What Jaguar

danash

I am treating myself to a second hand Jag - importing from the UK and have conflicting advice on their reliability - pre 95 seem very unreliable - 97 - 99 seem better - then Ford takeover seems to have introduced better engines but more tacky trim.

Al in all it is a little confusing - I am looking at the XJ6 model 1997 - 2000 range - any advice on experiences with these models would be greatly appreciated.

Anan1

I did a little homework on an XJ8 a while ago, and was told that the cam chain tensioner on the V8s can give trouble. Apparently it's around €2,000 to replace, or a new engine if it lets go. Lovely car to drive & be driven in, though.

layke

I'm not sure we have any Jag drivers here. Your welcome to become the first on these boards.

Johnny Storm

The V8s from the 90's can have the tensioner problem as noted and also can suffer from the Nikasil cylinder lining problem. I think the 6 cylinder cars are probably more reliable. Jags are expensive to service and maintain when they're out of warranty.

Loads of info here and here

MercMad

I did a little homework on an XJ8 a while ago, and was told that the cam chain tensioner on the V8s can give trouble. Apparently it's around €2,000 to replace, or a new engine if it lets go. Lovely car to drive & be driven in, though

..............a good friend of mine asked my advice on an XK8, he had driven SL's mor years, 113,107,129 ........and had a beautiful SL500. I advised him against changing, but he bought on anyway and guess what !!

Yep.........two months later the engine went. He was quoted €15,000 to repair it so they wrote it off and he bought a CL500 !

I havent heard anything about the 6cyl ones !

franksm

By the by, and you either love them or hate them, but S-types have become very affordable recently. '99s for 5 to 6 STG (140,000 miles). Lovely cars.

They updated them in 2002 and also produced a nice 2.5 TD, although I'd say that will always command the most money.

KTRIC

Sorry to thread-jack, does anyone know what the X-Type are like ?. My missus fancies one of them and they seem to be going for reasonable money on the continent.

Anan1

KTRIC wrote:

Sorry to thread-jack, does anyone know what the X-Type are like ?. My missus fancies one of them and they seem to be going for reasonable money on the continent.

AFAIK, they're 4wd Mondeos.:)

Johnny Storm

Anan1 wrote:

AFAIK, they're 4wd Mondeos.:)

Sad but true

KTRIC

Johnny Storm wrote:

Sad but true

Not really the same car , are they ?

I thought it was just built on the same chassis.

MercMad

Sorry to thread-jack, does anyone know what the X-Type are like ?. My missus fancies one of them and they seem to be going for reasonable money on the continent.

........had one for 3 days in 2003. Thought it was very flimsy and underpowered compared to my then C200K. The wood trim across the dash under the instrument panel was about .5mm thick and had flexed already. this car had 200 miles on it, the leather didn't even smell, it was very tight inside and when I told the salesmen that the armrest was broken and moving all over the place he said "they are all like that ".

I couldn't wait to get my C-Class back, which instantly felt bigger, more solid, faster and according to the instruments the Jag was about 15% heavier on fuel !

The one I had was the 2 litre which is actually 2.1litres, its a smooth engine and gearbox in fairness, and they can look well. The cost of the extras just to get it to the same spec as an Avantgarde C-Class was outrageous. Having recieved a p1sspoor trade in for my 2 year old Merc I ended up buying a more expensive CLK and still saved about 4K !!

Second hand makes far more sense, and there is value in them, but if importing just remember the VRT is silly, then there is road tax and fuel costs !

KTRIC

So its a poor mans Jag then :rolleyes:

I think I'll give it a miss, even though it does look nice (from a distance)

Thanks for the advice lads.

Johnny Storm

KTRIC wrote:

Not really the same car , are they ?

I thought it was just built on the same chassis.

You are right. They may well be fine cars, I have never driven one.

Gordon

What about the Atari Jaguar?

/ok, I'll get me coat, sorry!

unkel

Anan1 wrote:

I did a little homework on an XJ8 a while ago

It was on the short list for my next car (before I did any research) but got vetoed off by my better half. Since then I've seen quite some stories of XJs / XKs and S-Types that do not reconcile with the supposedly great reliability of modern (post '95) Jags

Gatster

Don't know how true it is, but it seems to me that for the amount of engines produced, there appears to be more Nikasil failures in the XK8 (to 1999/2000) than in the 6 cyl/V8 Beemers. Just from what I read, put me right off an Xk8/XJR