Hi all, I'm a long-time XJ owner, currently on my third X308, a 2001 XJR. My 308s have given me excellent reliability. Here in Oakland CA I use a private (non dealer) Jaguar-only shop for service. Now I want an X351.

At 67 I'm recently retired and bored. Driving has always been a passion for me and the notion of chauffeuring appeals. I've signed up with Lyft but feel that with 150k miles on the clock my XJR is too old for taxi duty. I'm in this forum to ask X351 owners if their XJs are up to the reliability standard of my '01 XJR. And that standard is very high.

I love the X351: Ian Callum has outdone himself designing the sexiest luxury sedan on the planet. My budget is limited but I've heard the 2013 model has major improvements, including ride comfort. My plan is to acquire a 2013 long-wheelbase V6 Portfolio, in black of course, and charge top dollar for "black car" service with Lyft and maybe Uber. I'm in the San Francisco Bay Area, the global hotspot for ridesharing taxi alternatives.

Ideally my Portfolio would be fully optioned in the rear passenger quarters. (But alas, I can't afford an Ultimate.) Customers calling for a black car and expecting an old-generation Continental would be blown away by the stunning lines of the rare and exotic sedan pulling up to the curb. Finding out it's a Jaguar would be icing on the cake. Most non-enthusiasts are aware of Jaguar's mystique but have never been in one.

And there's the rub. Jaguar have a bad rep in the area of reliability. We enthusiasts know they overcame this problem in the 1990s. By the time Ford rolled out the X308 the brand was up to Lexus standards in customer satisfaction. I understand the X350 was a solid investment, too.

But my question to this forum's members is, will Tata's X351 nickel and dime me to death when out of warranty? (I'm not interested in purchasing an aftermarket warranty — my shop refuses to deal with their providers because they won't pay shop rates.)

So I need a reliable X351. Is that an oxymoron? I'm knowledgeable enough to be willing to invest in some preventive maintenance. My X308s needed their plastic timing gear and water pumps replaced with metal parts, and I realize that cars this complex are not going to be perfect their first couple of model years.

So how about it, X351 owners? Am I dreaming in technicolor? Is 2013 the right model year for price and reliability? Is the supercharged V6 holding up over the long haul? (As an XJR owner I know what a gas hog the blown V8 is, wonderful engine though it may be.)

Please give me the good, bad, and ugly of the prospect of owning a used X351 and driving it for a living. Thanks in advance for your insights.

 

John, I have a 2012 XJ and have driven it nearly 40K miles (bought with 33K on it, now approaching 73K) in the last 2.5 years. the only maintenance that I have had to do with the car is a set of tires, oil changes, new rear pads (no rotors), air filters, and a little fiddling with the air filters (got a mismatch error from the MAF sensor seeing the air flow change too fast in relation to the throttlebody, but this is due to the K&N air filters that I am running, not due to the car itself).

I am not sure what more in the way of maintenance free you can want. the only quirk that I have had (other than the air filter error which is self induced) is once in a blue moon, I will get a suspension error and it will cause the ride to get hard. I don't have a code reader to see what the body code is relating to this, so, trying to figure it out has been a little elusive. But, a cycling of the ignition switch and all is good again. This kinda makes me think that the car is a little fussy with the battery at times (seems to be more likely to occur when I have sat with the radio going for a little bit and the battery is not at 100%).

If you are looking to make a few extra bucks, that is probably the way to do it. I don't think that you are going to be upset about getting an X351. I have been loving mine.

 

The KEY to owning any high end luxury car that is not on warranty is to DIY.

The car is reliable enough but certainly other cars have much better numbers.

I would think for taxi service a dull reliable appliance type of a car would be better?
Maybe a big Lexus since the old Lincoln Town car is long out of production?

Can you do the repairs? I know I depend on this forum and I have the factory JTIS and JEPC as well. I don't think I would own a Jaguar otherwise.

I have had very good luck with both of my Jags so far. Both were/are 'R' models. Which are the most complex of that car model. So I would expect more problems and maintenance expense. But have not found that to be the case.

But I am a car guy so it's a hobby.
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Absolutely, completely, 100% agree.

 

If it was me I would buy 2011-2013 xjl lwd from carmax with a n/a v8 and get the extended carmax warranty. Get the 6 Year warranty with the 100k additional miles. There is a lot of plastic in the cooling system & the engine/transmission mounts go out. I would get a dark interior for hiding wear. I would also suggest not getting the drop down tables on the back of the seats, just another thing the passengers would break.

 

Thanks to all for the great advice.

I've always been a car guy and now I'm retired and bored. I'm not a DIY but have an honest and capable non-dealer Jag-only service shop nearby. They had looked after my three successive X-308s and I've enjoyed maximum reliability with minimum costs. If the X-351 is as well put together as the X-308 I'd feel confident about acquiring an off-lease one.

