Currently own a 2004 XJ8 with 120k miles. My wife and I love this car, especially the handling, power and overall contact with the road. A friend's 101 year old father just passed away and left behind a Racing Green 2003 with 16,000 miles. The car has been sitting in a garage in Los Angeles its entire life and only driven 800 miles since its last maintenance in 2016. The maintenance records are complete and CarFax does not indicate any accidents. I took it for a test drive and was very surprised/disappointed by the steering and throttle response - both felt very "soft" and weak or unresponsive, very different from the connection to the road, tracking and tight responsiveness of our 2004. A mechanic (not a Jaguar mechanic) suggested power steering and transmission fluids. I don't know the last time the car was fueled (or what type fuel was put in). The issues I've mentioned did not feel like the results of mechanical improvements between the model years (if there were any), nor did they feel like a degraded fluid issue. The lack of throttle may be an old or lower octane fuel issue but I just don't know what's in the tank and how long it's been in there. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. As well as recommendations for a Jaguar mechanic in Los Angeles. Thank you in advance.

 

I’d say buy it and get the car running properly again with all new fluids and maybe check the tyres are good. I’d then keep it as a time warp classic, with 16k on that’s definitely o end the lowest mileage X308’s in the world!! Racing green as well, best colour for a British Classic.

 

I'm sure the tires are past there best. Even if they were new in 2016, that's 8 years ago and they'd be due for replacement. With the low mileage they could be original and 20 year old tires are seriously unsafe. If you buy it, replace the tires and all the fluids, and decide you don't actually like it, you should be able to sell it on pretty easily.

 

I'd argue that the changes are from mechanical improvements. As lovely as the x308 is, you can't hide that it's based on what is a 35 year old chassis. While that leads to a great ride quality, it's not as precise and direct as the x350 or other more modern cars. If you didn't gell with the car, I wouldn't buy it just to buy it, as then you'll likely not use it.

 

If someone loves the car as is and sees the potential, they should buy it. No love, no purchase.

 

One thing I can tell you about buying low mileage classics is that after you start driving it, you can count on it to start leaking and squeaking from just about everywhere. All of the organic parts in the car (plastics, rubber, vinyl) are now 21 years old regardless of mileage. Even many of the bushings in the suspension are now deteriorated and may look fine but are likely to fail in short order. Sure, the typical "wear" items are in better shape, i.e. bearings, cylinder walls, etc.) but most everything relies on some piece of rubber or plastic somewhere in the system to function smoothly. There's even dozens of o-rings inside the transmission that could leak and cause it not to shift properly. You'll need to budget a significant amount of money above and beyond the purchase price to tackle all of these leaks and squeaks that its bound to develop in its first couple thousand miles back on the road. It sounds like a great project opportunity for a DIY'er if one can get it cheap enough to allow for the replacement parts costs.

 

The lack of throttle may be nothing more than a gummed up throttle plate and bore -- easy to clean. Should be easy to resell after a few maintenance tours (tires, battery, SeaFoam in the gas, fuel and air filter change, coolant and brake fluid change, MAF cleaning, oil change and tire check; also check for rust or binding in the brake calipers). Bought mine a year ago with 60K -- now with 66,536, running better each day it is driven.

What was the asking price?

 

> The lack of throttle may be nothing more than a gummed up throttle plate and bore

Yes, everything could be clogged up, like injectors. Petrol gets old over time. I am actually surprised that the Jag drives at all and that the fuel pump is not seized due to gluey old petrol.
I'd recommend to syphon the old petrol out of there (and keep the old petrol for cleaning purposes - to clean off e.g. oil on surfaces) and put new petrol in there before you kill the fuel pump.

 

It would seem unlikely that a buyer would be buying a classic Jaguar based on performance comparisons to newer cars.
While these ladies can still "light 'em up", the focus for most owners seems to be the timeless styling and grace associated
with the appearance as well as the excellent handling and smooth characteristic of the ride. If a buyers interest is focused
only on its performance, this would not be the car for you.

 

Thanks for your comments. Asking price is $10k. Best, Ron

 

I'd add this "youngster" to my collection, if it would be here in Australia - and if it would be in a colour, which I like.

I spotted a few days ago another Jag nearby, which would take my fancy: HGZ (Racing green metallic) or HGD (dark green) - can't identify the colour for sure - 4.2L V8 XJ8 2003 180.000km good condition and registered. The only thing, which does not take my fancy is the price of AUD$ 23.500

 

Yes, that is a bit more than I might pay, however there may be more to the car than meets the eye.

 

I would guess you could negotiate that down some. Still, if garaged . . . I paid $9000 for mine, a year ago. But it was low mileage with the new series chains and tensioners, new battery, relatively new brakes, and replaced throttle and fuel pumps and filter . . cheaper than any Accord or Camry, same vintage . . . I renewed the shocks and such, and the coolant sensor and had an oil change; daily driver getting18.1 mpg @ 23 mph average . . . "Don't be a peasant"

 

We are now a 2-XJ8 household. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and suggestions. I'll post pics and what I found out after doing the diagnostics.

 

You bought the car! How is it working out for you, now that you're about a month into it? I found the X308 to feel more authentic than its successor. Sounds like a unique vehicle, hope you're enjoying the purchase.

 

Thanks for asking... We love it. Very smooth, elegant ride. After changing fluids and a few gaskets and adding new tires (the originals were dated 2002) I ran it on a sparsely populated highway to get a sense of the systems under pressure.. Eased it up to 80mph (2600 RPM)... red warning lights came on and the car went into restricted performance mode (not sure what Jag officially calls that). Waited five minutes, started up, no warning lights, back on the highway, all good... after a few miles the lights returned, back into restricted performance mode. And so on until I got it home. Cleaned out the Throttle Body Valve (butterfly valve) and back on the highway. This time only the engine light came on and the car continued running fine. Found out the past owner (deceased over two years) had not driven on the highway for at least six years, probably longer. I added Fuel System Cleaner, back on the highway, drove it manual mode, eased the revs to about 4,000 RPMs. Smooth. No problems (the specs state peak torque is at 4,100 RPM, Redline is 6,800 RPM). Twenty miles later no engine light, everything feels smooth and tight. Growls like a big cat. I'm going to put on a Bluetooth OBD II Reader and monitor the engine in real time and. Anyway, right now my sense is we got a good one.

 

That is good news, and that process is to be expected when the previous owner has not exercised
the "big cat" properly. Getting her up to speed is a process of elimination and I am certain once you
get a code reader on the lady, you will discover a few things that might need your attention.

 

latest discovery after 300 excellent miles: the odometer display is in kilometers. hah. so that puts actual MILEAGE at about 10,800. the only other necessary action was to reset the O2 sensors to pass CA smog. required driving between 3,000 - 4,000 RPMs for 10 miles. in 4th gear 3,000 rpm is just over 80 mph. according to specs the power band peaks at 4,100 rpm. so I think the only way to really find out what this Jag is capable of is on the track.

 

Noticing that you are in SoCal, there were few places to exercise a big cat
properly, while I lived there. The exception being near Palm Springs , of course.
VERY wonderful news about the mileage, because although there may be some
neglect to be addressed, the overall condition of the car should be sterling. We
would love to see some pictures.

 

Cali? I heard highway 1 is nice this time of year.