New prospective Jag owner from California saying hi!
#1
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Hi!
I love cars. My bucket list is a to-own list of cars. It just so happens that at this moment, a Jaguar could possibly be in my future. Our family car (Ford Escape) was destroyed by a red light runner last week and now the wife and I are looking at replacement cars. Just so happens she likes the S-type and XJ8. I'm looking at 2000-2005 models (in our price range).
As a gearhead, I've always heard horror stories about Jaguars, but never from owners, always from people second hand. I've never owned a British car, but my Dad has owned several older cars, even some early E-types. All have always been, "quirky" I guess you could say. But like I said, those were early cars and it seems the reliability factor is no where near what mid-70's BMC vehicles were. From my readings here and elsewhere on the web, it looks like the two biggest powertrain issues on these cars is the timing chain tensioner and the ZF transmissions. It looks like the tensioner issue was resolved either under warranty or in 2002+ models, so for me, I think that's probably a non-issue. Which really only leaves the transmission. I was once told, if you do enough reading on the Internet, you can talk yourself out of buying almost anything. I'm wondering if that's the same thing here. I've read horror stories about the CD4E transmission in our Ford Escape, but after 148k miles, the thing was flawless. Is the ZF box really a common issue for these cars? It seems to me, if it was, I'd see a lot more XJ's for sale with busted transmissions for dirt cheap, but I haven't seen one yet.
Also, is there any other common faults other than normal wear and tear stuff I should look for?
Thanks,
Ryan
I love cars. My bucket list is a to-own list of cars. It just so happens that at this moment, a Jaguar could possibly be in my future. Our family car (Ford Escape) was destroyed by a red light runner last week and now the wife and I are looking at replacement cars. Just so happens she likes the S-type and XJ8. I'm looking at 2000-2005 models (in our price range).
As a gearhead, I've always heard horror stories about Jaguars, but never from owners, always from people second hand. I've never owned a British car, but my Dad has owned several older cars, even some early E-types. All have always been, "quirky" I guess you could say. But like I said, those were early cars and it seems the reliability factor is no where near what mid-70's BMC vehicles were. From my readings here and elsewhere on the web, it looks like the two biggest powertrain issues on these cars is the timing chain tensioner and the ZF transmissions. It looks like the tensioner issue was resolved either under warranty or in 2002+ models, so for me, I think that's probably a non-issue. Which really only leaves the transmission. I was once told, if you do enough reading on the Internet, you can talk yourself out of buying almost anything. I'm wondering if that's the same thing here. I've read horror stories about the CD4E transmission in our Ford Escape, but after 148k miles, the thing was flawless. Is the ZF box really a common issue for these cars? It seems to me, if it was, I'd see a lot more XJ's for sale with busted transmissions for dirt cheap, but I haven't seen one yet.
Also, is there any other common faults other than normal wear and tear stuff I should look for?
Thanks,
Ryan
#2
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Welcome to this friendly Forum, Ryan.
You're best off looking in the 'HOW-TO''s at the top of the technical section of modells that interest you such as
S-Type / S type R Supercharged V8 - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum
and there's a Regional one too
Western US - AK CA NV OR UT HI WA ID - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum
Enjoy your membership here.
You're best off looking in the 'HOW-TO''s at the top of the technical section of modells that interest you such as
S-Type / S type R Supercharged V8 - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum
and there's a Regional one too
Western US - AK CA NV OR UT HI WA ID - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum
Enjoy your membership here.
#3
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Welcome to the forum Ryan,
Sorry to hear about the Escape incident. I hope no one was injured.
From reading on the forum, you could come to the conclusion our Jaguars are always in pieces on the garage floor but it's more a case of enthusiasts keeping their vehicles in perfect running order.
Follow this link S-Type / S type R Supercharged V8 - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the S-Type section for help, advice and information. The 'HOW TO' thread at the top there is a good place to start for info on regular issues.
Similarly for the XJ8, follow this link to the X308 section XJ ( X308 ) XJ8 / XJR - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum for models up to 2003 and this one XJ ( X350 & X358 ) XJ6 / XJ8 / XJR - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum for the X350 from 2003 to 2009. Again, the 'HOW TO' thread at the top of each is the place to start for info on regular issues.
You can also visit the US Western Region section by following this link Western US - AK CA NV OR UT HI WA ID - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to find other members in your region.
Good luck in the search for your Jaguar.
Enjoy the forum.
Graham
Sorry to hear about the Escape incident. I hope no one was injured.
From reading on the forum, you could come to the conclusion our Jaguars are always in pieces on the garage floor but it's more a case of enthusiasts keeping their vehicles in perfect running order.
Follow this link S-Type / S type R Supercharged V8 - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the S-Type section for help, advice and information. The 'HOW TO' thread at the top there is a good place to start for info on regular issues.
Similarly for the XJ8, follow this link to the X308 section XJ ( X308 ) XJ8 / XJR - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum for models up to 2003 and this one XJ ( X350 & X358 ) XJ6 / XJ8 / XJR - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum for the X350 from 2003 to 2009. Again, the 'HOW TO' thread at the top of each is the place to start for info on regular issues.
You can also visit the US Western Region section by following this link Western US - AK CA NV OR UT HI WA ID - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to find other members in your region.
Good luck in the search for your Jaguar.
Enjoy the forum.
Graham
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Welcome aboard....... good to have you here with us here at Jaguarforums
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