Deposit made - collecting this week - need some advice please

K

Kilsh

New member
Hi

I will hopefully be collecting my, new to me, 380 Firesand convertible on Wednesday. It’s an early production or possibly pre job 1 vehicle, I have a contact in JLR who is looking at it for me 21,000 miles and apart from JLR only one previous owner on the V5.

It’s in lovely condition apart from some scratching on the top of the drivers side rear at the side of the boot lid, cat claws apparently. A small chip under the drivers door handle, a few small stone chips on the nose and and 2 scuffed black alloys. It comes with a space saver.

It is in effect coming home as I live about 5 miles from Gaydon.

I have been looking at various topics on the forum which has been very helpful but I have a couple of questions I’m sure some of the established members will be able to help me with.

I don’t really want to cart the space saver around all of the time, what would be a good compressor/ slime kit to buy?

Can any one recommend a good dealer in the West Mids? I have had some dealings with Guy Salmon Cov and Listers in Solihull so far, neither have blown me away, may just because I’m talking to the wrong service person, I’m comparing them to the service I get from BMW in Warwick who are first class.

How much power is the vehicle likely to have lost since new? I’m not tempted by remapping but is there a tuning option out there which would return it to its original output without interfering with the ICU ?

Can anyone recommend a good body shop or smart repair company to look at the scratches in the Warwick area?

Can anyone recommend a good wheel repair shop to look at the alloys in the Warwick area?

Does anyone make Wheel gator which matches Firesand exactly? Are they a good or bad idea?, has anyone fitted Firesand / orange ones to black wheels? I think there is dealer fitter in Warwick again has anyone any experience of dealing with them?

Expect loads more questions soon!

In the meantime thanks for any inputs.

Cheers

Neil
 
Hello (again) Neil,

Re. slime either look for a XE / XF / F-type kit on ebay - but if so beware of the use by date - or more practically just pop to Halfrauds and buy one of the large size ones and that will handle 19/20" tyre sizes.
To be honest it's 50/50 if it will work on the puncture - you're more likely to rip the tyre fully on some of the potholes at the moment!!
But it's all most people carry around - especially if you want to get some boot space back.

Re. power loss i wouldn't worry - it's unlikely to have lost enough that you could tell - especially if it has been serviced on time.
Although I still stick to Shell VMax for the Mustang, I've switched to Tesco Momentum 99 in the Jag - although it runs just fine on normal RON fuel I do find you get more pops and farts from higher octane. Filled up yesterday and noticed it was 2p a litre cheaper than the regular BP stuff just down the road.

Re. the Gators I wouldn't bother - if it's on Pirelli's at the mo just use them up and then switch to Michelin Pilot Sport 4S and have the wheels done at the same time. As well as totally improving the handling the 4S also have a projecting sidewall that does the same job as a Gator unless it's a "proper" kerbing.

I'm sure others will have some info. on your other queries.

Oh, and enjoy the drive! :)

(get through next week and we've supposed to get some decent weather!)

Cheers,
Simon
 
Hi Neil

Welcome to the club!

I'd be interested to see what your VIN number is as i have an early V6S convertible too (and have had since new - 5 years now).

In terms of power - i don't think mine has lost any and it's similar mileage too. The servicing is important for this i think.

I'd echo the comments about the Michelin 4S tyres - awesome things and worth a change.

In terms of dealers, I'm a midlands lad and had a terrible dealer i bought the car from and for official Jaguar servicing and work I now use Sturgess in Leicester - excellent people and very good on a few challenges i had with the car and helped me deal with Jaguar and get costs refunded etc. Worth the drive if its something difficult.

Now i'm getting mine serviced by a very good independent garage, which is Northfield Jaguar, which is in Birmingham (South Birmingham so easier for you - up the M40 and in via the A38, J1). It's an old school mess of a garage, but they know Jaguars backwards and are always busy.

I look forward to seeing the pictures and your experiences next week!
 
Simon

Thanks for the quick reply, really useful stuff esp the comments on 4s tyres.

Interesting comments re fuel, I have mostly used Sainsbury’s after being told by a BMW mechanic to avoid all other supermarket fuel apart from Sainsbury’s, with the odd top up at BP or similar. I will check out the Tesco Momentum.

Hi Daytona650

Thanks for the heads up on Northfield I will check them out, I guess their pricing is a bit more competitive too? It has had full Jag servicing up to now, last check was in Feb with a dealer in Yorkshire.

Pm me your VIN and I will respond with mine

Cheers

Neil
 
Well I’ve got it

Even in crap weather and heavy traffic on the M1 it was just ....

WOW!

Not even had the roof down yet

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
 
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