Discussion
You can't go far wrong with the X300, these had the straight six 3.2/4 litre engine and from my experience are very easy to live with. Go for the best you can get, with good service history, decent spec, i would take my time and look for an enthusiast on car that's been looked after, a 4 litre sovreign would be great. 1500 quid should get you a decent one. S type and X type prices are very low now and there are loads out there, i'd go for 3.0 V6 in either model, although X types can be had for 1500, i would spend a bit more and look for a good, well looked after example with service history. The X308 is very tempting, but you need to do some research on these before you consider one, there are a few major issues that need to be looked at with these cars, do some searching on here. I'd go for the X300 over the X308 at that kind of money personally. Good luck with the search.
Wot 'e said ^^^
The X300 XJ (1994-1997) is robust mechanicaly and capable of huge mileages if looked after. Your £1500 should buy a good example but bear in mind the youngest will be 15 years old now.
These are big heavy cars that are hard on tyres, brakes and suspension components. Check front tyres for uneven wear indicating worn wishbone bushes, braking action for pulling and judder and steering feel for any sense of drifting or wandering about the road. An XJ in good condition should track straight and true.
Expect some diff whine at high mileages which you can quiten down with EP140 oil. A sensibly driven 3.2 should return around 18-22 MPG in town and get up to about 28 on a long motorway run. Budget tyres are about £80 each and there are several parts suppliers and Jaguar breakers around to keep your car going. DIY servicing and usual repairs like discs and pads are not difficult. Insurance is often reasonable too.
Check very carefully all over the car for rust. Particular points are rear wheel arches, round front and rear screens lower wings, inner sills and jacking points. Apart from the digital clock interiors are pretty robust and rattle free.
Tha most important thing is to buy a good one - that'll mean looking and driving several to get the feel for what a good one is.
I'd avoid a cheap V8. Whilst the driving experience is vastly better than the six cylinder cars - they are much more refined and perform better - they also have a few well documented issues that must be attended to and are not generally as robust - especially as the miles creep up.
The X300 XJ (1994-1997) is robust mechanicaly and capable of huge mileages if looked after. Your £1500 should buy a good example but bear in mind the youngest will be 15 years old now.
These are big heavy cars that are hard on tyres, brakes and suspension components. Check front tyres for uneven wear indicating worn wishbone bushes, braking action for pulling and judder and steering feel for any sense of drifting or wandering about the road. An XJ in good condition should track straight and true.
Expect some diff whine at high mileages which you can quiten down with EP140 oil. A sensibly driven 3.2 should return around 18-22 MPG in town and get up to about 28 on a long motorway run. Budget tyres are about £80 each and there are several parts suppliers and Jaguar breakers around to keep your car going. DIY servicing and usual repairs like discs and pads are not difficult. Insurance is often reasonable too.
Check very carefully all over the car for rust. Particular points are rear wheel arches, round front and rear screens lower wings, inner sills and jacking points. Apart from the digital clock interiors are pretty robust and rattle free.
Tha most important thing is to buy a good one - that'll mean looking and driving several to get the feel for what a good one is.
I'd avoid a cheap V8. Whilst the driving experience is vastly better than the six cylinder cars - they are much more refined and perform better - they also have a few well documented issues that must be attended to and are not generally as robust - especially as the miles creep up.
eggbod said:
are the xj's cheaper to maintain than an s-type ?
There is probrably nothing in it - don't forget you're contemplating running what is effectively nothing more then an old banger so even if one is slightly cheaper on paper than the other that small saving on maintainence will be blown right out of the water if and when somthing goes wrong.Personally I'd go for the XJ. Early S Types accquired a pretty poor reputation for build quality and reliability once they started ageing and piling on the miles and certainly are not as robust as the X300 XJ. There are more manual versions in S Types though and an S Type will be better on fuel too. The S Type V6 engine is more refined than the AJ16 straight 6 in the XJ so it's not always a clear choice. Try one and see what you think.
On your budget you've got to search out a good car though - that's the most important bit. The best Jag experience you'll get for long distance wafting for £1500 would be a XJ fitted with 16" wheels and Comfort (aka) Touring suspension. A 3.2 XJ6 won't be very quick but it'll be very nice
Edited by Jaguar steve on Tuesday 7th February 17:58
dkatwa said:
Interesting, JaguarSteve 'The S Type V6 engine is more refined than the AJ16 straight 6 in the XJ '
More info please?
