XJR - Advice and ''Myth Clarification''
XJR - Advice and ''Myth Clarification''
Author
Discussion

JCW_Matt

Original Poster:

566 posts

229 months

Monday 20th October 2008
quotequote all
Hi All,

Had a go in a XJR 4.0 supercharged at the weekend. What a car! Never expected it to be as good as it was smile Smooth as anything, with effortless power.

So, next step is to start looking at purchasing one.... They seem to be very cheap? 5/6k will seem to get you a good example, or am I missing something?

If anyone has any buying advice it would be much appreicated.

Now on to the myth - My mate has said that if you do not use them regularly or do a lot of short journeys, they tend to sprout problems. Is there any truth in this?

Thanks in advance,
Matt

P700DEE

1,180 posts

252 months

Monday 20th October 2008
quotequote all
Some truth. They respond well to regular use, keeping them for Sunday best does not mean lower service bills and less problems

groomi

9,330 posts

265 months

Monday 20th October 2008
quotequote all
P700DEE said:
Some truth. They respond well to regular use, keeping them for Sunday best does not mean lower service bills and less problems
Agree with that.

What your mate may have been getting confused with is their tendancy to flood when started for a few seconds just to pull out of the garage for instance. It doesn't happen every time, but it is a known problem.

Other than that, do your research and make sure you have the main points covered, then find yourself a good'n. thumbup

__G__

16,163 posts

212 months

Monday 20th October 2008
quotequote all
I bought one 3 weeks ago because of the price drop. Go for it mate. You won't regret it.

Just make sure it's a tidy example you shouldn't have any problems. Just check for the Nikasil/Timing tension problems/gearbox problems as these are rarer than you will read but can be very expensive to sort out. There's loads of buyers guides if you do a search.

From what I've read they're pretty solid. Although admittedly mine didn't start for the first time on the nose this morning! So I've some investigating this week!

In terms of myths of "not driven much vs. driven all the time", that all depends on the driver and where it was driven really doesn't it? XJRs still have all the same basic engineering that goes into all cars so same rules apply...

For example; a car only driven weekends but driven like a maniac around town and without proper maintenance is going to be stuffed over a damn sight faster than one driven by cautious driver to work on the motorway every day who looks after it. In short you need to know the car's history. Check for matching tyres and signs of care as well as service history etc.

A good Jaguar owner would always keep receipts and have a full service history (or have the mechanical ability to maintain him/herself in which case there should be receipts available). This is particularly important on an X308 which does have some reliability issues that should only become apparent if it was abused/not properly looked after.

In short check the history, do your research and give the car a damn good look over and you're on to a winner mate! Petrol has just gone down to 98.9p/l as well so it's a damned good time!

JCW_Matt

Original Poster:

566 posts

229 months

Monday 20th October 2008
quotequote all
Cheers for the sound advice all.

I am going to go and look at a few, seems some right bargains can be had right now.

My journey to work is not exactly mammoth (11 miles there and back) wink But I am sure a decent example could cope and it would always be warmed up correctly with myself at the wheel smile

As for spec - was hoping for some Nav and a Harmon Kardon system if possible..better get searching!

Thanks again,
Matt

Cecil

337 posts

213 months

Tuesday 21st October 2008
quotequote all
The NAV is not worth bothering with IMHO, it is archaic and you can no longer get updates, the HK upgrade is well worth looking out for but can be retro fitted.

Jaguar steve

9,232 posts

232 months

Tuesday 21st October 2008
quotequote all
My XJ often sits for several days, and somtimes weeks not being driven or started. It´s been used like this for the two and a half years since I´ve had it and the only problem I have occasionally experienced is temporary flat spots on the tyres which go after a couple of miles. It´s only ever used on long motorway trips though which means it gets far less cold starts than most cars would have done covering the same miles.

stevep944

391 posts

240 months

Tuesday 21st October 2008
quotequote all
Go for it!
I've had my XJR for nearly 2 months now, and I just love it. Any excuse to use it I will, I can see having to increase my classic insurance limited mileage because of it.
The combination of performance, luxury, looks etc is unbeatable in my opinion.
As others say do your checks first and make sure you get a good one, then enjoy it.