Understood, perhaps I am a bit touchy today as I am checking this board from LaGuardia trying to get back to Dallas and everything is setting me off.

 

lol i guess he does, but if you have a late model jag. Theyre nothing like earlier by any streatch... Just keep that in mind. I know guys who have been away from jag for 5 years and other than generic stuff, couldnt touch them anymore. There isnt a week that goes by we dont have an independant shop in here with a car for diag..

 

I just about fell over reading this, its been said here, and as techs working on the cars I think we're in agreement on this. spend more money on the other Jags and you will be money ahead in the end. Too many people think the X is the way you describe when in fact it is this...it the least expensive Jaguar to buy, and the most expensive to own..

 

The big question for me is will I be happy with another 2nd hand Jaguar after all those years without. The last one I had, a 1980 XJ6 was really junk in terms of build quality. But I loved it for its ride and looks, so I put up with the down side. I sold this in 2002, eight years ago. Surely things have moved on since and the cars are now better ?

Now here in the UK, there are lots of the aluminium-bodied XJs on sale 2nd hand but at really decent prices, and warrantys are available. I have looked at two cars and both were really immaculate, neat, call it what you will; they did not look abused and the service records were OK.

So can I trust Jaguar to deliver ? I am thinking of the XJ6, the 3 litre V6 Ford-engined model supplied in Europe, but not the USA, but I think it is the same V6 as the S-type. I really like the look of this car; it is the last of the traditional style Jaguars.

 

Found an internet site devoted to 2004 onward XJ8's, which unfortunately I don't have at hand, devoted to owner reports on their vehicles. Interestingly out of about 100 reports I scanned through, only 2 had bad things to say about reliability -most rated them between 8 and 10, (ten being perfect), for reliability.

 

Well if you as a Tech is telling me that an X is a bad car also. Well there goes the whole line up. Ive read good things on the car. I bet what you notice is a higher ration because there are more of these cars sold so obviously more will come in the shop relatevely. You have to look a the larger picture. But you are the guy that sees them all day so Ill take your word for it.

So it sound slike the whole brand is KAPUT for the 00 decade. Lets see what the new decade and TATA has brought to Jaguar. I sure hope the engineering dept made better cars.

 

^^^^WELL PER YOUR PREVIOUS POST, WHAT I SEE IS THIS..PEOPLE BUY A xTYPE THAT SHOULDNT. CAUSE THEY CANT AFFORD TO MAINTAIN THEM, IM SPEAKING TIRES, BRAKES ETC...AND THEY CANT AFFORD AN EXTENDED WARRANTY, CANT AFFORD ANY TYPE FAILURE. BUT HEY THEY GOT THEM A JAGUAR!!!!
I PERSONALLY WOULD OWN WITHOUT QUESTION 2003^ STYPE, XK'S ALL YEARS, (AFTER CHAINS TENSIONERS DONE) ON EARLIER V8'S SAME WITH ALL XJ'S. I ALMOST BOUGHT A BEAUTIFUL BLACK 05 STR WITH 2 TONE TAN/BLACK INTERIOR AND BIRDEYE MAPLE DASH FOR $16K WITH 47K MILES. BUT SHE BACKED OUT OF GETTING A DEMO '10 XFR 510 HP
XTYPE= HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLIES, SUSPENSION ISSUES, TRANSFERE CASES, ALMOST ANYTHING IN THE COOLING SYSTEM, AND VACUUM LEAKS FROM EVERYWHERE.( AND YES NOW WE'RE SEEING BRAKE BOOSTERS AND UPPER/LOWER INTAKE GASKETS. I JUST THINK A GETTING A DIFFERENT JAGUAR FOR ALITTLE EXTRA $$ IS A BETTER CHOICE IN THE LONG RUN.
IVE HAD A 96 VDP FOR 10 YEARS WITH NOTHING BUT NORMAL MAINTENANCE FOR 132K
AND OTHER THAN SLOW ITS A GREAT CAR

 

It looks as if I can go ahead with confidence then ! Personally, I always make sure I have some money set aside after buying a 2nd hand car, just for those unexpected things, which tend to be classed as "wear-and-tear" by the warranty company. For instance, when I looked at the first XJ6, a beautiful 50k miler, and absolutely immaculate, I DID notice quite a lip on the brake discs, indicating these will be needed sooner rather than later.

These alloy wheels are so useful as they mostly let you see these things, unlike the old steels with their covering trims.

 

Brutal , whats your opinion on the 2004 XJR mechanicaly ?

