2003 Jaguar Vanden Plas VDP 66k miles, last year of the X308 XJ8 California Car

2003 Jaguar VDP Sedan 66k miles
To many the X308 series (1998-2003) are the last of the true Jaguars, more powerful and fuel efficient than theirpredecessors, the X300 XJ6 (1995-1997) and sleeker and sportier than the "Lincolnesque" X350 XJ series that replaced them in 2004.They can also be a great value for money also, but the thing to do is to get the best one, The one with five years of constant improvements and refinements, the final year of production, the 2003... The mostsignificant improvement for 2003 was the introduction of the 3rdgeneration metal timing chain tensioners and stronger Morse multilink "silent" primary timing chains...The X308 was the first Jaguar sedan to get the all new 4.0 liter alloy DOHC AJV8 engine that made it's debut in the 1997 XK8 . From the start the engine set new standards for it's advanced design, power to displacement ratio and fuelefficiency. But as production progressed and vehicles advanced in mileage, some shortcomings came to light regarding the reliability of the timing chain tensioners, water pumps and thermostats. Once sorted out these engines have been proven to be reliable well in excess of 250,000+ miles. Another problem area was the nikasil cylinder bore plating which could be degraded though the use of highsulfurlow grade fuel.Fortunately, this was never a serious problem here in the U.S. due to our higherstandard of fuel quality.Jaguar switched to steelliners during the 2000 model year...The mostimportant upgrade to look for are the upper/secondary timing chain tensioners, the original plastic versions can develop cracks that can allow the slippers to become adrift causing the chain to jump or even break resulting incatastrophic engine failure. If you are lucky, the chain will only jump one tooth making for a rough idle and rattle from the front of the engine. Should this happen the engine must be shut down and the car towed to a dealer or reputable Jaguar shop and the tensioners and chains replaced. Jump two or more teeth and you are now the proud owner of a "mechanic's special". The chain jump usually occurs upon a cold start brought on by the initialjolt of torque from the starter motor. This malady was finally solved with the introduction of the metal bodied tensioners in during the 2003 model year.Unfortunately as these cars age and accumulate higher mileage, many owners are reluctant to make the $2/3k investment to have thetiming chain upgrade done properly and continue to drive their cars with "fingers crossed"! Any XJ8 still running on plastic tensionersis a veritable ticking time bomb... One last word on this subject, you have been warned!This 2003 Vanden Plas left the factory with both the third generation metal timing chain tensioners plus the new stronger Morseprimary chains and has covered only 66,000 miles since new, less than half of the mileage that would be typical for acar of this year.

I am a retired Jaguar sales professional with 30+ years experience beginning in 1977 with British Motor Car Distributors (BMCD) and thisis my mother-in-law's car which I sold her 11 years agoat my dealership under Jaguar's "Select Edition" program. She is now at an age (93) where she is not driving as much as she used to, just about 2000 miles in the past three years, and now has asked me to sell it on for her.It has always been garaged andserviced on a regular basis. ( 3 oil changes in just the last 2k miles) I recently replaced the headliner forheras these tend to fail over time due to the original foam backingdisintegrating allowing thematerial to sag, especially over the rear seatconcave area. The car has always been garaged, never smoked in, never in an accident and even the spare has never been on the ground.I'm sure that there might be cheaper examples to be had out there, but I think that youwould be hard pressed tofind a nicer one...
IF YOU SCROLL TO THE VERY BOTTOM, YOU CAN VIEW A SHORT JAGUAR FACTORY PROMOTIONAL VIDEO FROM 1998 ON THE NEW X308 SERIES...
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