https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/enth...nb7Kz#image=13

We made the list!

 

Haha... Looks like I have TWO cars on the list of unreliable gems.... #2,,, and what was the XJS? #13?

I wonder what can be done to SOLVE the issues with cars that stepped way out on a limb incorporating early electrical technology into 80's and 90's vehicles?

 

Nightmares.... Ha! These are my dreams... I have 2 cars on the list, the 928 and XJS and looking for a 3rd, the 850ci. I do currently have it's bloated big brother... the 750il








You gotta pick your spots... The early 928's are simple and reliable. Late XJS are very reliable. These "Slide show lists" are just click bait, I guess interacting with a community of other owners to talk about, improve and maintain an item of usefulness and interest is a nightmare? I dont get that thinking. If you dont enjoy wrenching and maintaining mechanical things then any old car can get expensive and time consuming. If you do... they're a joy.

Hardly a nightname...When I pile a few of my kids into the back of the XJS convertible and we head down to a local beach for stroll... smiles and hands up on the way back as we traverse and undulate over dips in the road just fast enough to make it fun.

Hardly a nightmare preparing for and when I was pushing the 928 Around Limerock.

 

ICS,

With respect to the 928, what do you consider "early?" Real lookers, but the mechanics have always told me, 911s with issues always drive in here. 928s with issues come in on flat beds.

Curious what your thoughts are. Model years. Auto vs manual. Etc

 

As a guy who likes menswear too, car journalists remind me of GQ journalists. Nothing in that rag written by or for men. Same with auto journalists. Nothing really written for or by car enthusiasts.........Imagine thinking that a 928 and XJS or a E type are “nightmares” lol. These guys probably need to pay other men just to change the battery in their cars.

 

I like early 78 and 79 automatics for cruising. I like the 1985/86/87 and 5 speeds for driving. The manual transmissions got upgraded synchro's in 1985 and unlike the earlier ones they shift great. Same with the 911 BTW, the 1985 and later transmission are far better. Auto's use a Mercedes transmission and fully exemplifies the idea of a "slush box" A manual 928 with sport seats and sport suspension is a very different car when compared to an Auto 928 with base suspension and comfort seats. I can clearly understand a 911 guy getting into an Auto 928 and going... WTF is this? Nice dash now let me out. Sadly Jag never made a V12 XJS with sport suspension and seats. They should have.

Regarding the 928 VS 911 reliability.... Any poorly maintained exotic will spend time on a trailer. There is nothing unique to a 928 that would make them less reliable than a 911 besides the timing belt. Generally speaking Porsche used the same engine management parts across its range. Unlike the 911... Most 928's do suffer differed maintenance and poor service history as many owners avoided the high cost of high Porsche dealer service bills on their depreciated $6,000 car not likely to appreciate. Then had their 928's serviced by unqualified people. Even 911 owners could find good low cost service becasue there was always some old german guy in town who worked on VW's back in the day and knew how to work on a 911 well enough. The 928 was an entirely different platform and based on nothing that came before it so servicing was confounding to the disinterested. One example is the timing belt on Porsche's V8. It was innovative for the time and unlike an American v8 it has a brief service interval and needs changing often. This confounds people familiar with Mercedes or American V8's that can run for decades on oil alone.

The 911 guys dont get the 928 and vise-versa. 911's when prepped right win races and look good doing so. 928's are complex GT's and like the XJS, neither are or were winning race cars. I'll put it this way... If I had to drive cross country I'd take and XJS. If I had to drive cross country to get to a race track I'd take the 928 hand down. If I had to Win I'd trailer a prepped 911.

In my opinion the Porsche 928 for model year 78, 79 and 85,86,87 are the reliable ones. The 78 & 79 is an Early 928 and the 85/86 is the early 2nd Gen 928. The 87 S4's are still simple considering it's an S4 and dont have the PDK, rear A/C, air bags, and TPMS that the later and more bloated S4's have. The original body 78 and 79's are getting valuable and sought after becasue they are simple cars with manual cloth seats, no sunroof and clean lines. The 78 and 79's have Boshe K-Jetronic, a simple mechanical fuel injection system, used on just about every European car. Mercedes, BMW, Saab, Even exotics. They run perfect forever with clean fuel filter. The Electrics are basic and simple on these early years. The are not sporting race cars like the 911...the 928 was trying to compete or compliment the popular Mercedes SL380 by creating a more sporting GT version with far out modern looks.

The 85/86 are the best years for performance and reliability.. They use a separate Ignition and fuel Injection computer'd version of LH-Jetronic. Highly reliable too. Electrics got a bit more complex. Specifically the alarm system. When it fails it disables the car. I have purchased 3 928's over the years for very low prices becasue they wont start due to the alarm system... Including the Green one shown.

All other years generally are complex for their time and less reliable. But all 928's are really good cars and have high quality relative to the industry until about 1988. Porsche was a small company back then and the development of the 959 consumed them. By 1988 BMW's and Mercedes and most other manufactures were really upping their game with new platforms. By 1988 many of the connections and IC's in BMW's were pulled right form the European space program while the 928 was still using spade connectors.

 

I've had 5 XJS.
One of them was actually quite good.
Had a Porsche 911s once; stupidly expensive to repair.

 

XJ-S is not for everyone..just for those that give a sh*t. So many today don't want their hands to get dirty..best to stay away. On the other hand, if you want to try amd learn something, the rewards are many times the effort expended. Keep the lists coming and keep the weak away.

 

They did if you count the Jaguar Sport XJR-S. The regular XJS could be ordered with a Sportpack suspension that was much larger front and rear roll bars and upgrades springs and shocks. I believe the rubber pieces were upgraded too.

 

Lister did a good job of putting some pep in its step.

 

And you miss them, don't you Steve!

 

Kind of but since I sold mine over a year ago I don't think that I have seen another one on the road.
Still finding bits for it hidden away; just came across a complete set of new V12 coolant hoses that I had never gotten around to fitting.
For sale if anyone wants them.

 

ICS,

Thanks for the informative 928 summary. Very well done!

I like 'em. In the right color, the lines really pop.

 

Oh god. I had an 89' V12 BMW 750il the thing had more onboard computers than a Soviet space station. No exhaust either just cannons off the manifolds, sounded like a WW2 German fighter plane. One bank of cylinders stopped producing power one day and I gave up...XJS is a breeze by comparison.

 

Yep. I smile every time someone says Jaguars are unreliable, its better that you people stay out of the Jag community maybe go drive a honda civic those are "reliable"

 

Well said! I’m a racer, I’ve found the mechanical bits to be stone reliable. But then I build my own engines etc.
I can see where some of the accessories etc are too complex but that stuff gets tossed on the rubbish heap. Heck it’s as much as 45 years old. Even still the leather can be brought back to glove soft if you want it. A lot of unreliability is just a matter of tightening grounds or cleaning connections.

 

most reliability, as far as I came across is like what others mentioned, clean and secure grounds, clean or replace connectors, and clean or replace some of the components, most Jags, the wire was/is not the issue, its the connectors.