I tried exactly this!!
To my dismay he was all taken in by the Harley he had bought the same morning...ah well....maybe I should have taken my address book and driven around some.

 

Well I picked it up on a Saturday but on the Monday my Boss went Ape Sh*t because I had dared to buy a much better car than him! He is the kind of boss who thinks the work place is a hierarchy and us subordinates should all be going round in rusty Escorts. Anyway I quit that place yesterday and start at my new job next week so happy days. I hope my new boss isn't "Cat Jealous"!

 

How is the XJ viewed in the UK in terms of prestige? It seems like in the US, people think of my VDP as being much higher end than a similar vintage S-class or 7 series. A Caddy or Lincoln.....forget about it. When I give someone a ride who has never seen my car, they are in awe when they get inside.

 

Pretty much the same deal here, in Europe they're acknowledged as special, in fact the X308 was voted the most beautiful saloon ever in a poll, get this, in Italy, and they know a thing or two about "Style"......
Me, I love the "Ministry Chic" about the old girl, Police think twice about pulling you over, you may just be a big hitting lawyer, high end civil servant or Judge.
The Prime minister gets driven around in them, although the new XJ Centinal in now his and his cronies new ride....the X308 bomb cars are now being phased out. To quote an old saying from where me and Stu are from, "Form is temporary, class is permanent"....

 

+1

In NY, a Lincoln is a taxi-service vehicle; there are thousands of them for sale with 300,000+ miles on the odometer (totally ubiquitous vehicle here, 2nd only to the Crown Vic.)

I had a Caddy, they are fun but not in Jag territory at all, especially in people's reactions, lol.

Benz and Bimmer are en-mass here too, they are the de-facto wealth vehicles so nobody really takes notice, especially in the "Gold Coast/North Bay" region of Long Island (Great Neck, Manhasset, Oyster Bay, etc.) where the Frank-built vehicles appear to have a 1-of-every-2-car ratio on the streets.

 

I remember on Top Gear years ago, Jeremy Clarkson asked "what do you think about an old jag?" (pointing at a X308 driving by) to a "Style guy" and his repsonse was "yes the XJ makes its driver appear to be more fashionable than a typical luxury car" amongst other praise.

What do Europeans think about American luxury cars like the Lincoln Town Car? Someone was looking at a picture of the Town Car and thought it was impressive b/c it has a huge 4.6L v8, alot of wood, leather and chrome and it being 210+" long. Of course this person has never been inside one!

 

The Lincoln Town Car is one of the best-value vehicles and by far the most comfortable (in total lieu of performance) but it is not a sign of class in NY; if anything it is a sign of practicality as you get the most metal-for-dollar and it has space for everything (7-people (4-in-back, 3 up front) feels like a normal 5 in a Honda Civic).

I put many miles on other people's Lincolns, even took my road test on one years back; they are great cars, but not really a fun car at all.

 

I've driven a rental town car my parents rented a couple of times. Being a rental car, I drove it pretty hard. Slow as hell and loads of body lean which is scary with a bench seat. The live rear axle also gets kinda scary in the bends with any potholes. Horrible fit and finish aka Crown Vic with plastic wood and low grade leather. The sound system in the "Ultimate" edition doesnt sound ultimate at all. The view from the drivers seat is pretty cool with the hood ornament and its long hood though. They don't look too bad either (from the front at least). Not a fan of the rear end design.

Make the rear end look better, better quality interior and a better engine, and it wouldnt be too bad.

The MSRP on these cars were actually pretty high!

I didnt drive crazy like these guys! You gotta see this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xuOLNcVock

 

In the UK the town car is made into Limos longer than some buses & coaches. They are then painted either white or pink and trimmed in wipe clean vinyl and LED strip lights. They are then rented by anyone who is on a hen/stag party, as a children's party mobile, anyone who wants to look posh going to see take that or as the wedding car of choice of the Chav. Inside they generally smell of stale booze and sick and outside they are scuffed and dinged because they are too big to drive around UK streets.

I know this because I've driven coaches at weddings and been invited to sit in the limo whilst they are in the church. Needless to say one whiff and I was back in the Plaxton!!

The X308 is IMO the most beautiful saloon car ever made. Everything about it's styling is perfect to me and I love the little touches. And Yes I agree with Sean, the rozzas leave you alone

 

Well I agree to a point. They now leave me alone at the age of 57 but when I had my first daimler double six (age 21) I was constantly being pulled by the fuzz cos I, a kid, had a better car than them and they just couldn't get their little brains around it !!

 

Back to the original topic, we recently purchased a '99 XJ8 with 71K, very well maintained, two owner car. Carfax shows first owner had it serviced at Jaguar dealers where "recommended maintenance (was) performed." If I go to my local dealer, can they pull the records to determine whether the "recommended maintenance" included timing chain tensioners and/or water pump? This may sound stupid, but is there any way to tell just by looking at the outside of the engine, any visual cues? We bought the car in February in Chicago - very cold weather followed and no strange sounds or ticks on cold starts - does this mean anything? I feel like SirJag, "new Jag owner, trying to learn as much from you experts as possible!" Thank you all so much!

JagLoverX2

'99 XJ8, BRG/Cashmere, 71K
'91 XJ6 VDP, Jet Black/Magnolia, 84K, died last fall, awaiting resurrection