Hello Everyone!

First off, I apologize that it took me this long to register on your site. I have been a Jaguar Forum stalker since I first got my kitten almost 2 years ago. You have helped me out with many, MANY things and since I've needed to stalk you guys again I figured it was high-time for me to do it up proper. So here I am.

I'm in San Diego. I have a 1998 Vanden Plas that my darling hubbie bought for me (it'll be two years ago this May). Just over 113,000 miles. I've always loved Jags. Growing up my dad always said that he wanted an XJ6 as a family car, so needless to say, he was the first person I called when I got my kitten. My mechanic for my regular cars (Dodges, all of them) calls my Jag the "Prom Car". Lol.

I see a lot of XJs driving around San Diego from around my year and I'm sad to say that it's all super old, retired people driving them (I seriously mean old people...70s, 80s and beyond!). But I don't care. I'm 35 and proud to drive my kitten! All of my friends say that it fits my personality to a T. Don't know if it's because it's a classy car or if they're saying I'm old. Haha!

We've done some things to the kitten since we've gotten her.

Had her tinted. Just a little in the front (so the cops will leave me alone), but a lot darker in the back. She's the gorgeous dark green (an older Jag aficionado once called it English Racing Green, don't know if that's true or not, but it sounds good!). She has the tannish/beigeish leather interior. Still trying to figure out the correct name for the color. Will report back on that once I figure it out since I need to order some interior pieces.

Had the dreaded throttle body replaced (found out about that little beauty on the highway, yes sir) as well as the secondary timing tensioners (fortunately got that done pre-emptively).

Currently the kitten is scheduled to go in to see Mike at Jaguar Specialists here in San Diego on Monday. She has a little bit of an oil drip to her and she's drinking coolant like it's Kool-Aid. However, she doesn't dribble any of it on the ground. But after she warms up and I turn her off, I can smell the coolant, but still no puddles. I'm hoping it's only a crack in some upper hoses, but am fearing the worst (head gasket). I'm hoping not as she still runs beautifully, no white smoke out of the back and haven't seen anything wonky in the oil. But I can sometimes be a bit paranoid. Will report back.

Have a few other things I'll have looked at eventually, all regarding electrics. Once the windshield wipers took on a mind of their own and I had to unplug the battery to get them to stop. Sometimes if the hubbie has been in the car and I need to readjust the passenger mirror, if I press the down button once, it goes ALL the way down with out stopping, then pressing the up button and it goes ALL the way up with out stopping. Again it's sporadic. Same thing with the automatic headlights. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. I just got used to manually turning on my lights (heaven forbid!). And also with the sensor chip for the key. Sometimes the component in steering column doesn't want to work the first time. Oddly enough, mostly these occur when it's warm out.

I know it sounds like a lot but consider that she's an older lady who I'm now learning wasn't taken all that good care of, but she's a kitten who deserves some TLC.

Next step is to go onto jagbits.com (found them while stalking you guys once again!) to get some of the bulbs for the clock and climate control backlight as well as a couple of hood struts (tired of using my head to keep the bonnet open when I check the oil and coolant weekly).

Then some searching to find some interior bits (the plastic part that goes over the silver part of the "oh ****" handle-do you know how hard it was just to find out what the real name of that handle is! BTW, it's called a grip handle. lol). Also looking for a rear fan, a couple of my slats are broken. A rear seatbelt bezel. And then figure out what I want to do about my center console (very deteriorated leather and a tear).

Also, going to "stalk" you guys again (although if I'm a member now, is it really stalking anymore?) about some ideas on what to do for REAR cupholders.

We'll see. And I'll post back with what my mechanic says about my kitten and what it costs. Maybe it'll help another stalker out there who has yet to come forth. :-)

 

welcome to the forum and nice intro - as you have found it is a great place to get ideas, assistance, etc. Hope she doesn't need too costly of repairs.

 

Welcome to the forum Jeanette,

Good to have you with us.
I hope it doesn't turn out to be too nasty.
I see you have found the tech section, after 2 years you should have! Have you checked the regional section? Western US - AK CA NV OR UT HI WA ID - 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 forum Jeanette,

From an old guy - I don't qualify for 'seriously old' for another seven years but I was still quite young when you started stalking here.

