[Droog]

Hi, apologies for the novel. I have inherited from my late father a jaguar xf premium luxury diesel auto. Its in spotless condition inside and out and low mileage 51k. Anyway my father passed just before Christmas and his widow has been nagging me to get it off his drive. I am currently on a ban for speeding so paid to get the vehicle transported to me. Once delivered I kept it running on the drive for a couple of hours for few days to charge the battery. I decided to sell it and a guy responded to the advert and turned up with another dodgy looking bloke. Anyway whilst I was getting my registration doc they poured engine oil into the coolant and around the head and disconnected or removed a sensor or something. They then tried to convince me the engine was buggered as the car is now in limp mode and there was oil in the coolant. Yet, they were here now so were still interested in buying the car for spares for a pittance obviously. After ejecting these cretins and realising I have just paid auto trader 75 quid to send two Romanians to my house to vandalise my car I now have to work out what they have removed or loosened and devise a way to clear the oil out of the coolant. I would be very appreciative of any suggestions
Thanks muchly

 

[DAVENN]

Hi, apologies for the novel. I have inherited from my late father a jaguar xf premium luxury diesel auto. Its in spotless condition inside and out and low mileage 51k. Anyway my father passed just before Christmas and his widow has been nagging me to get it off his drive. I am currently on a ban for speeding so paid to get the vehicle transported to me. Once delivered I kept it running on the drive for a couple of hours for few days to charge the battery. I decided to sell it and a guy responded to the advert and turned up with another dodgy looking bloke. Anyway whilst I was getting my registration doc they poured engine oil into the coolant and around the head and disconnected or removed a sensor or something. They then tried to convince me the engine was buggered as the car is now in limp mode and there was oil in the coolant. Yet, they were here now so were still interested in buying the car for spares for a pittance obviously. After ejecting these cretins and realising I have just paid auto trader 75 quid to send two Romanians to my house to vandalise my car I now have to work out what they have removed or loosened and devise a way to clear the oil out of the coolant. I would be very appreciative of any suggestions
Thanks muchly

Welcome to the forum.
A very common practice.
Plenty of advice on this on the Google.
I'd not run it, get it onto a flatbed and into a local garage.

 

[Rigger]

Welcome, and sorry for the woes on your father's car.

Drain and flush both oil and coolant and then repost the sale.

Better yet, take ownership and enjoy what your late father enjoyed.

 

[Phil1]

And keep a close eye on anyone in future while they're kicking the tyres so to speak!

There are safer options in my eyes to Autotrader and it happens all too often.

 

[Droog]

Does anyone have any suggestions what they may have tampered with to put the vehicle into limp mode please? I have found out they turned up the night before also when I was out. My neighbour said he heard my car alarm going and saw the same two rummaging around the car. He assumed I was in.
Draining the coolant and oil and flushing the coolant through I can probably manage but have no idea what they have done to put the vehicle into limp mode

 

[OBC John]

See any cut wires? Or connectors hanging loose? (MAF sensors?)
Pull the plastic engine cover off and look under there. (MAP sensor?)

 

[DAVENN]

Does anyone have any suggestions what they may have tampered with to put the vehicle into limp mode please? I have found out they turned up the night before also when I was out. My neighbour said he heard my car alarm going and saw the same two rummaging around the car. He assumed I was in.
Draining the coolant and oil and flushing the coolant through I can probably manage but have no idea what they have done to put the vehicle into limp mode

have a look for a loose connection .
if it was smoking it could be due to coolant being contaminated creating error.
if you're not 100% get it into a garage.
it would be a shame if the mobile number was posted somewhere

 

[DAVENN]

Welcome, and sorry for the woes on your father's car.

Drain and flush both oil and coolant and then repost the sale.

Better yet, take ownership and enjoy what your late father enjoyed.

yep
be a shame for the car to go.
a future classic?

 

[JakeBlade]

If they were there the night before they may have been spraying water straight up into the air intake.

That would be enough to put the car into restricted performance, which a simple air filter change would resolve.

 

[cutlea01]

Even a basic diagnostic tool will give some clue as to the cause of the MIL. From £25 or so on Amazon.

 

[AntF]

Presumably they wouldn't have knackered anything too much as they were going to "fix" whatever they had broken. Hope you get it sorted. Saw a similar thing on TV some time ago where CCTV caught them at it.
You can change the oil with an extractor or pump (£10 from Lidl) so don't need to get it on ramps. If you don't have the time any local garage should be able to read at least the basic codes and find what they unplugged.

 

[PaulT]

Lesson learnt. When I am buying a car I like to be left to have a good look without the owner hovering by. Similarly, if I am selling a car I like to leave the buyer alone to have a look. Clearly, not a good idea and a need to keep a beady eye open for scum.

Hope you get it sorted.