Hi everybody
I'm coming from the German car world into the Jag world and its purchase time so I wanted to get opinions on three cars and see what the experts think. First, a little about me: I'm needing a larger car because my wife and I just had a son and my 3-series coupe isnt cutting it. I live in Sherman Oaks and drive into Hollywood for work everyday. It's 11 miles and could take 15 minutes or 45 minutes (SoCal just has different levels of traffic hell). I'll probably drive the car 6000 miles a year give or take 10%.

In no particular order:

Car #1 2003 XJ8 Sport - $7200

128k miles, new tires, rebuilt transmission at 125k, new fuel pump and filter, 2 month old battery, new rear door actuators and a new cup holder

Car #2 1998 XJ8 - $6995 with shipping and warranty to SoCal
Jaguar XJ XJ8 | eBay
Service unknown, but it comes with the warranty below:


Car #3 1998 XJ8 - $6500
Jaguar XJ8 Green | eBay
Timing chain, chain rails and tensions have been updated

Love to hear some opinions. Also, with the two older cars is there a way to upgrade the headunit to a cd player or integrated iPod/iPhone player?

Thanks everyone!

 

Hi:
Tough choices… General wisdom is that the newer the x308 the better because of the tensioners and strengthened transmission. But that doesn't guarantee anything, as even this '03 has had the tranny rebuilt. I would worry, as i do with my '98, that the transmissions on either of the other cars will eventually go; so you should probably begin setting money aside for that just in case. Otherwise, option 3 seems like 'best' to me due to the tensioners. But after 16 years, and low miles, you will undoubtedly be spending the first year or two fixing the little stuff that pops up…

Scott

 

Too easy. #1: five years newer, better engine, tranny, stronger suspension. May need plugs, brakes, and shocks, maybe water pump, tstat, and hoses, but these are normal maintenance items. But the other two will need these as well.

IMHO

 

Thanks for the input and I read what you said but dont you think the warranty would protect me on some issues for car #2?

 

Also, any education on suspension in these cars? I keep reading about the nightmares in the x350's with the air ride suspension...

 

Here’s my opinion in addition to the other members input provided:
1. White XJ Sport w/ Penta wheels, this is my preferred color/style combination. 3k mls on a newly rebuilt tranny and recently replaced fuel pump will give you some peace of mind. New set of 18” tires is a plus. 128k mls is something to consider on the overall condition of the vehicle.
2. Buying a car sight unseen is a gamble but others had great success, IMHO. 5 yrs. drive train warranty makes it attractive but it depends how reputable the company providing it.
3. 66K mls with upgraded time chain tensioners. If the overall condition is better than the XJ Sport, I would possible get this one.
There’s 2003 XJ Sport in Asuza: one owner car with 73k mls. I got a call from the owner couple days ago and he’s willing to let it go for $7k from initial asking price of $8.5k. Here’s the link: 2003 jaguar xj sport sedan


I’m a new member on this forum. This forum is a tremendous help on our first Jag. Search this forum for Buyers Check List, this will give you various aspects on what to inspect on the car. Good luck.

 

The 2003 by a country mile.

The 1998's have the AJ26 engine and the 2003 has the AJ27 engine. Same basic block, but the engine management system is completely different.

All the perishable rubber and plastic is five years newer ... including hoses.

The 2003 definitely has the metal upper tensioners unless some fool replaced them with plastic.

The 2003 also has the upgraded metal shim head gasket instead of the composition gasket used in the 1998.

 

I would have to agree with plums. The 2003 is a great choice.

In that price range, though, you might even find a nice XJR. The XJR is even better, not only because of the massive power and torque, but because the supercharged V8 doesn't have VVT and has the practically bulletproof Mercedes transmission. Typically, they are the most reliable of the X308 generation, although you still have to worry about plastic tensioners on the early models.

 

1 (5 years newer and gorgeous!), with 3 a long second w/warranty, 2 a longer third.

 

My vote goes for #1 - all the early issues were resolved by this Model Year.

The warranty on #2 could give you some protection and peace of mind but it wouldn't add to the reliability. All well and good having repairs covered financially but you're buying the car to use it, not to have it in the shop.

The X308 has none of the suspension complexity of the X350 air suspension system.

Graham

 

this makes me curious...and forgive me but again I'm a Jag noob. Wouldnt adding a supercharge increase the odds of something going wrong? More parts, more hp and torque usually yield more problems..again, not arguing, just trying to learn.

