Hello everyone it was jan 3rd, 2021 when I was searching car ads when I saw something different........ a beautiful garage kept 2 owner 2004 XJ8 for sale with 90,610 miles. Loved the look and read all the Edmund reviews (4.9 out of 5 stars). I drive a lot, so when I saw that it got 27-30 mpg(highway driving), I scheduled an appointment to see the car the next morning. I fell in love (and probably overlooked a few things) and bought the car after a local test drive. I was a little hesitant since I "heard" that Jaguars were unreliable, but I do all my own work.

Driving home there was a high speed vibration, surging engine, and I got a transmission fault. I thought I bought a lemon and regretted the purchase. Rather than get upset I decided to research all the issues and one by one they were resolved and over the past year I've put 19.5 miles on my baby. I still look back at the car after parking/walking away. The ride is so smooth and I just feel special in the car. I don't drive her in the Northeast bad weather, I have a few trucks I can use instead.

It's had normal wear for any car and has been very reliable. The clock just turned 110,000 miles and I'm hoping to put many more fun miles this year. Happy driving everyone and if you are on the fence to buy one, I highly recommend. If you own one, I'm sure you feel the same way about your baby.

 

Well done, I guess we all pretty much know the feeling of at first when the problems arise but offset by the sheer magistracy of the cat. I too had a few issues after buying sight unseen from a different state and had it delivered, but now with almost everything fixed I love my Jag to bits.
Bob

 

How did you fix the engine surging / Transmission fault. This is a problem on my dad's 04 XJ8 VDP.

 

"The ride is so smooth and I just feel special in the car."


this is so true...we have an Audi A8L that costs more then the Jag, but i 'feel' special driving 'Lady J'. Hard to explain unless you own one i guess.

 

Really glad to hear your ownership experience
Also wow, you really stacked a lot of miles in 1 year than me/my dad combined.

 

I have other cars I could drive from the stable, but I just always get drawn to "Lady J" lol After a nice wash n shine I just want to drive it. Hence the miles keep going up n up.

As for the surge. I researched that this was an issue, and if I remember correctly, was only prevalent on the early x350s. My brother took it to the dealer for a TCM re-flashing (based on a Technical Bulletin we read) to eliminate the surge. I also read a few forum posts suggesting that 2 cans of the fuel cleaner BG44K might help. Its expensive ($25/can) , but decided to give it a shot,. Guess what...it worked! Poured 1 can into a full tank, ran it down. Then drove two more fill ups (w/o the cleaner). Then poured the 2nd can and ran the tank to empty. The surge went completely away and I had a pretty noticeable surge.

As for the tranny fault. I for sure thought I needed a tranny rebuild. I visited multiple shops and chose a shop that was highly rated and quoted me $2200. One of their technicians was very nice and told me to make sure that the car is running perfectly before you decide on the rebuild. He mentioned that the ECM affects the TCM, so if there are engine issues it "might" cause the tranny faults. I was getting poor fuel trims that was traced to a bad MAF. After I changed it out, the car never pulled a tranny fault again!

I was very lucky w both fixes.

 

Brilliant!

 

That's a feeling that no one else would understand, unless that you own one. I don't see this vehicle as a car. It's just like part of the family. 🥰

 

Similar to the OLD question;

Why do you ride a motorcycle ?????

ANSWER

If you have to ask.

You wouldn't understand

 

Yup I feel the same way too...

 

I was recently driving through West Palm Beach, via AIA, and I saw a bunch of Ferraris, Aston Martins, Porsches, and x350/358s! The XJs fit right in with the super cars and brought an elegance to the group. They looked so good.

 

I, too, have a love affair with Jaguar that overcomes their faults. Just bought my dream 09 XJ Super V8 Portfolio in Celestial Black. On the 4 hour drive home, I thought it must have the worst tires on the planet or the rear end was coming out! Well, guess what?
Luckily, I found a used unit on ebay, one of 2 in the world it would seem - at least advertised - and after 5 days the week after Christmas, it was in. Along with brakes all round, tie rod ends, stabilizer links and rear sway bar drop links. Quiet as a mouse now. 4 wheel alignment coming Friday and she'll be ready for the road.
I was disappointed, but it is a used car and worth the investment. As mpasiuk said, can't walk away without looking back.................. Lordy, they're beautiful cars.
Won't even go into the list of things I had to do on my 04 XJR when I got it, but I still love it. My go-to continental cruise missile.
Not many other cars are worth the effort these are. I might think differently if I paid someone to work on them. But, luckily, I've been blessed with just enough talent to keep them running. Worse vices to have!

 

Really glad to hear that you have sorted out the issues you have on your Jag Hopefully it'll last you a long time.
Also, it's so true that you just can't walk away without looking back at it...

 

Wow, that's awesome. In my area, I rarely sees any X350/358 S-Type, X-Type, XF, X351 are more common instead haha.

 

I have an old Navy pal in Garden Grove, TommyBoah, so you may be seeing an X358 out there in the not too distant future. Maybe running up the coast to Monterey Week!

 

Bob, how do you get that picture up by your name? I could barely get one in my signature. Operator skills issue I know.

 

It's pretty easy
Go to User Control Panel, then on the top left hand side, go to "Edit Profile Picture", and there you go.

 

Thanks, TommyBoah. I got the profile picture, then had to upload one for the avatar. That stuck it by my name. Sometimes my fiddlefingers get lucky!