X300 - my first Jag

[8Ace]

Searching through the Jag forums I've found there are relatively few posts abot the X300 XJ jags. I take this to mean they are pretty reliable so have put my money where my mouth is and bought one - I pick it up on wednesday.

1996 (P), BRG XJSport 3.2. I family owner from new (chap transferred it to his wife's name) and mechanically very sound, no rust whatsoever and an interior as close to perfect as can be had. Couple of small parking scratches on NS doors, cosmetic only and it drives very nicely indeed. Was very impressed by the steering in particular - lots of feel and nicely weighted.

All for 2350 to include 12 months MOT and a service. Lots of car for the money. Let's hope it's as good as it looks.

[carter711]

I love the X300, It is without a doubt my favourite XJ.

Your car sounds lovely, you've got to post some pics up!

I actually prefer the pre facelift models as the facelift interiors have too much Ford switchgear and it doesn't look or feel like a Jag to me, the older interiors are much better and fitting with the car IMO.

I'd love a black XJR when I've got the space to keep it.

[x200sxy]

Good choice, very nice car. Mine was probably the best XJ I've had in 3 XJ40, 1 X300 and 2 X308.

[a8hex]

Bought my X300 in 96, still my main car. Still better than everything else on the market so I still have it.

[Jaguar steve]

Good choice IMHO. Saturate it in Waxoil, change the fluids regularly and it will last for ever.

[RedBull]

Great choice. The X300 is my favourite shape XJ of all. And with the bulletproof 6 in it, what could be better? I love mine.

[Ecurie Ecosse]

Lucky you!

I had an X300 XJ 3.2 Sport about six years ago.

It was a fabulous car and I still miss it to this day.

[8Ace]

2 days into ownership and to say I'm pleased with it is an understatement. Quiet, comfortable, decent shove on kickdown and brilliant to drive. Couple of things need fiddling with (eg: clock display and a bulb has gone on the AC unit) but Jaglovers shows how to fix these and everyting else works beautifully. It's just so much car for the money. I struggle to see how anything else could give such good value.

I absolutely love it. I laugh when people say things like "you drive a Jag, so when was your 50th?"; not at the joke but at them as they're missing out.

Edited by 8Ace on Friday 9th January 11:21

[x200sxy]

I had my first one (XJ40) at 29.

8Ace said:

I absolutely love it. I laugh when people say things like "you drive a Jag, so when was your 50th?"; not at the joke but at them as they're missing out.

Edited by 8Ace on Friday 9th January 11:21

[Ecurie Ecosse]

x200sxy said:

I had my first one (XJ40) at 29.

8Ace said:

I absolutely love it. I laugh when people say things like "you drive a Jag, so when was your 50th?"; not at the joke but at them as they're missing out.

Edited by 8Ace on Friday 9th January 11:21

LOL - I had mine when I was 26 and had similar comments.

[w824gb3]

I fixed my clock as described on jag lovers & its worked perfectly ever since. (Had a 94 XJR which my mate still owns).

[8Ace]

w824gb3 said:

I fixed my clock as described on jag lovers & its worked perfectly ever since. (Had a 94 XJR which my mate still owns).

Glad you posted this, thanks. Did you find the process easy to do (removing the ski slope andd units etc) or was it a bit of a Haynes-manual style nightmare?

[BLUETHUNDER]

I had an XJ40 at two years old when i was 20.All i got was"is it your dads car.Just become an owner again of a cheap run about.X300 Sport 3.2

Edited by BLUETHUNDER on Monday 12th January 19:33

[Jaguar steve]

8Ace said:

w824gb3 said:

I fixed my clock as described on jag lovers & its worked perfectly ever since. (Had a 94 XJR which my mate still owns).

Glad you posted this, thanks. Did you find the process easy to do (removing the ski slope andd units etc) or was it a bit of a Haynes-manual style nightmare?

Take care when you remove the ski slope. It's easy to crack the wood veneer at the thin section at the top and sides. If it's been in for a long time and bedded in it'll probrably take a bit of shifting. Safest way is to pass a length of string behind the two vertical sections and gradually ease it out, that way you don't place any leverage on the thiner sections when lifting the thicker part by the J gate up and backwards to get it out.

[x200sxy]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Top man.

[quote=BLUETHUNDER]I had an XJ40 at two years old when i was 20.

[x200sxy]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Top man.

[quote=BLUETHUNDER]I had an XJ40 at two years old when i was 20.

[8Ace]

Jaguar steve said:

8Ace said:

w824gb3 said:

I fixed my clock as described on jag lovers & its worked perfectly ever since. (Had a 94 XJR which my mate still owns).

Glad you posted this, thanks. Did you find the process easy to do (removing the ski slope andd units etc) or was it a bit of a Haynes-manual style nightmare?

Take care when you remove the ski slope. It's easy to crack the wood veneer at the thin section at the top and sides. If it's been in for a long time and bedded in it'll probrably take a bit of shifting. Safest way is to pass a length of string behind the two vertical sections and gradually ease it out, that way you don't place any leverage on the thiner sections when lifting the thicker part by the J gate up and backwards to get it out.

