Hi Everyone,

I'm considering buying a 2001 Jaguar XJ8 with 140 000Km on it (~87 000 Miles). I'm a student so I'll be on a relatively tight budget so I'm looking into reliability and repair costs.

JD Power gave it a better than average dependability rating after 3 years (JDPower.com | XJ Series), but how would it fare after almost 10 years?

What do you guys think would be a reasonable amount of money to spend on repairs for this car over a few years?

Thanks for your help,
Scott

 

How tight of a budget and do you work on cars or depend on a mechanic?

 

Hi -
If you are a student on a budget, I would NOT recommend one of these cars. They have a number of idiosyncrasies, and are a fun hobby for someone with tools and/or money. But they are not bulletproof reliable transportation by any means. I strongly recommend something boring like a Toyota Corolla until you are out of school.

Jaguar XJ8s of this vintage suffer from:
1) potential catastrophic engine failure from "nikasil cylinder liners" if your 2001 was made early in the model year
2) potential catastrohic or near-catastrophic engine failure from "camshaft secondary chain tensioners" for XJ8s from before 2002.
3) potential catastrophic transmission failure from "A drum design flaw"
4) any number of annoying and perplexing electrical failures which often take a lot of detective work to track down

These cars sell at a substantial discount from what you might expect, because of these issues. When the car is working right, it is sex on wheels, but I repeat it is NOT like a Toyota or a Honda. Or even a Chevrolet or a Ford!

 

We bought ours for less than 2/3 of our cash car budget*. The remaining 3rd of our cash car budget remains in savings just-in-case something catastrophic and expensive happens. If you have the cash to take care of the things that need to get fixed (or proof that a prior owner fixed them) and have enough cash to afford it if something catastrophic goes wrong, go for it. But if you've got $7 grand in the bank and are considering a $6500 jag and have budgeted $10/mo for maintenance, run away.

*Note we immediately dropped a couple grand to take care of the potential catastrophic failure items (water pump, timing chain tensioners, thermostat housing). These items can give out with almost no warning and can take the entire engine with them. But they can be easily replaced with re-designed parts that will not come apart taking the engine with them. That said, if you can do the wrenching yourself, you can likely take care of all of the above for a few hundred bucks. I'm not that mechanically inclined and I budgeted for the repairs when I bought the car.

 

If you depend on a mechanic, I say expect $1000 a year on non wear related repairs. This amount is if the prev. Owner took care of these cars' typical trouble spots. If the prev. Owner has not fixed those problems expect much more than $1200. Most European luxury cars of this era will cost a lot to maintain.

 

Buy a Honda for now and get the Jag when you are in a better financial position. These are not cars for people without money or worse, those who defer things. If you are looking for reliability and repair cost to be low you are looking at the wrong car. I'm not saying they are not reliable, only that they are not cheap to own. Like me, you may even have a hard time finding mechanics to work on it. Most of that is based on their own ignorance, though.

Really, don't buy one of these as a student because it will go wrong and probably put you off when it comes to Jags in the future. I've had a hard time with mine and I can afford it.

 

Does the 2003 vdp have issues with number 2 above?
Or any other timing chain tensioner?

tia

 

as much as I love my car, I do to an extreme amount, I will admit that these cars are not reliable. In fact I'm typing this on my phone while I ride the subway BC my car has to go to the shop again! Lol

 

Doh!

 

If the invoices for all of the listed items by Boomer are included with the car, you'll probably be "alright", however regular maintenance is still quite costly and required often. Things just 'break' on these cars out of the blue. I bought mine after I finished school so I wouldn't be dealing with the repair costs for 10y/o $100,000 English luxury car while having no significant income. Frankly its dangerous. It was tempting to get one before, but I'm glad I waited. Also, when you do buy one, make sure the transmission has been replaced/rebuilt. Most of them, by this point, have had the tensioners replaced, but its the tranny you really have to watch out for. I know these responses are probably not what you want to hear, but before you know it you will be quite able to acquire and run an XJ8. They are fantastic cars and are one of the best values out there, but are more for the hobby enthusiast. Just wait, you'll be glad you did.
I forgot to add that they really eat premium gas. On paper, fuel economy doesn't look bad, but boy that needle drops quickly.

