X350 XJ purchase - early cars vs late

[Loose_Cannon]

Dear all, looking for an 03-06 pre-facelift XJ as my next car. Pretty flexible on engine choice, but I have read "somewhere" that later cars have better electrics/reliability than earlier ones, is this bks? I hope so as I have an eye on an 03 XJR.

I know as a general rule of thumb slightly later versions of most cars often have early bugs ironed out but the X350 seems to get a generally good rep from what I hear.

[Loose_Cannon]

Thanks all for some greast replies. I can't recall a car which has got such favourable reviews from current or former owners!

It probably sounds daft but I just want the best car for the money, the engine choice is completely open and will dictate use aftewards. A full fat R will probably get tucked up for fine days, a V6 or diesel will be used to make the daily commute more tolerable. I just want a Jag, that's OK isn't it? I was hoping to get one and surprise my dad with it as he adored his old X300, but he passed away over Christmas, so now am determined to have one in his memory.

The prices seem to be so close it hardly matters, although everyone seems to favour extremes of powertrain, therefore the mid-range petrols offer best value compromise. Current wish list, just waiting on time to view;

03 gold XJR 72k miles @ £12k (overpriced I know)
06 red TDi 61k miles @ £9k
05 blue 4.2 Sport 77k miles @ £7k

In the middle is a 108k miles £7.5k gold R which has been for sale for so long my brain has convinced itself there must be something wrong with it - and it couldn't be further away from me dammit.

[Loose_Cannon]

There was a stunning grandad racing gold V6 which I'm now regretting passing by at 9 grand and 56k miles at a dealer. I thought it a tad overpriced, but people seem to be ssnapping them up. Anything of the same ilk sold privately for about 5k lasts a few days max.

[Loose_Cannon]

Echo the doggy sentiments guys, our car choices are increasingly dictated by whether we can carry the pooches with us as it's just not the same without them.

What's your day to day fuel like Dodsy? A friend had a 3.6 V8 he reckoned was lacking torque, and afterwards had the Tdi which reckoned rarely bettered 36 mpg, more like 30 in the winter with the fuel burning heater on. He's meticulous with his figures too so I believe him. His recommendation was a normally aspirated 4.2 as a compromise but the R is sooo tempting.

Edited by Loose_Cannon on Saturday 21st January 08:38

[Loose_Cannon]

I like the "walk quietly, carry a big stick" approach too. Oh that R is calling.

[Loose_Cannon]

Gorgeous. Why Jaguar chose to abandon the classic shape I'll never know. They said sales suffered in an image conscious market, but I don't see many of the new XJs either. Quite often when something new comes out it takes a while to get used to but I still can't love the latest model.

Funny thing; when they tried to shrink the classic shape onto a Mondeo sized car with the X type it just didn't work (IMHO). Now vice versa, the new big'un looks awful, but the same design language on the little XE looks really nice??? Go figure.

[Loose_Cannon]

This chat has popped up again to make me feel guilty that I never updated my own thread! gUILTY AS CHARGED. Can confirm purchase of said Jag after all the chat, now owned 3 years - a 2007 4.2 XJR (supertax -ouch) in Frost Blue, champagne leather, american walnut trim, now on 80-something-k miles.

I still can't believe how many cack-handed, tight-fisted bds have owned and skimped on this beautiful car previously, including a millionaire who kerbed the wheels so bad they all needed replacing and ran the tyres to the cords, plus a Jaguar MD service manager who owned it 2 years and didnt service it!

It was sold to me with a litany of faults (split tyres, knocking bushes, inoperative cats, leaking fuel lines) 3 days after being given a dubious MOT pass courtesy of the *supposedly* incorruptable/infallable Irish Government controlled vehicle testing system...you can imagine how far my complaints got with those people...

After a bit of restorative work (still not totally complete) it looks stunning and drives very nicely, save for a permanent engine light and low speed misfire which no garage seems to able to identify, and I wonder may be caused by an air leak, location yet to be identified.

Currently the car is in many bits fitting a new AC compressor which rather shockingly needs the engine lifting to access the bolts. I will also try a smoke test for the air leak in the same time

Ownership experience so far has been 90% love, but after a nightmare experience owning an L322 Range Rover in the same period I would say it suffers from similar JLR problems, i.e. cheaply sourced components with unexpectedly short lifespans, and no thought given to ease of long term and none-routine maintenance.

Still, I can't imagine much less than a Bentley could make me feel as good on the road.

Edited by Loose_Cannon on Thursday 24th December 12:03

[Loose_Cannon]

Dodsy said:

That air leak , my money is on the rubber seal on top of the plenum which will throw an emissions fault on bank 1 and bank 2. Mine failed at around 70k and was replaced and is on the way out again now at 230k . Going to tighten it after xmas and see if i can get away without replacing it.

Take the engine cover off and you can see it , look for soot marks around it which indicates its leaking.

Thanks the codes (P1071/P1074 both banks lean) are a permamnent feature! At first the car hardly noticed but after 10k miles I have perceived it getting worse.

Whilst disassembling I have seen soot marks in the front corner of the left hand cam cover, and wondered if this could also be a problem?

This is the first car for a long time I have wanted to keep forever, but suspect its lifespan will be dictated by parts supply and the cost of diagnosing niggling faults like this.