Old Jags - any good?

[squarehead94]

Wondering whether the XJ6 (P reg era) 3.2's are any good for a daily runabout car?
7-10k a year miles so mpg isnt a big deal (20-25mpg is fine, I've had turbo petrols so) its ride quality, comfort, and the looks that matter.

You can pick good examples up for £1500-2k, £230 a year tax, but can they be serviced DIY and are they as good and reliable as people make out?

 

[Mr_Sukebe]

The older ones were notorious for being hopelessly unreliable, though clearly it'll be luck of the draw, just as older Alfa's were.
If you really want a Jag, probably safer to go with a newer model.

 

[squarehead94]

The older ones were notorious for being hopelessly unreliable, though clearly it'll be luck of the draw, just as older Alfa's were.
If you really want a Jag, probably safer to go with a newer model.

I dont "really" want one as such. just seen a few in some classifieds and thought they looked lovely. never thought I'd own one. I just assumed that being an old engine and design, theyd be fairly simple to maintain and cheap enough on parts seeing as theres plenty in the scrappers rotten to death.

also spotted a mighty 190, 190e 2.0 manual in excellent condition, 3 grand though! I go through urges of wanting something classic. any recommendations? been told e39 bmws are good?

 

[tom_e]

They may be old and cheap to buy but then can still happily hit you with the prestige marque bills.

 

[geekman]

They may be old and cheap to buy but then can still happily hit you with the prestige marque bills.

This is not so much the case anymore: they've got to the stage where parts are plentiful enough that nothing is really that expensive to fix, bar rust. In which case, having a good look at the sills, arches, previous MOT advisories, mounting points etc can easily determine if the one you're looking at is worth having or not.

The age of car you're looking at can be DIY serviced quite easily, which is not so much the case for the newer X350 shape as they have more advanced electronics and complex codes which cannot be read by cheap eBay code readers.

Chances are, unless you're lucky enough to come across a mint example for not much money, it will require regular little jobs doing on it. From a financial perspective, this is unlikely to be a big deal, but some people resent spending time every few weekends fixing one problem after another: depends if you're one of those people or not.

You hear lots of horror stories online from people who've bought an older premium marque car, taken it to their local "specialist" (many of whom are specialists only in ripping people off) and come up with a bill for twice the value of the car. To put things in perspective, I've had two old Jags, both X350s which are supposedly a lot more expensive to run than the X300 / X308.

Car 1, used from ~110k-170k:

Only non servicing related expenses were as follows

Diagnose and repair electrical fault (turned out to be rear fuse box): £300

New heater resistor from eBay: £40

New lambda sensor: £60

As far as I can recall, that was it

Car 2, used from ~100k-currently 135k:

Suspension strut replaced by used item with 1 year warranty: £100 (would have preferred to spend £350 on a remanufactured one with 2 year warranty, but parts were out of stock at the time)

New heater resistor from Jag: £160

Heater core flush: £10 for some coolant

Air con regas: £45



I don't think that's bad at all personally. All those jobs bar the air con regas and the electrical fault diagnosis were easily DIYable, and that's on a car that's less easy to DIY than the older ones you're looking at.

 

[Scania]

A mate had one back in 2005,96 N plate XJ when I had my R plate e38 728i, he kept his a similar period of time to mine ~2 years or so, in that time he spent about £4K on repairs and servicing I spent less than half that, this was ten years ago mind you and I wouldn't want to run either car of that vintage today as a daily driver.

Lovely old things but you don't see many of either on the road these days for good reason unfortunately.

 

[Lashout_UK]

I bought a cheap one for £500 and it was an absolute sweetheart. Wish I hadn't sold it. Beat the living daylights out of it and it kept on ticking! You can find 'em. Go for a 4.0 Sport or similar.

These things are pretty stout as far as I'm concerned, it's just that - as with any car of that era - there are a lot that have been abused and neglected. The powertrains are very strong, regardless.

Corrosion can be a big bugbear though, so look at the MOT history.

