Discussion
Just found the above at a price that's hard to ignore, with just over 49k on the clock. I've never owned a Jag before, so wondered what things I need to look out for/be aware of?
I'm usually a Mercedes man, but love the thought of representing my roots stateside with a proper english gent's motor coach.
I'm usually a Mercedes man, but love the thought of representing my roots stateside with a proper english gent's motor coach.
Prices have fallen significantly here in the UK over the last year or so and there's been lots of interest and posts on the aluminium bodied XJ recently.
I've driven two and in comparison with the earlier steel bodied XJ they feel much more agile and livley to drive. Even the base model V6 is well equipped and feels quick and has a lovely engine / gearbox relationship. The air suspension ride quality is too firm for my taste, even on the smallest diameter and highest profile tyres. Fine on smooth roads but very crashy and jiggly compared with the previous XJ on poor surfaces. As with the previous XJ, Jaguar have cut down routine servicing to the bare minimum so you'll need to consider having the gearbox and differential oil - supposedly sealed for life components with no dipstick or easy method of oil changing - changed occasionally if you want to avoid expensive failures later on.
Theres also been an alarming number of reports of body corrosion. Honest John mentions corrosion appearing on the boot lid, door pillars and bottoms as well as the wheel arches. Steadman has had his car repaired four times in the same place and has also had to have a new boot lid. There is also a serious problem with brake pipe corrosion which is being dealt with under recal. Steadman has also had a quite shocking list of other repairs including a new steering rack and gearbox module as well as several other lesser faults that would have run into a cost of several thousands a year if his car was not covered under an extended warranty. Cars I've looked at have had poor paint finish on the vertical surfaces. Either they have had corrosion repairs done badly or they left the factory like that. Whatever, that standard of finish is not acceptable on any car let alone a premium brand IMO.
All the corrosion is occuring on cars that can only be 6 years old or less which I think is completly unacceptable - laughably bad in fact - that's no better than the rubbish Lancia and Renault managed to manufacture in the 1970s.
There are no reliability index figures published yet for the aluminium XJ but the figures for the previous model make dismal reading.
However the cars seems well made and assembled - fit and finish inside is good and the high mileage example I drove was tight and rattle free.
For me there's a lot of downsides to the alumimium XJ. It's much bigger than the previous XJ, which is a serious issue in the UK with our narrow roads and tiny parking spaces, and not as good looking either IMO. I much prefer the looks of the previous model - park the two together and see what you think - and all the reports of body corrosion as well as the hard ride has put me right off even thinking about buying one.
Maybe you should hire one for a weekend to see what you think before you buy. That's what I planned to do to see if I really liked the car all the problems with paint and corrosion became apparent.
I've driven two and in comparison with the earlier steel bodied XJ they feel much more agile and livley to drive. Even the base model V6 is well equipped and feels quick and has a lovely engine / gearbox relationship. The air suspension ride quality is too firm for my taste, even on the smallest diameter and highest profile tyres. Fine on smooth roads but very crashy and jiggly compared with the previous XJ on poor surfaces. As with the previous XJ, Jaguar have cut down routine servicing to the bare minimum so you'll need to consider having the gearbox and differential oil - supposedly sealed for life components with no dipstick or easy method of oil changing - changed occasionally if you want to avoid expensive failures later on.
Theres also been an alarming number of reports of body corrosion. Honest John mentions corrosion appearing on the boot lid, door pillars and bottoms as well as the wheel arches. Steadman has had his car repaired four times in the same place and has also had to have a new boot lid. There is also a serious problem with brake pipe corrosion which is being dealt with under recal. Steadman has also had a quite shocking list of other repairs including a new steering rack and gearbox module as well as several other lesser faults that would have run into a cost of several thousands a year if his car was not covered under an extended warranty. Cars I've looked at have had poor paint finish on the vertical surfaces. Either they have had corrosion repairs done badly or they left the factory like that. Whatever, that standard of finish is not acceptable on any car let alone a premium brand IMO.
All the corrosion is occuring on cars that can only be 6 years old or less which I think is completly unacceptable - laughably bad in fact - that's no better than the rubbish Lancia and Renault managed to manufacture in the 1970s.
There are no reliability index figures published yet for the aluminium XJ but the figures for the previous model make dismal reading.
However the cars seems well made and assembled - fit and finish inside is good and the high mileage example I drove was tight and rattle free.
For me there's a lot of downsides to the alumimium XJ. It's much bigger than the previous XJ, which is a serious issue in the UK with our narrow roads and tiny parking spaces, and not as good looking either IMO. I much prefer the looks of the previous model - park the two together and see what you think - and all the reports of body corrosion as well as the hard ride has put me right off even thinking about buying one.
Maybe you should hire one for a weekend to see what you think before you buy. That's what I planned to do to see if I really liked the car all the problems with paint and corrosion became apparent.
Edited by Jaguar steve on Monday 28th December 08:20
)Getting made redundant in March (see my posts in the employment section) and I'm looking to downsize to a diesel to keep me going while starting up my own business. I just need to turn the Jaguar into cash and I could do without the 23mpg and big running costs for the next 12 months. I'll be sorry to see it go though, as nothing comes near for the money in my opinion. I've just spent £3k doing the brakes and having it serviced, putting two new wheels and tyres on it (two were slightly buckled), but I'm not foolish enough to know that these kind of running won't go away. It's all part of running a £65k 400bhp mega car!
Talking about prices that are hard to ignore...
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1420868.htm
Seems v keenly priced
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1420868.htm
Seems v keenly priced
mdowning said:
Talking about prices that are hard to ignore...
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1420868.htm
Seems v keenly priced
^Zircon^ http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1420868.htm
Seems v keenly priced
or ultravoilet are the colours to have!I will actually add something constructive on tuesday
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