Also, how "plug and play" are the head units in these cars? Meaning, could one in theory replace a cassette head unit with a cd head unit?

 

I have had the worst luck with cars. Seriously. Here's my rundown since 2007:

2001 Porsche 911 - RMS/IMS Failure. New engine, $12,800
2005 C55 AMG - Nav unit failure, throttle body replacement and upper end rebuild (under warranty)
1988 BMW 535i - truthfully any problems with that car were self inflicted
2008 Audi A4 - Oil Consumption Issue, new engine (under warranty)
2001 BMW 325Ci - $6200 in maintenance in 13 months of ownership

It seems that every car I own turns south...its amazing. I really should own a Toyota but I cant bring myself to go down that road. I'm just trying to avoid putting another mechanics child through private school

 

Headunits on the X308's are almost impossible to replace with anything decent, or that doesn't look ugly

If you're doing a lot of slow commuting then these cars can be thirsty too... I know you're not keen on an X350, but they were available in diesel... or is that still a dirty word in America?

 

I live in LA...its nothing but slow commuting. I drive 11 miles from door to door and it takes me 25-45 minutes depending on traffic. There are days you'll want to put a bullet in your head AND I dont have the worst commute in SoCal! The x350 suspension frankly scares the hell out of me if that makes any sense...

 

The supercharged engines are simpler, due to the lack of VVT. The XJRs also had rock solid Mercedes transmissions.

My 1999 XJR has 154,000 miles on it, and the engine and transmission are still going strong. There are members on this very forum that have more miles on their XJRs, and have upgraded the superchargers for 650+ hp, without rebuilding the engines first. The supercharged 4.0L is a very robust engine. And the Mercedes transmissions seem to be holding up quite well to the increase in power.

That being said, I have to agree with the above posts stating that the 03 is the best choice of the options you gave. You don't have to worry about upgrading the plastic timing tensioners that can destroy the earlier supercharged and naturally aspirated 4.0L engines if left unchecked.

The XJR handles better on the road, although the ride is harsher than the XJ8.

As far as fuel economy goes, my XJR averages 16-18 MPG city, and 22-26 MPG highway (depending on the season).

 

U.S. diesel fuel is nowhere near as good as it is in other parts of the world. While Mercedes and VW do offer diesel cars here, Jaguar does not. From what I was told when I worked at a Jag dealer, Jaguar feels that their diesels wouldn't run smooth enough on our junk diesel fuel.

 

I've test driven XJRs and STRs during my quest for the first Jag. Impressive power/torque, no lag on powerband on the various RPM of the engine. I also like the matching tighter suspension to handle the power and speed.

It seems like these cars are driven hard - sellers driving it like a rental car (just my obeservation). I was commented by one of the owners, "You didn't even get close to the REDLINE". RPM close to the redline was back in my rice rocket years. Hence, refrained from XJR.

I would like to know how many miles did to put on your XJR since purchased and how hard you've been driving it to reach 154K miles. I'm assuming your tranny is still intact. I think this will determine the durability of the XJR package.

Thank you for your input.

 

I bought it this past July, and I've put 10,000 miles on it. I've turned traction control off and lit up the rear tires a dozen or so times. When the roads are dry, I floor it nearly every time I take off. I don't use the J-Gate, though, as I feel the car is fast enough in Drive. The real testament is how it's held up to the winter driving. I get stuck in my driveway 2-3 times a week, and the only way to get out is to turn off the traction control and floor it. The tires spin, RPMs are at 4000, and my speedo reads 90 MPH the whole length of my 300 foot uneven driveway. The transmission still shifts perfectly, even with that abuse.

I'm at least the 3rd or 4th owner of the car, as I bought it from a dealer (who drove it for 2 years), who bought it at auction down in Florida.

Valid point on how the XJRs are driven, though. I would say a car with all the service records that is in near perfect condition probably hasn't been abused. I paid $4500 for my XJR, with no service records, so mine has possibly seen some abuse from a previous owner.

 

In addition to the preferred Merc transmission, the SC models have some not so minor upgrades in the lower end. Namely, stronger materials for crank, rods and pistons ... or at least two out of the three.

 

So I think you guys swung me to the XJR. After reading this and doing some more research it seems like a better choice. I'm still concerned about electronics but overall the XJR reads as the way to go