Hi all, I'm Cody.
I'm 19, from Haddon Township, NJ, and recently purchased my first car, a 1990 Vanden Plas, for $2500.
With over 111000 miles on it and a few minor things it could use, it certainly isn't perfect, but it is what I wanted. Plus, having just finally registered it I finally got to take it out for a proper drive around and it is a good fit for me.

There is a repair shop need my that caters primarily to Jaguars as the owner worked for Jaguar for 20+ years, and all his staff are also trained to maintain and repair Jaguars. My car had always been serviced there after no longer being taken to the dealership for repairs, and I plan on continuing to take it there as his prices are far better than dealerships, and the know-how in the shop is better than the average auto-body outfit.

Come spring I'm going to have to get the AC fixed as it dosnt work at the moment. Which was quoted as costing $600 to fix.
The one thing I'll be having fixed in the next month or so is the back right door which only opens from the inside. A $350 job.

It has a cracked fog-light, but I'm going to fix that myself.

The only other thing is that the cassette player doesn't work, which really bums me out because not only do I have cassette tapes (and 8-track tapes, but that's another story) but I also have one of those cassette things that has the little plug that allows you to hook up your phone/iPod/mp3-player to play music as well.
Google has been no help in finding a source for a new radio/cassette unit.

Anyhow, I've attached a halfway decent photo of my yet unnamed car.
(I know the piece of trim is missing, but it isn't that big of a deal. Plus the paint needs a refreshing.)

 

Welcome to the forum Cody,

Good to have you with us at Jaguar forums. Thanks for the interesting Intro.

Follow this link XJ40 - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the XJ40 forum for help, advice and information. The 'HOW TO' thread at the top is a good place to start for info on regular issues.

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Enjoy the forums.

Graham

 

Welcome to the forum. Ask some questions in the XJ40 forum about that door before you part with $350 of your hard earned.
You might find you can do it yourself with advice from other members for the cost of a door handle or something basic. Door internals are pretty straight forward, but fiddly and time consuming.
Not bad for a first car!

 

welcome to the forum - you will find a wealth of info and support here simply follow the links Graham has provided - enjoy!!

 

Welcome Cody.

NICE first car.

As Clarke said, check that door carefully, maybe a linkage simply popped off the lock arm.

Check out ?Bay for a cassette head unit, they are out there, OR, get it repaired. There are still old time repair shops if ypu look hard enough.

 

Thanks all!
I'm still on the fence about the whether or not to do the door myself or take it to the specialist. Worse case scenario I try and end up taking it there anyway, which since the door would already be disassembled at that point, it would cut down on a bit of the labor time involved.

As for the cassette/radio, I'm going to at least take the bad unit out and open it it up. It may simply be a missing rubber band in the drive, or even a dried and cracked/missing rubber roller.

The one I found on ebay is $100 for a unit that looks like someone slathered mud on the front.

Since I'm going to be right near an auto-parts junkyard this weekend I'm going to check there first to see if I can get one there for cheap, not to mention a fog-light lens and maybe snag the bulb too.

Cheers!
-Cody F.

 

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Hello, Cody,
Congratulations on your 'new' car.
Welcome from ElinorB.
(';')

 

Great first car! Very regal.

 

Welcome to Jaguar Forums Cody,

Good to have you with us.
Enjoy the forum.

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