Called an out of town dealership to discuss getting a pre-purchase inspection done and deposit down on a 2014 XJL Supercharged (https://www.carfax.com/vehicle/SAJWA2GT6EMV60299) and was told they had just sold it this morning. Blah! I've been obsessively poring over CarGurus, CarFax, and Bring a Trailer (to the great annoyance of my wife) to find just the right one. Really don't want black, but could be persuaded for a well sorted example.

I started out looking for an E55 or S55 AMG, but the thought of repair bills on a 18-20 year old Benz was just too scary. I know there are certain issues the XJs have (like any other car), but they seem manageable in comparison. Oh well, the hunt continues for an under $25k, not beat to hell Supercharged!

p.s. Are there any meaningful model year updates I should be aware of when searching? I know they got new headlights and taillights in 2016,but that doesn't move the needle appreciably for me. I'm just wondering if it's something like "Ohh, you don't want a 2011!" or something like that.

 

Up until mj 2011 it had a 6speed automatic. After that an 8speed. Also the centre touch screen was really sluggish until 2012. 2014 onwards had start/stop engines. All the other updates are visible, nothing major is hidden.

 

OP, telling us roughly where you're located, might help us to help you locate a good candidate for you to consider.

 

I’m in the Maryland/DC area.

 

The short answer is ... Buy the newest one you can afford. The long answer is to Search this form using phrases like "Best Year" and "Looking to Buy".
I'm working on a Table that shows standard and optional equipment vs. model years, but it's slow going. Your topic comes up regularly.

In other news ... the Burke/Hextall s#!t$how is finally off the air, but this year's draft won't help much.

 

MDPensFan, There are 2 years that you need to keep in mind when looking at XJs. That is 2013 and 2016. Those are the years of the remodel. So, the 2010-2012 cars are going to be all "essentially the same" when it comes to motor options, stereo options, etc. Then in 2013, there was a change with engine options (the naturally aspirated 5.0L V8 went away and got replaced with a supercharged 3.0L V6) and the tranny went from a 6 speed to an 8 speed. You also got the option of AWD with the 3.0L engine packages (not available with the V8 engine). There was also a change in the manufacturer of the stereo system. But, a lot of the interior options were the same. You then have 2016. This is where the interior options changed and you got a refresh of the car (new headlights, a few different options). But, the motor and tranny options were the same. The only other mentionables I would say is in 2017, you got the option of the diesel engine here in the US and in 2019, Jaguar released "The Collection" which is a group of 300 cars that are pretty much optioned out with everything and are the last 300 XJs built. So, somewhat of a collectors thing if that is what you may be looking for.

I have had a 2012 with the NA V8 and a 2016 AWD with the V6. Both are similar in power (granted, give the V8 a bit more for the low end torque for passing) and the only "downside I can really give the 2016 is that when passing, it seems to wait a little bit to drop down a gear and doesn't scoot around people like the 2012 did. Granted, the 8 speed keeps the engine RPMs down around 1500 RPM at 60 mph. So, there is not a lot of torque to get the car moving until the tranny drops a gear and then you start the pass. Granted, I am not one to mash the pedal down to get the RPMs way up there to make the pass. The 2012, you eased into the gas a little bit and around you went. Not so much with the 2016.

Some things I would tell you to look at is first, whether you need the L version or not. The only real benefit to the L is that the rear passengers get a lot more room and some extra options that are not available in the standard XJ. So, if you are not putting people in the back of your car a lot, you can save yourself some money by getting just a XJ, vice the XJL. (both cars ride very similarly). If you are looking at the L, while hard to find, getting the airline trays and some of the other options (massaging rear seats, entertainment system, wireless headphones,, monitors in the back of the front headrests, etc) are nice options for them. But, again, the more options, the more the cost.

As for car colors, unfortunately, for the class of car you are looking at, most of what you are going to find is going to be either jet black or snow white. getting something beyond that is a rare car. Now, I happened to stumble on my 2016 which is in gray and is an XJL. Has a fair number of the options, but by no means has all of them. I am pondering adding the airline trays just because I think it is one of those talking points that gives a "wow" factor. But then, I don't really have people in the back of my car all that often, so, would be somewhat of a waste of money to do. Back to the color aspect. There are 2 different blacks that Jaguar offers. You have your basic "Tuxedo black" which is a basic black. You then have what they call "Ultimate Black". This is black with a metal flake in it. A lot of people fall in love with the Ultimate Black in the sun. The other color that a lot of people really love, but is almost impossible to find is what is called "claret red". It is a dark red, that in the shade almost turns a purple and in the sun turns a bright red. Very interesting color. That was what I was shooting for and actually found a car with it on it, but the dealership started jerking me around and I ended up leaving the dealership without even getting to look at the car (dealership is known for trying to do bait and switches).

