Jaguar XJR/S Type R alternatives

DiG

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IHi,
Shopping for my next car, looking at a Jaguar XJ8 or S Type, possibly the R version of either. Are there any other cars I should be looking at for around the £5k mark? I like things that are big and comfortable but quick as well
 
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The standard reply is that if you can afford to run a car like this then you can afford to spend more on a car. So you should ever only really buy a car like this if your an enthusiast.

Or the more blunt version... you can't afford to run one.

Following on from this a good alternative usually is a Mondeo.
 

DiG

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S
The standard reply is that if you can afford to run a car like this then you can afford to spend more on a car. So you should ever only really buy a car like this if your an enthusiast.

Or the more blunt version... you can't afford to run one.

Following on from this a good alternative usually is a Mondeo.


Yes, this is the normal, and very good advice. I have a value in my head that I would like to spend on my car per year, fuel, insurance, and servicing etc. I could spend more on the car, but then I would have less for running it.

For an xjr, as an example I'm working on a budget of £250 for a minor service, £400 for a major and around £800 a year on repairs, is this reasonable?
 

TS7

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Which model of XJ are you intending to buy?

General rule of thumb is that the price difference between the XJR and the S-Type are is no slim that the XJR is a bit of a no brainer. It is a far nicer car. So unless you can get an absolute bargain on the S Type I'd go for XJR every time.
 

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The standard reply is that if you can afford to run a car like this then you can afford to spend more on a car. So you should ever only really buy a car like this if your an enthusiast.

Or the more blunt version... you can't afford to run one.

Following on from this a good alternative usually is a Mondeo.

:D

Slight difference when it comes to Jaaaaags. Fortunately, unlike old BMW's, Merc's and Audi's, it is rare that Jag's fall into the hands of undesirables even at very low price points. They don't appeal to those sort. So generally, even the 2k XJ's (not XJR's) I'm coming across have very few owners, tend be owned by old men who have looked after them very well. So it is entirely possible to pick up a very tidy example of a Jag (with a bit of looking) for a 'bargain'.
 
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The standard reply is that if you can afford to run a car like this then you can afford to spend more on a car. So you should ever only really buy a car like this if your an enthusiast.

Or the more blunt version... you can't afford to run one.

Following on from this a good alternative usually is a Mondeo.

Lol at the standard motors reply

Would this apply to anybody wanting a proper performance / luxury car for under 10 grand ?

Obviously if you cant afford a 2 year old or newer super saloon you should never ever consider buying an older one as every single one of them will surely bankrupt you
 
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Lol at the standard motors reply

Would this apply to anybody wanting a proper performance / luxury car for under 10 grand ?

10 grand isn't 5 grand though.

It is a valid point, while it doesn't apply to every car, it almost certainly applies to all Jags. Apart from the Mondeo one.

I seem to remember you recieving and more importantly taking onboard the same advice about a number of cars, which is the right thing to do.

If you go in with your eyes open there is fun to be had, most people just bury their head in the sand and cry when they get a big bill.
 
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Lol at the standard motors reply

Would this apply to anybody wanting a proper performance / luxury car for under 10 grand ?

It applies less as the cost goes up.

To illustrate the point, we'll use two extreme pricepoints.

You want to buy a car. The most you can possibly get together is a grand. This means you are highly unlikely to be able to afford to look after an old high performance car unless you are a mechanic by trade (and even then parts and consumables still cost money).

You want to buy a car. You have £100k in cash. The sort of person with £100k in cash is unlikely to find running anything this side of a Veyron particularly troublesome. Buy what you want.

But, generally, yes. Unless you love cars so much that you are prepared to make a few sacrifices in order to run one you really want then your average £10k car buyer probably doesn't have the spare cash to throw at cars to make buying, say, a 2002 M5 or something a sensible idea. Which is why most £10k car buyers end up with something newer.

This is of course partly why things like XJR's get so cheap - they fall into a point in the market where nobody wants them - anyone who can afford to keep them can just buy a newer one so the demand for the older ones literally falls off a cliff. It is when this happens that the more savvy but budget orientated enthusiast can pick one up - instead of buying an £8k car he can buy a £5k car with a big pile of change to run it..

Lots of people adopt your attitude, assume its all hype and buy one anyway. This is why most of them are trashed piles of rubbish owned by a succesion of people who simply couldnt afford to keep them. Though as pointed out above Jaguars don't tend to attract these type of owners as they are far too busy seeing how much BMW M3 Innit they can scrape together for 20p.

Obviously if you cant afford a 2 year old or newer super saloon you should never ever consider buying an older one as every single one of them will surely bankrupt you

Useful.
 
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DiG

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Useful advice, thanks. There must be some middle ground in this though? I'm not expecting any of these cars to offer me cheap, hassle free motoring. If I did I would buy a Mondeo. I'm looking for something that feels special to own, and luxury cars appeal to me.

