Finally registered. Great site for advice. 1998 Vanden Plas owned for @ 1 year. Wife did not want me to buy this car, then 8 days later took her 90 year old mother from Alabama to Houston to see her brother. Absolutely love the car.

 

Welcome to the forum MGAPorsche,

Good to have you with us.
If you need any tech hel or advice head this way XJ ( X308 ) XJ8 / XJR - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum try and take a look in the regional section also Southern MidWest - AR LA MS KY TN AL - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum
Enjoy the forum.

If you haven't already done so you should add your car details to your signature to help others to help you.

 

Welcome to the site.

Second, I think you might be exactly the person I'm looking to talk to.

I'm looking into buying almost the same Jag. 1998-2001 VDP.

Since you've now owned one for a year, I wonder if in the X308 section you'd be willing to write up your experience.

What did you do right in buying your Jag, what do you wish you did different, has it been more or less expensive to maintain over that year than you expected? These types of things.

I'm not going to lie, this is an entirely selfish request, but it could benefit others as well.

Or maybe just me which wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

=)

 

Welcome to the forum MGAPorsche,

Follow Norri's link to the X308 tech section for help, advice and information. The 'HOW TO' thread at the top there is a good place to start for info on regular issues.

Remember to add vehicle details to your Signature to help others to give relevant advice. Go to the User CP button on the left of the top menu bar, then Settings & Options under Your Control Panel. Select Edit Signature and enter the details.

Enjoy the forum.

Graham

 

Joe P, I am in a British car club and have always enjoyed the two seaters. Having a few XJ8s in our club and approaching 60, I began to want one. I found a 1998 Vanden Plas one owner with only 83,000 miles in 2012. Other than the seats needing some attention and the sterring column reach cable being broken - everything worked on the car. I also loved the color and the longer passenger doors. So I bought it.

In one year, the major repairs have been that it wore out a grill, headlight assembly, hood, and a few more bits when my son borrowed it and let the cat claw the rear of a pickup truck. Sadly - the repair costs exceeded the value of the car. So I kept it and fixed it myself in my little shop.

The only aggravating issues I have so far are the "Plastic" cooling parts. The thermostat housing went first. Just started spewing coolant. I found an aluminum replacement housing and installed it. Maybe 6 months later, I noticed a puddle of anti freeze under the car. This time the plastic manifold had given way and actually crumbled under hand pressure. I could not find an aluminum replacement. So I replaced it with another plastic one.

On the horizon - replacing the shock strut bushings. Seems this is a fairly common item to go out @ 100,000 miles. I have 96,000 now. The parts are @ 400 for each side. But "Plugger One" as I am called by my friends, plan to just replace the bushings. A set of 4 costs @ 70 bucks. A press is required and I have that in my shop, so I 'll post how that went in a few weeks.

The driver side widow works intermittently. Absolutely fine when I'm testing, but never at a drive up window.

That's been it so far. The car rides and runs great. Amazing, but the Ford we have (2012 Taurus) and this Jag are rated close to the same horsepower, but there is no comparison. The cat will leave it in the dust easily.

For what its worth, I did not buy this as a daily use car. In my area, we have no Jaguar dealer, so parts are mail order. That means repairs do take longer. Plus, I do my own car repairs. For my other hobby cars - MGA and Porsche 911 - I have had them completely apart. The MG several times. Completely apart means to the frame and back or last time with the MG - just the engine, transmission, rear end and interior.

There may be better rides, but this one is pretty danged good!

 

Thanks Guys for the advice. I am stumbling my way around and your friendly pointing saves a lot of time.

Great site, I've been a "viewer" for almost a year and have gleaned a lot of good advice.

Thanks again

 

Hey there and welcome aboard....... good to have you here with us here at Jaguarforums

Any useful site information you may need such as how to post pictures, edit signatures, add videos,
use the search facility etc, can be found here within the following link Helpful_information

Please also take the time to check out the regional section for your area!
There are lots of members local to you with the same interests with info on local dealers and possible meets.
Regional - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum

I've manually upgraded you to Full forum access so you can better view the site and all its features
Please Jump on in and enjoy the site.................

 

That's a huge help, MGA, I really appreciate it. If I do go this route, it will be for a daily driver. So that's a consideration, but it seems like that is, can be/should be doable.