 

Buying any used car is a bit of a gamble -- buying a luxury one is a bigger one.

If you look and any 10 year old BMW or Mercedes sedan the values are all within a couple of thousand dollars. Every manufacturer has some issue or issues. And certain models and years are better with each make.

The item that is a bit different about Jaguar -- since they are produced in lower numbers then the other makes the availability of aftermarket parts is limited.

But they are no less reliable than a MB or BMW.


None will compare to the Lexus / Infinity vehicles produced around 2000 -- some of the best ever.

 

I was a Certified Master Mechanic until 1994 and this car stumps me sometimes. While it's never let me down and I enjoy driving it greatly, it can be fickle at times.

Also even if you do your own work like me, the parts are extremely expensive. For example I can buy a coil (on plug) for my 2003 Lincoln for $24.00 shipped. The lowest I've found a Jag coil is $152.00.

They are wonderful cars but they are a lot of work and upkeep is expensive. Kind of like my wife....

 

Boomer from Boston is dead on. There are much safer choices for transportation other than

a Jag from this vintage. I have an 99 XJ8L with only 45,000 miles on it but in the back

of my mind I know it is a ticking time bomb......but it sure is a sweet cat.

 

Yes, the parts are expensive. Thankfully most are of high quality -- but the coils are twice the cost of what they could be if we had some competition.

It is important to have any preowned luxury car properly inspected before you buy it. Many buyers don't understand what they are getting into -- they look for cheaper alternatives when doing maintenance and repairs. If you purchase a 10 year old Jaguar from the second owner who owned the car for 5 years and he refilled the coolant with the wrong fluid, never changed the brake fluid (both very common) -- you can have a car with expensive problems!

And that's just two items.

 

The XJ8 is no better or worse than other 10 yr old luxury cars in terms of cost and effort.
If you can do your own relatively advanced maintenance and have the time, then it might be possible.
Currently, I am driving a friend's Ranger (the humanity!) while I wrastle with the ball joints at the weekends.

 

The transmission failure happens on the BMW 5 and 7 series, Audi A8, and some other luxury v8 powered cars of the era. In comparison to BMWs, jags don't have the cheap after market parts from China. As a result, a pair of brand new BMW aftermarket headlights may cost the same as one used Jag headlight.

But when everything is working properly, oooohhh boyyyy. "Your vehicle is waiting for you your majesty" is the feeling you get everytime you drive it.

 

I must agree with all - what a drive! BUT, sometimes, what a pain! Being proficient in mechanics and electronics, I have been able to resolve all issues to date by myself (sometimes with assistance from this forum). BUT, I have several other vehicles, so the down time on the Jag does not affect me.

As a student, I suggest your priorities should be to your studies - get a Honda or Toyota to get you through this period with a minimum of hassle/expenses... THEN when you graduate, treat yourself to a Jag. You won't regret it then; you might now.

And Ant: the 03 is free of the earlier timing chain tensioner issues.

 

Thanks for the tips guys.

For those who were asking numbers: I found the jag for $5000 and my budget is about $9000. I would expect to be able to knock down the price to $4250 which would leave me with $4750 for repairs and maintenance.

However, I've recently been looking at Buick Century's and Regal's and Ford Fusion's, all of which are supposed to be very reliable vehicles according to JD Power. I guess the part which I like the most is that they will depreciate very little over the time I'm in school and even if something important breaks it won't be extremely expensive to fix.

Thanks again, feel free to keep giving advice if you want, I'm open to ideas.

 

Thats cheap !!


Get a 2000 or 2001 Lexus ES300 with the same miles on it and your grandchildren will be driving it!

 

Yes. An early 2000's Buick Century is a fantastic car. Reliable, cheap to buy and repair, and very smooth riding. Drive that until you graduate, then treat yourself.