Hello to all!
I have the opportunity to buy a 1998 XJ8 with only 45,000 miles on it and I have a few questions for the forum.
The cup holder will not close properly and after checking with the dealership, it looks like a $236 part + labour. Can this be fixed without the cost of a new part? I do not drink & drive and I am wondering if I can disengage the function and close it permanently?
Also, there is a bit of surface rust and I am wondering if there is a problem matching the new paint (British racing green) with the old paint? I had problems years ago with metallic paint but it seems like the current paint is not metallic, so I'm hoping will match up pretty easily. Any thoughts?
Happy to join what looks to be a very comprehensive forum!

 

Welcome to the forum marc p,

Good to have you with us at Jaguar forums.

There is a repair kit available for the cupholder. Some members have been very inventive in making repairs to them and others have sealed them up.

Matching paint isn't difficult using the 3-letter Paint Code from the manufacturer's label on the LH front door pillar to get tyhe exact shade. However, you should ask members with this model about rust - it can be a lot more serious than surface imperfections.

Follow this link XJ ( X308 ) XJ8 / XJR - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the X308 forum for help, advice and information. The 'HOW TO' thread at the top is a good place to start for info on regular issues.

You can also visit the Canada Region forum by following this link Canada - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to find other members in your region.

Enjoy the forums.

Graham

 

Welcome to Jaguar Forums marc p,

Good to have you with us.
Enjoy the forum.

If you haven't done so already you should add your car details to your signature to help others to help you.
If you need help with getting around and using the forum follow this link for some help Forum Help

 

welcome to the forum - you will find a wealth of info and support here simply follow the links Graham has provided - enjoy!!!!!!!

 

Greetings, Marc, and welcome to the club.

More than anything, you'll want to be sure to do the upper tensioners and the water pump if they haven't already been done, otherwise you won't be needing those cup holders. There's a lot written about this car, so just go digging and reading and you'll learn a ton. I should think finding a used armrest and matching the paint color will be fairly simple.

Cheers!
Scott

 

Thank you for your reply.
I checked with the dealership who has done all the maintenance on the car since new and oddly enough, neither the upper tensioners or water pump were ever replaced. I found this incredibly odd, since everything I have read seems to indicate that both these parts critically need to be replaced.
I have asked them for a quote and I am holding my breath for a $$ number.

 

Hello, Marc,
Welcome from ElinorB.
(';')

 

Welcome to the forum!

 

Hi Marc

Welcome from a fellow Canadian and Ontario resident- you're in fine company here!

 

Welcome to the Forum Marc, from another Marc.

 

Welcome to the forum

 

Welcome Marc,
Always good to have another Canadian

 

Hi and welcome aboard, its good to have you here with us here at Jaguarforums

If you need any further help with the site moving forward, please just ask any moderator, veteran member and we'll be glad to assist.

In the meantime, any useful site information you may need such as how to post pictures, edit signatures, add videos, using the
search facility etc, can be found here within the following link Helpful_information

There are lots of members local to you with the same interests with info on local dealers and possible meets.
Regional - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts ForumNeed a Manual, a TSB, or General Info' about your Jag? Check out our >> DOWNLOAD AREA <<

I've manually upgraded you to Full forum access so you can better view the site and all its features.

 

Hi Marc, Welcome - I am a new member as well and new to Jag - coincidently I just got a 1998 x308 low mileage just like you are looking at. My car will need a complete new paint job and also has never had the metal water pump, metal thermostat or timing chain tensioners done either. I had to decide between this car and a 2006 X308 VDP that was very nice but had 100k miles - I choose the 98 lower mileage because it was very cheap AND I wanted a project car to "restore" and work on myself with my brother (and we also have a friend that is a retired Volvo land rover mechanic with some jag experience, if we get in trouble AND we now have this forumn).
My thought is you might want to pass on the 98 --- if you can only source parts or have work done by jag dealers I think the 98 will cost you far more than many other jags I think a 98 might be a better deal for a person that is looking for project cars and will crawl around salvage yards to get parts or (dog ebay for months - for example many people on ebay have the cup holder replacement for less than $125 - I need it too they were a bad design). Even if you want that body style - a 2004-2009 XJ8 look almost identical and they have AL bodies and none of the tensioner, metal impellar problems of the 98-2003 series and in our area the they all sell for so cheap the 2006 VDP I lmost got was in Buffalo and it was only $3,000 more dollars (than my 98) - the tensioner and pump repair will be almost $1,200 just in parts and rust repair/ paint cost yours needs also probably will put your 98 at more than most 2006 or 2007 jags in our area - the only benefit when your done is the low mileage.
On the other hand if you still want the 98 all of the repairs might not have to be done at the same time or even all right now - many of the forums suggest the water pump and tensioners job might not be an issue until the car gets closer to 80k mileage so you might be able to drive that 98 a year or so before doing those - which givs you time to see if your tansmission is good -I don't know if Canada had high sulfur content in the late 90s but that 98 also has the Nikasil lined motor, which didn't like high sulfur gas and even though high sulfur gas is gone the damage high sulfur gas could have done in 98,and 99 could still be a problem (nikasil not an issue with any jags after 2001)
Just my 2 cents from a newbie - but I have talked to a lot of people and read lots of posts in these forumns before I joined here - so even though I am a newbie I thought I could pass taht along

 

This is a four year old thread. We haven't heard from Marc since 08-22-2014 so it looks like he never went ahead with the purchase..

Graham