Can anyone give me review/advice on 1982 Jaguar Vanden Plas?
 

:icon_denk: My husband is chomping at the bit to buy a 1982 Jag Vanden Plas from a friend of ours for $1,200. It is absolutely, stunningly gorgeous but needs a part installed before we can drive it: our friend has already purchased the part & my husband would have to install it (which he can do). We are going through a nightmare with a 1982 Mazda RX7 cash car we bought this past April for $1,000 & which my husband ASSURED me he could repair but has since decided that doing so & learning to work on rotary engine is too much trouble. (We don't want to finance anything -- cash cars only).

While I have no problem with idea of selling RX7 for, hopefully, what we paid for it, & then buying our friend's $1,200 '82 Jag V-P, I don't want to find myself buying & relying on yet another car that is notorious for being chronically problematic & in need of repairs/parts. Of course, I've insisted that my husband install already purchased part first (our friend who owns Jag is not mechanically inclined), and then test drive it in town/on highway plus also have Jag/imports specialist check it out before we buy. I know parts can be expensive. Is this particular Jag model/year prone to frequent problems, or is it fairly reliable (enough so that we won't be having to repair/buy parts every time we turn around to keep it maintained/performing its best)? Can anyone give me some honest advice on practicality of buying/owning this car as a daily driver? Thanks in advance for any helpful replies!

Potential (& Wannabe) Classic Jag Owner in Fort Worth, Texas:icon_vp:

Hi there, welcome to the forum. First off you will receive much better tech replies over in the XJ6/12 section appropriate to the year of the car, so I will move this over to there.

You don't say what the 'part' was, if it was a whole new engine that is a good deal different to a new fan belt for example.

Any classic car when used as a daily driver is going to be high maintenance compared to a modern vehicle and you should be aware that even some basic items may very well cost more than the purchase price of the car.

This year is a gorgeous car, but it's high need car. You will "dicker" with it constantly. If it's what you like to do, then perfect car. If you want to get in and drive and never think about it, not you vehicle of choice.

I'll pile on with the others. A 28 year old Jag is NOT the right choice for a carefree ownership experience. In fact, I doubt that ANY 28 year old used car would be the right choice.

Now, that isn't to say it could never be reliable. To the contrary, with time, money, and effort it CAN be reliable. I used one as a very reliable daily driver for many years. I was never once on the back of a tow truck. Never. But, it takes....again....time, money, and effort :-).

Since I'm a Jag lover, my rationale would be "If I'm gonna spend just $1200 on a car that will needs repairs and TLC, it might as well be a Jag" :-). I'm not saying that's a good rationale for everyone, though.

Cheers
DD

Hi Orson Joseph

You need to tell us what "the part" is. I speak from experience as I had a 1980 XJ6 4.2. Is the car you propose to buy a 6 or a V12 ?

1982 cars are not a whole lot better than my 1980 was, which means there are likely to be lots of things to do, (it is 28 years old, remember!). These cars really are repairable fairly easily by home mechanics, the electronics are minimal. I think I did most things on mine over the 14 years I had it. Be aware, however, that this era of car, (the design dates back to 1967), was not built to go to Mars and back, that ability with Jaguars came with the 1995 X300 series, a totally different design even it it looks very similar.

The XK 6 cylinder engine is very prone to block cracking and subsequent head gasket failure, only cured in the last few years of production. If your car has these cracks it will be a constant tale of woe, I can tell you, (yes I had the cracks in my 1980). I would say that it is likely you could not rely on the car for everyday use in the initial months of ownership, as you will have to put right a lot of neglect. I found that once I had got my XJ6 sorted out, I could be confident about it, in fact I took it to Ireland twice on holiday in preference to a Mazda Xedos !! The Jag was just so much better to drive; it is a Magic Carpet.

Transmission is a Borg-Warner 66, a very reliable unit.

Front and rear suspensions are easy to fix, they have lots of ball joints roller bearings and bushes but unlike the modern cars, these are available separately, as the 1960s designers knew they would not last very long so ensured they were easily replaceable. With modern materials, these components are now very long lived and also cheap. What more could you ask for !!

Bodies tend to be prone to rusting; but this may not be a problem in Fort Worth as a southern hence warm and dry US state.

I have no experience of the V12s, but do know that their petrol consumption was very high. They also have a different transmission, but the rest of the car is the same.