Very strange.

Have you pointed out that the 1999 and 2003 are identical except that the parts are four years newer? That means she could keep a 2003 four years more, all other things being equal.

Of course, given market prices, if you keep shopping she may decide to start stockpiling them as spares.


For the last 4 years I have told her that and I point them out everytime I see one. I would really like her to get the XJ8 VS the XJ8L she has now.


I guess I need to stop taking such good care of it and let it get a little neglected???

 

Ah ... missed that "L". Perhaps its the "L" part that is stopping progress. The car to look for is a VDP Super V8. The SC version

 

Not the best, but certainly one of them, true to the sports saloons (3.4 MKI, 3.8MKII XJ12 etc) particularly R has 'grace, space and pace'.
I've grown up around Jags, shared living space with E types, rebuilt XK, V12 and V8's and they're all true greats in the car world.
If the Italian Auto press say it's the most beautiful saloon ever made then I can't disagree. Geoff Lawson and his team developed what is still a great car, even today.
I'll always have one. Last of the Browns Lane cars. Nuff said.

 

I think the X308 is the most beautiful Jaguar to date with its understated blend of contemporary tradition, but its reliability issues mar an-otherwise sublime creation.

 

This has been a lot of fun reading these posts.

The X308 is a work of art. The design moves me maybe more than any other car I've ever seen. The only other contender is a Series III. Another work of art. Well, ok and XKE is just as beautiful. Oh, and the XJS! Gorgeous! Can you tell I love Jags?

Anyway, the X308 perfectly combines the Jaguar classic design with modern technology. The interior is perfection. And the supercharged version puts it all together and it becomes a sports car. A luxurious sports car with a great ride. Cars just don't get better than this!

 

Whenever I see a well-preserved Series III on the road I'm reminded that it is hands-down one of the five most beautiful 4-door sedans ever made.

Naturally you ask, what would be the other four?

Well, I'd argue that the top five also includes the MK 1-2 and the X300-X308.

Beyond those, there are plenty of contenders, but none that would receive such universal agreement, and none that achieved such mainstream success.

Seriously, what other mainstream sedans can compete with the Jaguars for elegance and beauty?

Cheers,

Don

 

I know this is an old post but I am going to revive it .
As far as I am concerned the X308 is the pinnacle of Jag perfection. The low slung lines, her sculpted hood curving around the 4 headlights, the V-8 power, the luxurious wood and leather interior. I searched for my Jag for 3 yrs! I wanted the XJR version 2000 or newer (Nikasil issues), British racing green or carnival red with oatmeal interior, under 100k miles in good condition. I was willing to have her shipped cross
country in need be but the Jag gods smiled on me and I found my baby only 2 hrs away. I went from a woman who only knows how to put gas in a car to an avid gear head.....ok, ok, gear head apprentice. I would be nowhere without all of your helpful advice and knowledge. The Jag gods even sent me an angel in the form of my dear friend RJ from this forum who has patiently taken me under his wing and helped me get her mechanicals in order with his mechanic knowledge and gear. I am lovingly restoring her to mint conditions saying be damned to my manicure. This car inspires me like no other ever has! I have dragged her into the 21st century removing the old Motorola center console phone and installing a new head unit giving her Bluetooth and satellite radio capabilities. I know some tall drivers complain about the tight fit but I am 5'5" and she fits me like a glove in the driver seat. All the controls within easy reach. She gets admiring glances wherever I go and just last week in the autozone parking lot where I stopped to get an air filter a man and his 8 yr old son came over to tell me how much they liked my car. They asked to see the engine and wanted to hear the supercharger roar so I pumped the gas pedal a few times and the look of awe on their faces was beautiful. The father asked how much she cost me and when I told him he was floored and said he would have guessed $40,000. The new Jags leave me cold. The X308 is perfect and I am having my a blast!

 

Concurrence, I have owned 2 X308's & driven,leased the newer breed XF's etc.

These cars are gems, sometimes forgotten, but always recognized when treated to their just due.

This magnificent breed shall not die, @ least not under my watchful eye lol.

Godspeed, to maintenance of the craft that established a brand.

 

I was offered a ride in a brand new S-Class 2 weeks ago.

Yes, in itself it is a beautiful car, up to date with a comfort and electronic gadgets which a 2017 car seems to need.

However, all that hits so square into your face, that it did not move a nerve in me, not a single one, only to appreciate the ivory VDP cabin even more on the way back.

X308 forever!

 

Indeed, the newer Jags are just a sexy Ford Taurus to me, even a 2015 Maserati feels lacking, it's a conundrum. As a youth I always longed for the Maserati & envisioned it was akin to riding on clouds being pulled by lightening bolts. The reality is,it's like driving a Nissan Sentra w/ sultry lines lol.

