Quick advice needed on XJR X300 purchase...

[TWINTURBODAVE]

Hi all. I wondered if I could very quickly pick peopls brains about buying a 1995 XJR X300 auto.

1 Whats the useful life of the supercharger? This car is on approx 80k with history to 77ish k.
2 Is it a sports car? Will it handle like a Supra/944/928?
3 Are standard brakes adequate to the power?
4 Is the steering soft like a standard XJS, or stiff and informative
5 Are they any good as long distance cruisers? Comfortable
6 Are there any specific things to worry about/look out for?

Any advice much appreciated. Considering a cheap (£1000 ish) purchase, but have never had one, so a bit unsure.

[TWINTURBODAVE]

Sorry, should also mention that the owner claims that: the headgasket and thermostat were replaved last year. Is this a warning bell, perhaps overheating issues? Also claims that the throttle body was cleaned (apparently a common thing?)

[AceOfHearts]

Hi,

I have an X300 XJR so should be able to help a bit,

-It is not a sports car, but have never driven a Supra or Porsche so cannot compare, i would say maybe comparable handling to a 3 series BMW. It still does roll a bit and does not give sports car feedback.

-The supercharger (and mechanicals in general) are not a problem and should outlast the car. Check for rust.

-I would say the brakes are adequate for the power

-The throttle body being gummed up is a common issue

-Great for long journeys. Have done 500 miles in it in a day without an ache.


At £1000 it sounds like a steal! Mine is not the cleanest around and i paid £1800 for it.

[king arthur]

You don't tend to hear of overheating issues with these engines, it's more often overcooling caused by the thermostat being stuck open.

[Straight6DOHC]

The headgasket leaking is more common now for these cars more because of their age though, rather than mileage.
It's a very comfortable car and pretty much bombproof. Yours is low mileage. Have a look on www.xjr6.com for lots of advice. At a grand with head gasket renewed it sounds good.

[tedsxjr]

I'd jump on it, for 1k it'll be an experience you won't want to have died without

Mine had 130+k on the clock when I sold it and other than a few electrical gremlins and the usual replacement items on a 16 year old car that was driven regularly, was a brilliant car for the 40,000 miles that I owned it. And I've had a lot of cars, including Mitsubish 3000GT VR-4, Pontiac GTP supercharged, Plymouth Barracuda, Jensen Interceptor III, and a whole bunchload of others.

Any time you find a unique, gorgeous, rare feline form, they're always loads of fun, high maintenance, and require feeding and nurturing, without even a hint of being "put away in a garage for later". You know what I mean. Treat her nice and you can live with her easy.

No it's not a sportscar, it probably won't kill you like a Porsche or ferrari so often tries to do, and it won't scare you like some of the others you mention. But it will put a grin on your face every time you floor it and pass someone on the open road, since 0-100mph is totally effortless and understatedly easy to achieve. Trust me, I have many speeding tickets to prove it, and I've been driving for 40 years without an accident!!!

Not to mention any time a boy ricer pulls up next to you expecting to blow away his dad's Jag. Yeah right, you should see their faces at the next lights

It just feels good. Planted, secure, fast and friendly.

Light steering, maybe a little too light (but then again my BMW 530d needs a crowbar for leverage), it's an effortless highway cruiser, very easy to drive around town and outside, steering is very responsive and accurate since you have large 17" rubber bands. You can race the thing between cones, and it's very easy to drift since it has RWD, limited-slip and near 50-50 weight... if you want to....

You can have a look at my Project XJR pages to see all the standard stuff and what went wrong with mine: http://www.jagxkr.pl/XJR

Most importantly, buy it and HAVE FUN !!!!