Owners have filed 38 complaints on the Jaguar Vanden Plas, covering 1988–2004. The system named most often is Vehicle Speed Control (7 reports). Worst years by volume: 1998, 1996, 1999; cleanest: 1988, 1994, 1997. 4 reports describe a crash, 1 a fire. On average the car was 7.8 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Jaguar Vanden Plas
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 38 Vanden Plas complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Vehicle Speed Control 7 Read
The contact owns a 1999 vanden plas jaguar. When he attempted to move the vehicle in his driveway it suddenly accelerated to 70 mph. He placed both feet on the brake pedal and was unable to stop the vehicle. The vehicle crashed into a wall and his right thumb was broken. A complaint was filed with the manufacturer;…
Consumer was pulling out of a parking lot and while driving across the lot vehicle suddenly accelerated, causing it to go at an excessive speed, and resulting in a collision. Consumer had both feet on the brakes, pressed down to the floor, and the vehicle would not stop. Consumer lost control of the vehicle. A police…
On saturday, may 12, 2012 I was pulling into a parking space at the post office. The car suddenly lurched forward at a high rate of speed and my brakes were non responsive, my car slammed into the curb. Had there been a pedestrian crossing the parking lot at that time, the results could have been fatal
Engine And Engine Cooling 7 Read
There exists a condition with the secondary timing chain tensioner in 2000 jaguar xj8, vanden plas, or xk8 models that can and does lead to catastrophic engine failure. To date jaguar does not admit that this is a serious design flaw and safety issue. There are no recalls or even a service bulletin on this however…
The engine will stall randomly. This happens at low speed or when I stop at an intersection. It has also stalled when making a turn and narrowly avoided an accident. It only happens randomly and there is no pattern to when it will happen
At 37,092 the thermostat froze, blowing the radiator hose. At 52,058 another thermostat froze, blowing the radiator. Was told by jaguar service that these freeze, and I should bring my jaguar in every 16,000 miles just to be certain. When radiator hose blows, no telling where we might be and situation could be…
Service Brakes 3 Read
Engine stalls at any speeds with no advance warning. Power steering and power brakes are therefore also inoperable. Vehicle must be coasted in this condition to a stop and put in "park" before it will restart. This obviously is a life-threatening maneuver in multiple lanes of 70 mph specially when my wife and kids are…
Auto-tran: when coming to stop, vehicle will take off; engine surges forward with brakes applied; happened four times within 3 months; less than 5 mph. Tt
Automatic gear lever stuck in park position
Seat Belts 3 Read
Right rear bracket that holds the drivers seat to the mounting track broke. This allowed the drivers seat to swing back on acceleration and swing forward, into steering wheel, when applying the brakes. The seat would swivel around on the three remaining attach points. This occurred during normal driving. If this had…
The automatic (passive) belt reel has locked up and is stuck on the driver side. The passenger side automatic (passive) belt reel is also declining. The vehicle was taken to a jaguar dealership in newport beach, ca on february 23, 2009, but they are unable to obtain the parts to repair and indicate they are unsure if…
I have a malfunctioning seatbelt in a 1990 jaguar xj6 (van den plas). Seatbelt repair is warranted for the life of the vehicle. However, the local jaguar dealer has indicated that the part required is not available and has twice indicated there is "no eta" on its arrival. I am thus driving around unsafely and the…
Visibility 2 Read
The contact stated while traveling 35 mph, the driver side power window switch erupted in flames. The vehicle was pulled over and the contact pulled the door panel off to extinguish the fire. The contact received minor burns. The vehicle was taken to the dealership, but the cause was not determined. The dealership…
Vehicle1996 jaguar vanden plas VIN#[xxx] problemfailure of windshield wiper/washer causebroken wire at crimped junction in wiring harness that supplied power to control switch I had hoped to be able to get a photomicrograph of the failed wire. Of the seven strands it appears that 3 or 4 may have been trimmed leaving…
Air Bags 2 Read
The contact owned a 1991 jaguar vanden plas. While driving 50 mph and attempting to avoid striking an animal, the contact crashed into a cement wall. The air bags failed to deploy. A police report was filed. The contact sustained fractured facial bones, bleeding on the brain, a concussion, and a fractured right eye…
False deployment of drivers side airbag caused burn to driver's hand and damage to interior of vehicle
Electrical System 2 Read
Our jaguar key is unique from other keys in that it is cylindrical with small nubs sticking out. We never have more than the single key on a key ring, so there's never excess weight on the key while it's inserted, because we don't have keys in our life. Due to where we live we don't lock our house, so no keys are…
Computer chip failure. Qcaw
Power Train 2 Read
My car cuts off, after driving on the interstate at a high rat of speed, mostly happens as I'm turning off the highway, also my cruise control does not function
Transmission failed
Vanden Plas years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Engine | 1 | — | |
| 2001 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 2000 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — | |
| 1999 | Engine And Engine Cooling,equipment | 1 | — | |
| 1998 | Air Bags | — | 1 | |
| 1997 | Vehicle Speed Control | — | — | |
| 1996 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 1995 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — | |
| 1994 | Service Brakes, Hydraulic | — | — | |
| 1991 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 1990 | Engine And Engine Cooling | 1 | — | |
| 1988 | Suspension | — | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 34 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.1 |
| Worst single series | 2 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 7.8 years |
A model average of 1.1 hides a worst series at 2. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Vanden Plas?
By complaint volume, 1998, 1996, 1999 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Vanden Plas years are the cleanest?
1988, 1994, 1997 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Jaguar Vanden Plas have?
38 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1988–2004. Of those, 4 describe a crash and 1 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.