X308, there is no substitute.

 

Erm, no, the X308 is not the best Jaguar ever. We just maybe think so, because we own one.

Why isn't it the best Jaguar ever?

- 5 speed slushboxes do like to die (both ZF AND MB trannies)

- Plastic tensioners are rubbish

- Plastic valve covers are rubbish

- Plastic thermostat housing is rubbish

- Plastic water pipe is rubbish

- The differentials don't last for ever

- The interior is rather cheaply made (loads of brittle plastic)

- The space inside is rather cramped (I still love it though!)

- The wiring isn't the best (example boot hinge wiring)

- The ABS system likes to go haywire (setting faults etc.)

- Rustproof is a different topic, these cars don't get a rust garanty to say it won't rust. It is granted it WILL rust!

- Headliners sag (not all brands have sagging headliners...)

- Bushes galore to dry up and cause nasty noises

- Clear paint failures even in dull and dismal Europe

- etc.

If I put the blinkers on, like a horse, I could say "best Jag" but only because I have one. But as I know of all of these problems, it is by far NOT the best Jag... I'd more so put the X300 in that place. Best development out of the XJ40 with a well made interior, classey body, bulletproof engines and trannies you can hardly kill. They aren't perfect, but they are good!

I can't comment on the newer Jags, as I don't own one. But if they have half the common X308 issues, they are better!

 

Daim, I will agree with you that the X308 has issues but if you correct all those issues she is perfection. Every car will have issues that happen that you need to fix. Repairs are expected but you can't "repair" the shape of a car. Ok, some people can cut up a car and create new panels to put on but at that point you are creating your own car. I am talking about the way the X308 looks and drives. I will fix issues that invariably come up regardless of the cost because this car is sublime to me. As I said prior no other car has inspired me to get greasy, ruin my manicure and fix things on! The few times a repair was too involved and I did need to bring it to a shop I stayed and eyeballed the mechanic the whole time because I didn't like anyone working on her but me! In the past if a car needed repairs I just brought it to a mechanic and if the repairs got to be too costly I got rid of it!

 

How are you going to repair cheap plastic? With new cheap plastic? What would you replace the cheap plastic valve covers with? There is nothing else than cheap plastic. And the space? How can you gain more? I mean, the LWB has more in the rear but at front?

Sure, repairs are standard things and I am not complaining about that. But if you glorify a car full of niggles and teething problems, which took 4 years to remove (to a large degree), well, that can't make this car the greatest Jaguar ever.

Ever driven an XJ-S? Far more superior drive.
Ever driven a Series III XJ12? More luxurious ride.
Ever sat in a MK X? Christ, so much space!

Nearly any Jag (older or newer) is more superior in certain areas. Throw stones at me if you wish, but the X308 is far from best. Again, I have one, I love it to pieces, I love how it drives, but even with every niggle removed, it isn't the best. I have driven a freshly restored X308 LWB Daimler Super V8. It still felt "not perfect". I would say good, very good, but not "perfect" and not "the best Jag ever".

Again, this is my opinion and I don't look through biased glasses, because I have a better Jag sitting in my drive way getting a restoration which simply drives and is better...

 

Truth to be sad, you got a point there with your post.

Technically they were / are not up to par, although you should be amazed how many problems other cars of the same generation had.
All manufacturers fell for weight saving plastics, nicasils, and the likes, and some of them just didn't live up to expectations.
We pay the price for that by now.

However, if you take the technical edge away from this discussion, then the x300/x308 offerings of comfort + shape + ride experience can't be easily replaced by something else, and still doing very well against modern day cars.
I didn't change my mind on that, unbiased

 

Well said Jennifer. Couldn't agree more. I got my first Jag in the in the 1960's. A mk 2. followed by anotherof the same ilk. Then a sixties s type, bit like a mk 2 with a bigger boot (trunk). Later got an xj6 then another, then an xjs. My Bro in law passed away so I took over his mitz shogun which I had for some time, then went back to Jags. Got a nice 2000 xj8L and have never regretted it. All of my Jags have been brilliant drivers, powerful, comfortable and a pride to own, but best of all is my xj8. I just love it. It still drives like a new car, and in spite of some repairs, tensioners and the like, it has been and is the best one of them all. I just love it, and have absolutely no plans to change her, even at almost 17 yrs old. After 5 yrs of ownership, I still get in, then sit for a few minutes just feeling good and listening to the almost silent engine, then exit the res. car park, and enjoy the admiring looks of passers by. Just can't beat that lovely feeling.