BTW, my shop won't deal with aftermarket warranty outfits. They refuse to pay shop rates and, in the owner's opinion, nickel and dime him for every little thing.

Right now I drive a 2001 XJR, whose rear legroom is really not up to taxi duty. My previous car, a rare and flawless 2001 VDP Supercharged, would have been ideal, but I made the stupid mistake of selling it.

I love the new XJ line and have researched it for my purposes and come to the conclusion my best value and optimal configuration would be a carefully optioned 2013 V6 Portfolio, in black. This would qualify me for premium rates with Lyft and Uber, and I'd be less likely to encounter back-seat barfers. Here in the Bay Area there are many black-car executive transport services I'd be qualified to contract to, once again earning top dollar and quality rides.

Yes, I'd be better off -- a lot better off -- financially with a Prius. But once again I'm a car guy, and driving well is a skill I value highly. I don't mean driving fast -- by driving well I'm talking about being smooth, using my signal lights, and generally engaging in the cooperative process of integrating with traffic rather than fighting it.

Piloting adults in a car whose mystique still resonates, and giving them an enjoyable experience in reaching their destination in maximum comfort and with minimum stress, is something I'd be proud of doing. This would not be my sole income -- I'd be happy to make enough to pay for the cost of upgrading to a current XJ.

I've scoured the car reliability boards and have discovered no red flags associated with the X-351. More importantly, there are no off-putting messages to date in this forum. Despite Tata doing everything right, and Ian Callum's brilliance, the new XJ has not sold well. This makes a fresh one-owner Portfolio accessible to a pensioner who'd rather be introducing paying customers to the pleasures of a modern Jaguar sedan than watching daytime TV.

 

Well then get going!
You need to buy a car!
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If you love driving why don't you drive cross-country and visit the national parks instead of risking having drunk passengers throwing up inside your new Jag? Yosemite is beautiful this time of the year. That's what I would do.

 

John; im kinda in the same age group, older and retired.
had jags for 23yrs, XJS and XJ 12 coupe.

but i dont have that much sporting ego today, so a saw this 2016 XJL (X351), and showed the wife , she said when we getting one!

i wonder if any trades could be available?

 

Wolfy, I've done multiple road trips in my three XJs: north from Oakland CA up to Vancouver BC, east to New Mexico, and north-east to Ontario Canada. My favorite and most frequent destination has been Death Valley. I'd avoid tourist-plagued Furnace Creek and instead get an AirBnB room in nearby rowdy Pahrump. There I'd hook up with a Canadian friend and we'd people-watch the bizarre libertarian redneck culture that dominates the place. We'd patronize the modest Thai restaurant, which has the best Thai food I've ever tasted. We'd visit gun shops and hang out in the mall where Heidi Fleiss once owned a laundromat named Dirty Laundry. As you can probably tell, I am not a conventional tourist.

But to the main point: My three X-308-series XJs transported me in the utmost comfort over tens of thousands of miles of road trips. (The only car I've owned that was even more comfortable was a Citroen ID 19, but that's for a different forum.) Never did I have a breakdown or even an incident. In Death Valley driving my VDP Supercharged I transported my three burly brothers from Badwater (where the temp was 124 degrees) to Dante's peak. I was not sparing the horses. But not once did the engine temp gauge rise above Normal.

At age 68, with hundreds of thousands of miles of road trips, mostly done on motorcycles, under my belt, I'm about finished. Traffic has gotten so much heavier, even on the back roads. And thousand-mile days no longer appeal to my declining metabolism. I've visited Yosemite many times but these days it's jam packed.

But you make a good point, one I've given thought to in my deliberations: Am I romanticizing the experience of chauffeuring? My response would be I'd do it more as a hobby than a trade, and thus feel much less compelled to take on the most profitable work, transporting drunks to and from bars. Instead, I'd do mostly airport runs, to and from, during daylight hours. These too are profitable and have the added attraction of a sober customer base. And because I'd be driving an extra-cost premium car, I would avoid the bottom feeders who are looking for transportation cheaper than a taxi.

I'm reading Kindle books by Uber and Lyft drivers, and checking out the web forums these people populate, and learning more about the subculture of ridesharing. It's fascinating. Whether I'd be a good fit is still an open question, and I haven't yet made up my mind. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

 

Please let us know your experiences if you decide to undertake the new gig. My first-ever Uber ride was in a new Lexus ES at Houston Hobby Airport last May. As it so happens it was the driver's first-ever pickup also. Haha! Yes do stick to daylight airport runs, no worries there.

My mention of Yosemite on 9/26 proved to be sadly prophetic. R.I.P. Yosemite hiker