 

[p1RATE]

I had an XJ8 and a few 190e's.

The old jags are just as unreliable as people say, but they are cheap and there are plenty around. I found parts suppliers still charged a premium for parts considering whole cars can be picked up for sub £500.

I did lots of miles in mine and i had parts break, ended up stranded in it and found a lot of hidden rust. I actually did a breakdown of the costs on here before. I checked online recently and its still going. I do miss cruising up and down the motorway in it if I'm honest. Also expect sub 20 mpg.

As for the 190e, 3k is a hell of a lot for a 2.0 manual. if you're spending that sort of money do not settle for anything less than a 2.6.

Ive had them in auto, manual and the dogleg cosworth box. The best one is the auto. And make sure it has leather or MB-tex.

Parts are incredibly cheap for these, i even have a garage full of parts from when i did my engine swap which didn't sell on ebay.

I went to buy another only a couple of months ago to park up and hold onto before they get too pricey with the way the appreciation on the cosworths is going, but it overheated before i even drove it away. Dodged a bullet that day.

 

[Jamesyboyjim]

Girlfriends dad has a Jag, think its an X type, 2005 or 6, its done 150k miles (2 litre diesel) the head gasket just needed doing as it cracked, it has also just had a clutch fault fixed, the slave cylinder went which meant taking the gear box out, that cost 800 quid in total, although some of that is the hire car he's paying for too. I'm not sure how old you were thinking as I wouldn't consider it that old, but based on his, I would be wary of some mean bills!

 

[tom_nieto]

If you're actually planning to rely on the car at all I think the 190E would be a much better prospect. If you actually want an old Jag then go for it, but I certainly wouldn't be looking at one for a daily.

Although saying that the cheapest on PH is £2700 with prices rising very rapidly thereafter!

 

[Born_2_Kill_83]

Rust rust rust, that is my only contribution.
I spend £5k on my X308 rust, I would guess an X300 will be just the same if not worse.

 

[peterwalkley]

The X-Type is just a mondeo in a fur coat - not really a valid comparison. I owned 2 of them before buying a proper jag.

Bottom line for any old prestige barge is that you need to know enough to avoid a total lemon and also either be prepared to tinker yourself or have a decent local garage. There are also owners clubs and forums to help out so you are not completely on your own. I remember from geekman's posts in the past he'd done enough research on both to know they had been well looked after.

 

[p1RATE]

Girlfriends dad has a Jag, think its an X type, 2005 or 6, its done 150k miles (2 litre diesel) the head gasket just needed doing as it cracked, it has also just had a clutch fault fixed, the slave cylinder went which meant taking the gear box out, that cost 800 quid in total, although some of that is the hire car he's paying for too. I'm not sure how old you were thinking as I wouldn't consider it that old, but based on his, I would be wary of some mean bills!

You really cant compare an X-type to a x300.

I wouldn't caution anyone over big bills on an xtype either, they are really quite reliable and cheap to fix (i know i own one of those too ) and worse case you can buy another for 1k. I just keep mine as an occasional work horse because its so cheap and keeps on running with approaching 190k on the clock now.

 

[Deleted member 66701]

Same as any older/bigger car - good as a second car and ok if you're prepared to scrap it if it throws a big bill.

Put it this way, if you but it for £1500, drive it for a year / 10k miles and then it throws a big bill at you and you scrap it, £1500 for a year in a big luxury car still seems a pretty good deal.

 

[gbradders123]

300e over a 190 if you are looking for something a bit comfortable. Both pretty reliable, expect suspension bushes etc at mot time which can be a pain. Just done 400 miles on fathers 300d with 280k still drives well and is comfortable.

190 5 speed manual in the diesels was horrific, not sure if it is the same as petrol?

never had a xj6, sure it will happen soon.

I do far more miles than you in bad examples (cheapest i can find of whatever fancy) never been stranded anywhere yet.

Just get what you want, if something major goes its hardly expensive to hire car for a week till you get a replacement, less than a monthly payment of some ghastly hatchback.