New Member Introduction
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Junior Member
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 8
Likes: 2
From: Franklin, MA
New Member Introduction
Well, I took the plunge!
I'm in the car business in Boston, MA and needed a car to commute from where I live about thirty miles away to the dealership where I work. My daily driver up to now has been a beautiful Cayenne S, however putting on that kind of mileage...
Being a used car director, one would think that it would be easy to find a daily driver for cheap; let me tell you that's NOT the case. There is just so much garbage out there right now.
As you might guess I don't like driving tin cans and set a very firm budget of $3000. Casting a wide net, everything kept pointing to a Jaguar given the budget and quality of the car. After three months of painful research, I finally found a 1999 XJ8, 102k miles, at a dealership out in the western part of the state that had been on his lot for almost a year. Pictures of the car showed it to be in great condition. Originally sold in California, it is unusual as the car is a base XJ8, but is badged XJ Sport and does have the wood steering wheel, gear shift and upgraded stereo system.
Got the VIN, ran a history, and found out that the little old lady who had owned it, had all the maintence and service work done at a local Jag dealership, which has since been sold to another one. Called the new dealership, which had all the records, and found out that all the typical issues have already been taken care of; such as timing chain tensioners, complete new rear end, cooling system leaks.
Now, remember, I haven't seen the car in person, but buy cars for the dealership all over the country without seeing them first. We came to terms on the price and I sent a check. I arrived with plates in hand and looked at the car. I was/is simply stunning. I had the car flatbedded home (90 miles of highway after a year of sitting is nothing that I wanted to chance).
The next day, I drove it to work. What a beautiful ride. I had one of our master mechanics do a complete check of the car. In is amazement, the only things he could find was the stabilizer bushing could be replaced and it needed an alignment. The is no rust or corrosion anywhere.
The car was dirty, so I had our recon guy do a complete clean and asked him to do an extra special job (BIG MISTAKE)! Power washed the engine. CEL and Restricted Performance lights were illuminated. The shop foreman,a good friend, spent a good amount of time drying everything off and all works, except for the P1647 code. Just for laughs, I asked parts to call Jag for the price of a new Upstream O2 sensor; something about over $600. I decided to replace both as they are the originals. Eaby, here I come at $62.50 each. Bank A done yesterday and, if the mechanic doesn't kill me first, Bank B today.
With some minor TLC on this 14 year old car will get the very best care and should last a long time. I really appreciate all the advice that I've received here by reading the posts. Before I bought the car, I spent literally days combing through hundreds of posts to look for all the common issues and what to look foward to.
I know that I'll be back to ask questions and, hopefully, beging to offer my help through experience.
Again, thank you for all the help!!!
I'm in the car business in Boston, MA and needed a car to commute from where I live about thirty miles away to the dealership where I work. My daily driver up to now has been a beautiful Cayenne S, however putting on that kind of mileage...
Being a used car director, one would think that it would be easy to find a daily driver for cheap; let me tell you that's NOT the case. There is just so much garbage out there right now.
As you might guess I don't like driving tin cans and set a very firm budget of $3000. Casting a wide net, everything kept pointing to a Jaguar given the budget and quality of the car. After three months of painful research, I finally found a 1999 XJ8, 102k miles, at a dealership out in the western part of the state that had been on his lot for almost a year. Pictures of the car showed it to be in great condition. Originally sold in California, it is unusual as the car is a base XJ8, but is badged XJ Sport and does have the wood steering wheel, gear shift and upgraded stereo system.
Got the VIN, ran a history, and found out that the little old lady who had owned it, had all the maintence and service work done at a local Jag dealership, which has since been sold to another one. Called the new dealership, which had all the records, and found out that all the typical issues have already been taken care of; such as timing chain tensioners, complete new rear end, cooling system leaks.
Now, remember, I haven't seen the car in person, but buy cars for the dealership all over the country without seeing them first. We came to terms on the price and I sent a check. I arrived with plates in hand and looked at the car. I was/is simply stunning. I had the car flatbedded home (90 miles of highway after a year of sitting is nothing that I wanted to chance).
The next day, I drove it to work. What a beautiful ride. I had one of our master mechanics do a complete check of the car. In is amazement, the only things he could find was the stabilizer bushing could be replaced and it needed an alignment. The is no rust or corrosion anywhere.
The car was dirty, so I had our recon guy do a complete clean and asked him to do an extra special job (BIG MISTAKE)! Power washed the engine. CEL and Restricted Performance lights were illuminated. The shop foreman,a good friend, spent a good amount of time drying everything off and all works, except for the P1647 code. Just for laughs, I asked parts to call Jag for the price of a new Upstream O2 sensor; something about over $600. I decided to replace both as they are the originals. Eaby, here I come at $62.50 each. Bank A done yesterday and, if the mechanic doesn't kill me first, Bank B today.
With some minor TLC on this 14 year old car will get the very best care and should last a long time. I really appreciate all the advice that I've received here by reading the posts. Before I bought the car, I spent literally days combing through hundreds of posts to look for all the common issues and what to look foward to.
I know that I'll be back to ask questions and, hopefully, beging to offer my help through experience.
