I know the Euro Spec has power-folding mirror, powered headlight washer nozzles ,for the XKR,it is black power coated body-side-trim instead of our chrome trim.

also we don't get the side signal marker, I may miss a few more things. Why our X308 miss so many options on the list?

 

What do you mean by power headlight washer. My 98 has headlight washer nozzles, if that's what you mean.

 

You have to diffferentiate between what is optional and standard.

As standard, they get the side repeater and the leveling headlamp.

As for options, the list is very long.

To understand the reasons, you have to understand how the car business work:
As a general rule, the US customer do NOT want to special order and wait for a car.
Obviously if the car is manufactured overseas the waiting period will be much longer, in the order of at least 3 or 4 months.
Therefore the dealers/distributors order the cars whith a package of options that they believe will satisfy 99% of customers.

A few years back I was shopping for a new tow vehicle ( 3/4 ton Suburban/Yukon XL with the 8.1 engine and 4.10 gears) and all the dealers that I contacted told me that nobody stocked such a vehicle and I should settle for the 3.73 gears.
To make a long story short, I had to custom order the truck and it took me 4 months to get it.

 

Hi,Luc

I totally understand your point at a business perspective . I just "Do not"accept the fact the our standard or option list is missing a lot of things.Of course the local government regulation of a given market plays a key role on this matter since many of this features are for safety rather then performance purpose.

I believe Jaguar should make them on the option list and most of them can be dealer-installed options.

We need to keep it in mind,our Jaguar is a luxury brand, it is nothing wrong to have a long list of options

 

Hi Vincent:

i agree with you but you have to keep in mind that a lot of what are "options" come as standard in the US.

A few a those would be:
Sunroof
Full size spare tire
Cup-holder
Etc

My list of options that I would love to have been able to order on my 01 XJR is as follow:
1/ Full Autolux leather. retrofitted
2/ Rear Sunblinds. Retrofitted
3/ Headlamps levelling. Retrofitted
4/Side repeater. Retrofitted
5/ R1 package ( Brembo + Milan) Retrofitted
6/Tool kit. Retrofitted
7/Chrome trimmed taillights. Retrofitted
8/Navigation. Retrofitted
9/Overhead console wood trim. Retrofitted
10/CATS
11/ Heated Windshield

BTW, #1 was done free of charge , courtesy of Jaguar/Ford for screwing-up their advertising

I forgot to add power-fold auto dimming mirrors and front passenger rear adjust to my list of retrofitted options that i did

 

What is "autolux leather" and how did you get it free?

FYI, my VDP has wood trim on the overhead console (standard on VDP I think).

 

Jaguar has/had 3 types of trim material:
Ambla (Vinyl)
Leather
Autolux leather

Autolux was/is a better/best quality Connolly leather used only by Jaguar on VDP and Daimler.
It is very supple and soft, I'm sure you've noticed that on your car.

Back in 2001 when I bought my new XJR, all Jaguar advertising, including brochures, website, etc, described the interior of the XJ8 and XJR as crafted with hand-stiched Connolly leather, mentioning specifically the interior console.

Well, the only leather on a X308 XJR are the seating surfaces, hand brake handle, the pocket on the back of the front seats and the trunk pull down strap.

To make a long story short, I contacted by certified mail the President of Jaguar USA and after first arguing that I was wrong and that the console was made of leather, they then proposed to buy-back my car, which I refused and they ultimately agreed to replace all the interior trim of my car by Autolux leather.
Needless to say they changed all their advertising for the 2002 model.
I have all the documentation, letters, brochures, etc regarding this episode

 

Fasinating! So my VDP is Autolux and all other models have inferior leather??

I cannot really tell which parts are leather and which are vinyl, but it seems to have many more dead cows in my Jag than any other car I have ever seen, even the wrapping on the mini rear-center-console perimeter, the seat backs and over the grab handles above the doors...

 

I'd be surprised if the VDP is fitted with leather trimmed grab handles!

Can you post pictures of the stuff you've listed as leather for us?

