Hi All,

I pick up my 2001 VDP tomorrow. 74k and looks pretty clean. Great AutoCheck score.

You guys are the experts here. What would you suggest I immediately do, service-wise, after driving it off the lot?

I considered the 75,000 mile service. (I don't have repair records from the previous owner so I don't know what services were performed on it before.)

Any advice would be appreciated!

SirJag

 

I would change the oil, air filter, and anti-freeze. Assuming you have tools and plan to work on the car yourself, I would buy the valve cover gaskets and remove the covers and inspect the secondary tensioners. If you are not planning to work on the car yourself, I would immediately put the car up for sale and buy a car that does not require as much maintenance. And I have 4 Jags.

 

That is a pretty strong statement to make. Don't listen to this extreme negativity. No car that is 11 years old is going to be 100% reliable, no matter the make or model. These cars can be problematic, but if you get the tensioners/valve cover gaskets sorted out before they fail, things aren't terribly different than that of say a BMW 7 series. Both have the same weak transmission which should be kept in mind if it fails. It can possibly be just repaired (instead of rebuilt) depending on the internal damage. BMWs have cooling issues, Jags have some cooling issues and so on.

Not everyone in the world with a XJ works on their own cars. Think about all the little old ladies driving around in them.

 

Extreme negativity? A car worth about $5,000 that commonly fail transmissions, engine timing components, and electronics which are reported regularly here to cost as much as the value of the car to fix? He asked what I would do and I stand by my statement. I am a fan of the x-300 x-308 series (4 of them), I am a fan of the brand (7 of them, some departed). If you like the brand and are going to get someone to work on it, get a newer model. If you are going to work on it yourself, these cars are a fantastic deal. But with labor rates at $150. plus and parts at X2 or X3 prices, further increased by repair shop legitimare markups, the maintenance on these cars is excessive. Thats exactly why they sell so cheap. So, work on it yurself and beat the value equation. Otherwise, recognize the potential for high costs.
At the time in my life when I did not have the time to work on a car, and I had to depend on my one car, I drove a Taurus. Now I have time and money for tools and Jags.

 

The first thing I would do is drive it over to your local Jaguar dealer and ask someone in service -- women are great if they have any - to run a service history on the car and who the selling dealer was. If you get lucky they may be able to tell you a lot - especially if they sold it. Then you can give the selling dealer a call and ask them if different


Then I would go over to the parts department and talk to them -- preferably when no one is around and talk parts. Maybe buy an oil filter - you will need one eventually. I get to know my parts guys and get my parts wholesale - just be nice -- and ask if they are not forthcoming.

Many Jags have been very well maintained and your car may need nothing -- no one can answer this.

I would move from that point to find out about the tensioners and the other common failure points (plastic thermostat housing .....etc.)

Good luck

 

If the primary and secondary tensioners have not been done...don't buy the car unless...

You are fully competent, have a box full of tools and are comfortable with spending $500.00 on the parts.

You are willing to spend over $1000.00 parts and labor having someone else do the work.

FWIW, I bought my XJ8 cheap and then spent $2000 on parts for it to take care of the known defects. I did all of the labor myself.

 

I would just drive it until it breaks, but in all seriousness everything said above is a good idea. The service history can be very useful if you can get your hands on one.

 

See if whoever will be inspecting the car can tell if the transmission appears to have been possibly repaired/rebuilt. One possible sign could be newish looking bolts on the trans? Or any markings on the central muffler to indicate that it was removed to access the transmission or etc.

Others can probably give more detailed info.

 

Being someone who bought an xj8 a year ago and had it break down out of no where and now just watched it get towed away literally 5 minutes ago I would definitely start stashing some cash away expecting something to go wrong. I had absolutely no issues and she broke down out of nowhere, just decided not to start so be careful. Amazing car when its running though!

 

Its unrealistic to expect a ten year old car to never have any problems -- all manner of things can go wrong.

With the limited production both parts and labor resources are limited and normally more expensive -- this should be expected.

I would rather have a car with very little done to it than one with a huge history -- especially if low miles and not serviced at a dealer.

The tensioner problem is what it is with a known cost .......same goes for the thermostat housing. The ZF transmission is in many different cars and you only hear about the ones that fail.

 

Yep, the XJ8 and the BMW 5 series share the same trans. The only physical difference is the tailshaft housing because the mounts are different. Otherwise the only other difference is software.