Thanks for this - I;ll take note.

There are also instructions (&pics) on SKJagtech - very useful info.

[Piersman2]

BLUETHUNDER said:

I had an XJ40 at two years old when i was 20.All i got was"is it your dads car.Just become an owner again of a cheap run about.X300 Sport 3.2

Edited by BLUETHUNDER on Monday 12th January 19:33

I had my first Jag , Series 3 Sov, at 21, changed up to a 2 year old XJ40 Sov after a year. Had that XJ40 for 10 years. Had an XJS for 2 years as well during that 10 years as a second car. The had a break but then bought a Series II Coupe and shortly thereafter another XJ40 sov.

Eventually sold both and bought a 1998 X308 XJR, kept it for 3 years or so and now have had the X350 XJR for the last year.

So started at 21 , now 40, and never found cars that suit ME better.

Always surprises me the pre-conceptions people have about the big Jags, so many references to "Arfur Daley" over the years! LOL

[BLUETHUNDER]

Piersman2 said:

BLUETHUNDER said:

I had an XJ40 at two years old when i was 20.All i got was"is it your dads car.Just become an owner again of a cheap run about.X300 Sport 3.2

Edited by BLUETHUNDER on Monday 12th January 19:33

I had my first Jag , Series 3 Sov, at 21, changed up to a 2 year old XJ40 Sov after a year. Had that XJ40 for 10 years. Had an XJS for 2 years as well during that 10 years as a second car. The had a break but then bought a Series II Coupe and shortly thereafter another XJ40 sov.

Eventually sold both and bought a 1998 X308 XJR, kept it for 3 years or so and now have had the X350 XJR for the last year.

So started at 21 , now 40, and never found cars that suit ME better.

Always surprises me the pre-conceptions people have about the big Jags, so many references to "Arfur Daley" over the years! LOL

I love Jags.But i really didnt miss the XJ40.I remember the launch.And the promise,that it was going to right the wrongs of the previous series 3.

It did anything but.At 3 years old.My car was already starting to show signs of rust blisters in the boot lid,and lower rear arches.I went through two whole sets of door handles at ownerships end.Coupled with the fact the self leveling system failed completely,so a return to standard suspension was the order of the day.Headlight modules packing up,and the ABS sphere going u.s twice.

The X300 on was a huge improvement on build and reliability.

[Piersman2]

BLUETHUNDER said:

Piersman2 said:

BLUETHUNDER said:

I had an XJ40 at two years old when i was 20.All i got was"is it your dads car.Just become an owner again of a cheap run about.X300 Sport 3.2

Edited by BLUETHUNDER on Monday 12th January 19:33

I had my first Jag , Series 3 Sov, at 21, changed up to a 2 year old XJ40 Sov after a year. Had that XJ40 for 10 years. Had an XJS for 2 years as well during that 10 years as a second car. The had a break but then bought a Series II Coupe and shortly thereafter another XJ40 sov.

Eventually sold both and bought a 1998 X308 XJR, kept it for 3 years or so and now have had the X350 XJR for the last year.

So started at 21 , now 40, and never found cars that suit ME better.

Always surprises me the pre-conceptions people have about the big Jags, so many references to "Arfur Daley" over the years! LOL

I love Jags.But i really didnt miss the XJ40.I remember the launch.And the promise,that it was going to right the wrongs of the previous series 3.

It did anything but.At 3 years old.My car was already starting to show signs of rust blisters in the boot lid,and lower rear arches.I went through two whole sets of door handles at ownerships end.Coupled with the fact the self leveling system failed completely,so a return to standard suspension was the order of the day.Headlight modules packing up,and the ABS sphere going u.s twice.

The X300 on was a huge improvement on build and reliability.

To be fair, the early XJ40, the 2.9 and 3.6 engined models, were shockingly bad. I tried a couple from a dealer and though the 3.6 engine sounded like a bag of nails in a tumble drier compared to my series III 4.2 engine. Really didn't like them at all. Then I spooted a 1990 4.0 Sov, which was well into the Ford takeover period, drove and loved it, so much more like the Series III in sound and power. The upgrades in quality that Ford made so vastly improved the car over it's original release. LIke I say, I had mine for 10 years.... never actually let me down , and did occasionally need new bits, but other than wear and tear items it was perfect. The body work was starting to go a bit though, but then 10 years in Aberdeen with the salt was always gonna be bad for a car not too well protected.

Interesting that at this time only Jaguar and Mercedes had no corrosion protection warranty, but for very different reasons. Mercedes, becuase they just didn't rust, and Jaguar, becuase every single one did LOL

And yes, I also replaced the boot lid very early on in the life of that XJ40, design fault in the way the lid lip was wrapped under at the shutline. They almost all did it.

One thing I have noticed though and that I find annoying with the newer cars is the amount of time they take to warm up the cabin. I could leave the XJ40 sat in my drive for 5 mins with the engine runnning and it would be defrosted and warm when I got in it. Both the XJRs take a bloody age to properly warm the cabin on a cold morning, like 15 to 20 mins of driving. Only saving grace is the heated front window so you dont have to sit and wait all that time.