So, last night, I purchased my very first Jaguar.. I get to pick it up today (I am very excited).
I purchased a second hand XJ8 Vanden Plas for about $4,000
I am just curious to know, a little bit more about this car?
Any features, or anything that one should know about?

Also, I am curious to know for future reference what is a recommended brand for spark plugs, oil and oil filter? Thanks.

 

nah, just keep putting gas in it and it'll be fine. Nothing to worry about with these cars!

 

Welcome to the forum. Before anyone offers suggestions, they will want to know what year. When you have time please visit the new member area and introduce yourself:

New Member Area - Intro a MUST - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum

 

Welcome to the wonderful world of Jaguar!

Take a look through the 'Stickies' above. There is a world of information there including the complete factory service manual (JTIS) with full electrical schematics. The 'How to' one is a summary of the most frequent issues found on the forum and associated solutions.

 

Miles can be helpful too.

 

Oops. Welcome to the forum Bcrary3

 

I assume mcm is kidding (or delusional!)

 

Congratulations on your new Jag. There is 1 serious issue on your engine, depending on the year and mileage, that you must learn about right away. This is the secondary timing chain tensioners. Search this forum right away - there are hundreds of threads on the problem and info is also in the Stickies as Test Point mentioned.

 

I apologise, the car has 102k miles on it and it is a 2000.

 

I apologise, the car has 102k miles on it and it is a 2000.

Vin number is xxxxxxxxxYLF06428

 

+1 Secondary tensioners; + water pump, cross over pipe; TST, TST tower; hoses. Keep an eye on the octopus hose at the rear of the engine; clean the MAF sensor; clean the Throttle bore; check brake pads all around, front sway bar bushings, drag links and upper shock bushings: sit back and enjoy and wait for any issues to surface. In the meantime, read as much of the forum as time permits: a treasure house of insights and knowledge.

Be concerned with any clunking in the transmission when downshifting (lots of threads on the ZF transmission; mostly starting right about where you are in mileage).

Hopefully the PO left you a pile of receipts to help guide your investment in maintenance. If not, pay for a car fax; lots of info therein.

If you are missing manuals, they are here in the sticky section. Also advise on extra keys and fobs.

and keep a sense of humor; guys like MCM love chain pulling! But when you need help, people are here and this latest group of second and third owners mostly don't find any question too stupid. We have all asked them.

 

I bought the car from a lot, it was a trade in, one owner car. As far as I know, everything should be good. Brakes feel good, steering is tight, only took the car on the highway once, took it up to 60mph and I didn't hear anything in the transmission or engine.
Though when I got the car home, on the dash it told me my coolant was low, and I checked it, and it is a bit low, gonna call the place where I got it to see if they will top it off for me. If I did it myself, is it a horrible idea to mix coolants (I have no clue what is currently in there) or would I be better off just flushing it and putting in new?

I have two fobs, two keys, and one green valet key.

 

Coolant should be orange, Any good brand should work.

 

It has orange (Well, with a slight brown tinge to it) but orange none the less coolant in it. Will it hurt to mix in any good quality coolant with it, just to top it off?

This summer I will likely do a flush, clean and refill.

 

While everything should be good in terms of maintenance. A lot of what was mentioned is preventative maintenance that most people and shops don't know to do. The enthusiasts here are more into maintaining their cars themselves or at least being very proactive in what they direct other to do to their car.

On a base V8 car, unless you have paperwork to prove that: Secondary tensioners; + water pump, cross over pipe; TST, TST tower; hoses were all done. I would crack open some beverages if you DIY, or crack open the wallet and get this stuff done.

The secondary timing tensioners, if they go, you can basically guarantee that your car (a 100k mile 00 VDP) is better off being walked away from than repaired($$$). You can DIY the secondary tensioners very inexpensively with the Ford part numbers, some zip ties, and some of your time. You can pay a shop too, and I've heard as low as $600 and as high as $1500 for just the secondary tensioners.

The water pump on earlier cars can have an impeller that disintegrates and basically causes your car to overheat (and these cars hate overheating $$$$). The water pump is quite inexpensive and fairly easy to access.

The pipes and thermostat tower on the base cars are plastic that ages and goes to crap. On the XKR/XJR they have an aluminum thermostat housing and such. Someone here will know more. Same thing as the water pump, a leak here or a bad thermostat can result in catastrophically expensive overheating.

Hoses in general, this is a 15 year old car with 100k miles. It's just a good idea to do now before you're on the side of the road.

 

So, it looks like between the water pump, and secondary tensioners is gonna be about $300 plus labour (unless I install myself).

 

The $300 is at the high end and these cars are not difficult to work on. And you have all the forum members, your new fender friends, to call on for advice, council and harassment.

Buy the 2000 Ford/Lincoln parts for the 3.9L. Same engine for many things like tensioners and water pumps. A new Ford water pump can be found on eBay for $30 shipped. Ford tensioners $120, FelPro gasket set $40, thermostat $20.

Lowest price I have seen for upper tensioners, chains and bolts $110. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Secondary-Ti...65d369&vxp=mtr

 

That's not bad. I was looking at Auto Parts at AutohausAZ - OEM Auto Parts - Discount Replacement Parts, Resources and Car Care Tips where the higher end water pump was $70 and the tensioners were $96.00 each.

I am curious to know though, Jaguar recommends Castrol oil, but I noticed they have three.. Castrol Edge, GTX, and GTX Magnatic... What one of these would be recommended?

Also, I noticed my car has blue tooth, but is there any way to find out if my phone is compatible with it? I currently have a Moto X. (first gen)

 

Jaguar recommends 10W30 dino oil with 7,500 miles/1 year intervals.

Everyone has preferred opinions/brands/dino/synthetic preferences but that is a forbidden discussion here.

I am not aware of any bluetooth capability in any of these cars unless added by a previous owner.

 

Whenever I see brown in coolant, I suspect that someone has put in an overdose of one of those stop leak products. Those can work to plug very tiny leaks, but if two tablets or a couple of tablespoons don't fix it, then a whole package or bottle is just overkill and could cause side effects. I'd flush and fill it fresh, then watch for leaks. There's a lot of plastic in this car's cooling system and I've read quite a few threads claiming discovered tiny cracks.