from scooby to jag!
 

Think i must be getting old but im really tempted to get rid of the scooby and get an old xj6,anyone had 1 before ,dont think mpg will be any worse as the scoobs bloody awful!thinking between 1994 and 2000.

I considered a jag when I got rid of my Impreza but I was looking at xkr's :lol1: I don't know about xj6 running costs but its the price of jaguar parts that put me off in the end :thumb:

I had a xj6, a 1997 if my memory serves me well. 4.0 straight six auto. It was a very nice cruiser and quick for a big car. Had trouble with knocking suspension, fixed by the dealer. Then, just before I moved it on, the power stearing pump went . . . mega money to fix. The part alone was four figures. Handled like a flacid slug though, it would be a bit of a shock compared to the scoob. But if you want a long distance cruiser it is a great choice and low purchase prices off set the expensive parts.

NO NO NO your doing it wrong! you want one of these¬

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/c...similar/284695

I bought a 2004 XJ8 4.2 Sport in September 2010. Cost me £9500. I ran it for two years and sold it for £6750. In that time I did 19K in it and nothing on it went wrong. It had nearly every extra including the touch screen control system and SatNav. The build quality is outstanding!

It returned 20 mpg on average and cost less than a Scoob to insure. Even serving was reasonable.

The interior is simply a wonderful place to be. The best interior of any car I have ever owned including my Merc.

In short the car was great, I will have another and when you are wafting along the motorway cosseted in all that leather there is nothing quite like it. Round the country lanes it is no sports car, but it does OK and you get a lot of respect from other road users.

Do it, you won't regret it.

Ive recently sold my 2004 supercharged 460bhp facelift S type. Awesome car but massive running costs,everythings mega bucks when they go wrong.I ran mine for 3 years. In that time repair costs went over 20 grand.It made more financial sense to me to buy the CS400,the repayments work out lower than the Jaguar repair costs over time in my experience.
this was mine

The only jags that are good at everything are the new model ones as the chassis is totally diffrent and not the old mondeo crap that was in before, the XFR is a right weapon and handles extremely well and feels light and nimble on b roads compared to a s6 for instance where you feel like the cars gonna loose it, the old jags personally I wouldn't bother, buy something else.

The only jag that shared some components with a mondeo was the X type.Even so they didnt share many at the time as the X type was 4 wheel drive unlike the mondeo.

XFR I can confirm is a lovely lovely car as is the xkr also :D both nice to drive, yet totally different in their own respect, I find the xfr more planted and balanced through the bends and is a lot easier to keep out sideways should you feel the urge without too much input through the steering wheel, you just hold it down and feather the wheel, where as I find our xkr is a tad more lively, it can get you out of shape quicker than the xf, still a very well handling car don't get me wrong, but we have the drop top xkr so chassis wise is a little different obviously which had its draw backs I suppose but both of them are very very entertaining cars when you feel the need :D and as for long distance cruising, I don't think you will find much better for the same kind of price range IMO.

Maybe putting in the drop top tho next year ( be here before we know it :) ) for the xkr s if we can find one, won't be buying that bugger new tho :lol1: let somebody else take the hit this time ;)

Spot on :thumb: About 15% of the components were shared between the X Type and the Mondeo. The X Type was eventually offered in front wheel drive too.

The OP is about the XJ though and that is a completely different beast to the X or S types, the XK and the more modern XF.

Just so we don't lose track of the thread :thumb:

Well ive hatched a plan!This wife's not happy about getting rid of the scoob so shes suggested i still get a jag and run that in summer and use the scoob for winter,sounds like a good idea to me ;)Should give me a chance to keep on top of maintaining them both and also keep the miles down.Now ive just gotta find a decent xj40,think it may take some time:brickwall

What's your budget?

Guys in that era and for a XJ he'll be talking about a X300, X305, X306 and x308. Not the b*st*rd childs of Ford (Lincoln LS and the X < spit > - type ).

XJs come in alot of flavours in that time period, so maybe its best to first work out which one you want....we have:

X300 six pot 3.2 or 4.0
X305 6.0 v12
X306 4.0 supercharged six pot
X308 3.2 and 4.0 V8 and 4.0 V8 supercharged

(XJ6, XJ12, XJR and XJ8/XJR respectively). I won't bother listing the long-wheelbase and Daimler varients :lol1:

Oh and 1994 will include the very last of the XJ40 - where it all began (well sort of) XJ40s are rust buckets so stay away :D The X300/x30x series is a evolution of the XJ40 platform - not so rust prone and better built, yet still a "proper Jag".

Best of them to drive will be XJ8s and the supercharged V8. Simply because they are newer and have the 5speed auto (as opposed to 4speed), more power, better on fuel and quicker. However they are all getting old now. The V8s usual timing chain issues aside, alot are popping up with cooling problems and inevitable head gasket failures. Its a big job, so not a cheap fix.

The older six pots are more bullet proof. But they aren't rebuildable either (Like scoobs, you can't regrind the cranks, and you can't get new replacements either, so don't starve one of oil). The cylinder heads are pretty restrictive, so they don't perform to well for their size (unless supercharged ;) ). The 4 speed ZF auto is ok, but not great and high mile/ worn ones don't take well to being revved in neutral or park (i.e during a MOT test), which burns out the front clutch pack.

The XJ12 V12s are last of their breed, these had all the bugs sorted out on them that gave Jag such a bad reputation in the 70s and 80s. Its advantage is also its drawback though as the Denso based ECU fueling and coilpack ignition, whilst its the best and most superior, nobody in the Jaguar world has a clue about fixing them should it ever go wrong. I know as I was going to transplant a Denso fueled v12 into my car, but could find absolutely no technical documentation on the EFi and ignition system to help get it running. Whereas the old XJ40s etc that had the inferior Lucas/Marelli systems have a strong technical following (because they were so troublesome alot more people know how to fix them ;) ).


Parts...plenty of breakers...Black country Jags (see ebay) who also sell new/old stock parts, and for new parts there's David Manners as well as SNG Barratts. Not to forget JDHT (main dealers...see www.jaguarclassicparts.com )

One thing I don't like about X300s, and this goes for the other Ford era Jags (S-type, X-type XJ, XK etc) is the brakes. For some reason someone working high up at Jag thought Jags should have squishy brake pedals that make you think the system is full of air. I hate it; 1980s/70's Jags had nice firm pedals with solid yet proportional feedback. Its ok if your are used to driving big Mercedes E/S-classes and Rover 75s etc. but thats a bit gripe I have with them too (even SL55 AMGs :rolleyes: ).

Erm, a XJ40 may end up costing you more to keep it on the road unless you find one thats been garaged for most of its life and its never seen a wet road. :D

Cheers for the info.Done quite alot research into them myself and what im really looking for is very late xj40 4.0s or an early x300 4.0.From what ive read mechanically there very strong with rust being the main cause for concern but im not to shabby with a mig so that shouldnt be a problem.Budget is around the £2000 mark and for that i should be able to find a minter i hope.A xj40 xjr would be nice!

Get a good one you wont regret it, they are brill. I would have bought another if I hadnt had the grief I did.