 

It's easy to criticize in retrospect, but if you evaluated each Jaguar sedan as if you were a time traveller, jumping from period to period and pausing only long enough to test-drive each model rather than reverse-engineer it, you'd have a different perspective. You might even conclude that the 308 was in fact, the king.

This I'll agree was unforgivable. If it had been a Nissan or Honda, there would have been recall issued. These cars weren't out a year before they realized it was a mistake.


The use of plastics has been increasing since the 1960s. Modern Jaguars have even MORE plastic. Toyota has even used plastic for exhaust manifolds of all things. Heck, I've already replaced several pieces of my 2007 Honda Ridgeline interior, starting in 2012, and it sits under a carport day and night because I drive the Jaguar most of the time.

These transmissions were just borrowed from other manufacturers and experience the same issues no matter what car they are in. Ten years from now, we may be seeing lots of issues with X260 trannies. We just don't know yet.

Toyota Camry's were infamous for the same issue.

Had a Dodge van of 90s vintage with similar issues and wound up getting Dodge to pay for a repaint. Don't know if Jaguar in England had the same sort of issues during part of the x308 run, but my original paint still looks fantastic and it sits out in the Texas sun all day while I'm at work.

I only wish I'd bought my x308 years earlier so that I could have experienced it when it was in fact, like new. I bought it only after the Texas heat had already taken quite a toll on it and its now starting to come unraveled, time for a replacement.

Are newer Jaguars even better than the 308? In many ways, yes. In the ways that matter the most to me, no. Unfortunately they've changed the very nature of their sedans. Like literally every luxury sedan manufacturer, they're gunning for BMW and making "sport sedans" now. I don't want a sport sedan. I want a mid-sized true luxury sedan and that's not what they're making anymore.

 

It's absolutely the best Jaguar on the X308 forum.

 

Facts

 

All the manufacturers use the same materials and methods. But we weren't discussing Jaguar X308 vs. W220... Mkre so how 'superior' the X308 is supposed to be compared to other Jags.

You, as a fellow XJ-S owner, Eric, have both worlds, the same as I do. Which one do you favor more?

For me clearly the XJ-S. The best styled Jaguar ever. It drives (when up to spec) really well and has loads of comfort.

As I drove mine last in 2014 it had, with 25 years on it's back, rattlefree. Everything worked perfectly. It had less rust than my 97 XJ8. The steering is more precise. The suspension was second to none (heck, it was built from 1965 to 2005 without any alteration!) and if offered even in the last year state of the art quality.

The X308 is a child of cost cutting. Ditch two different engines amd replace with one modular setup. Put too much unsprung masses in the rear (the wishbones on the X308 weigh far too much, the XJ-S ones are lightweight). Etc.

Don't get me wrong, I love my X308, but it isn't the superior Jag. I bet if we asked an F Type owner, an X351 owner and lets say an X Type owner as well, their cars are the best Jags built. And they'll tell you why. The reason nobody - apart from me as it seems - doesn't agree is because there is nobody willing to admit, that these cars have their reoccuring troubles and problems.

As said, it is my opinion. I don't like wearing the blinkers...

 

Well, technically speaking, neither an XJS nor a x308 are the best Jaguars.
The present ones will win that price hands down, without discussion.
They have better suspension, stronger engines, better brakes, more direct steering, better safety, whatever.

Now, on the discussion of this thread, I think the only way we can look at it, is to see how our cars are standing up against time, against the present day cars.
And there, I think the x308 is not doing bad, not doing bad at all!

It still offers a hell of a ride, a very decent amount of power, a super comfortable interior, and NEVER gives the impression it is a 20 year old car.

Yes, it came with some issues, and as any old car things will slowly get worse.
But most are well known, and a lot can be prevented by doing some maintenance in advance.

I just made up the bill for 3 years ownership.
I paid some 10.000 euro's for my car, and I spent exactly the same amount on it over the last 3 years (excl. running costs such as fuel).
That is incl. stuff like tensioners, hoses, thermostat tower, replacement of broken parts, etc, but also including the wheels, body kit, HID lighting, etc.

So now, in the modern world of 2017, what can I buy so beautiful, so comfortable, so silent, and so powerful for 20.000 Euro's?
I have honestly no idea ...

PS. I realize that I have been lucky with my car, which in its previous life has always been garaged, very well maintained, and chauffeur driven, and we do not know winter here.
I do know that many issues on these cars are the result of sunshine, UV light, salt and worst, crazy drivers and a lack of regular maintenance (although the last 2 can hardly be blamed on the car).