"I have a 1999 Jag XK8 (well taken care of with 59,000 miles) and have found it to be one of the cheapest plastic component cars I've ever owned. So far I have had the follow problems:

1. Cheap plastic chain tensioners replaced (very common).
2. Driving down the road one day the plastic roof light console fell into my lap. The cheap plastic holders had disintegrated so I had to glue it in place.
3. The cheap plastic thermostat housing had to be replaced with a metal one to stop the leaking (very common).
4. Breather hose to throttle body basically disintegrated along with the pcv hose (or whatever it's called). Both had to be replaced due to throwing codes.

Very unsastifactory for an expensive luxury car. I'll never buy another Jag again."

Unfortunate: I had a1995 XJ6 and never had a mechancial issue,,, Upgraded the speakers to larger ones in the door and the door card never re-sat quite right ,,, BUT that was my fault,,,Had 141,000 when I sold it to a friend.. It cost me less per mile to drive that car then my 1999 Toyota Avalon I have put New door handles Inside and Out on the Avalon and redid the wood veneer (which is peeling in my 2000 Lexus as well) Timing belt kit with water pump and all new seals $1300.00 (preventative maintenance) 2 window regulators and it likes to blow one particular taillight for no reason,,,new radiator and A/C... 1997 BMW 5 series needed 2 window regulators,,, water pump and thermostat housing (original was PLASTIC imagine that Plasstic on an EXPENSIVE CAR) and if I drive through a puddle I have to Manual shift up from a dead stop,,, ABS turns on and I could go on and on,,, Oh it needed an A/C immediately as well,,, and the Porsche needs a fuel pump and ALOT OF TLC (project car) just to figure out Where to start...

I always think of this,,, My friend Tim bought a gallon of Bryers Cookies and Cream Ice Cream ( he says it's the best in the world,,,I disagree) Anyway when he got home he open the container and looked in Amazement... It was just a gallon of Vanilla NO COOKIES OR CREAM... Well Tim being the trooper he is sat down and ATE that whole gallon of Vanilla and the next day he went and bought another gallon of COOKIES AND CREAM... Point being he did not let that deter him from enjoying something he loves...

Even the best things in Life have Hiccups...

Jag cost me nothing to run,,, the other have...

 

Now Jaguar has a beautiful burl wood dash with laquer,,,My concern would be the Sun and Woodpeckers,,, You do have to protect the laquer with a UV polish and keep the windows closed to keep out the woodpeckers if you do that you should be fine,,,

These are beautiful cars and very few are kept in pristine condition which is a shame,,, I would rather throw money into repairs on the jag then on my other cars...

But so far I have not had to... The others not the same is true

 

The problem is not plastics. The problem is poorly designed plastics or using the wrong plastic for a given application.

I have a 2002 Mercedes and in my opinion it uses a lot more plastic than the Jag. Some of it is superbly designed, but there are a few examples of horrible plastic design and application in that car also.

 

I've had no problems with this on my XK8, but boy did I ever see some crummy plastic in and around the Dodge Shelby I had years ago. With barely over 50k on it the engine plastics would fall apart if you looked at them funny. Interior trim bits were the flimsiest I've ever seen on any car. The Jag is a lot better in that regard.

And those who think its an upgrade to replace the plastic water pump housing with a metal one should know the metal version is not a dealer item. My mechanic stopped installing those and the dealer stopped carrying them because they leaked worse than a freshly installed plastic housing. Plastic does not ncessarily mean inferior for a particular purpose.

 

You know what's weird? Oil filters are still made out of steel. They get replaced every 3,000 to 10,000 miles, so it's not like a plastic filter would have to have a 10 year life expectancy. There are plenty of plastics that can withstand the heat. It seems like some company would have started using plastic filters to cut down on the cost.

Maybe no one has switched because of the competitive pressure. A consumer would assume the plastic filter is cheap, and since filters are so inexpensive anyway, most consumers would pick a steel filter over a plastic one even if the plastic one was free.

BUT... that wouldn't affect places like Jiffy Lube. They would use the cheapest filter they could get their hands on. Most people who use Jiffy Lube would never know that Jiffy Lube had installed a plastic filter.

I know this doesn't have a whole lot to do with the thread. It's just me thinking out loud.



OK, now that I think about it, it wasn't even out loud. The entire "debate" took place in my head. It's just me thinking silently to myself. Except it's not really to myself since I typed it out.

No one is going to read this anyway...

 

Mercedes was listening:

Actually the plastic canister is reusable, you just replace the element and seals when you do the oil change. On late model Mercedes you change the filter from the top and also suck the oil out of a tube from the top with a vacuum pump....it actually makes for a rather neat and pleasant oil change process.

