Thanks, Carolyn. I didn’t know that trick.
A 280Z will not be a ’ New Car ’ . How about giving more details - such as budget - use of vehicle - daily or weekend driver .
I just checked hemmings.com and there are 12 280Z’s on there right now, various years and various areas of the US. Don’t rule out 240’s or 260’s either. Same looks, slightly smaller engines. Good luck!
Better looks for the pre-1974 models because of the bumpers. But the 240 was notorious for rusting out.
There’s a bunch of 280z’s on craigslist, cars&trucks for sale. Nice cars, but any car from the 70’s/early 80’s, expect quite a bit of upkeep cost. The early ones were carbureted I think, later they switched to Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection. I’ve owed an early 1970’s Ford carb’d truck for years and years and it still works, reliable, and I still drive it weekly, so such a thing is possible. I think if I was looking for a 280z I might go for a carbureted version, less likely to experience difficult to diagnose problems. I like the looks and reliability of the 280Z better than the Jag myself.
If the OP can afford one, the Toyota 2000GT is–in my opinion–a far better-looking car than any of Nissan’s “Z” cars. I can recall seeing a picture of one in Popular Mechanics shortly before I got my driver’s license, and I thought that it was an incredibly sexy-looking car.
True about the 2000GT, but they’re easily over $100,000, right?
Oops, I was wrong, make that $1.2 MILLION!
If OP could afford that, she’d be buying a new Jag, for every day of the week.
Yeah… As a kid I used to ride my bike down to Ocean Drive (which runs along the bay…naturally) in Avalon NJ… I used to go into the only Sunoco gas station parking lot to look at and inside a strange car that I had never seen before. I was mesmerized by it, could not take my eyes off of it and visited it daily for about a month. It had gone so far as me asking my Dad to ask the gas station if he could speak to the owner of the car so that he could possibly buy it, I may have been 10-12 at the time… My argument was that he could drive it until I was old enough and it could then serve as my first car… Aww man… I will never forget that…
What vehicle was this you ask? yep, you guessed it, it was a Toyota 2000GT… I fell completely in love with that vehicle back then and have stayed in love with it ever since. It was Maroon and had the magnesium wheels and was in disrepair to put it mildly… It seemed forgotten and I wanted it so badly. I would kid my Dad about how he should’ve listened to me decades later
As Ralph Kramden said… A mere bag of shells…
What about the Honda S2000? It still has “2000” in its name, so it’s got the “2000” cache thing. And would make for a much newer more reliable ride and a pretty nice looker to boot (of which it has one I think). I’m seeing some on CL for a really small bag of shells, there’s a 2001 model for less than $10,000.
Run so fast that you trip over yourself. But a Toyota or lexus. It is a money pit.
Don’t you mean ( Buy a Toyota or Lexus ). If you had read the OP posted that they had decided to not purchase the Jaguar.
so about everyone hera has told you to run not walk form this. if you can’t hear it at least run your about to get a pig in the poke. and this guy is about to make sucker come true once again. do what you want but if it turns out to be junk don’t stop back and ask us to help you fix it. we are warning you to just run away fast.
That reminds me of an ex-boyfriend of my daughter who got conned into buying a very used Series 5 BMW (cheap). He mercifully dumped it before it drained his bank account and now drives a Toyota Corolla.
The easiest way to make a small fortune. Start with a large fortune and buy an old Jaguar.
NOTHING AND I MEAN NOTHING IS CHEAP FOR A OLD JAG.
From someone who has been around cars for over 50 years my advice to you is RUN don’t walk to the nearest exit.
It might be pretty but that is as far as it goes.
Even new, they are really over rated vehicles.
The person decided to NOT buy the Jaguar . Good Greif , read people.
There are three types of owners of pre-owned luxury cars:
- bought at a dealer with a maintenance package
- bought a luxo-car for status symbol and intend to drive it into the ground (probably in 3-6 months)
- mechanic or dating a mechanic and understand that everything costs more for a car that was $85,000 new.
A 1985 Jaguar comes from the time period when owning a Jag meant you had enough money to own a car that was in the shop 200 days of the year. If it rains, the headlights usually don’t work. If it’s dry the convertible doesn’t work. They are more temperamental than a cat with schizophrenia.
Buy it. And become the defacto expert on repairing 1980’s Jags. Then post your experience on Craiglist and make enough money on side work to keep your own car running.
Source: I’m a 90’s BMW owner.