If you are in the DC area, let me know. I can tell you places to avoid and where you can get your best deal. My 2016 I got for $27K and it had 73K miles on it and just had the water pump replaced. One thing I would tell you to keep your eye out for is if you get an AWD car, the front tires have a different aspect than the rear tires. On my car, the front tires are supposed to be 255/45/R19's with 275/40R19 rears. The dealership I bought the car from put new tires on the car and put 255/40R19's on the front. The car drove fine, but with the AWD system ,the front tires were spinning 3% faster than the rears and that is hard on the AWD system to keep making up for that speed difference. But, that was an easy fix.

 

Indeed, BaltoBernie, the Flyers’ secret agent Hextall has been given the boot, but not before he wasted two years of prime Sid and Geno!

I appreciate the insight and advice from you guys. I kinda prefer the lines of the XJL. I feel the longer wheelbase suits the style of the car. I do have backseat riders occasionally, to include my 14 year old kid most times, so a few extra inches to have her dirty shoes on the carpet and not the seats will help.

I’m pretty set on the Supercharged V8 so it sounds like, other than some minor interior and exterior tweaks and a change to the 8 speed tranny, it’s essentially the same car during its last iteration. Which is fine with me because I love how absolutely loaded the car is in stock form.

It looks like there are a few shady dealers to be aware of (AMKO in Laurel, a couple in Arlington), but I’m in no rush. There’s a black 2013 on BaT now going at No Reserve, so I’ll keep my eye on it.

 

thermo, gave a very good aprasil of both engines , in my opinion go for the lwb with all the extras you can both engines are super , having owned both , good hunting

 

MDPensFan, you named the one I was going to warn you about. The salesman was a little taken back when he offered me a white XJL and I told him point blank that he could not give me that car. I had already pulled the CarFax and from what I could tell, the car effectively had a blown motor. When a car overheats and then starts needing coolant work every 2,000 miles, that tells me the head gaskets are toast at a minimum, if not warped heads. But yet, they were there to sell me that car. Even after teling them 3 times that I had already bought another car, they were still trying to get me to buy a car. Finally I just stopped answering their texts and phone calls.

If you are set on the supercharged V8, also note that this engine was offered with varying power levels. The car can possibly be equipped with either 470 hp, 510 hp, or 575 hp. It all depends on the trim level. The base model comes with 470 hp. I want to say starting at the Portfolio level, it goes to 510 hp. Then if you get the 575 model, then obviously you get 575 hp. But, especially in the later years, finding the supercharged V8 is going to be very difficult. Jaguar in the later years went almost exclusively to the V6. With that being said, you can chip the V6 and get it up to around 420 hp as I recall, which will make a nice improvement and get you near the 470 of the base model (like what you are looking at).

 

2013+. If you read the forums you will see a huge bunch of electrical problems with the early cars. Jaguar did a major overhaul of the cars entire electrical system for 2013+. They dropped Denso and went to Bosch for the ECM and the rest of the electrical stuff. I wish we knew what all they changed because it flat worked!

I have a 2014 XJR and am still using the factory battery which will be TEN years old next month!
I have parked my car for over 6 weeks at the airport and it started and operated just fine. I do not run a battery maintainer on the car and I leave my keys within 20' of the car at all times.

You can add the LED headlights to the earlier cars as I have done this on my 2014. I like the better lights and it does update the front of the car some too.
But that 8 speed ZF is real sweet and that can't be added later.


Note I have NOT mentioned the popping roof noise and I hope at this late date Jaguar has repaired all the earlier cars with this problem. Lucky for me my car has been silent for the last 6 years or so but I have read of roof noises on as late as 2016 models. This is easy to check on your test drive. Enter a upward sloping driveway and get the car at an angle to slope. This flexes the car and you should hear any noises if there are any.
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I spent over 6 months searching nationwide to find a deal on a SWB not in black (and not AWD), was mostly only considering one of the dark grays or BRG, and ended up with a 16 R-Sport in Storm Gray

just thought the blacks, white, and even blues to an extent detracted from the car's unique intrigue


the closest to black I'd consider owning would be in pre-2016 Stratus Grey (commonly assumed as black, owned an XF version) which is one of the last Xirallic colors and has an incred shimmer under any lighting, and the even rarer "Blackberry" which I've only seen in photos but appears to pass for black in darkness shifting to deep purple in lighting