Dear Jag fans,
I have been looking at getting a powerful car for about a month now, been around to see 928s, mustangs, Subaru's and e39 M5s. I like my motors, and all have their pluses and minuses. I live in Dubai, and we have 2 advantages, 1 people here base the car price on age and kilometers, and the regular marks Porsche, BMW, Lexus etc....jags are not appreciated as much as they should be.... fortunately!

So when I was in the UK, the XJ/X308 series was launched, and was impressed with this machine, this car and the MB e55 made BMW launch the e39 M5,

So we also have low restrictions on importing vehicles, emissions, safety features are very low compared to the US/Europe. So we are getting some fantastic stock of Japanese domestic market exports, at bargain prices.

Downsides to this are, there is no vehicle history, but I have seen a fair few cars, and the Japanese take care of their cars very well, they apparently spend 40% of their income on their cars, the weather or whatever seems to keep them in good condition as well, from paints/interiors, compared to our harsh climate in the middle east, we have 3 months of 40-45 degrees of temperature from9am to 3pm daily. Many japanese european cars are left hand drive, as we are, as the japanese like to have LHD cars for some reason.

This car is being imported, and will not be registered, so doing an extensive test drive is going to be difficult, maybe just a short drive in a warehouse compound I am hoping the most. I do have some knowledge on how a car should work, and can look for the obvious signs of "money pit".

One of the quirks of japanese vehicles, is that from 1988 to 2004 there is a horsepower limit of 280 HP on all manufacturers by the JAMA gov't authority, and a top speed limit of 190km/h, the 280HP is what bothers me the most, as the car I am looking at is a XJR with 370HP at crank, and those horses need to be removed? This limit must be on the electronics, as I can't see any european manufacture making that kind modification to a very low number of cars to Japan, any ideas on how to remove this, reflash, swap ECU with European/US or a reprogramme by sending the unit to the UK/US?

The car images are here, please let me know what you think....and thank for reading this loooooooooooooong post. It is a black, 2002 with just under 100K km or 62,500miles.

 

I think the 280hp limit was meant for cars manufactured in Japan. And even some of those just reported 280hp while having a lot more (like the Skyline GT-R).

That car seems to have pre-2000 model Penta wheels on it, not the Asteroids that a MY2002 XJR should have. 2002 model should also have parking sensors in the rear bumper, but the picture is too small to see if they're actually there...

 

My 2001 XJR has Pentas, the PO ordered them on the car when he bought it. I have seen quite a few post 2000 models with these wheels, must have been popular. I think they are lovely.
Vector

 

Is it just me of these bumpers look different than usual ? I can't say anything mechanically about this awesome car but I like it a lot from exterior and interior wise

 

They are, I think it has some sort of silly body kit fitted, it has side skirts too. It makes it look like a saloon from the late 80's. If that could be removed without there being any damage or rust behind them it'd be nice.

If you're looking to drive this car around in high temperatures like 40C make sure the cooling system is in A1 condition, this is a major thing on these cars. Check everything associated with cooling, and make sure the AC works as it should. At Lo setting you should begin to shiver whilst being sat in the car

Other than that, do the other vigilant checks you would do when buying a used car

 

It looks like the Arden body kit.

 

Thanks folks,
would you be able to share the reliability of these XJRs, i know that this has the more desirable engine and tranny than previous years.

As there is no service history, there many potential problems, which would require preventive maintenance....so please list those with costs.

i am planning on taking care of many things myself, better on the electrical side of repairs, than on the mechanical. it will not be a daily driver, and can afford to have the car not running for a couple of weeks, as this will be the 2nd car for "fun"

Cheers,