Please forgive me, I did google with very little concrete information so I'm asking the pros. I'm going to be joining the XJR club soon and have found two that I like. One is a single owner 2004 XJR and the other an 2007 XJR. Both seem comparable regarding mileage and packages but am leaning towards the single owner 04. Were there any significant changes between the model years? Thank you in advance. Best regards.

 

The car was restyled in 2007 at front and rear but there were no major mechanical changes over the years of production. Of course modifications and improvements will have been made to improve reliability. I had a 2003 and a 2007 with the 3 litre V6. At first I didn't like the 2007 restyle all that much but it grew on me ! The later car was much better from the reliability aspect. The car was late on sale (2003) and the project manager got the sack for this, (typical Ford, don't bother working out why the car was late). Because of this pressure to get the car into production, some things weren't really tested all that much. I think the mantra was "every customer is a tester", so early buyers had to put up with quite a lot of faults. OK they had the warranty, but still had the hassle.
If it were me, I'd go for the 2007.

 

Get the later model car. It's a better car.
One change was the addition of VVT to the 4.2L SC V-8.
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Electronics were upgraded in 2006.

 

John, thank you for the information. When you say electronics are you talking about the ECU/car functions or the user interface/audio/climate controls?

 

Thank you Fraser. As an owner of both you've given me something to think about. I'm really hung up on the single owner (older couple) aspect of the 2004 but you've raised some good points. Thanks again.

 

Thank you Clubairth. Do the VVT engines suffer from any engines gunking up with unburnt fuel? I've suffered from that on a couple of GTIs I've owned. Appreciate any info you can provide.

 

Well, this might be decisive ! The plain fact is that both cars are now well over 10 years old, and as such, the degree of maintenance and care of the car become significant when considering which car to buy. You've not told us much about the two cars other than they are XJRs and one a 2004 and the other a 2007. I would say that all things being equal, the 2007 would be my preference, but the condition of the two cars is extremely important. So tell us a little bit more.

 

ECU and other control module changes which includes the Transmission Control Module. They changed manufacturer/supplier of modules.

Even the throttle body is different.

Overall the 2007 SC car will get about 10hp more than the 2004 SC car so long as both are in the same good condition!

 

The 07 XJR is 'technically' an X356. It has all the upgrades and improvements found in the X358 models but retains the X350 body style. Not many were built but IMHO the 07 XJR (X356) is the best of both worlds... X358 improvements with the classic X350 body style.

 

I don't think you will have any unburned fuel issues? Maybe your thinking of the carbon problems seen on DI engines?
We started hearing and seeing this when Jaguar went to DI on the 5.0L/3.0L engines.

We think the VVT was added to help with emissions but don't really know. They did up the HP rating by 10HP or so depending on where you read it.
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