Jaguar XJ (sub £1000) - Issues

[gadgetgricey]

Looking for some advice as have been looking at old Jags for ages and think I'm going to be taking the plunge before XMAS. Not going to be the daily driver so not that bothered by fuel economy, just want the ability to waft occasionally

 

Anyone ever owned one, any to avoid (All of them I hear someone shout), any known issues to look out for?

 

Have did a search as best I can, and consencus seems to be to avoid the early j/k regs as they have electrical issues. Ideally would be after one of the later model M reg on ones as much prefer the looks.

 

As I say, any advice gratefully received.

 

Cheers

 

- Dave -

[Rocket88]

Looking for some advice as have been looking at old Jags for ages and think I'm going to be taking the plunge before XMAS. Not going to be the daily driver so not that bothered by fuel economy, just want the ability to waft occasionally

 

Anyone ever owned one, any to avoid (All of them I hear someone shout), any known issues to look out for?

 

Have did a search as best I can, and consencus seems to be to avoid the early j/k regs as they have electrical issues. Ideally would be after one of the later model M reg on ones as much prefer the looks.

 

As I say, any advice gratefully received.

 

Cheers

 

- Dave -

 

ALL jags have electrical issues...less prevalent on the later ones, but can be more difficult to cure, so your screwed either way!

[scooters]

XJ40? -

 

avoid the V12 - some of the parts are no becoming very difficult if not impossible to source - gearbox ECUS - the dizzy needs careful attention - it is essentialy two six pot dizzys back to back - if one side fails then the car will continue to run on the other side - pumping fuel into the engine - which then over flows and pisses petrol all over your red hot exhaust manifolds - whoomph - bye bye car....

 

with the others - Leccy issues, door seals, check for rust on pillars and at front - wings are bolt on so are ok. wiper can suffer due to workload - don't be put off by square headlights you can always swap em and they tend to be found on the higher spec and (handmade) Daimler.

 

Try and buy Sov spec - full leather a must - thre are quite a lot of base 2.8 clothys around - try and get at least a 3.2 or 4.0.

 

inboard brakes can be a pain to fix - other than that you can't really go wrong.

 

get onto the XJ40 forum which is excellent and ask around - better chance of getting a well known one - Rob Jenner is your man - lives just north of Berwick and is XJ40 obsessed. He's a very good source of infor and parts as well as the occasional car

[scooters]

worn suspension bushes as well - there are a LOT of them!

[wuvvum]

Late XJ6s are usually a better bet than early XJ8s, due to less complicated electrics and lack of OMG NIKASIL issues. That said, my XJ8 is an early one and that seems fine - and I do prefer the later dash, and the sound of the AJ8 engine. Reasonable examples of either should be available for under a bag, but you will have to expect the odd electrical gremlin at that age, and accept that if any major component goes south the car will be scrap. They are lovely to drive though - feel quite agile for their size and supremely comfortable.

[wuvvum]

avoid the V12 - some of the parts are no becoming very difficult if not impossible to source - gearbox ECUS - the dizzy needs careful attention - it is essentialy two six pot dizzys back to back - if one side fails then the car will continue to run on the other side - pumping fuel into the engine - which then over flows and pisses petrol all over your red hot exhaust manifolds - whoomph - bye bye car....

Plus they do 15mpg on a good day...

[scooters]

avoid the V12 - some of the parts are no becoming very difficult if not impossible to source - gearbox ECUS - the dizzy needs careful attention - it is essentialy two six pot dizzys back to back - if one side fails then the car will continue to run on the other side - pumping fuel into the engine - which then over flows and pisses petrol all over your red hot exhaust manifolds - whoomph - bye bye car....

Plus they do 15mpg on a good day...

 

 

they ARE fun though - everyone should own one at least once - even for a few days

[wuvvum]

avoid the V12 - some of the parts are no becoming very difficult if not impossible to source - gearbox ECUS - the dizzy needs careful attention - it is essentialy two six pot dizzys back to back - if one side fails then the car will continue to run on the other side - pumping fuel into the engine - which then over flows and pisses petrol all over your red hot exhaust manifolds - whoomph - bye bye car....

Plus they do 15mpg on a good day...

 

they ARE fun though - everyone should own one at least once - even for a few days

I did own one - for just long enough to lose my licence.

