school boy error?

[freqeist1]

I have bought a Jaguar XJ Sport on ebay with a blown head gasket (£250.00)
question one is can I drive it home?
question how much of an idiot am I?
My girlfriend is doing her nut, oh and the other question is how much to have one fitted and where in Sussex (UK)?
Thankyou (have I made a terrible mistake??

[Mike_Mac]

freqeist1 said:

I have bought a Jaguar XJ Sport on ebay with a blown head gasket (£250.00)
question one is can I drive it home?
question how much of an idiot am I?
My girlfriend is doing her nut, oh and the other question is how much to have one fitted and where in Sussex (UK)?
Thank you (have I made a terrible mistake??

Bloody Hell! Where to start? OK...

Driving Home: Short answer - NO! There's a slight chance you could get away with it depending where/how badly the HG has blown, but it's very unlikely to end well, plus it'll undoubtedly make any damage/cooling system contamination worse. Trailer or Recovery truck is your best bet here.

Cost of fitting: I'd budget at least a grand (IME), but I suspect with a Jag XJ (not sure what engine you're talking about either) it'll likely be a lot more. All depends if/how badly the cylinder head(s) has warped and whether it/they can be skimmed or need replaced. I would try and find somewhere with reasonable labour rates - that's the only way to control the costs a bit (just not some shady £25/h, cash only mate, back-street ones).

Were you an Idiot: TBH - just a wee bit , but speaking as someone who bought a crash-damaged GS300 on a whim for £350 I can't really talk...

My advice? Investigate ALL costs first, plus whether there's any other major issues that will also add to the costs, then decide whether to go ahead, or just part out/scrap it and take a minimal loss now!

Edited by Mike_Mac on Wednesday 6th July 19:26

[l80ous]

On ebay before the end of the month for £250, who's betting????

[CharlieAlphaMike]

Dump the girlfriend!

[Trabi601]

Surely the cost of HG repair will be more than cost of buying a decent, working XJ Sport?

[P700DEE]

Any good at DIY ? Buy a replacement second hand engine and fit yourself? Head gasket , both sides will be £1K+ I know I had my XKR go however I drove for ages before it hydrolocked, AA started it (we thought starter motor failure) and it drove find to my indi to be fixed. All depends on the symptoms that gave HG failure

[Mike_Mac]

Trabi601 said:

Surely the cost of HG repair will be more than cost of buying a decent, working XJ Sport?

IME, yup! Also, you can get one that is in good condition, with good history etc, whereas I'm assuming the OP hasn't even heard this one running, so God knows what else may be found to be wrong when it starts up and drives for the first time...

Barge-pole! Wouldn't even touch it then!

[l80ous]

I paid £2k for HGF repair on my X308 XJR, Can't see a Sport being a lot less, maybe £1600 thought I did have timing chain and tensionors replaced, but surely best to get this done at the time as well.

As above anything else could be wrong, could be the worst £250 ever to be spent.