What to look for: XJR X300
Discussion
Coming from a long line of BMW's I'm now looking at maybe buying a Jaguar x300 XJR, the supercharged straight six one. Problem is that I know nothing about them. Currently for sale in Sweden atm is 5 examples, including one in RHD which is not optimal, so it's slim pickings to say the least.
What to look for? Rust I imagine being 20 years old, gearbox? Engine?
All help greatly appreciated.
What to look for? Rust I imagine being 20 years old, gearbox? Engine?
All help greatly appreciated.
Engines and drivelines are virtually indestructible and capable of Space Shuttle mileages. Very few manuals about nearly all production was ancient and agricultural 4 speed auto.
Look for rust everywhere, especially round jacking points, suspension mounting points, front and rear screens, all over the floorpan, inner sills and closing panels, wheelarches and wing bottoms, front inner wings and bulkhead. Front subframes can rust too.
X300s suffer from peeling lacquer, droopy headlinings and scuffed bumper corners. Drivers seats wear badly. The digital clock won't work. High mileage diffs can get noisy when hot. Bumper brackets corrode. Make sure the heating/cooling and a/c if fitted works properly on all settings.
Look and listen and feel for shagged and tired suspension and steering and shaky uneven brakes. Any XJs ride and handling will be ruined by budget or knackered tyres. Car should track and brake straight virtually hands off. Check for uneven tread wear - this will often be a giveaway for lurking suspension problems. Oil and coolant leaks - headgasket, diff and rad especially.
Essential to buy the best you can find and spend some time an a long test drive and making sure everything works. Suggest you try a X308 V8 too and see what you think in comparison.
Look for rust everywhere, especially round jacking points, suspension mounting points, front and rear screens, all over the floorpan, inner sills and closing panels, wheelarches and wing bottoms, front inner wings and bulkhead. Front subframes can rust too.
X300s suffer from peeling lacquer, droopy headlinings and scuffed bumper corners. Drivers seats wear badly. The digital clock won't work. High mileage diffs can get noisy when hot. Bumper brackets corrode. Make sure the heating/cooling and a/c if fitted works properly on all settings.
Look and listen and feel for shagged and tired suspension and steering and shaky uneven brakes. Any XJs ride and handling will be ruined by budget or knackered tyres. Car should track and brake straight virtually hands off. Check for uneven tread wear - this will often be a giveaway for lurking suspension problems. Oil and coolant leaks - headgasket, diff and rad especially.
Essential to buy the best you can find and spend some time an a long test drive and making sure everything works. Suggest you try a X308 V8 too and see what you think in comparison.
If you look on Jag-lovers you can find a copy of the original brochure for the cars.
http://www.jag-lovers.org/brochures/xjr95.html
If you can find a good one X300s are really great cars. While they aren't immune to rust they're pretty good, much better in my experience than Mercs. The paint work should be good unless they've had bird droppings sitting on the car for months, at least that was the case with mine and the leather seats on my 1994 X300 seem to be lasting better than the ones in my 2010 X150. The auto gearbox on the XJR isn't the same as the one on the 3.2. The XJR has a LSD and traction control as standard. Good luck.
http://www.jag-lovers.org/brochures/xjr95.html
If you can find a good one X300s are really great cars. While they aren't immune to rust they're pretty good, much better in my experience than Mercs. The paint work should be good unless they've had bird droppings sitting on the car for months, at least that was the case with mine and the leather seats on my 1994 X300 seem to be lasting better than the ones in my 2010 X150. The auto gearbox on the XJR isn't the same as the one on the 3.2. The XJR has a LSD and traction control as standard. Good luck.
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