 

Ok Guys I am back. I am just a little too sensitive sometimes and wish I had thicker skin. The quote above hit the nail on the head. I had been just so used to not having to shell out money for repairs that I never had the need to budget for it. I had a friend who was a wholesaler who got this car for me from the original owner. I did get a bargain on it. I just never thought about the repairs aspect of ownership and have some "future" concerns. I thought wow a $62k car that is "like new" in appearance and how it ran, and the 9.4 rating on edmunds.com and the prestige of these cars, and the next thing ya know I own it for $12.9k. Then I got a quote at the Jag dealer for a thermostat housing replacement, $380 labor? Something I was able to do myself in about 4 hours. After further reading horror stories about repair costs, the next thing ya know I am panicking and already thinking the worst for my future ownership. I think that the good info on this forum and finding a INDEPENDENT shop will help tremendously on those fears. I will say that this car is awesome and I really do like it. I am kinda on the fence right now, tomorrow might be a different story. As far as the American vs Japan automakers debate, people (from all walks of life) could argue all day long about it. No sense in further discussing that one.

I have read all your comments and REALLY appreciate the constructive ones. To the not so constructive posters, I am back so take your best shot

 

atta boy

!

 

Hi Clifsmith

I first became aware of Jaguars when I was a 14yr old schoolboy in Newbury, Berkshire, in England in the late 50s. I really liked them and wanted one then ! At that time they sold on speed, style, elegance, and price (the cars cost far less then their competitors). The advert in the magazines, (and I have a copy in my den), was "Grace, Space, Pace". The cars continued to sell on this for the next 20 or so years until ruined by our decade of madness in the UK in the 70s. Of the 80s the less said the better ! The elegance and style was still there by 1989, but the build quality was not; the engines continued to be made on 2nd hand machinery from the 30s and 40s for God's sake !!

It was not until Ford purchased Jaguar around 1990 that any real improvements were made to the production side of the business. So from 1994, (The year of the X300 series) they just got better and better. The only trouble was that the others also got better and better. From what I can see the cars are now pretty good all round, and, crucially still provide the style, elegance, and speed that sold them all those years ago. Except that now our Lords and Masters say we must not go fast any more. So people (especially in the US), must have said, OK, I can't go fast, so I'll drive the biggest and most brutal truck I can get and stuff those *******s *sses. So Jaguar have struggled with this mania for SUVs ever since but these seem to have finally run their course, so maybe we are back to grace and elegance again. I hope so

Just don't expect Lexus-like reliability, but DO expect the rest.

 

LOL. So True. You must have been to Texas recently.

 

Owning a Jaguar is for someone who sees a car as more than something to go from A to B.

Drive the **** out it and enjoy every mile. The repairs won't be that bad when you look at several years of ownership.

 

Cool. thanks for the tip. Looks like I got a local Independent repair place.

 

Bingo. Same here. $75K evaporated into $21K in 3 years and 31K miles for the previous owner. I am driving a great car with 25 years of development and I really cannot fault it. Jaguars have a reputation that, IMHO, is totally undeserved but OK, that works to my advantage, hey-ho! All cars have problems, I have owned a VW Touareg that was eventually bought back by VW, and Audi A4 that the 1.8T engine needed replacing at 80K miles. So all manufacturers have problems....

- Tim

 

One of the most interesting posts I have read in ages, all sorts of comments. I am on my 7th Jaguar now and could never go back to a plain normal type car. I do not earn a lot but love the Jaguar cars. There are ways and means as mentioned in this thread to minimise your costs by finding a good independant,I have also sourced some parts from ebay ( phone module, headlight and foglight unit for instance) I actually drive mine in excess of 30k miles a year, and yes, I do have expenses , but considering the mileage covered I do not think this is excessive.
I have had all the discs and pads changed, had the normal air suspension problems and replaced numerous tyres .
all cars will cost money to keep running and the Jaguar will cost more but just look at the whole lot of pleasure you get from driving such a special car.
Some of the lads at work and friend I know spend money on meals out, flash holidays, drinks at the pub, thats fine as they enjoy that, for me though, I enjoy the Jaguar so that is where my money goes.

 

its fine but for air suspension issues, occasional coolant issues like reservoir and thermostat and or housing leaks. The air suspension issue is Im sure why jaguar designed the new XJ to only have air springs in the rear. the older have issues with front spring leaks and air suspension compressors that must work overtime to keep up with the demands of a 4 air sprung car, the fronts having large volume requirements and weight. Really for the most part, I have seen Jaguars make leaps and bounds in quality improvements over the last 10-15 years, especially as of late.... you always have to remember that in life, no matter what. having champagne taste on a beer budget will screw you fast.

 

Thank you sir for the reply and info.

 

I have a local mechanic who can do a lot of the maintenace on the Jag, and he doesn't mind me sourcing parts from the web. Even Toyota dealers "gouge" their clients. The O2 sensors went on my Camry. The dealer wanted $680 parts, plus labor to replace them. I bought the sensors on line for less than half of that, and the local guy replaced them for $90.

BTW I'm not rich - but I am self employed, so I can write off these repairs. It helps take the sting out!

And the feeling the Jag gives me when I get in..... I want to kep this car for ever. That being said she is not babied!