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New Member Area - Intro a MUSTNew to Jaguar Forums? Drop in and tell us about you, your ride and location. This is your chance to introduce yourself to the forum.
Good morning, My name is Rich and just joined the jaguar forum. Id like to say Hello and look forward to getting to know you folks and trade ideas and learn
about these beautiful Xj's.
I will post a couple of questions that hopefully some of you will chime in and help me with.
I am currently in the market to purchase a used Xj years 2011-2015. I have found to that I am interested in one being the XJ and the other the XJL. I think the XJL is nice with the added back seat perks like tables and shades but I will not ever be in the back seat so not sure if I want to go that direction. So my question would be what would the benifits of one over the other be? I saw some you tube videos where Jay Lenno talks about them both and he preferred the XJ over the XJL. Thoughts on this please?
Second is I have heard some nightmare stories about jaguars and breaking down a lot and the maintenance is really expensive. I currently own a Hummer H2 and a 2016 cadillac escalade premium edition. I looked into some typical maintenance such as oil changes and breaks and was thrown back by the cost of these. I have read on some websites that these cars are fantastic and minimal problems and way to the opposite side that they can be nightmares and be prepared to be in the shop a lot.
At his point I know the car that I purchase I will be adding a full bumper to bumper warranty to cover major expenses should it happen but, Im also torn if this is the right purchase to make. Is buying a used jaguar XJ or XJL a good idea.
The two that I am looking at are:
XJ Black metallic base model with peanut butter leather (baseball glove) and has 60K miles on it.
or
XJL Blue metallic with light tan leather and 40K miles.
Thanks for your replies and hope to be a proud owner very soon!
Jaguars do break down but nowhere near as much as urban myths would have you believe. Parts are expensive and so is specialist (dealer or independent) labour. The economical way to run a Jaguar is to do your own maintenance and repairs or have a comprehensive warranty to cover all eventualities.
Don't believe all the horror stories you hear about how unreliable Jags are. These are frequently told and repeated by people who have never owned a Jag let alone had one repaired. It's a tale told by old women of either gender.
Dealer oil changes have got Ridiculously expensive in the last few years! Which is why, if I'm so pressed for time I can't do my own, I take it to a Jiffy Lube or WalMart or some such far more economical place. Same goes for tires.
As for parts, they're where you find them. I've found Premium brand and quality parts on eBay!
Thanks I appreciate the response. Any thoughts on the XJL vs the XJ? pros and cons,
the XJL is nice as its a little bigger but, as stated before I won't be in the back at all. Other than the extra room, door shades and tables does the XJL version offer any other added features over the XJ that would benefit me as the driver?
We scaled down a tad when the need for the rear seat reduced, kids moved on, and never felt we missed anything where we sat, either way.
Youngest, daughter, learnt to tolerate the rear seat in the XJS, or stay home, she always came along, Dad paying for food and fun, HA.
I agree on the reliability stuff, mine were 1970's onward cars and Daily Drivers, and never, ever let us down, SURE, there was a looooong list of catch up, but once that was sorted, we simply drove them anywhere, anytime.
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Thanks again. Unfortunately there’s not a lot of the Xj’s for sale in my area. I have have checked out the ones within 200 miles and have narrowed it down to the two. I ha e expanded my search to see if I locate the exact one of my choice but, can’t seem to locate one with the paint color and interior color.
My Ideal XJ would be a dark green with the baseball glove leather color. But even searching the internet that color combo is not very common at least for sale. I’m looking to buy used and not new so limits my options.
Understood. But I was thinking in terms of there may be some optional features that you might not think much about in the heat of the moment or even realize exist that you'd later kick yourself if you missed out. In the case of the XF that I bought, there were three different seats offered. One of the early XFs I looked at was a stunning base model in British Racing Green with only 12,000 miles on it. I was so incredibly tempted, but I had actually spent enough time test driving other XF's by that point that I knew I would need the seats with the optional lumbar adjustment. The base seat was OK on a short drive, but would have been uncomfortable for me on a long trip which meant I needed to find a Portfolio edition.
I had a bunch of preferences besides the seats but finally after four months, a Portfolio edition showed up with only 27K miles at an Acura dealer not too far away in a color that I could live with. I was first kind of turned off because it had the optional chrome side vents which I really hated, but I was tired of waiting so I bought it anyway and just had my local paint shop change them out for the standard body-color vents. I also purchased a set of the 18" Vela wheels like came on the base model and swapped them for the 19" Caravelas that came on the Portfolio edition. At least those things I could change easily. I really wished it had the premium sound system and the blind spot warning but I'll live without. So yes, buying used is always a bit of take what you can get even if you're willing to travel and really patient. Good luck and let us know what you come up with.
Are all XJL considered portfolio? Here are the two that I am currently looking at.
The first set is the XJ black metallic with the peanut butter leather and 60K miles
Second set is the XJL metallic blue with light tan leather with 40K miles
Originally Posted by pdupler
Understood. But I was thinking in terms of there may be some optional features that you might not think much about in the heat of the moment or even realize exist that you'd later kick yourself if you missed out. In the case of the XF that I bought, there were three different seats offered. One of the early XFs I looked at was a stunning base model in British Racing Green with only 12,000 miles on it. I was so incredibly tempted, but I had actually spent enough time test driving other XF's by that point that I knew I would need the seats with the optional lumbar adjustment. The base seat was OK on a short drive, but would have been uncomfortable for me on a long trip which meant I needed to find a Portfolio edition.
I had a bunch of preferences besides the seats but finally after four months, a Portfolio edition showed up with only 27K miles at an Acura dealer not too far away in a color that I could live with. I was first kind of turned off because it had the optional chrome side vents which I really hated, but I was tired of waiting so I bought it anyway and just had my local paint shop change them out for the standard body-color vents. I also purchased a set of the 18" Vela wheels like came on the base model and swapped them for the 19" Caravelas that came on the Portfolio edition. At least those things I could change easily. I really wished it had the premium sound system and the blind spot warning but I'll live without. So yes, buying used is always a bit of take what you can get even if you're willing to travel and really patient. Good luck and let us know what you come up with.
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