[gadgetgricey]

Sorry did not explain it properly, looking at the XJ40's, but prefer the later M reg on XJ300's. (i think that's the right model idents)

 

Not really a fan of the square lights on the XJ40's so good to know they can be exchanged.

What are spare parts prices like?.Currently have a couple of old Saabs and can normally get bits quite cheaply.

But I guess that just being on the right forum's and knowing the right people.

 

Keep the info coming, will be back later. Off to have a look at the XJ40 forum

 

cheers

 

- Dave -

[Cavcraft]

Lacquer peel, rusty arches and boot lids and countless mingebag owners all of whom have spent less money on it than the previous ones should be considered. They're bloody cheap nowadays too, though (imho) the X300 series were made in some not especially nice colours.

 

Pete M's is one exception though, it's a bloody lovely car in the perfect colour.

[dollywobbler]

X300 all the way. They're almost as cheap as XJ40s and by all accounts are much better. I'm very, very tempted by one. I need a barge.

[Guest]

id highly recomend jagcats if your after bits for an old jag

 

http://www.jagcats.webs.com/

 

few pictures from the last time i was in there . wall to wall jags stacked 3 high in places

was a ds420 in there too

 

 

[The Moog]

Had a few X300's

 

First was 3.2 £850 about 3 years ago. Bought it and loved it. Was base spec so half leather (actually preferred it) but aside from that was awesome. Had to change Lambda probes as was getting 13mpg! Best part of £300 as they needed resetting as well. Someone crashed into the back. Got it repaired. 2 months later someone crashed in the back again write off as the boot was dented. Got £2500 from insurance company. One car i had that my GF wants me to get again.

 

Replaced it with 4.0 which was a huuge sight better cost £900. Always preferred the 4.0 over the 3.2 as it did less work. Lovely place to be although needed rear shocks looking at (not a DIY job). Gearbox went on it and so I binned it off.

 

Also had XJR which was lovely and wish I still had. Only paid £1500 for that and it was fjsh and every bill ever spent on it.

 

Issues I had were Oxygen sensors, Rear shocks and bushes, Flat battery meant trouble as they are in the boot and normally the lack of use means rear lock rusts up.

[ChinaTom]

18 mpg is a possibility with a V12, but all previous advice is correct - they are nightmares to find parts for - the most likely part all of them need by now is one or two fuel pumps, and they are officially completely unavailable. Rebuilds only, and they are coming up in price, almost more than car's value!

 

Watch for rusty bulheads on late XJ40's, and X300's apparently.

 

They are lovely beasts, but be sure you talk to Mr. Jenner before taking one on - they can be a world of very expensive pain.

 

Try www.XJ40.com - there is a section for X300's too.

[scooters]

If you want a barge which you want to tinker with and waft around in and especially if you have a garage then you can do a lot worse than uy one of these - they are great value for money and a later XJ40 4.0 is a bloody good car if it has been looked after - I prefer the 40 and the 300 to later Jags - they still have the wood and leather and old boys club feel to them..

 

whatelse can you buy with so much comfort and power for so little?

 

I would be wary of LPG - for some reason XJ engines don't really get on with it. I had a 4.0 with a single point and it used to blow the air box regularly - needed a backfire valve- it was ok on LPG but used to really struggle back on petrol.

 

Rob Jenner told me that he thinks LPG is more hassle than it is worth on pre 94 Jags.

 

I'd love another - its a great deal of fun rocking up at Tesco in the child parking area and piling out of a daimler with kids, dogs etc...you get these envious looks - not cos they are jealous of the car but rather admiring the bloody mindedness of using such a vehicle as a family car without getting chewed up by the wife!

[Timewaster]

I have had an on / off temptation for one of these for the last 5 years.

A friend of a friend had a X300 for a bargain price, but it was jewish racing gold and the interior was the horrible caramac colour.

Is the piano black dash only on the XJR?

[RoadworkUK]

We took one in for hardly any money, a 3.2 Sport (the kind of luxed-up Popular Plus spec).

 

I It hung around the dealership for about a month, it was taxed so we used it as a chase car and for running errands. Everybody who drove it fell in love with it, and quite a few of the chaps wanted to buy it, but ended up chickening out. It went to the block in the end, a bargain for somebody.

 

I loved it too and wrote about it in my 'blog.

