2009 Jaguar XK
Discussion
The mid 1990s end of line XJS was a great car - my ex had one for a while and it was a good drive. Earlier XJSs are way cool, but more problem prone.
I have had three Jags before - a 1972 (Daimler badged) XJ6, a 1990 XJS, and a 2004 X Type Estate (not as Ford as people say it is, but still a compromise - RWD car on FWD platform). My dad briefly had a manual XJS but it was a rough one. I have also driven 1960s Jag and Daimler saloons, and had one go in an E Type (disappointing). This XK feels proper Jaaaaaaag.
I would love a good early XJ6, or any XJC, or a good late XJS, but cannot afford those!
I have had three Jags before - a 1972 (Daimler badged) XJ6, a 1990 XJS, and a 2004 X Type Estate (not as Ford as people say it is, but still a compromise - RWD car on FWD platform). My dad briefly had a manual XJS but it was a rough one. I have also driven 1960s Jag and Daimler saloons, and had one go in an E Type (disappointing). This XK feels proper Jaaaaaaag.
I would love a good early XJ6, or any XJC, or a good late XJS, but cannot afford those!
Even the boggo NA version is a lovely engine. Makes a good noise when you want it to, quiet when you want to waft. Very responsive on the throttle, and stupid speeds easily achieved. I keep trying to out drive the autobox by using the paddles on the steering wheel, but keep giving up.
The MPG is great for such a big engine - the lightness of aluminium helps, but the engine itself is way greener (in relative terms) than the old sixes were. So, Greta might be a bit pissed off at you, but she won't be really cross as she would be if you were in some Chelsea Tractor.
The MPG is great for such a big engine - the lightness of aluminium helps, but the engine itself is way greener (in relative terms) than the old sixes were. So, Greta might be a bit pissed off at you, but she won't be really cross as she would be if you were in some Chelsea Tractor.
Jimbeaux said:
Someone would have to pull a gun (faster than I do) to get my XJS; love that car. The 1995 is rock solid IMO. I’ve driven it since 2007 with no issues.
Buying an end of range car often a great idea - all the problems sorted. Jag was having a good mid 90s. My friend in Toronto has a glorious late XJS in a gold colour. I have been tempted by the more affordable 90s XJ6s, but have not succumbed - I'd want an earlier one.
If the rules permit, I hope to do gran turismo in the Jaaaaaaaag, down to Vichy via Burgundy, and back via the Loire and Paris, in August or September. This may not happen because of the reasons we all know about. The car will be well suited for that trip, I think.
I have only driven one car with a supercharger - a Lancia HPE Volumex. The small Roots blower on that made two litres like three. I have only had two turbo cars - a GM era Saab 900, which was meh, and a Fiat Coupe Turbo, which was fabby.
I borrowed a 1980s Porsche Carrera Turbo once, in the wet - what a nightmare!
I have only driven one car with a supercharger - a Lancia HPE Volumex. The small Roots blower on that made two litres like three. I have only had two turbo cars - a GM era Saab 900, which was meh, and a Fiat Coupe Turbo, which was fabby.
I borrowed a 1980s Porsche Carrera Turbo once, in the wet - what a nightmare!
In BL, the development and testing budget would be what BMW spent on paperclips. Thus the cars were to some extent tested by the customers. Balance sheet shell games also came into play. My dad once watched a line worker factory-bodging something on a Marina. The tools and jigs were so knackered that the standard parts didn't fit together. My dad observed that the bodge would fail soon after a customer started driving the car. The line dude said that he knew this, but that they had been instructed to get the cars to the dealers who would fix them under warranty. Thus the spend would come out of another pot, and the factory would satisfy the accounting team.
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 7th September 16:45
I bought my XK last December but only started driving it in March when I returned from a period of exile, and I have only done about 2000 miles in the car. No engine issues in that time. I had the oil and coolant changed last month and will take the advice above and change the oil every 7000 miles. The car has now done 72,000 miles in its 11 year life.
I think a previous owner may have been a woman with long fingernails, or a flamenco guitarist, because there are many fine scratches around the driver's door handle. The only other mark on the car is the long vertical scratch on the driver's door put there the other day by a little light blue hatchback at the petrol station. The interior shows no signs of wear.
I think a previous owner may have been a woman with long fingernails, or a flamenco guitarist, because there are many fine scratches around the driver's door handle. The only other mark on the car is the long vertical scratch on the driver's door put there the other day by a little light blue hatchback at the petrol station. The interior shows no signs of wear.
Mikebentley said:
My FiL did his engineering apprenticeship at Austin in the 1960s under Issigonis. He said there were a lot of talented people who were able to improvise with what they had. He said a big issue was that if some bloke off the buses married into the family of someone at Longbridges family he could very soon be given a job managing a department he knew nothing about. Dad developed very early cadcam and software to carry out computer based crash and wear predictions for development of safer cars after the Ralph Nader book.
