Just bought my first Jaguar a week ago, '99 XJR. I've always liked the Jaguar cars but also always heard a lot of negative comments on the reliability. Personally I feel anything can be made reliable with enough determination. Since Ford bought Jag in '89 I understand that a lot of the electrical issues have gone away. As far as new cars go, I don't like many. I'm more old school, and prefer the look and style of older cars. But I love this series of XJ. I think they did a superb job of honoring the older XJ style while giving it a modern image. I am also delighted with its outstanding handling characteristics. It has good power, always a BIG PLUS to me, as I am used to the older muscle cars with larger powerplants. I am a little apprehensive with regard to all of extra seemingly overcomplicated electronics on the car. I guess that's part of owning a upper level luxury vehicle. This is my first foreign car. Is it really foreign, it's half Ford? I don't regret passing over the BMW for this one. Nothing against beamers, I like them too. But like the style of this better. See you guys around.

 

Welcome aboard! Your story sounds pretty familiar to mine other than I have owned several foreign makes like VW, Volvo, and Audi.

I'm sure you'll love the XJR!

 

Welcome to the forum Jagman99R. Would love to get my hands on an XJR.

 

Welcome, congrats and enjoy your ride

 

Welcome! Nice car you have there! What color?

Couple of things - this car is not really any more electronically sophisticated regards engine management functions, than any modern car, post 1995. There will be more sophistication with "accessories" typically found on luxury cars, but nothing you won't find on any European or Japanese marque, or US for that matter. If you're not now comfortable with the complexity, you will quickly come to be, just a matter of learning/experiencing, and the technical expertise in this forum is second to none. You sound like the type that will quickly get there. I say that because I walked the technology path over the years. I come from the Muscle era, having started out life as a Chevy tech at the height of Chevy's big block period. I far more prefer things now than the way they were. The car basically communicates with you now and tells you exactly whats wrong.

Foreign is a relative term dependant on one's perspective point. In this age, there are no real disctinctive lines anymore as it used to be between "foreign and Ford", for example.

This car is a work of art, and you're gonna like what you have.

Again, welcome and look forward to seeing you on the forums!

 

Congrat's on your new Jag. A couple of things I found out when I was researching to by a Jag. Two problems showed up that really concerned me and would make me wary of buying an XK8. One problem is the timing chain, they have poorly designed cam chain tensioners and they "Will" break causing catastrofic failure!! It's not a question of "if" it's going to break, it's a question of when. The cure is to have the new upgraded tensioners installed and then you will never have a problem, if you don't major damage to the engine will occur costing major bucks! Another thing I found was the trasmission, they are a "Sealed for Life" unit, the only problem is the max life that can be expected is 100,000 miles. The tranny can be serviced to prolong it's life though it's not easy to do. I hope I've helped someone cuz having your dream car die on you sucks big time!!

 

Howdy Jagman99R

Congrats on the kitty! Welcome to the forum.

 

Congratulations! I just made the same move - passed over a BMW and got a Jag XJ!

I took it out today for my first long drive on the interstate - wow! It feels nice to drive around town, but once you get a nice big length of open road...

Keep on smilin'
G