So currently i drive a 2001 mirsubishi galant es with the 4g64 engine dohc head swap and turbo set up from an evo 9. Now dont get angry i started with that it plays into what im asking. I want luxury with good handling, not a drift car, not a drag car. Just something i can drive without worry and maybe lower it with some nicer wheels. I've been taking a liking in the Jaguar XJ8 for quite some time and am sick of japanese engineering especially those of the now Shitsubishis. I was thinking of picking one up that has 1 owner and 100k miles. 1999 Vanden Plas XJ8. I;m wondering what to look out for and if its a bad idea to grab on thats been sitting since 2015, he starts it every so often to move it out of the way of his semi's he works on. All he knows thats wrong is that the power steering is either leaking in the pinion and rank or the high pressure hose.
Now for the big question. Why should i switch to a Jag over my Galant? Is the reliability any better? I know gas mileage is worse but thats not an issue. How much is maintenance and how much could i be looking at spending on maintenance if i buy a Jag tahts been sitting for 7 years without actual driving?

 

I guess if you ever drove an XJ8 you wouldn't ask the question! Having kept an old Gallant alive once, expenses are about the same: comfort, performance, ride, handling and sense of self worth, an order of magnitude improvement reflecting an $18,000 car and a $60k plus.

Where are you located?

 

Im in Dubuque, Iowa the car im looking at is only an hour away in Marion. Very temperamental weather here

 

A ‘99 Vanden Plas can be a very nice car. 100k mile cars are a dime/dozen. I think I’d look for one with fewer miles on it. They are out there. I bought an ‘01 VdP last year with 53k miles on it.

in any event, it probably needs timing chain tensioners/guides done on it and shock bushings. Plus a few other things. New battery, etc.
There is a lot of help on this forum.

A we’ll sorted Jag is a wonderful thing. A badly maintained Jag is a cruel mistress.

 

Its not a sports car, its a GT ( Grand Tourer), the VP ( short for Vanden P ) is if I recall correctly a L version, that means you will get som leg room in the back seat. The Xj8 is a traveling companion, you dont ride your Jag, you travel in your Jag. Plenty of power for everyday need but not a racer. >
And thats the secret, the ride, the elegance, the comfort , the silence. You will forget it is an older car, you will most of the time forget it has no Bluetooth. It has leather, like in a really nice comfy chair, it is majestic, and it will affect you, you to will feel great, thats how it is driving a XJ8

Not that expensive to maintain, look out for rust, mechanical the engine as long it is serviced, have all the known issues as tensioners, thermostat fixed it is a like a engine from the past, it will last, probebly outlast the car itself. You will get/have a saggy headliner, its a "standard feature" . It is a heavy car, rods and bearings take punishment.

As a Swede I count in Km not in miles, so a 100K miles is a 16k european miles ( 10km = 1mile), I would say its broken in Mine is +130K miles , and runs smooth and great, its just keeps going.

/Markus

 

Your math sucks: 100,000 miles equal 160,934 km: ~1.61km = 1 mile

 

Yup, six years at Uni didnt help, but the real issue is more that I do not know how to translate mile into mile, you see, 1000meters = 1 km and 10km = 1 mile, ( here 1 mil, no "e" at the end) and when translate (US/UK) mile becomes a mile ( french metric), So generally speaking old english messurement as pound, inches, feet and miles gets messy sometimes when converting, we usually convert ur miles to only km, my fault to try to put in french metric system of 10,000M wich is the system we use here for range on a car.


o/

/Markus

 

Not to worry Markus, I'd hazard a guess that your metric translation is better than Jhartz's Swedish...

 

Closest I ever got to Sweden were a bunch of them in South Dakota (unless you count a couple of POS Volvos and those books of love and sweetness and that really nasty broad with the dragon tattoo). Uh yuh!

 

We are getting out of hand , sorry for my translation mistakes, but the fella was asking about a Jag, so I think we all can agree upon one thing, Get the Jag Mr Rejack! Try it, like it or dont like it, you can always sell it again.

/Markus