That's why most of us drive Mercedes

I think that most of the reputation that Jaguar earned was from the 70's and caused mostly by labor disputes that created frustrations for new car owners that spent a pile of money on a new car and ran into issues.

It really does not apply to a 25 year old car today which I expect will have had most of the issues addressed in some way or another since, in the same way that as nice as a brand new W123 diesel was in 1980, it's pretty rubbish by today's standard.

Hearing owners of worn out W123 diesels or the like critiquing them is somewhat humorous. Like someone with holes in their shoes laughing at another man with worn out sneakers.

__________________
With best regards

Al

Sorry, but the XJ has not proven itself to be reliable or sturdy, as evidenced by the price points for average examples. As time goes on, they may see some love and appreciation merely because they are "survivors" of a breed that went extinct due to questionable build quality.

Perhaps, but due to Mercedes' philosophy of maintaining parts inventory for cars manufactured decades ago, they are more likely to have replacement soles in stock.

This is probably your expert opinion on the model.

Price point of the average model is usually better then a W123 or W126 of the same era. Not sure what you mean by extinct however as Jaguar is still making cars.

Certainly economies of scale means that Mercedes parts are more readily available but there are no shortage of Jaguar parts. You can buy just about everything mechanical for them as most common components were shared with the E-type for earlier cars and with the XJS for later cars.

__________________
With best regards

Al

reliable is relative to what you have owned. If you own a W123 240D (poverty spec to be precise) then this jaguar automobile is nowhere near the concept of reliable.

However if you owned lets say a cougar with the 2.5 engine that was complimented with melting wiring, dashboard that peels up to the rear view mirror and absolute strange engine room - then its sort of reliable - because you know that a car requires ongoing maintenance (in jag terms that means as it "goes" down the road you need to be working on it - benz assist you with the feature that you can get to the service place first)

I have to add - whenever I read/hear the saying - as reliable as a lexus I have to laugh, lexus itself is not actually a brand IMO, they are toyotas dressed in ball gowns

thanks hattersaguy for the moment.

__________________
2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

Comparing a 240D to a Jaguar XJ is like comparing a Casio to a Swiss watch. The 240D is a utility vehicle, a closer comparison would be to my old 73 GMC pickup.

__________________
With best regards

Al

Shouldn't the comparison be between a Series III XJ 6 and a 420SEL W126? Both have 4.2L and while the Jaguar had a lower MSRP, it was their flagship 4 door sedan. The XJ certainly has nice lines, the SEL has often been compared to a bank vault.

Yes, it is a personal opinion and once Jaguar freed itself from BL, things started to improve slowly, but it was also the heyday of Mercedes' "over built" design and build quality.

true,

but owning a swiss watch does not mean that it should only look fancy - it should actually tell time correctly too.

__________________
2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

Maybe, but I suspect that most of the people who provided an opinion also have little to no experience of a V8 W126.

I've owned both and can quite easily debate the merits of the Jaguar which is a delight to drive, especially in V12 form.

That doesn't make any sense.

__________________
With best regards

Al

old Jaguar automobiles carry the trophy of being unreliable and a general pain - they are also very green considering they want to return oil back to earth as quickly as possible

relating it to a swiss watch would mean the mentioned swiss watch does not work half the time.

__________________
2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

If your Jaguar ticks like a Swiss watch . . . it's probably a valve.

As I say, lots of people posting on this subject that have no idea what they're talking about.

__________________
With best regards

Al

While there are certainly some lucky Jaguar owners who have dodged the bullet from Coventry in the 70's 80's and 90's . . . there are many many more who have suffered the oil and coolant leaks, electrical gremlins and frailties of metal and rubber of these cars whose owners have a "love - hate" relationship. A joy to drive? Certainly when everything is working as it should, but perhaps it's also attenuated by the sheer joy of things working as they should.

One can argue the same about MB ownership. Bent rods, rust, biodegrable wiring harnesses? ABC, SBC, spring perch failures, ACCII?

__________________
With best regards

Al