Hello all, I am brand new to this forum and have been wanting to own a Jaguar for as long as I can remember.

Now I have a problem deciding which one is the best to buy.

Today, I tested a 2005 XJ8 Vanden Plas with 57,000 miles. This particular cat was a select-certified vehicle from my local authorized dealer and seems to be priced about $4000 higher than I have found elsewhere with far lower mileage. But this one does have a warranty good through 2012.

Now I am getting ready to test a 2005 Super 8 with about 61,000 miles, they too are asking the same price as the select-certified model which seems a bit cheap for a Super 8. This car is offered from a non-Jaguar dealer but I have checked them out and they have very positive customer experiences. Am I taking a huge risk buying a Super 8 at this mileage? What would an excellent price be for a cat of this age and mileage in excellent condition?

I have Car Faxed both models and found zero issues. The mileage appears to be highway miles as the Vanden Plas is from the Dallas Metroplex and the Super 8 is from California.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

PS: I forgot to mention, both cars are being offered at the exact same price of $23950.00

Welcome to the forum!

Both are great cars and good choices, which you go with depends on how much you like the additional tech and super charger in the Super Eight. If you do not care about that, go with the certified VDP. The mileage on both is close enough. You will want a warranty with either car and a good one will cost you around $4000 anyway. If you can afford to pay more than those asking prices, look for a lower mileage one, there are plenty out there.

By the way, CarFax is useless, unless there is an issue listed.

Just make certain that you get the one with the features and color combo that you want.

Hi,
well am not really going to talk about the warranty issues on both models , but being a proudowner of 2005 SUPER V8 , i will tell you that this is the flagship model for JAGUAR. ive never had any problems with it.
has all the bells and whistles of a VDP with the awesome power of the XJR.

Ipersonally love the feeling that you are driving something elegant,exclusive and that kicks @ss.
did the VDP have the rear media entertainment package?

Good LUCK .

Luigi

The prices seem pretty good. The risk you take on the Super V8 is if anything really bad goes wrong, it's going to be really, really expensive to fix. That's why the suggestion about an aftermarket warranty is a good one. Not cheap, but good insurance, assuming the warranty is a good one. Be careful with that. Alsogh, as an amazing number of things may not be working right. But unless it completely fails, no coverage. That's pretty common with extended warranty coverages.

Expensive is correct. Working on an '05 SC car today for a coolant leak out of warranty. Hose feeding throttle body leaking under supercharger, $1200 out the door for a $15 hose.

hey real, another ? for you. since select edition isnt supposed to cover hoses what would happen in this case? would the owner pay for the hose n they pick up the rest?thanks

mr edwards: for that price if its as high as you can go id get an 06 XJ8 or XJ8L with the chrome 19" jaguar wheels, navigation and heated seats....plus u can find one under factory warranty with plenty of time left to get an extended and a lot less miles...just food for thought!

Unfortunately no. Select Edition wont cover the costs of gaskets, labor etc. involved in the repair. In fact if the coolant leak damaged any other components which in this case the left knock sensor is damaged due to coolant ingress into sensor the owner would be responsible for those repairs as well.

Thank you all for all of your suggestions and help.

The test drive went excellent and I was able to work out a great deal with the car and a warranty. The warranty I got gets me 5 years, 50,000 mile bumper to bumper coverage through Daimler Chrysler which I understand is supposed to be an excellent warranty. I checked the car out as thoroughly as I could including all of the gadgets and everything was in perfect working order.

There were a couple of small things in which they are fixing as part of the deal so I have not yet picked up the car. Basically I ended up getting the car for $22,500 and paid $3150 for the warranty coverage. Do you guy's think this is a good deal?

Thanks in advanced for your thoughts.

Oh, I forgot to mention that the warranty has a $100 deductible with roadside service and free rental car included.

Thanks much!

So you went with the Super 8? Did not know that Chrysler would warranty other brands (other than their own) of vehicles. What are the listed exclusions from warranty coverage or do they only list what is covered?

Yes, I did go with the Super 8, an incredible car I must say. Yes, they do cover other brands:

http://www.extended-warranty-pro.com/vehicle.html

My concern now is that it states on this site the vehicles over 48,000 miles cannot be covered so I will have to double check with the dealer on how they got me this coverage as I am buying the service contract through the dealer as part of the overall vehicle purchase. It may be different if you buy it from a dealer of theirs, not sure.

Otherwise I got the Maximum Care plan:

http://www.extended-warranty-pro.com..._coverage.html

AHHH thank God mine was sitting in my driveway and turned off when the coolent tank connector broke and the hose started squirting coolent everywhere!

Mr Edwards, congrats on the purchase, SHOW US PICS lol if you havent already. The max care warranty is indeed a great warranty at least in my case, I had in on my Jeep GC Limited V8 4x4 it was around $2k additional when i bought it but it paid for it self, no kidding, at least 4 or 5 times easy. The only thing it never covered was a battery terminal connector ($90 or so) and another small part. The dealers customer service sucked lol but that has nothing to do with the warranty....just be careful about your deductable if you have one: even if the same part breaks repeatedly youre still left paying a deductable each time.

Thank you.

Here are a few pictures......enjoy!







[IMG]local://upfiles/6126/22AD78FDBD8A4C7E96AFE7399A972144.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/6126/24194381A9A14C0587F54D3383FF4E4A.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/6126/D0418E3E27A9451594D7B20CAC043EF4.jpg[/IMG]

This concerns me and was also in the language for the paper copy they mailed me:

When Plan Coverage Starts and Ends

Plan Coverage continues for the length of time and mileage you select.
All time and mileage specifications are from the warranty start date,
(the original in-service date of the vehicle) and 0 miles

Very nice looking. Reminds me that I need to put up some pics of my super V8.