically a scorching hot piece of metal), and we now await the verdict from the garage as to how much this will damage our budget (and our egos).
Rich, meanwhile, is sitting pretty on his £499 BMW 735i - a big, black behemoth of a car which, so far, seems to exhibit no signs of breaking. Germany 1 England 0.
We paid (as per the rules) a princely sum of £500 for our 1990 Jaguar Sovereign. Not a bad deal considering it has 6 months MOT, electric everything, and a 3.6 litre straight-six engine. However, less than 2 hours after handing over the cash I applied the brakes at a roundabout to be met with a bang and a grinding/ratttling sound. I limped back to Bob's, at which point I heard the tinkle of metal on tarmac. Bob retrieved one of our brake pads from the road (basically a scorching hot piece of metal), and we now await the verdict from the garage as to how much this will damage our budget (and our egos).
Rich, meanwhile, is sitting pretty on his £499 BMW 735i - a big, black behemoth of a car which, so far, seems to exhibit no signs of breaking. Germany 1 England 0.
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