[Pete-M]

Had mine for 14 months now. It's a very early one, a November '94 XJR.

 

It's got slightly crusty rear arches and a bit of flaky lacquer here and there (mainly on the sunroof panel) but than that it's very tidy indeed.

 

Rear shocks are knackered on it, and because it's the XJR very bloody expensive - £250 each retail from Bilstein. If you're not too bothered I suspect Sport spec ones will do the job fine. It will also need a couple of rear subframe bushes in the next few thousand miles.

 

Electrical issues don't seem to be an issue on mine really. The external boot release button randomly works, one of the rear windows doesn't, and the clock is FUBAR - the clocks are always knackered in them and Aston Martin Vanquish owners pay lots for them so they're £170 from Jag. CD player doesn't work in mine at the moment, there's a dry solder joint in the head unit that seems to be a common although easy to fix fault.

 

Headlinings sag. There's a surprise.

 

Mine has had the aircon system fully rebuilt £1000, all new bearings and hubs, all the front end bushes, calipers, discs, diff (£1000 for a new XJR one), stainless back boxes and a load of other bits done by the previous fanatical owner.

 

Tyres for the XJR are expensive. £150 each for the correct ones. Driven in a fun manner the rears last around 10k I'd think. Mine have gone down 2mm in 5000 miles...

 

Other than popping the fuse for the engine cooling fans in a Prague motorway jam, easily sorted, and the exhaust system splitting around a mounting on the Autobahn at 130ish mph it has been utterly reliable and trustworthy. My mates in Czech welded up the exhaust and it's been fine since.

 

Fuel economy? Around town I get 13-15 mpg. On a run 22-25. In idiot mode you're having too much fun to be caring about fuel for long. You can't nail an XJR for more than a few seconds without seriously fisting the law in the UK so the odd squirt here and there tends to be enough. The amount of acceleration available at any time and any speed tends to be sufficient. 0-60 in under six seconds is good for nigh on two tons and 15x6 ft of luxobarge. Nothing much will live with one from 30-70, 50-90 or 120-140 (on the autobahn). It'll cruise comfortably and quietly at 120 mph for hour after hour, but you have to stop every couple of hours to refuel at those speeds, and the Pirellis stink.

 

They're insanely cheap, as long as you look for a proper one you won't go far wrong.

 

Oh, and this;

 

We took one in for hardly any money, a 3.2 Sport (the kind of luxed-up Popular Plus spec).

 

Is a strange definition of the 3.2 Sport. If it had leather, it will have had a near as dammit identical interior to the top of the range jobs. Sports have the black wood, and the same seats as the XJR. They've also got mainly the same trim spec, only traction control, 120 bhp, Billy Stein's finest bobble reducers and a couple of other not-so-necessary-in-a-3.2 bits missing.

 

I'd class the 3.2 Sport more as the 318iS of the XJ range.

[eddyramrod]

whatelse can you buy with so much comfort and power for so little?

 

Cadillac!

 

But yes, I know, the rivals are few and far between. I know my Daimler was older than these under discussion (1978) but it succeeded a 1979 Cadillac I'd had for 3 years, and they were equally fun in different ways. Those late 70s Cadillacs are around at Jag sort of prices; sadly, not that many will have been looked after. Dynamically, the Jag is the choice if you want to press on even slightly. The Cadillac is more of a lazy cruiser, of course. Either will be a hoot for going to work or Tesco!

 

Good luck, I hope you find one that serves you well.

[wuvvum]

We took one in for hardly any money, a 3.2 Sport (the kind of luxed-up Popular Plus spec).

 

Is a strange definition of the 3.2 Sport. If it had leather, it will have had a near as dammit identical interior to the top of the range jobs. Sports have the black wood, and the same seats as the XJR. They've also got mainly the same trim spec, only traction control, 120 bhp, Billy Stein's finest bobble reducers and a couple of other not-so-necessary-in-a-3.2 bits missing.

Mine's a 3.2 Sport and that has ASC - don't know if it was an option though or if it was only standardised with the V8 engine. Doesn't really need it though, at least not in the dry.

[wuvvum]

whatelse can you buy with so much comfort and power for so little?

 

Cadillac!

This ^.