Great Intro - you're building up quite an extensive 'to do' list there.

To find out the colour, check the sticker on the driver's door pillar. You'll find a three letter Paint Code and a three letter Trim Code. Post them back here or on the tech section for the decode.

Graham

 

welcome to the forum and people on this forum call that interior colour Oatmeal

 

Welcome to the forum Jeanette!!!

 

Thanks guys!

And I have to give a HUGE thank you to every single person on this forum. For a brief period there, I was considering getting rid of my kitten. It seemed like all those little things wrong with it piled up all at once and was driving me absolutely bonkers. I'm sad to say that I actually harbored daydreams of zipping around town in a new Fiat 500, being able to parallel park anywhere...but after stalking, I mean perusing through the forums, I am once again fully in love with my kitten! No where else can you get a car with such class, dignity, beauty, poise (and repair bills, but that's a different story, lol). There's just something so classy and distinguished with a Jag. The only thing that would be better than my kitten??? The new F-type? Haha!

 

You sound like a fun person Jeanette..Just whittle away at the faults one by one. The BIG picture causes delusions of Fiats but that should pass.
A welcome from Australia (and me)
You summed my car up perfectly for me " car with such class, dignity, beauty, poise (and repair bills" Thanks for that!!

 

I'll snap some before pictures of my kitten and slowly add the afters when I complete them. Her paint is showing a lot of oxidation and some of the chrome on the rims is peeling, plus leather conditioning inside. But she'll be an amazing beauty when I'm done with her! Good thing I have plans on keeping her forever! :-)

 

Hi there,
you have rear cupholders. they are called picnic trays

 

Rear cup holders

 

But when darling hubbie pretends the kitten is a race car and squeals around the corner, the cups fly off the picnic table. lol. Was tempted to make a wood replica of the picnic table, but make a cup hole in it, then attach that to the back of the chair and see how it looked, worked, etc. If it works, then I can bribe some of my finished carpentry buddies to either "fix" my current ones, or make me brand new ones out of a matching style wood (the latter seeming my best course of action in case I decide to be a woman and change my mind later on down the line). We shall see! First thing's first, engine has to function properly. Lol.

 

Hmmmm....Thanks Muddydog for the idea! Shall definitely ponder on it! :-)

 

welcome along! theres nothing hotter than a chick driving a Jag


.........well.....a chick driving a MANUAL jag

 

Hello & welcome ...This is a great site with nice people ...Enjoy !

 

Hi Jeanette & welcome aboard Jaguarforums ....... good to have you here with us
Thanks for a great intro.....one oft he best in a while, only missing a pic or two...

so if you have em post em on up

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.................

 

Ok, so update on my "kitten". I should be able to pick her up from the shop today!

Oil Leak:
Valve covers were leaking. Replacing them plus labor: $823
Oil Pan Gasket leaking. Parts & labor: $120

Coolant Leak:
Thermostat housing leaking. Parts (including new thermostat, water distribution pipe, a few other things that I forgot already) and labor: $680

Misc. Issues:
Drive/Serpentine belt, tensioner, idler. Parts & labor: $495
Two new hood struts plus labor: $80
All new sparkplugs plus labor: $160
(Understandable as they were all original and she has 112,000 miles on her.)

Total: $2358 but I'm getting $100 off because of a coupon I clipped. :-)

Future repairs needed...O2 sensor, but since the CE light is not on right now, I'll go see if she passes smog, since she's due next month. If she does, then we'll worry about it next oil change. If she doesn't pass, then back to my mechanic for another $468 for parts and labor for the one O2 sensor that's out of whack.

 

A big bill but it covers a lot of work.

Good luck with the inspection next month.

Graham

 

Welcome to the forum.

By heck, that's a big bill!

Hope the inspection is OK.

 

It was a big bill, but it was also A LOT of work that needed to be done. I notice a difference already though driving her. She's MUCH smoother than what she was before! I have a happy, purring kitten again!