 

Found a new plastic piece to watch out for. After washing I noticed a lot of soapy water coming out of the gas filler door on my '98 XK8. Opened gas filler door and found water filling the bottom. Used rags to soak up water. Found drain hole plugged. Using needle nose pliers I was able to pull out a piece of plastic. Sure enough, the guide and support for the filler door was broken. 1/16 turn on the guide and it came off the plunger. A little crazy glue. Didn't hold. More crazy glue with a scrap piece of plastic over the break all covered in JB weld. Been 2 weeks still attached. Jack

 

Apparently you have never unclipped a plastic connector or hose routing clip in the engine compartment. This problem is not isolated to Jaguar as other cars I have owned have also had a myriad of different plastic clips and gizmos to route wires and hoses and even spark plug wires. These look good and serve the purpose for a while but eventually the underhood heat and environment do them in, particularly if they are not a decent quality. Then just try and find replacements. Typically the only alternative is to go with zip ties.

Doug

 

For each broken plastic piece:

1. photograph

2. write a letter to Jaguar Customer Service, enclosing picture and piece

3. copy letter to your congress critter

They won't do anything. But you'll clog up the system with the time and wages taken to answer you.

 

Has anyone ever considered just not taking things apart? As plastics age their plasticizers evaporate and the remaining portions become brittle. Sorry, it's just a fact of life. When car owners see a foggy windshield they tend to think it's from a smoker but it's actually the plasticizers (a.k.a. 'that new car smell'.) The next time you have to disassemble something think about whether or not you have to actually remove a piece or a wire connector - the less handling the better.

FWIW, I don't think the Jag is any different fom any other mass produced vehicle. Every manufacturer keeps telling their vendors, "Cheaper! Cheaper!" These cars were made to sell for $60,000+, do you think they cared how everything would hold up when it was selling used for $10,000?

 

Except that Jaguar/Mercedes/BMW have slightly more margin than Kia/Hyundai to use towards raw parts costs.

There is cheaper and then there is "not fit for purpose".

Upper tensioners and the steering column drive system are two examples that come to mind. They aren't cosmetic. They are operational devices involving motion to achieve their purpose.

Then there are all the moving parts in the interior. Better no cup holder than one that is overly complex for the job. The same goes for the ashtray lids in the rear doors. Tupperware makes and Walmart sells, better plastic pieces.

And what about the owner who paid $60k+ and wants to keep on driving the same vehicle 10 years later? Used pricing is irrelevant to him. Broken bits are not.

 

BLASPHEMY!!!

Rear doors? How do I open them?

 

.

 

sounds like plastics have been abused and ham fisted brute force..all plastics on my car are mint..

 

Like dennisw, I haven't found issues with the plastic components in my car. However, this may be because we both live in the UK where there's only a small annual temperature variation. Many threads refer to very high summer temperatures and this is bound to have a detrimental effect on plastics as well as leather and wood.

I certainly wouldn't swap the recent product we drive for the build quality of earlier Jaguar models. My first was a three year old XJ6 Series One purchased in 1975. Within two more years the body was so badly rusted it was almost ready for the scrapyard. Many grumble about tensioners on the V8 but the old straight six was ready for a rebuild at 50k miles. Major repairs to the bodyshell or powertrain versus replacing a few plastic knobs and clips. I know which I choose!

Some of the 100k+ mileages mentioned on the forum accompanied by photos of great looking cars are truly impressive. Come on, this is cheap motoring in a car that's a delight to drive and still continues to turn heads even when over ten years old.

___________________
Graham
2005 XK8 4.2-S Coupe

 

I also had a xj6 1972 body was sus but it never let me down..had a bmc badge under the bonnet so that says it all..seems were both glutons for punishment

 

If the people at Jaguar want to look at how a quality car is built, they should just look to Lexus. A LS Lexus is 100% more the luxury car than a jag. There are some that are 22 years old now and still in one piece (no crumping plastic, no mandatory replacing plastic parts for metal) and running well.

It can be done. And when you get upwards of $70,000, I expect a car to be made of the absolute best materials. A Kia, not so much

 

Eh, they arent as great as they are made out to be. Failing electronic displays all sorts of other issues.... Timing belts, leather falling apart.

Besides I look at it this way. A Jaguar has a soul, there's just something about it. A lexus is a robot.... It runs, it does everything ok, albeit not execeptionally well, but its so lacking in personality and warmth that well.... That's why we drive Jags...

Take care,

George

 

In the shareholders' pockets?! J/K, in fact it amazes me that Ford could not make money with Jaguars costing $80K and more.

It's very true: both the ever-present cost cutting and the fact that mfr's everywhere are building and marketing for new-car buyers, not us.

My Mercedes CL cost $102K new out the door and there was cost cutting evident there too. I've never owned a Bentley, maybe someone can fill us in about those. Super-expensive cars have high profit margins anyway. The inflection point for cost/benefit occurs somewhere around the Hyundai Sonata imho.

Doubtless this is a factor. In much of the US the temperature extremes between hot and cold are astonishing: 100°F degree swing between winter and summer temps.

No doubt about it...

 

You made your first post to the forum on 12th January 2012 to express dissatisfaction with your 1999 XK8:

Over eight months later you now make your second post, again complaining about Jaguar build quality.

I can't believe you would have kept a vehicle which was such an extreme disappointment to you and am therefore bemused at your motivation for returning to this thread.

Graham