Man buys 2008 Jaguar X-Type Sport for $406 after it had been sitting abandoned for years and quickly wonders if he's made a mistake

A man decided to treat himself to a luxury upgrade by buying a 2008 Jaguar X-Type Sport for just $406 after it had been sitting abandoned in a farmer’s field for almost two years.

The Jaguar had been left untouched for roughly the same amount of time the YouTuber, Barn Club Cars, had been driving his $271 Ford Mondeo, and he couldn’t resist the bargain.

At first, the car looked surprisingly good for something that had spent years outside, but it didn’t take long for problems to start appearing.

And as he tried to get the Jaguar ready for a safety inspection, he began to wonder whether his $406 bargain had actually been a terrible idea.

The $406 Jaguar X-Type Sport looked like a bargain

The Jaguar was a black 2.0-liter diesel X-Type Sports car, and its owner had reportedly parked it in the field after its safety inspection papers expired.

The keys were still inside, suggesting it had simply been abandoned rather than carefully stored.

Despite the two years of neglect, the car initially looked remarkably presentable, but there was some damage to the front and rear corners, a little rust around the front wheel arch, and some very crusty brakes, while the roof had clearly spent a long time baking in the sun.

Inside, however, things were much more impressive and the X-Type had quilted leather seats and piano-black trim that gave it the sort of luxury feel the creator had been hoping for.

There was just one immediate problem: the battery was completely dead.

Using a jump starter, he managed to bring the car’s electrical systems back to life and, incredibly, the Jaguar actually started after sitting in the field for almost two years.

It wasn’t exactly running perfectly, though. The car had an ABS warning light, was smoking and needed some attention before it could be taken for its planned safety inspection.

Still, after clearing the ABS code, things seemed to be looking up, but then the Jaguar started fighting back.

The abandoned Jag quickly became a problem

On the journey toward its inspection, the X-Type suddenly cut out and lit up the dashboard with warning lights.

Shortly afterwards, there was a loud pop from the engine bay, followed by poor running and repeated trips into limp mode.

The creator suspected a boost hose had failed, so he abandoned the inspection attempt and took the Jaguar to a workshop.

The workshop did find a boost leak, with a corroded Jubilee clip having allowed one of the hoses to come loose.

The car also received a fresh fuel filter after the old fuel was found to contain some unpleasant-looking contamination, but unfortunately, fixing those problems didn’t solve everything.

Further diagnostic work revealed that the fuel rail pressure was far lower than it should have been.

Testing also suggested that one of the injectors could be leaking more fuel than it should, potentially explaining why the Jaguar kept cutting out and producing so much smoke.

The potential repair bill started to make the $406 purchase look considerably less attractive.

But there was an unusual way out.

The Jaguar’s Sport alloy wheels alone were estimated to be worth around $406, while scrapping the rest of the car could bring in roughly another $203.

That meant he could potentially recover more than he had originally paid, even after some of the money already spent on the car.

Ultimately, the creator decided that although the X-Type had plenty of charm, saving it could turn into a money pit.

His verdict was simple: yes, you can buy a Jaguar for $406, but you probably shouldn’t.