1998 Jaguar XJ8 3.2 auto

Yes, it’s as good as it looks. It’s a three-owner car with a genuine 36,000 miles on the clock and an excellent history. The first two owners were black-cab drivers; the second being the nephew of the original owner who inherited the car when his uncle passed away. 

Four years ago our vendor went looking for a good XJ8 and particularly fancied one in Sea Frost Silver. With patience, he found this car and drove it back from Kent to his home near Rugby. That remains the longest trip the car has done in his ownership as he is a man with many Jags. He has a car parts business and the space to store ten of them under cover, which is where this one remained, apart from light use in the first year or two, and trips out to the MoT station.

Now, with the pressure mounting on Malcolm’s interior storage, he’s letting it go to the next owner. That lucky person will struggle to find anything to do to this car, except climb in and enjoy it.

The car is in great shape, nose to tail. The paint finish is original, retains a lovely even shine and appears to be free of any car-park dings, stone chips or scratches. Our vendor pointed out a tiny blemish on the nearside front bumper but you have to know where to look.

There’s no bubbling or flaking in the wheel arches or door bottoms, the panel gaps are crisp and even and the Jag’s unusual chrome swoops on top of each bumper are smart too.

The vendor fitted four new Firestone TZ300 225/55/R16s when he bought the car and has hardly had a chance to get them dusty, never mind worn. They’re mounted on immaculate original alloys. It goes without saying that the lamp lenses, glass and grille are also spotless.

The only areas in which this XJ8 is showing any age are above your head and underneath you bum – a slightly sagging headlining and mild signs of wear low on the driver’s bolster where owners’ hips have slid in and out.

The carpets and over-mats are lovely and clean but the really impressive bit is the dash and centre console. There are no scrapes or scuffs or even any dust; all of the usual signs of age have yet to appear.

There’s a treat for button enthusiasts in front of the gear selector, with a radio-cassette, phone dial and the heater controls all teamed in a curved vertical panel. Here you’ll also find the button to turn the Automatic Stability Control off and another marked ‘Valet’ for when you pull up at the Ritz and want to prevent the valet parking guys looking in the glovebox or the boot. The green valet key is still with the car, too, as are both main keys with functional remotes. The stereo works as it should and the air-con blows nice and cold.

In the boot we found everything in a condition best described as ‘new car’: toolkit, carpets and liners, wiring and paint. The spare is low on tread but still legal.

The engine bay is pretty smart by any standards, but look hard and you might find a bit of road grime here and there to convince you this car has been used. Otherwise it’s all reassuringly clean and fluid levels are where they should be.

Peering underneath reveals plenty of smart black paint and underseal with the tiniest touches of surface corrosion on the hull above the back axle if you’re really paying attention. The vendor says the car has never been welded and we couldn’t find any reason to disagree – it’s all dry and sound as far as the eye can see.

On the road we just couldn’t fault it. It drives like a three or four year-old car, which is probably fair – no 1990s machine would quite pass for a new car in 2020 – but the lack of untoward thumps, bangs, rattles or any kind of misbehaviour is very reassuring.

The first owner was religious about bringing the car back to the supplying dealer for servicing, and it has stamps from them for the first nine years by which time it had only covered 12,600 miles. The first owner’s nephew had it serviced in Kent, with the last stamp in the book from 2010.

There are other receipts from that time in the file, and when the current owner acquired the car in 2016 he had a full service carried out by a Jaguar specialist in Warwickshire called CFS Motors. This included the replacement of a weeping transmission oil cooler.

Since then, our vendor says he had the car looked after by a neighbour whose day job is working as a Jaguar technician at a main dealer, though this was minor routine servicing for cash in hand, so there’s no printed evidence. There are lots of MoTs to back up the mileage, however.

The full set of Jaguar owners’ books is present. We counted at least eight of them, plus wallets holding the likes of the old emergency assistance cards, radio code information and so on.

We think it’s going to provide someone with a brilliant car for not much money. We expect it to sell between £5000 and £8000 but it’s being listed without reserve: whoever makes the top bid will be the new owner.

There are three excellent reasons to buy it, without even mentioning how nice it is to drive. First, choosing a really well-pampered low mileage example is the way to an easy life as far as upkeep costs go. Second, it looks tremendous value compared with an S-class Mercedes or 7-series BMW with a similar mileage. Third, if these cars have a future as modern classics – and we think they do – the only ones with investment potential are the low-mile powder puffs.

So you can digest all that sensible information for your head, and then buy with your heart. It’s a fast, luxurious, quiet, head-turning Jag and it will still make you and your passengers feel special, even after 22 years.