Hi All, New to this forum, not to Cats. Have owned several series 1,2 and 3 XJs all three of which still hold my heart. I am in the process of purchasing a series 1 at the present time. I have benefited greatly from the knowledge on here while researching these newer sedans. I did see other threads covering my question to some degree. I would like to be more specific. I have an opportunity at two cars. The first is a standard or base XJ8 2003 with a build date of 06/02, super low mileage at 27k all one owner, older couple, southern car as I am in Texas. The second is a 2008 base XJ8 with less than 20k miles all one owner and someone whom I know well, northern car. An opinion of a good friend and Jag enthusiast is to never buy any of the cars made before 2005. The knowledge on here is giant and I will defer to you guys. I really appreciate your opinions. I do understand the design differences, just want to know if the 2003 transition cars are a bad deal. Having owned all of my series cars, understand that a Jag is a luxury item and thus not for the faint of heart with regards to maintenance. This is a car that I would drive three days a week, all in town, and the car would be maintained on the level of aircraft. Thanks, Patrick

 

I would like to know why your friend uses 2005 year as the stopping point? If he's speaking of tensioner and guide replacement needs, 2003 was supposed to have the metal case tensioners and no need to upgrade.
Other than that, I can't understand why he'd be against an '03?

 

Hi Patrick,

Welcome to the Jaguar Forums! It's great to have you with us (finally)!

I currently own both a 2003 XJ8 and a 2004 XJR and would recommend either one to someone who is willing to address the inevitable maintenance and repairs that any 10- to 15-year-old luxury performance vehicle will require. I also work on a wide variety of friends' Jaguars ranging from recently-out-of-warranty back to the '50s. Your friend's prohibition against pre-2005 cars is the sort of generalization we're accustomed to in the Jaguar world, but his generalization fails to take into account the thousands upon thousands of older Jaguars that are still lovingly maintained and actively driven by their current owners. On this list you will find many owners who are driving, on a daily basis, Jaguars far older than 2005.

All that to say, between a low-mileage '03 XJ8 and a low-mileage '08 XJ8, both are wonderful cars. The '03 body is the last of what many consider the "classic" Jaguar saloon design dating to the '60s. I love looking at ours. The engine has plenty of power, the ride is excellent, and the appointments are sufficient if not up to today's standards when it comes to convenience. Most maintenance and repair issues are well-known, well-documented in the X308 forum, and reasonably affordable to address.

The '08 has about the same power as the '03, but with its aluminum body it is significantly lighter and feels it. The supercharged versions are in a different league altogether, but from a dead stop the normally-aspirated cars feel lively with plenty of get up and go. The '08 is equipped with air suspension, which has certain advantages but also suffers some known failure points. The '08 is taller and roomier inside, and a far more "modern" feeling car. The X350/X358 forum has a large and growing knowledge base on maintenance and repairs, so you'll find plenty of support when issues arise.

My best advice is to buy both if you can.

Cheers,

Don

 

Thanks for the reply highhorse! He explained the major change in specs for 2004 and since new model years can be troublesome, pointed me to a 2005-2009 xj8. I think to clarify, he was really talking post 2004 and aluminum body. I think the style of the 2003 is somehow sleeker than the 2004-2009 except for the r models.

 

Indeed, 2003 is considered by many to be the best sedan Jaguar ever made (perhaps that anyone ever made), being the last of the classic Jaguar styling but by then all the bugs worked out. However, three days a week I call that a daily driver and for that you should try to stay in a NEWER car no matter what brand you like.

My 2000 has been very reliable. The only thing to ever fail in the first twelve years and 80k miles of its life was a plastic component in the mechanism that adjusts the steering wheel position. But age and the Texas sun is catching up to it. In the last two years its starting to have issues related to the deterioration of plastics, rubbers and vinyls. Its now got some oil leaks and I've had to replace some weatherstrip, trim, speakers, switches, and other interior plastics.

But that's where I'm now hitting the wall with parts availability. You can keep a 308 on the road, but keeping it in pristine condition is getting to be very difficult and especially time-consuming to hunt down good, used replacement parts. I have a few more vintage cars than I really have time to work on and don't want to risk being interrupted with having to repair an older daily driver so I decided last year to retire the 308 and get a newer Jaguar. Sounds like me, you'll need to be focusing your wrench time on a Series 1.

All else being equal, I would say since it sounds like you need basically a daily driver to survive a few years in the Texas sun, get the newer 2008 (depending on whether it has too many northern rusty bolts underneath). If you get the 2003, its not going leave on the side of the road or anything like that, but just know that its going to take more time and effort than any newer car to keep it up to the high level that it sounds like that you and I both like our cars to be.

 

I can't really add more, but I'd say drive both for some miles, and get a feel for how they drive, how you feel driving it. I'm sure from that, you can determine which one you'd want because they really have their own pros and cons, so it's just a matter of which pros and cons suit you adequately.