Entirely subjective of course and only my opinion. The only way to be sure is to try both back to back. It's certainly what I thought though when I drove two different 3.0 S Types whilst I had a X300 - not so much difference when just cruising but when pushed hard through the gears the V6 was noticeaby smoother and quieter than the AJ16. I think it's a refined engine and it's almost as good as a V8 when installed in the X350 too.More info please?
Jaguar steve said:
dkatwa said:
Interesting, JaguarSteve 'The S Type V6 engine is more refined than the AJ16 straight 6 in the XJ '
More info please?
Entirely subjective of course and only my opinion. The only way to be sure is to try both back to back. It's certainly what I thought though when I drove two different 3.0 S Types whilst I had a X300 - not so much difference when just cruising but when pushed hard through the gears the V6 was noticeaby smoother and quieter than the AJ16. I think it's a refined engine and it's almost as good as a V8 when installed in the X350 too.More info please?
a8hex said:
Jaguar steve said:
dkatwa said:
Interesting, JaguarSteve 'The S Type V6 engine is more refined than the AJ16 straight 6 in the XJ '
More info please?
Entirely subjective of course and only my opinion. The only way to be sure is to try both back to back. It's certainly what I thought though when I drove two different 3.0 S Types whilst I had a X300 - not so much difference when just cruising but when pushed hard through the gears the V6 was noticeaby smoother and quieter than the AJ16. I think it's a refined engine and it's almost as good as a V8 when installed in the X350 too.More info please?
I thought that too and ended up replacing all the timing chains and valvegear and oil pump chain, doing a complete top end rebuild and replacing all the exhaust, engine and gearbox mountings as well as making a different design of heat shield on the exhaust manifold. As well as that I replaced front wheel bearings, subframe v mounts and shock bushes, airflow meter and crank damper and fitted extra soundproofing as well as trying two different sets of tyres and using a synthetic 10W/50 oil in an attempt to quiten it down. Diagnostics showed nothing amiss. Oil pressure was within spec checked with an independent gauge and there was no indication of bearing or thrust washer wear I could find.Dispite going through the entire car with a fine tooth comb checking everything I could - and finding nothing apart from a couple of valve clearances a couple of thou out - I was never really happy with it. It was OK ambling round under light load but became harsh and noisy when pushed. I'd noticed similar charecteristics in other X300s I'd driven - and one car had an bad engine vibration period around 2000 RPM which I'd noticed a hint of in mine too. One 3.2 sport I drove for comparison purposes was even worse in terms of refinement than my own car. After 40000 miles in it I just gave up.
That's certainly not to say they are bad cars - far from it. Personally I find the X300 a bit dissapointing when compared with my expectations of what a Jaguar should offer in terms of refinement and having compared my X300 directly with the V6 in two different S Types on the same day and route still think the V6 is a more refined engine.
a8hex said:
Guess I've been lucky, since I've always find mine to be a peach.
Fingers crossed it stays that way.
I've driven a couple of V6 X350s and I definitely prefer my X300.
Fingers crossed it stays that way.
I've driven a couple of V6 X350s and I definitely prefer my X300.
There's certainly variations in all cars as they age. Often this'll depend on how they are driven and maintained. In a previous life I worked as a mechanic and got to drive several different examples of exactly the same car each week.
The differences once they had a few miles on the clock were quite surprising.
I think you've had your car for a while and will have lookled after it - so it's a good one. Hang on to it
Jaguar steve said:
a8hex said:
Guess I've been lucky, since I've always find mine to be a peach.
Fingers crossed it stays that way.
I've driven a couple of V6 X350s and I definitely prefer my X300.
Fingers crossed it stays that way.
I've driven a couple of V6 X350s and I definitely prefer my X300.
There's certainly variations in all cars as they age. Often this'll depend on how they are driven and maintained. In a previous life I worked as a mechanic and got to drive several different examples of exactly the same car each week.
The differences once they had a few miles on the clock were quite surprising.
I think you've had your car for a while and will have lookled after it - so it's a good one. Hang on to it
"So Ken, how long have you had your car now, then?"
Me "Oh about 16 years"
"So when are you going to change it?"
Me "When it needs changing"
I'm yet to drive anything I think could do its job significantly better, up to trying proper hand build Astons.
I'm starting to think I'm now treating it more like having a second classic car. We tend to use the other half's Merc as a run about, its an entirely adequate run about but about as interesting to drive as watching paint dry. Since buying the 150 the XJ has been relegated to living on the drive, but with the XK being in for work, the XJ has returned to the luxury of being suitable housed and I'd forgotten how nice it is to keep the car that way. I've found myself not getting it out or avoiding getting it out for routine things, but using it more for fun things and taking her ladyship out.
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