Hey Everyone!

It’s been a while and all had been well with my 2008 X358 VDP……..that is until…..

Let’s rewind a bit. Recently serviced the beloved queen of the coast with new tie rods, sway bar bushings, upper and lower links, thrust arms, motor mounts and that 3rd tranny mount along with new brakes (plus fluid flush) and thermostat housing (plus coolant flush). Waited a month before driving her again to the shop for 4 wheel alignment and man, she drove like new!!

First weekend out with the wife and we got rear ended at a stoplight by a drunk driver with decent insurance. We are ok, filed a claim with our lawyer, getting therapy and taking care of what needs to be taken care of. Sadly, the VDP is a total loss based on 2 inspections performed by a high end body shop and a Jaguar approved body shop. It’s a heartbreak to say the least. She was perfect!!

Now the dilemma: Do I keep her and part her out? I’m in Los Angeles, so I want to gauge if anyone is interested in 1- the entire car or 2- parts. I plan on pulling the engine and tranny for the highest bidder but I’m not decided yet. Other plan would be to let her go as a loss and get the payout so I can attain another X358.

This is not an ad by the way. Just feeling out the room and wondering what hat makes more sense as I know I can take a hit on the payout for keeping her and make it back and then some - plus have spare parts for my next Jaguar. I will be posting I. The Ads section in full detail with pricing, PM me if you want to as well. Need to make a decision in 1.5 days……

 

Terrible.
Always sad to see that, due to their construction and their current valuation, even an apparently "limited" rear ending of a X350/358 conducts to a total loss...

 

Queen is dead long live the King!
Get another one..

 

I lost an ‘06 VDP (Radiance Pearl/Arrest Me Red) to a rotten tree. I briefly debated repairing the car, but ultimately took the check and applied it to a well-researched replacement, an ‘03 X308 VDP with just under 30k on it after 17 years. This was at the height of Covid. I searched online every day, and waited and waited until something really struck me, then pounced. It cost me a little extra, but far less than what I would have shelled out trying to rebuild my ‘06 which would end up with a salvage title anyway.

My tuppence: take the money and start a careful search for the King. That said — beautiful car, a shame it got hit.

 

So sad to see, glad you're both OK. I'd assume a door ding would total these cars nowadays with their limited value and high repair cost, praying mine never gets hit but have good insurance on it just in case.

See what they give you as a buy-back. Totally different car, but my 2004 Impala SS was rear-ended in August and I bought it back for just under $300, made no sense to let them take it. Have since sold the drivetrain, wheel/tires, limted Indy edition trim, etc. and made a couple grand on top of the payout. If the buy back is reasonable I would definitely keep it and dispose of it yourself. Heck, if it still has OEM cats on it a junkyard might give you more for the car as-is than the buy back would cost you. Typically the number is really low as the insurance company just doesnt want to deal with it.

Again - so sorry to see this. I'd be devastated if mine got hit. Have only had it for a couple months but have already put 5k+ miles on it and can't imagine driving anything else. Hopefully you get a good payout and can find another good one.

 

The buy back is 3K….. 😑

 

That's something to think about then...It would definitely take some work to get 3k out of the car, might be best to just let it go. If you're up for parting it out yourself it could work out, but at that number I'd let them keep it and move on.

 

I think your big problem is that if you part it out where are going to store the car while doing this?
Your pictures show a nice suburban neighborhood probably similar to what a lot of us live in.

I know where I live unless this is inside a building of some kind you will not be able to just park it somewhere while you sell the parts off?
.
.
.

 

At some point the parted out car will be hard to move. When I was in the Datsun parts business I stripped them to the shell but always kept them as rollers. The tow company that took them as scrap didn't want to use dollies to get them on the car carrier. If you have a place to keep the car away from public view and are up to all the labor maybe. Three grand is what all the major mechanical will probably bring. Not a lot of meat left on the bone. I'd pass. but Good Luck.

 

Decided to let her go - not worth the trouble I’d get
myself into with stripping, eye sore in my driveway and shipping, etc. and not to mention the $ I’d be short on for the next Jag.

Happy to report that I did purchase an XJ over the weekend. She’s a lovely beast but I’ll save that for a new Thread coming soon!

😁

 

Probably a smart move in the long run. In the end its just not worth the time and headache involved unless you have a good place to store it that's well out of the way so it won't get on your nerves.

Glad you got another one, I love the color. My 06 is the first silver car I've ever owned and I love it. Much easier to keep clean than my black cars.

 

Agreed! I absolutely love this silver with warm charcoal interior. I’ll address the headliner and few minor quirks that are simple fixes very soon. Cheers!

 

Yes, the warm charcoal interior is just awesome, love mine. It's by far my favorite interior of any car I've owned. Simple, but very comfortable and elegant, a very nice place to be.

Mine needs a headliner as well (I think they all do)? It was sagging a bit in the rear so I pinned it up for now but I'll get it replaced next summer at some point.

 

Glad to see you found an acceptable replacement for the expired Queen.

 

Interesting observation re the charcoal interior. I currently have an '03 VDP in quartz with a charcoal interior. I searched for over 2 months to find a replacement vehicle for my 350 VDP and was a bit put off at this interior, but boy have I warmed to it after owning it a while. and the silver/charcoal combo is great. It reminds me of a car service I used to use when working and traveling a great deal. They called themselves "Silver Bullet" Sedan service. All cars were silver with black interior.

Cheers to all on the 350/358 list.

 

I wasn’t sure if I’d like the warm charcoal at first but my local jag family made it clear that if it wasn’t a Green/Blue Jag with Ivory interior then I’d have to go for the “Silver Bullet” experience.