I also know people who worked there after Honda came on board and have heard tales of how Rover would accept shoddy parts through when Honda would test everything and reject if not up to tolerance. All these rue the day Honda were shafted. Still it wouldn’t happen now.......or would it.
My father accompanied a group of Honda engineers on a visit to a BL plant in the late 70s. The Honda guys asked when the factory had last retooled. The answer was a date in the 1940s. The Honda guys said that they retooled every eight years. BL and its predecessors had been starved of investment for decades. I also know people who worked there after Honda came on board and have heard tales of how Rover would accept shoddy parts through when Honda would test everything and reject if not up to tolerance. All these rue the day Honda were shafted. Still it wouldn’t happen now.......or would it.
My uncle was a toolmaker. He was kept busy, and earned so much double time at weekends that he could play golf, have tailored suits, and change his car every year. My dad, ex toolsetter, when in junior management had to settle for football in the park, off the peg suits, and a s
tty old car that he ran until it died. My uncle, always a dapper man, gave me two of his suits, beautifully made by a little old Polish Jewish refugee guy in Birmingham, and they plus a couple of good suits from Oxfam saw me through my first five years as a lawyer. 
Mikebentley said:
My FiL did his engineering apprenticeship at Austin in the 1960s under Issigonis.
.... Dad developed very early cadcam and software to carry out computer based crash and wear predictions for development of safer cars after the Ralph Nader book.
....
That is way cool!.... Dad developed very early cadcam and software to carry out computer based crash and wear predictions for development of safer cars after the Ralph Nader book.
....
Did your dad ever meet an Industrial Engineer called Joe who had a strong Dublin accent? That was my dad. He started on the shop floor at Lucas in 1960, got as far as toolsetter and then qualified as an IE, had a spell at Rootes-Chrysler, and spent the late 70s and the 80s in BL, working in every division except Jaguar and Land Rover. He always referred to Longbridge as "the Austin", to Solihull as "the Rover", and to Cowley as "the Morris". He ended up running an exhaust factory in north Oxford (long since replaced by houses).
I have only just discovered the HOOLIGAN Button. This is the Dynamic Mode setting. Put that on, and put the autobox into S, and the car gets quite mentalist. Thus you can do relaxed Gran Turismo on the fast swoopy highways, and engage nutter mode for twisty back roads, although the car's size limits how much you can loon it in lanes.
I assume that an F Type must be quite lairy all of the time.
I own a 1980s small mid engined two seat sports car, and two 1970s small engined short wheelbase four seat GT cars, so for chucking it about a bit I can use those, and not lose my licence or get hospitalised. I will mainly do cruisy cruise cruise in the Jaaaaaaag. I hope to drive it to Vichy and back in August, if the situation allows that.
I assume that an F Type must be quite lairy all of the time.
I own a 1980s small mid engined two seat sports car, and two 1970s small engined short wheelbase four seat GT cars, so for chucking it about a bit I can use those, and not lose my licence or get hospitalised. I will mainly do cruisy cruise cruise in the Jaaaaaaag. I hope to drive it to Vichy and back in August, if the situation allows that.
Hmmmm. The central locking does not work any more. Blippety blip, and the indicators flash and the door mirrors fold in, but the doors remain unlocked.
The always bonkers parking radar is worse than ever. It often only comes on after I have stopped reversing and returned to forward drive, and then it doesn't go off for a bit. Hmmmmm, again. Who said it was a good idea to let cars have computer stuff?
The always bonkers parking radar is worse than ever. It often only comes on after I have stopped reversing and returned to forward drive, and then it doesn't go off for a bit. Hmmmmm, again. Who said it was a good idea to let cars have computer stuff?
I do sometimes think of selling the Jag and just having classic dailies again, but then brief interludes of lucidity capture me and I recall that I really do need at least one car that will start more times than not, and in which I could slightly more cheerfully have a crash than I could in one of the 70s rotters that are mainly held together by paint, and which have actual Zulu Assegais as their steering columns.
Thanks for the tips above, but, er...., what the Hell even is a "pedestrian sensor"? I am pretty sure that I have two of those (called "eyes"), which are transferable from car to car, but I'll check. The aircon compressor has been done by a mobile mech who does all my heaps, and has worked thus far ...
Thanks for the tips above, but, er...., what the Hell even is a "pedestrian sensor"? I am pretty sure that I have two of those (called "eyes"), which are transferable from car to car, but I'll check. The aircon compressor has been done by a mobile mech who does all my heaps, and has worked thus far ...
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