FWIW, mine has 145K on it and it's original. I do have a 50k mile spare however just in case.

 

With that sort of mileage, assuming it is correct, you have a low mileage car for the year. Only thing making me suspicious is the lack of any service records, so getting it serviced straightaway at a Jaguar specialist garage is the first thing to do. Why no service records ?

Then there are the knownissue with this model being the two top cam chain tensioners, the thermostat housing, and a few other bits and bobs as others have said on this posting.

 

Do what I did the first time. Find an excuse to drop by my friends house and park the Jag outside. Not mention anything about it and see his shocked reaction quickly go green with envy!! LOL

These are good cars if looked after. As long as you keep on top of the basics you should be ok.

 

I never thought of this. Sure, I can see the dealer accessing records for services performed in their own shop.

But can my local dealer access the service history of another Jag sold by another dealer out of state? (Of course, assuming the car was serviced by a Jag dealer.) If so, it would be a bonanza of info!!!

Has anyone else ever done this?

Thank you!
SirJag

 

They should be able to, all Jaguar service departments are linked. If the car has been serviced at a Jaguar main agent, it will be logged. It depends on who and how you talk to....you might score a goal (touchdown) with a very helpful service department manager, who will open the history up like a flower, or, an abrupt sod who isn't interested because he's got a lot on his plate, give your nearest a call, the main thing to ask nicely is who sold the car originally. Then call them, again nicely, and ask "would it be possible to help me with the service records of the car in question?" yada yada....

 

I know the Jaguar system is linked for warranty work - I do not know what else it will give you. They can give you (print out) a build/data sheet with the options, selling dealer and all the included maintenance performed. It will also list the dealers that did that work as well as the warranties and if it was sold as a CPO car at one point.

I purchased a CPO Mercedes last year and I was surprised that all the information was not available. I am very friendly with my local dealer and they could only give me partial information -- trying to find information on paid maintenance like brake flushes and coolant changes did not get from the dealer performing the service to the interconnected system. When I contacted the servicing dealer directly by phone they were less than helpful -- its better to go in person.

 

Can a Ford dealer access Jaguar information? The closest Jag dealer is over 100 miles from me.

 

I have a 2001 VDP and I love it, and it has been a great car. I would replace the secondary cam chain tensioners with the metal ones, replace the water pump with one with metal impellors, replace the thermostat when you do the water pump, and replace the plugs and cam cover gaskets and plug seals. That's what I did. Really not that hard for a DIYer. If you can't do these things, you should have a lot of spare cash to pay someone else to do them - and then they may not do them right. I haven't replaced my plastic thermostat housing yet, but it's on my list. If you keep on these forums, and keep the car maintained, you will be rewarded. If you expect it to be a Honda and don't keep in tune with it, you'll be sorry you bought it.

 

I bought a 2001 XJ8 in October 125k, very clean with a clean report. It was my call, but I put a full set of tires (same make and rating) on at Thanksgiving, had rear brake pads replaced while she was on the lift - Cost me less than doing the same on my Trailblazer. Do a search of the common issues as well as the DIY fixes that are offered before you make a decision. Shop prices are going to be on the high end as will parts but you're not talking about driving a YUGO. I've been under a number of hoods in my time and I'm not a mechanic by trade so I've not had an issue about getting under the hood of mine. This week I pulled the front off the motor to do a timing chain replacement (typical failure of first gen. chain tensioners) but the car made it to 130k before the failure - Most current vehicles use belts and recommend replacing every 70k. I got estimates for 2400 and up to do the timing chain job. Instead I got some specs for a few of the tools and gave them to a buddy (made them out of scrap in his shop) picked up a complete timing chain kit - new upgraded waterpump- thermostat and a couple tools I couldn't find the specs on and I've got about 860 in it.
My thoughts- upon breakdown I was amazed to find absolutely no sludge in the motor (130k) and the heads are a wonderfully translucent golden amber in color with no visible signs of wear- despite multiple failed tensioners the assorted elephant sized chains are tight and haven't skipped a bit. My car is 10 years old, and she'll be in better shape when I finish my current project, than when it was new. Without records there's no real way to tell if you have potential problems or not, but if you're able to do the work, due diligence in researching problems and procedures will show you that these motors aren't that much different than any others.

 

Can't help but love this idea.