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My VDP is like new. Got it from a friend who got it from his uncle. The car is near perfect. I have all of the records from new. Always kept inside. My friend added phone Bluetooth a Garman that I added rear camera.
My question is too keep it nice, would you upgrade the transmission with Transgo, the fluid was changed at 28k. The water pump timing change, batteries headliner, Tires 3k on them now. It gets driven a little, I don’t like parking it in malls. I have a charger ready when parked for a week or more. Needless to say no rust, dents, a bonnet plastic was put on when new and I only found it when I found the records. What would you recommend to keep this car perfect Like new No dents or scratches Very nice leather Clean leather Trunk like new Paint is like new Backup cam Clean engine
Nice purchase
Yes replace valve with transgo and new fluid but rest is not necessary, if im not mistaken this year has already new timing set and upgraded water pump, if tyres are not excessively old i would keep them too
With so few miles, the transmission valve body may still be OK for now and if its just going to be treated as a classic car, driven on weekends and to car shows, then maybe just change the fluid and filter and consider that you are likely to age out and be time to change fluid and filter again before reaching a critical wear mileage. I suggest drop the valve body, open it up and inspect it just to see how bad it is before you decide to order a kit. If you are going to drive it daily and commute, then yes, go ahead and upgrade the valve body now.
But rather than using the Transgo or Sonnax valve body modification, you can order a new lower valve body from ZF (you don't have to buy the whole thing, just the lower part) and a new main pressure valve and replace them at the same time as you drop the pan to replace the filter. I did the Sonnax valve kit at about 80K miles and it got me another ten years and 40K miles before the A-drum eventually broke. But what I found was the the bore of my valve body main pv were badly scored and gouged again at 120K just as they were at 80K. Its not the valve piston itself that wears out but rather the aluminum valve body case. The Sonnax kit was supposed to be superior to the Transgo kit because with Sonnax, you actually send in your old unit and they ream out the bore of the valve body smooth again so that you can install their enlarged valve piston. I believe the Transgo kit just changes the piston design so it rides on an un-worn portion of the valve bore since you're not actually fixing the worn valve body. So this last time around, I just bought a new lower valve body case and a main valve piston from ZF. They say its an upgraded design now. But I figured the original went twice as far as the aftermarket modification, so the upgraded parts from the OEM would probably be the best solution.
And if you decide you don't want to do all that, just trade with me for my white one. I absolutely love that color blue, you lucky devil!
That's a beautiful, well-cared for example. Re the timing chain tensioners, if I recall correctly they went onto engines manufactured after something like August 12, 2001, not vehicles made on or after that date as I suspect there was some gap between the engine build and vehicle assembly. I'm not a pro but with that low mileage as someone else has noted you'll probably age out with only weekend use before the car gets pissed off at the tensioners. (Date could be the 13th but I'm old have have CRS!)
Drive it; keep it clean, light coat of wax; check the secondary tensioners -- this model still has the older system. I doubt you will ever need the Transgo improvement, since the filter and fluid were changed and it is hardly driven, and not hard; but lots of money, why not? But why?
Keep an eye on the water pump, thermostat and housing, crossover pipe (including the temp sensor which fails and creates hard starting), drive belt, observe what is happening to the headliner (these tend to be age dependent, more than mileage); occasionally clean the throttle plate and bore and MAF . . . Anything else is routine annual oil service and safety/emission inspection.
At some point the tires will begin to dry rot . . .
Be careful touring this forum if you tend to be a hypochondriac. . .
My records 4/25 Oil Change 5/40 Luqi Molly and Brake flush 41,647
5/22 Water Pump, Steering Wheel shake 39,570 oil change
03/20 Oil Change, Michelin Premier tires, coolant Flush Battery
4/2018 35,922 Timing Change upper and lower, air Fileter oil
9/17 oil brake flush, dif fluid, transmission fluid and filter.
4/17:25,391 got Jag from uncle had Mercedes of Spokane oil change and new Conti Tires.
The car has a vibration at 60 that was caused by out of round tire, tire weight.
other fixes were new headliner 5/17.
what I have is a near new car with extremely good service records. Always garaged and never driven in poor weather.
i want to keep it in good condition, my only issues is transmision it’s good, get it changed at some point, upgrade lower valve body.
Definitely get the Transgo valve done when you can, use the right fluid for refill too. Sometimes getting the level right afterwards can be troublesome, just make sure you use a professional workshop to have the work carried out. Another thing to do is make sure you keep the wheel arch lips clean and clear of dirt and debris as well as the areas behind the front wheel arch liners.
It’s a lovely car, although the screen and reverse camera seem a bit unnecessary to me personally. I do like it’s overall originality though, I’m well known for keeping my cars OEM+ and by that I mean keeping them stock but searching for original OEM accessories to go with the car. My latest acquisition is an original unopened Jaguar branded first aid kit from 2000 to go with my car.
My car came with the Garmin nav. I added the backup cam because it fixes the rear backup issue with a very quiet sound. My friend wanted a car with modern systems, IPhone connected to the FM radio, Sirius radio installed in the sunglasses case.
it has spots on the rear Crome bumper. I am not going to fix that.
My only issue is finding a good shop to do the transmission in the Seattle area.
2001 VDP 42000 miles
