Hi all,

Been looking for a while now at buying an XJ and found a few portfolio models.
The most recent one is a private seller 2012 portfolio with 140k mileage.
The engine states rebuilt at 130k but not sure why, would this put any of you guys off? Also what should I look for when viewing?
Vehicle has part service as its all been done in house at his own garage. Mileage does seem a little high but I was looking at others just under the 100k mark.

Other one I have seen is from a indie garage with 96k 2010, not sure if there are many differences between the model years. This one is about £3k more than the price seller and will need the belts and pump done.

Thank you all for any help and I hope to join the owners club soon!

 

Well with those miles the first question is can you DIY anything? Plus you did not mention what engine or what country your in? I think the UK so maybe your looking at Diesels? This is mainly a US forum and the US did not get any Diesels so we have no experience with them.

As you mentioned that car with 140K had all the work done by the owner. So that is a good sign ...I think?
But if not I think owning a used Jaguar will be expensive!
It's almost always better to get a newer model car but again we can't see or inspect them so it's hard to say?

I will say in 2013 the car was upgraded to the 8 speed ZF as well as a bunch of electrical upgrades. So maybe try to look at a few later models?
.
.
.

 

Thank you bud, I am indeed in the UK and diesel engine. I didnt realise this was an American mainly forum sorry lads.

Thank you for the advice still though. V8 petrol would be lovely but not a huge amount over here and the extra UK costs would be a bit of a killer.

 

BigT, I would simply ask the place selling the 2012 with the rebuilt motor "why was it rebuilt?". See what they say. They may have a good reason and there are others out there that "feel" that a motor is worn out after 100K miles (not true any more, but there are those that still believe it). They may have a good reason. This could possibly get you a fairly new engine for little to no money overall.

As for what you should be looking for? geez, that is a loaded question. Start with the simple, are there any lights lit on the dash. Next, I would take it for drive and find some side road that you can turn the steering wheel back and forth to toss the car around some. Listen for cracking or groaning signs. Then I would do a short/hard pull from say 20 km/hr up to say 50 km/hr to see how the car pulls. This will give you an idea if the motor is going to make any noises and if the tranny has any issues. After that, I think it is going to be more annoyance issues like the sunroof popping when the body twists (should hear some snap, crackle, pops when twisting the steering wheel back and forth). If you can, get the car up to highway speed. See if the steering wheel has a wobble to it. Normally it appears at about 100 kph. This will let you know if one of the front rims is bent (most likely). On that note, a simple check of the tread is goign to say a lot. With the wide tires this car has, the tread should wear fairly evenly across with possibly a slight angle (ie, inside of the tire may have slightly less tread than say the outside edge).

LIke what clubairth said, the newer car is going to have some improvements done to it. I recently upgraded from a 2012XJ to a 2016 XJL. The 2016 definitnely has more bells and whistles. The 8 speed tranny is nice, but seems to need to downshift to do any acceleration. Granted, part of this may be because I went from the 5.0L NA motor with the 6 speed to the 3.0L supercharged motor with the 8 speed. Diesel to diesel, probably not that big of a difference other than you may find the 8 speed will like to hang out in a really low RPM band and it may be too low for the diesel (but that is just my guess). If you can afford to spend a little extra, I would say to do that. Getting a newer car with less miles I think is going to pay off in the long run for you.

 

Welcome to the forums BigT369,

It's a lot of car for little money now. Mileage has never bothered me as I used to put 25-30K miles a year on the earlier XJ's when I was running saloons. However, maintenance is critical.

The combination of an attractively low asking price together with an engine rebuild would set alarm bells ringing with me. A full rebuild is frighteningly expensive in parts alone and the usual approach in the UK is to source a replacement engine as there's plenty of insurance write-offs in the specialist breakers. Ask the vendor some searching questions.

The part service is a concern with any used Jaguar. Ideally you want to see a complete record supported by invoices for professional work and for parts/materials where the owner has DiY. If you can get the VIN, use the DVLC MoT checker to see the sequence. If the vendor will tell you the V5C document number, you can get the full MoT history which would show if there's been "advisories" or any breaks in test coverage. An owner with nothing to hide will assist with your due diligence checks.

When viewing any Jaguar, spend time with the Owners Handbook and go through every switch and function (this takes me about twenty minutes). Even seemingly minor electrical faults can often be very expensive to rectify. Trim is also becoming increasingly difficult to source and expensive. Check for broken, damaged or missing items.

The number one question asked by new owners arriving on the forum with all recent models is how and where to get replacement keys because it "only came with one key". Make sure it has two because a replacement will be well into three figures.

I hope it works out but the advice with any used Jaguar is - if in doubt, walk away.

Graham

 

Hi everyone, thank you for your help, I have seen a few other cars and asked more about the engine in the rebuild. It was rebuilt by himself and friend, they were Co owners in a garage when it was done which is why they repaired instead of replacing. The issue was with the crank so they decided to strip it and rebuild. I know it sounds worse now doesn't it.

 

That is a VERY good point about only having one key!
Don't wait until it's too late so get 2 working keys for sure.
It's odd but a lot of used cars will only come with one key? I guess when trading in the car no one remembers to bring their spare key too.
.
.
.

 

I see you have found JagInfo, but that is relatively low volume: you may wish to poke your head into Jaguarforum.com, which is more anglo-centric. https://www.jaguarforum.com/forums/x...-2010-2019.97/