I was told by the officer that if not for my Jaguar I would not be alive today. Reality, I walked away with minor injuries. The lady who ran the red light and hit me (Driving a 2000 Buick Le Sabre) is still in acoma with a broken pelvis, leg, internal bleeding, and a broken back. She also had to have evergency surgery to remove her gallbladder.

Sadly the car is a total loss. I need to buy another. Due to the fact the car saved my life I am getting another JAG.

My question is? Should I get a 02,03,04,05,06 XJ8 (all I can Afford)

What is the best Jag out of those years? Pro's and Con's.

Thanks for your help...

 

Cars are cheap. Your life (or life in a wheelchair) is not. Consider yourself lucky and hopefully the woman will recover. This is why I always check cross traffic at a light or stop sign before proceeding. Saved my butt several times.

 

Thank goodness you're okay!

Thanks for sharing this. It's nice to know that the XJ is a safe car. I cannot seem to find ANY information about crash testing of the X350, but this picture is worth a thousand words!

 

Sorry but you would not have avoided this accident by looking to check cross traffic. That had nothing to do with this accident. You may have said you look both ways before you cross the street. Know the facts before you comment. This lady came into my lane and blew through a red light, tell me how you would avoid that? Good luck to you and hope nothing like this happens to you.

 

Thanks here are some other photos.

 

What was the crash speed, out of curiosity? It looks like the cockpit cage didn't even buckle a little bit!

 

That was a massive impact , glad you're ok
Have many safe and happy miles

 

Glad to hear you're ok but this quote drives me absolutely nuts and I see it on every forum I'm on for just about every car. Of course you could have survived in plenty of other vehicles. You mean to tell me that according to the officer, a Jaguar is the only vehicle that would have resulted in you walking away from the crash?

That's absolutely silly and naive to believe. It looks like a serious accident but let's be real...

 

Glad you are OK. Sorry about the car. To your original question. I would suggest that you buy the newest model that will fit into your budget. It seems that each year they make strides forward in the safety areas.

 

Good you are ok. Coming from a structural engineer - Aluminum is much better than steel at deforming controlled and absorbing an impact.

 

First off, I'm glad you're OK. I would go for either a 2005 or 2006 XJ8 because they have had some development time behind them. I would go for the lower mileage and better condition cars as a controlling factor rather than model year.

Good luck,

Mike

 

Probably go for the 2006+ models. They had the door bump strips removed and revised side markers. I think 2007 models came standard with bluetooth handsfree as well, but now we are talking $30k or so for a low mileage (<40k) one.

 

We' re sorry for your accident. No one makes out on total losses.

AutoTrader.com and Ebay are great places to locate used Jaguar automobiles, but you've always got to be careful dealing long distance--especially dealing with private owners. Vehicle inspections and CarFax reports are important tools.

Luxury car dealers (i.e. Mercedes, Lexus, Acura, Cadillac and BMW) will put top dollar in their own brand trade in's--because they are familiar with their products. They will trade for a Jaguar--however it'll be on their terms (low price.) A Jaguar sitting on another luxury dealer's lot can be bought at a very favorable price--if the dealer really wants to deal.

 

I am just telling you what the cop said. All european cars are somewhat safer than US. Thats just a fact. She was driving a 2000 Buick La Sabre that has a curb weight of 100lb more than my car. I walked away, she had the jaws of life get her out of the car and she is in acoma with broken back, leg, pelvis and internal issues. Take a look at her car and then look back a mine. Don't have to be a rocket scientist.

 

She was traveling over 50 mph and I was traveling about 20 mph. Yes my door actually opened and when I went to retreive some items out so did the passenger door as wel. Awesome CAR!

 

Wow. Hat's off to Jaguar. I knew safety is big on their list from the ground up. Rivet bonded aluminum is a part of the brand now.

I'd go for a Super V8.

 

Understood, but a cop isn't exactly in a position to be making such statements with any sort of accuracy. Like I said, I've seen this said for every car forum I've been a member of... From Taurus' to Grand Prixs, to Audis. I know people like to think there's no intrusion into the passenger compartment because of how awesomely safe the car is but in reality, if the accident was bad enough that you would have died in a lesser car, there would be some deformation of the the passenger compartment. It's a stupid thing to nitpick but it's a pet peeve of mine. The important thing is you walked away.

 

That point doesn't make sense. Passenger compartment deformation in the Jag has no relationship to how a 'lesser' car would perform. So if the OP had a weak chassis car like a Chrysler LeBaron convertible, since the Jag didn't deform, the OP would be in the same unhurt condition if the OP was in the LeBaron instead of the Jag?

Since the Buick was traveling faster than the Jag and had more weight, the OP was exposed to greater force. The Jag was forced to stop from 20mph and then get thrown backward while the buick simply was forced to slow down.

The GM H-body that underpins the LeSabre has low torsional rigidity. That's common knowledge.


I agree, there is NO information anywhere on any Jag's crash test performance except the X-type.

I'm glad you are ok OP. I'm sure you were shaken up!

 

Maybe the cop meant to say that if he hadn't been in such a well-engineered vehicle, he wouldn't have made it. I don't think anybody would argue with that!

That's amazing that that was a 70 mph crash! Was it head on?

By the way, the Jag is actually a couple hundred pounds heavier than the Buick LeSabre.

 

Car 1 comes with momentum 1 (mass*speed) and car 2 comes with momentum 2. The momentum is conserved in the impact and since the two cars has about the same mass the change of speed for the two cars will the same. Car 1 (Buick) will due to initial higher speed be slowed down and the Jag will be pushed back, but since the weight is approx the same they two cars will see the same change in speed. What looks to me as an disadvantage for the Buick is that is has been hit more on the corner while the Jag has been hit more in the middle. (The jag has been about to turn in the intersection and the Buick has been going straight ahead). A safe car is all about absorbing as much energy with the crumple zones and leave a decent survival space.