Again, thank you for all the help!!!
Veteran Member
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 6,278
Likes: 690
From: Limousin, France
Welcome to this friendly Forum, thanks for the interesting intro.
Pressure washing the engine can do all sorts of bad things including wrecing the knock sensors.
Your car's technical section is
XJ ( X308 ) XJ8 / XJR - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum
and there's a Regional one too
North East US - ME NH VT MA RI CT NJ NY PA - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum
Enjoy your membership here.
Pressure washing the engine can do all sorts of bad things including wrecing the knock sensors.
Your car's technical section is
XJ ( X308 ) XJ8 / XJR - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum
and there's a Regional one too
North East US - ME NH VT MA RI CT NJ NY PA - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum
Enjoy your membership here.
Veteran Member
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 2,319
Likes: 1,281
From: Fort Worth
Welcome. I think you'll be happy with the XJ8. It is an absolute joy to drive and a whole lot of luxury for the used car price. Its interesting to hear from somebody in the used car business that the majority of the used car inventory is a load of crap. My family went through finding cheap cars for the teenagers and found the same thing. If a ten+ year old car is not absolutely and completely worn out, the reason is 99% that there is some problem with the car that the previous owner was unable to fix and thus was afraid to drive it very much.
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 856
Likes: 283
From: SoCal
Welcome. You found a gem. As a former dealership owner (and I wore many hats), I know what you are talking about, when it comes to trades. I part owned two delareships (new and used), and had five new "labels", plus used. It was back in the mid nineties, and the situation was a "bit" different than today. I still have friends in business (flom FLA to SoCal), and I know what's happening on the market today.
Your "sport" is an unusual car. Not a rarity by any means, but not common either. It looks and feels just like the XJR, but the one that's been "neutered". No supercharger. I was considering searching for one like that, but I like the "*****" as much as I like the looks of the SC Cats.
In any case,.....post some pics when you get a chance, and NEVER powerwash ANY car (I paid WAY too much money in additional hours on the cars that the kids out in the bay washed over enthusiastically, in the past). Degeaser, 20-30 min wait, rinse with hot water without ANY pressure (just let the water run over it), and you'll be good to go. WD40 on EVERYTHING afterwards, followed by a good wipe down. "WD" does stand for "water displacement" afterall.
Good luck.
Your "sport" is an unusual car. Not a rarity by any means, but not common either. It looks and feels just like the XJR, but the one that's been "neutered". No supercharger. I was considering searching for one like that, but I like the "*****" as much as I like the looks of the SC Cats.
In any case,.....post some pics when you get a chance, and NEVER powerwash ANY car (I paid WAY too much money in additional hours on the cars that the kids out in the bay washed over enthusiastically, in the past). Degeaser, 20-30 min wait, rinse with hot water without ANY pressure (just let the water run over it), and you'll be good to go. WD40 on EVERYTHING afterwards, followed by a good wipe down. "WD" does stand for "water displacement" afterall.
Good luck.
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Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 576
Likes: 119
From: Tampa
Get the XJR next time....
these cars are easy to work on and pretty solid. I have 160k on mine and just starting to fix small nagging things like the Air intake, bushings throughout the car and upgrade the interior. Eventually, I'll get to the engine for increasing horsepower.
these cars are easy to work on and pretty solid. I have 160k on mine and just starting to fix small nagging things like the Air intake, bushings throughout the car and upgrade the interior. Eventually, I'll get to the engine for increasing horsepower.
Thread Starter
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Junior Member
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 8
Likes: 2
From: Franklin, MA
Gentlemen,
Thank you so much for the warm welcome! I promise to post pictures soon.
Stuff done so far:
- Light bulbs for the tachometer and 3rd brake light.
- Both upstream oxygen sensors. Yep, don't powerwash the engine compartment. I'm very appreciative of Amazon and Desi (senior master mechanic at our dealership who is afraid of NOTHING!!!)
- Installed Garmin 1490t and Escort Redline (solid white wire on the sunroof connector in upper console).
Next:
- Oil change 5w-30 castrol synthetic
- Coolant change. Cooling system currently has green coolant and the maintenance manual agrees that this should NOT be long life coolant.
- Brake fluid (DOT 4).
- Stabilizer bushings (clunk in the front).
- Alignment.
Suggestions always welcomed.
Again, thank you for the welcome and pictures very soon.
CZ
Thank you so much for the warm welcome! I promise to post pictures soon.
Stuff done so far:
- Light bulbs for the tachometer and 3rd brake light.
- Both upstream oxygen sensors. Yep, don't powerwash the engine compartment. I'm very appreciative of Amazon and Desi (senior master mechanic at our dealership who is afraid of NOTHING!!!)
- Installed Garmin 1490t and Escort Redline (solid white wire on the sunroof connector in upper console).
Next:
- Oil change 5w-30 castrol synthetic
- Coolant change. Cooling system currently has green coolant and the maintenance manual agrees that this should NOT be long life coolant.
- Brake fluid (DOT 4).
- Stabilizer bushings (clunk in the front).
- Alignment.
Suggestions always welcomed.
Again, thank you for the welcome and pictures very soon.
CZ
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