Anyone ever owned a Jag'? What years are worst/best?
 

I really like the look of these cars, but I know they're are proned to failure. Any years worth actually looking at, wthin the 80's and 90's. Thanks!

hmm
 

I've heard bad stuf about all the cars up until about 91...not bad engine wise, but other stuff like electricals. The Jaguar twin cam inline six is one of my favorite engines, and it's quite powerful at 245HP. Unlike with Benz, try to get the years right before they switched to the XJ8..I believe 96 or so. As a rule of thumb on the XJ's, I've heard anything from 91 on is pretty decent. Transmission is also I think a Ford/Borg Warner product, so fairly reliable. Good luck!

I have heard nothing much good about them in the years fro 1973 till the Ford Motor Company took them over, in about 1998 - then quality improved.

I remember taking a test drive in a new XJ6 with a salesman back in Sacramento, and then seeing an identical model broken down by the side of the road as we drove by - the expression on the salesman's face was priceless.

Beware of the v12:rolleyes: , used till around 1995 or so in the xjs model, and the xj12 sedan. They are great motors when maintained, when they are neglected they have issues with low oil pressure and running hot. The v12 uses a TH400 GM trans. from 1977 onwards. Most models have inboard rear disk brakes, if the pads go to metal, the labor to replace the rotors is quite high.

In short, a ppi is very important, as are complete service records.

I'm a DIYer. Will this be the car for a person with moderate mechanical skills?

G-Benz had one--might give a hail call to him. I believe recently he was relaying a key-nightmare-debacle.......

I have worked on quite a few XJ6 from the early 90's and was impressed with the car I thought they were easy to work on and reliable. I worked on one of the new ones with the ford v8. If you are thinking of buying one of the v8 models do some research on the timing chains. The one I repaired broke a chain and it took out both heads and 3 pistons. easy to work on though.

I don't know anything about Jags, but I'd always heard they went down hill after being purchased by Ford. Is that not the case? Certainly they look a little more like all the other cars on the road these days.

Vdp
 

My 94 XJ6 VDP was like dating a bi-polar girl...never knew what was going to happen....

When she started , she ran like a sleek cat from 60-120 but if it rained I would have to be prepared to stay in. Also the hydraulics system that controlled EVERYTHING really was frustrating. I probably own half of the Lucas company by now.

All in all, I'll stick with my benz that starts and runs like a clock

never owned one.

love the xk 120s though. roadster and fixed head coupes too.

also the xke coupe. one of the top few designs imho.

tom w

If you get a chance drive one of the newer XJ8 supercharged. Corners flat quiet and smokes the tires all with elegant styling. If I could afford one I would.

Jags
 

As a recovering British Car nut beware of 70s thru late 80s. The Brits are a nation of tinkers so no 2years are the same or cars for that matter. Where our German cars are over enginered and then left alone ...not so with a Jag. you will find yourself wondering WTF a lot. Jags are sexy as Hell cars and sweet to drive. Very high maintance. Try this site www.jag-lovers.com .

Regards

....and reading the factory service manual can be amusing, unless you are trying to figure out why something is broken. The running changes can be daunting to keep up with. As a aside, I once had the battery go dead repeatedly in the XJS. Checking the draw reavealed a less than 100ma draw. The battery continued to go dead. I kept scatching my head until I got home one night and saw a light fladhing on and off in the garage. Thinking, wtf, I opened the door to find the headlights bliking on and off by themselves. The culprit was a defectice headlight relay that had a mind of it's own and was turning the headlights on and off, and it wasn't made by Lucas. It was made by Bosch, in Germany.

I will give credit to Jaguar for having self-diagnostics with trouble codes readable without a scanner back in 1992.

Jag-o-let Baby!
 

I had a friend who had an XJ12. He is a British car lover but the Jag almost made him change his mind. I can't remember if it had the Stromberg carbs or fuel injection but it was always breaking. He is in Florida so overheating was a problem.

Get an old XJ12 with a bad engine. (they are kind of old now so maybe not so many are left) and put a small block Chevy in it. I know if the head gaskets leak on the V12's, the coolant will oxidize the aluminum cylinder heads to the head studs and they can be impossible to get off!

I think if you go through with this that you will see the difference in quality of components, engineering and assembly that will make you appreciate MB.

With that said, I can remember a high school teacher that had and XJ12C of about 1976. A rare car and it had truly beatiful lines. It was painted a pale yellow and looked the epitome of a classic British car.

I know someone who bought a new series III XKE v12 in 1974. Today, it has less than 7k miles on it, and it's not because he wanted to preserve his car. The ignition amplifier was/is so unreliable that he ended up putting it in his climate controlled garage and polishes it instead of friving it. He has even detailed the undercarriage with a toothbrush.

The v12 is turbine smooth, but a v12 car doesn't come alive until you get to highway speeds, in town driving can be a nightmare, with your eyes glued to the guages.