I'm re-trimming my 02 XJR with leather replacing the vinyl/ambla, used Connolly hide on the flat surfaces. The rest is nappa. Would like to see if Jaguar actually supplied these items in leather.

Good one for you Luc, manufacturers are the worst to deal with

 

Yes, you have the best leather it can be and a lot of it:

For your car:

Seat
Seat back
Console
Console cup holder
rear console extention
Door armrest
Door pocket
Handbrake handle and gaiter

But NOT the grab handles!!!!!!!

 

The trunk strap is allegedly leather too.

Are the seat backs leather? I thought they were Vinyl and the X300 is leather? I could be wrong. I'm not sure if the gear shift surround is leather. There is leather on the the section on the bottom of the tray tables though.

I always thought the leather around the door pockets were a cheap way to not totally eliminate all the leather on the X300 VDP doors, but most of it. The leather seems pointless on the X308's pockets.

 

Yes, on the VDP/Daimler the front seats back covers are leather.
Indeed the trunk strap is leather on all models.
No, the gear shift surround is ambla on all models.
Another interesting tidbit on Jaguar and leather is the console asthray lid:
Even if Jaguar do list a separate part # for Ambla, leather and Autolux, they all supercede to the ambla one and i know for a fact that as way back than 2001 you could only get the ambla.
i also did both the surround and ashtray with Autolux (as well than the kick panels and rear parcel shelve)

Will be curious to see if early ( 98/99) Daimler/VDP have leather or ambla

 

My 95 x300 -- with light ivory interior was really special. Anything that looked like leather was- even the rear shelf. The special light leather was an expensive upgrade.

The leather on my later VDP was not as nice -- I believe Connelly is no more.

 

I'd love to see the picks of your custom extended leather lining. Even the rear parcel shelf, huh? Wow. How about the dash board?

 

The dash is almost impossible to do, look ar this thread: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=50215

I bought a full hide of Connolly Autolux leather for dirt cheap ( I think it was $250 including shipping from the UK) when Connolly went belly up back in 2002

 

The ash tray looks like ambla on my 2000 VDP. The area around the astray up to the sides of the radio all looks like ambla. It appears that autolux is used on the sides of the console up to the skislope stitiching.

There appears to be a small section of ambla on the sides of the lower backseat cushion where the seat meets the doors. I've heard that ambla was used in this area and around the ashtray/radio to aid in the manufacturing process, as ambla can stretch a bit more than autolux.

 

Are you sure the rear shelf was autolux leather? Autolux has a tendancy to shrink when exposed to strong sunlight, and I would think the rear shelf would be especially vulnerable.

If you see the backs of rear seat headrests in some VDPs, the contrast piping is no longer straight and kinda squiggles left and right (for a lack of a better term). The piping does this because the Autolux wasn't properly cared for and has shrunken from the sunlight.

There are X308s with ivory interior too. My VDP has it. Its beautiful but delicate. It was almost impossible to find a silver VDP with an ivory interior. I have only seen one other VDP in person with that color combination. I'm biased but I don't like the coffee colored VDP interiors nor black with white piping.

 

None of the leathers were as nice in the x308 as the x300 -- the light cream was an additional up charge on my 95VDB. They only had that interior one year. Yes it did have the rear in leather - and the leather required some work -- especially the rear of the headrests. Surprisingly the rear shelf held up well

It was almost white -- I still had the 95 when I purchased my later V8 VDP and the quality of the later car could not compare. The standard leather as supplied in my 02 XJR is just OK. My 95 was Flamenco red -- I had a similar interior in my 82 S III.

 

I assure you that my grab handles are either leather or quite-convincing Ambla that has visible stitching lengthwise.

The ashtray cover is definitely Ambla, I have restored my center console (after the previous owner spilled a drink) and the trim ends do not appear anything like hide and leather-cleaner does not seem to get absorbed (no idea how else to identify it, the Ambla is an excellent fake)

 

I've been thinking about this thread at work today and I have thought of something US cars have that Euro ones don't seem to have.

I have noticed some US cars lower grill plane has a chrome strip running along it whereas I have never seen a UK X308 with that feature. I'd like one for mine though as it is the Sovereign model and is dripping with chrome