Guys, I have had three X308 Jaguars in the past two years and have not run into any maintenance issues with any. They have all had less than 55,000mi though and were sold shortly after that point. I am now looking at a 2000 XJR with 97,000mi as a daily driver. As with any car 80,000mi is the breakdown point of most mileage parts so im thinking I should be safe as the owner has every record of all routine maintenance up to the documented 97,000mi. Is it true though that the transmissions dont last longer than 120k? and if there is anything else an experienced X308 owner would advise to see if repaired or will cost me please add?

Thanks.

 

If you have records, you'll have a good history of what was done and what could be expected.

Transmissions (inlcuding this one) are a lot like people - some of of us live to 97, others of us die at 60. I've heard of these transmissions going past 150,000 miles, and others that died at 51,000 miles. I choose not to smoke because I feel it will help extnd my life. I might still die at 60, while my smoking buddy might live to 97. I believe in maintenance as a gambling device to extend the life of a trans, so if it were mine, I'd change the fluid and filter if it has never been done (likely).

So, like many things in life, I say, you roll the dice and take your chances.

 

I looked through the records and most of the mileage items have been replaced. Its going to need tires and the drivers window fixed? Other than that the car looks and performs in a very well maintained manner. My main question is just how reliable are they as a high miles car? The three that I owned in the past I didnt put more then 20,000mi on each so I dont have much experience with maintenance. I never ran into any issues with all three but purchased them around 30,000mi and drove to 50,000mi so I wouldnt expect any issues, They were practically new.

As for the transmission on this 2000 XJR its never been serviced, and from experience I would not service it if it hasnt had routine filter and fluid changes (every 30,000mi). It seems every time I or someone I know services one with more than 80,000mi and no previouse service, it gives up in the next 5,000mi.

 

XJRs need the supercharger belt done at 100,000, no big deal.

The XJR gearboxes "tend to" last longer than the NA cars as they are different makes, but I agree with stevetechs point that is a bit of a crap shoot

 

I have been looking around a lot for reliability reviews and it seems the gearbox is the largest failure besides the timing chain tensioners. I have seen a lot of XJ8s gearboxes replaced at 30,000mi and up.

Good info on the belt. I Will be swapping my 99 XJR Supercharger and belt anyway as it was just rebuilt before the tensioners failed. Great cars besides that factory fault.

 

I'm just now doing my wheel bearings (though they were not giving me any problems as it turns out, replaced as a shot-gun measure to a complaint I had), and i'm at 109,000 miles. Suspension bushings needed replaced at 85k. those are my two biggies.

 

SARC - By Belt do you mean the serpentine belt ?

 

Yes, serpentine is what the supercharger belt seems to be called. There was some discussion with my mechanic when he changed mine mentioning that there was a design change around my model year ('00) where the belt went from single sided having teeth to double sided having teeth

 

I have a 2002 VDP that has over 160,000 miles on it. No transmission problems yet. More electrical than anything else.

 

wasnt the transmission problems on the NA xj's because of bad castings on the a-drum. either way, the XJR has a different transmission. you definately should change the fluid out as long as its running fine. most people only think of changing the transmission fluid once the transmission starts acting funny.

no matter what, oil cannot repair things. so if the trans shifts and behaves fine, go ahead and change that fluid. at least I would