Decisions, decisions ...

[yapman]

Tonight I'm headed down to my parents' to have a look at a pair of cars.

An astonishingly cheap '03, 2 litre MG ZS which has barely ever been driven.

Or an apparently gorgeous, very much reduced, XJR that was apparently once owned by Jeff Banks and has had a very nice custom finish to it.

I'm looking forward to a bit of a spin around ...

Comments

[pax_draconis]

Oh, buy the XJR, it is a prince among cars. I feel slightly surreal even comparing it to an MG-ZS. It's like comparing a well-upholstered green leather chesterfield sofa to a canvas camp stool with a broken arm.

The trouble with the Rover engines was the head gasket - which routinely blew once every 30 0r 40k. If there is no proof of a recent new gasket, smile politely and move on, saving yourself £much £pain. Plus, the Rover 45 was never the best engineered car to begin with - if I was going to buy another late-era Rover it would be a 75/ZT, which was at least a good car to begin with before lack of investment left it in the dust.

The XJR will drink petrol if you are anything other than featherlight with your right foot - it does, after all, have a SUPERCHARGER under the bonnet. Or should. Find a good stretch of road, straightish, with no cameras or nosey fellows, and give the old girl a good shoeing. The consequences may suprise you so be prepared... The combination of effortless grace and acceleration normally associated with advanced spacecraft is an experience not to be missed.

[yapman]

Hmm, I misplaced a comment somewhere. I could have sworn I already posted that I can't possibly have heard correctly when I heard XJR. Even at mates rates, the price I was quoted is roughly a third of what I should be expecting to pay ...

Still, I expect I'll choose the Jag in the end.

[yapman]

I was right, it's not an XJR, it's a G reg XJ6 with a whole load of custom factory work.

At £2,500, I'm seriously considering it. The MG felt horrible ..

And it was very impressive when I hit the kick down.