 

You should be able to pick up a reasonable late '90s STS for a grand or thereabouts, and they're a hell of a car - don't handle as well as an XJ (although they're not bad for a two-tonne, 300-bhp front wheel drive saloon), but they are better equipped, not a lot thirstier if driven sensibly and with a 4.6-litre 305bhp Northstar V8 under the bonnet (sorry, hood) they go like hell in a straight line.

 

Other car that springs to mind is a Lexus LS400 - not the most exciting car ever made but just as powerful and comfortable as a Jag and likely to be less troublesome. Either that or an early E38 740i. None of the above look as good as the Jag though...

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

I have had an XJ40 for many years and it has been a wonderful car. It is a late car - a 1992 manufactured battery in boot model (battery was moved to the boot for 1993 and 1994 MY cars). These late XJ40s are very robust and had different, upgraded electrics which are excellent. It is not true that all Jags have electrical issues - the late XJ40 and X300 are far more reliable than the average car electrically. However, an early 2.9/3.6 litre car with the digital dash could make you cry.

 

The engine and gearbox (ZF4HP22 and ZF4HP24) are also very robust and capable of very high mileages. This is true for the twin cam AJ6 whether in 3.2,3.6 or 4 litre spec. The X300 uses a slightly updated version of the same engine (AJ16) which is very similar and if anything, even more trouble free. The 2.9 single cam engine has a reputation for cam chain problems and at only 165bhp cannot really cope with the weight of the car so is best avoided unless the price is right.

 

Paint lacquer can peel/detatch and go milky, the headling can droop and the XJ40/300 is a heavy car and can be hard on suspension bushes.

The main problem with both the XJ40 and X300 is rust; both can rust severely. Rust is the only real problem which I have had with my car, as Pete M saw a while back. The XJ40 and X300 share fundamentally the same body - don't believe people who say the X300 doesn't rust!

Common spots include:

the base of the 'A' pillar continuing on the inner wing under the front wing,

rust around the rear pillar,

on the tops of the inner wings under the bonnet,

(late XJ40/X300) on the bulkhead in the centre and each corner

sill ends

floor to sill join

(late XJ40/X300) front of floor on both sides

(early XJ40) bonnet and boot lid

(early X300) rear wheel arches

sunroof

 

Most cars will have some rust somewhere, but rust is rarely hidden and you will find it if you look.

 

I prefer the rectangular 'Styled' headlights but many do not like them. As said the quad headlights are an easy swap, simply bolting in.

 

Parts are readily available and are cheap. There is probably a slightly better parts situation for the XJ40 than the X300, though parts for both are very plentiful. The XJ40 is also probably slightly easier for DIY and has better forum coverage. It is well worth joining http://www.xj40.com and also Jag-lovers. For the X300 owner, Jag-lovers also has an X300 forum. http://forums.jag-lovers.org/index.php3 ... BIoQ%3D%3D Both are excellent for advice and parts sourcing.

 

Lots of people seem to think the X300 is a much better car than the XJ40 - even to the extent they believe the X300 to be excellent and the XJ40 to be rubbish. This is rather strange since they are basically the same car. The XJ40 gained a reputation for fragility and myriad electrical problems early in its life, a reputation which has tarnished all of them. Whilst this was not entirely unfair for the early cars (2.9 and 3.6 litre cars made up to 1989) later cars were much better. The last XJ40s made in 1993/1994 model years (battery in boot cars) are excellent electrically.

 

I guess it is a matter of taste whether you prefer the styling of the X300 or the XJ40. I prefer the latter for its greater purity, many prefer the retro-styling of the X300. I also prefer the XJ40's interior.

 

However much I may prefer the XJ40, I still really like the X300. Either car chosen well is an incredible bargain.

[wuvvum]

The 2.9 single cam engine has a reputation for cam chain problems and at only 165bhp cannot really cope with the weight of the car so is best avoided unless the price is right.

Surely that would be the true AS-spec Jag?

 

I've actually had a hankering for years now for an XJ40 2.9 manual in white with grey tweed interior and steel wheels - the most miserable spec imaginable, and I would imagine probably akin to travelling in an overgrown Sierra 1.6L. Never yet found one in that spec at the right price though.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

See also:

 

 

E38 740i. Doesn't rot like an XJ, some electrical gremlins, goes like fuck and equally worthless.

 

W126 500SEL. Buy a saveable one in a good colour in original spec, and it should go up in value as you improve it. I think these are going to be worth good dollar before long.