I've gone through a succession of cars recently, a Lexus IS250, Volvo S60 T5 and currently a '03 Lexus GS300, all of which have had there good points (the IS250 being the best) and bad points, but I want to find something special that I'll keep for more than 8-9 months!
 
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I've gone through a succession of cars recently, a Lexus IS250, Volvo S60 T5 and currently a '03 Lexus GS300, all of which have had there good points (the IS250 being the best) and bad points, but I want to find something special that I'll keep for more than 8-9 months!

What is it you don't find special enough about the '03 GS300? just thinking because f you like the car but want more power just get the twin turbo version.
 

DiG

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What is it you don't find special enough about the '03 GS300? just thinking because f you like the car but want more power just get the twin turbo version.

Speed is part of it, but its also not as quiet on the motorway as the IS250 was, and feels very dated inside. Why it doesn't feel special is very hard to explain, but it just doesn't, it feels like the sensible compromise it was!

As far as I'm aware there isn't a twin turbo version, only the 3.0 6 I have and the 4.3 v8 from the LS430?
 
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If you want a XJR X308 then get an XJR X308, dont let these lot put you off and for £5k Im sure with a bit of shopping you could get yourself and nice reliable example. I would being spending my 5k on a private sale whom has owned the car for a good few years with full jaguar service history of course without a penny spared.
Ensure the normal things have been done such as the major services, tensioners, perhaps a new water pump. Listen out for knocks on the test drive as suspension bushes can be a problem on the rear and front.
I have owned one now for over 5 years, and other than the petrol, it has been one of the cheapest cars to run I have ever owned, in this time I have replaced:

1 Lambda Senor £160 inc fitting
1 Wheel bearing £18 + £40 fitting
2 Central Locking ECU's £25 ebay (I had a damp problem)
2 front bushes £12 each
1 Major service @ £380
4 Minor services @ £240
2 X Front tyres @ £180 - 210 each
4 X Rear Tyres @ £180 - 210 each
2 x Front Pads @ £35

Not bad for what in its day used to be one of the fastest production cars in the world, and 14 years later and 7000 miles a year it costs the above.
 
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Man of Honour
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If you want a XJR X308 then get an XJR X308, dont let these lot put you off and for £5k Im sure with a bit of shopping you could get yourself and nice reliable example.

People have said that Jaguars tend to be the exception to the rule because they by and large do not attract the sort of buyers most of the other similar cars do, therefore there are a large amount of one-old-duffer-from-new examples out there.

That said you've been exceptionally lucky for any car, let alone an XJR. Heck I wouldnt even fancy a wager that you could run a Ford Focus for 5 years with that little going wrong! Though some of your numbers are bit misleading, 14 quid for a bush, fit itself for free did it, and you've neglected to mention the fact it does teen mpg around town etc :p

Not bad for what in its day used to be one of the fastest production cars in the world

Not even close. Perhaps true if you limited it to 4 door saloons, but it wasn't ever one of the fastest production cars in the world!
 
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[TW]Fox;22266269 said:
That said you've been exceptionally lucky for any car, let alone an XJR. Heck I wouldnt even fancy a wager that you could run a Ford Focus for 5 years with that little going wrong! Though some of your numbers are bit misleading, 14 quid for a bush, fit itself for free did it, and you've neglected to mention the fact it does teen mpg around town etc :p



Not even close. Perhaps true if you limited it to 4 door saloons, but it wasn't ever one of the fastest production cars in the world!

Yes apologies I did miss the 4 door part out, the bush I fitted myself (simple pop out and in job), and I said apart from the petrol, please don’t bring the petrol into this!! :D

Maybe I have been lucky, but in my experience, the company I work for have had a couple of XJ8's which have covered 30k per year with very little expenditure. I would class them reliable cars.
 
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At this price point there isn't anything that can touch a supercharged jag in the combination of style, grace and out right perofrmance.

But even me, a man that has confidence that he could run anything this side of a veryron on a shoe string budget is a little bit weary. Yes, parts are cheap, the cars are assumingly cheap and the reliability stories seem to be good (assuming you are talking about the 4.2s. The early v8 4s had some annoying issues) you can't forget that you're running a former 50k odd car with most likely 6 figures on the clock. I can justify one to myself with the thought that Im a mechanic, enjoy fixing things and imagine that I'd keep one forever, but if you are paying someone else to spanner or expect to get rid of it soonish I'd advise a bit of a long, hard think. Awesome cars, but you have to go in with your eyes open.

Genuinely speaking I can't think of a "realistic" car I'd rather buy, but chances are ill give it a couple of months before I rock up in a x350 xjr once my finances are set in concrete simply because although I think I could run one on the cheap, I'm not certain and would rather not risk potential bankruptcy!!!!
 
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