| Author | Message | ||
     Robert Howlett Prolific User Username: bobhowlett Post Number: 150 Registered: 9-2010 |
Had a customer today that bought a Silver Spirit from Hong Kong .He's a Cotton farmer and had no idea what he bought ..he said it only had 36000 miles on the clock and its a piece of junk.How does this happen, how can a car with such low mileage and a pedigree be such a bomb.I gave him this website and some links to flying spares and Bob Chapman,and of course the expert advice of people of this this website .He was totally unaware that was help out there .His wife was ready to give it away she'd had enough. | ||
| Richard Treacy Grand Master Username: richard_treacy Post Number: 3227 Registered: 4-2003 |
55,000+ km is a lot for a car pottering around Victoria Island or Kowloon for a few km at a time over a 30 year period. It's a very old car by most standards and has probably been serviced twice in it long life. It was probably bought because of a low price and without a re-purchase evaluation. Given that cotton is subject to quality control and a wife is usually checked out before you marry her, why not a fancy old motor car too ? There are lots of really good SZs in Hong Kong, so why go for the worst ? | ||
| Robert Noel Reddington Grand Master Username: bob_uk Post Number: 499 Registered: 5-2015 |
Some people seem to forget that an old Rolls Royce is also an old car. The other day a guy asked me how much to service an XJ12. I said £200 to £500. He seemed to think that this was much too much money. Wrong owner and wrong car. He needs a 5 year old VW Golf not a 35 year old Jag. He will have lots of problems wirh the Jag due to bad servicing. Many years ago I serviced a Bentley T1 for sale. The guy who brought it complained about everything possible. He even suggested that 13mpg was excessive. The boss said that good around town and the guy went off wirh the hump. A few years layer I saw the car looking very scruffy with a clapped gearbox. Wrong owner. Hopefully this Spirit owner will get in touch so we can repair his car over the web for him. | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 1667 Registered: 6-2009 |
There are lots of "bad examples" out there that through pure ignorance end up in good hands. I see no problem with warning people about what to look for if they're embarking on a search for a Rolls-Royce or Bentley but I see no point in telling someone who has a bad example that they want to revive that they shouldn't do that or in withholding information on how to do so. As long as they know that doing so is not a financially sound undertaking then they're going in with the most important information they need. I would never even consider a Jag V12 based on what I know from watching others try to keep the things running in tune. It's one of those situations where you're just plain lucky if you get "functioning at peak" for a brief period of time. Contrast that with the computer controlled V12s from the Seraph era on. Brian | ||
| Robert Noel Reddington Grand Master Username: bob_uk Post Number: 500 Registered: 5-2015 |
Most classic cars cost more to restore than they are worth. Low mileage old cars can be good buys but one must be prepared to get dirt under the finger nails and spend the money wisely, don't respray the car and not do the mechanical. Maybe sort the mechanics and use for a while till the dust settles and get the cosmetics done. A car with less than perfect paint that drives nice with perfect mechanics is much better than a steaming kettle with nice paint broken down awaiting a truck. The cost is forgotten when the quality remains. Used Royces attract skillful artists with body filler etc. And equally skilled mechanics who can bodge with the best of them. I should think Hong Kong has a few. The XJ12 1972 to 1984. This car is badly let down by the fuel injection system which is Bosch made by Lucas under licence. The relations between workers and management and internal politics was bad. This reflected in the quality control. Nearly every XJ12 had suffered injection failure. The 2 on a fleet I looked after had lots of injection bits changed. The cure is to replace with the upgraded system which is available. The series 3 XJ12s were much better. Once sorted a good XJ12 will out roller a roller. The feel is different but so nice the way the car just sits at 70 mph that feels like 30 mph. The vanden plas versions were as well trimmed as a Shadow or Spirit. Also a 2 door version was raced under Broad speed racing team with factory support. They fiddled with the engine and got 600 bhp and got the mass down to 1.5 tons. 8 piston front calipers each side for brakes. The cars did quite well and got pole position but never actually won a race. The cars were very fast 180mph plus. | ||
| Mark Aldridge Prolific User Username: mark_aldridge Post Number: 252 Registered: 10-2008 |
My son had a 1974 XJ12 saloon when he was 18. This was a carb engine (4 Strombergs) Insurance worked out at £1 per mile and fuel consumption was 8mpg !! A fabulous , quick and reliable car only let down by poor quality trim and fit.Sold it after a couple of years and replaced it with a Mark 1 Jag and a Silver Spirit which he kept 9 months before selling it to me.He rated the XJ12 better than the Spirit. Mark |
