Just giving all you guys props

 

X300 was only made for a couple of years, X308 was triple the production, especially after Ford finally started making money after the XJ40 debacle. The X300, X100 and X308 saved Jag's bottom line.

 

I think the x308 and x100 may have been jaguars highest volume production cars. Some place on the forum the yearly production is listed. EDIT: i was wrong Jaguar: had its highest production numbers for most of x308 production but that was mainly from the S and X type.

 

However many were made, I dont think many X300s are on the road now.

 

Right, it's just a function of time taking its toll..... as will be true of all Jaguar models over time.

In combination with lower production run & numbers, with normal attrition over time there will be less X300 owners than X308 owners, and therefore a smaller community.

However, the X300 community is very active as well and their owners are just as enthusiastic and supportive as any of the other generations. Just pop in and one will see several new threads a day.

To the original post.... I don't agree that the X308 forum is "way more active" and anyway it doesn't really matter. Many members here own more than one generation and model of Jaguar, and other makes/models too, so there definitely isn't any competition regarding which community is more active or healthy in my opinion

I'm just glad we have this resource, others like Jaglovers.... and various forums for other makes, that have so much information available

We are in a golden age of grass roots and near instantaneous support for all interests which makes all of our hobbies much more fun, and possible.


.

 

Maybe a year or two ago I read a comment on how the X308 section was becoming increasingly 'technical' and less 'enthusiastic' (I don't remember the exact language that was used.) As these cars are of an age and price range where they are accessible to DIY-ers, I wonder if we are at the apex of our forum activity. Except for some faithful (and knowledgeable!) stalwarts, I've watched overall participation wane in the six years I've owned my XJ40. That's purely my observation and not based on any actual data! But it makes me likewise wonder who will be around six or ten years from now. Sadly, as my X308 found a new home this spring, not me! But as Al said, this forum and others are HUGELY valuable in keeping our cars on the road. Thank you all!!

Scott

 

There's definitely a life cycle to cars and its reflected in the number and types of internet posts about them. For comparison, I have owned a 1985 Toyota Supra (mk2) for long enough to follow an internet life cycle of enthusiasts. I first subscribed to an email list for Supra Owners in 1993 which was the first year for the fourth generation (mk4). I came home from work the next day to check my email and found about 400 emails, almost none about technical issues and nearly all discussing the previous weekends nightly street racing activities. I unsubscribed. A few years later, in 1996, I decided to try subscribing again and found a more manageable 100 messages a day. The owners of first (mk1) and second generation (mk2) Supras were mostly interested in diagnosing problems and making repairs, third generation (mk3) owners had warranties expiring and mainly interested in modifications while fourth generation (mk4) owners were still mainly interested in talking smack about racing. In 1998, we spun off separate lists for the mk2 and mk4 generations leaving the mk3 owners on the original list. (the less performance oriented mk1 was always a tiny minority). The mk2 Supra email list started out with probably 30 posts a day and actually began to grow because there was no more "static" from the other generations. By 2003, e-mail lists were old technology and a forum like this one was started just for the mk2 Supra. The forum grew till about 2006, but then declined a bit and has since stabilized.

What I noticed was two things: 1) Most of the original owners who'd been active over the years had life-changing events that caused them to give up their sports car hobby, often to make room for a minivan. Also 2) From 1998 to 2006 we saw a lot of newbies in the 16 to 24 year old range as the old Supras had gotten very cheap and appealing as first cars. By about 2012 the teenagers had all but disappeared because there were few mk2 Supras left in drivable condition and the values of rust-free cars had risen well above more practical and plentiful options. More recently, our newbies are mostly guys my age who had Supra posters on their bedroom walls back in the early 80s or perhaps a little older who actually bought one when they were new and regretted selling it. The forum is still fairly active, but seems stable now. For every newbie we get wanting to restore a barn find, we lose somebody whose mk2 Supra has finally rusted to oblivion.

Its interesting to compare what's happening on other forums. What I'm seeing on here is that its mostly diagnostic and repair oriented posts. That's just the age of the cars. I suspect the same thing will happen. A handful of the same people will still be posting here 20 years from now, but just as with my other forum, the number of posts will decline as the old-timers will have already discussed everything and the number of viable, restorable cars available for newbies goes down.

 

I posted some relevant data a few months ago. So, just a quicky FYI. These numbers are total Jaguar US sales and not necessarily just X300 or X308, however, the sales for these sedans should be somewhat proportional.

The X300 was sold in the US in 1995, 1996 and 1997. Total US Jaguar car sales for those three years was: 55,466 cars, ave 18,489/year.

The X308 was sold in the US in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003.
Total US Jaguar car sales for those 6 years was: 261,661, ave. 43,611/year.

This should definitly be the answer as to why the X308 section seems to be more "crowded" than the X300. It is also my personal perception that the X308 was born with more potential issues than the X300, but I may be wrong.

Cheers,