1996 Jaguar Vanden Plas review from North America

I replaced the brakes pads and rotors (routine maintenance)

The memory option for driver seat position no longer works

The cup holder pops out occasionally like a 'jack-in-the-box'

In my opinion, you cannot find a better used car to buy. This is my second jaguar. I bought it for only $7K, which had depreciated from around $70K. To get a car this nice for under $10K is insane.

The car looks beautiful, and everyone notices it. The interior could not be any more comfortable - there are walnut trays that fold out in the rear seats, rear seat heaters, etc.

The best part of this car is driving it. First of all, it's extremely fast for a 10 year old car with a straight 6. It's officially listed 0-60 time is 7 seconds; however, I've timed myself several times in the 'Sport' gear, and it's more like 5.5 seconds. If you hammer it at 80mph, you're going 100mph a split second later. This car drives very smooth at any speed - it handles 100mph better than most cars handle 40mph. I recently drove a brand new (2007) Mercedes S550 for a month, and honestly, it has nothing on this car when it comes to smooth driving and handling.

A lot of people warn others about buying jaguars because of "high maintenance costs". This is only true if you take it to the dealer, which you should avoid doing. Every small city has a good import mechanic who isn't afraid to work on a jag. There are also plenty of good web sites for ordering jag parts at reasonable prices. If you're smart about your repairs (and there should not be very many), you can maintain an older jag just as easy as any other car.