As the title states, I was wondering which would be the wiser decision for daily driving purposes. What are some determining factors between the two? Did later model years fix some of the problems that the earlier versions had? My primary focus would be on the XJ8, but I would appreciate advice on any of the X350's. And on a scale of 1-10 (1 being Toyota or Honda level and 10 being money pit.), how costly is it to maintain an X350? (Again, specifically an XJ8, but I am open to all of the models.)

 

I see you are based in Hawaii. As far as I know, only the V8s were imported into the US, so you won't find the diesel models or the smaller V6 engined cars. The diesels proved rather problematic here in the UK with various issues exclusive to them, so not recommended by me anyway. The small petrol engine, the Ford-based 3 litre V6 is an extremely reliable engine and I have owned two with this. All models suffer from the short life of some of the suspension bushes, the worst being the four bushes at the bottom of the air spring units, and the bushes in the lower rear wishbone. The air spring bushes are cheap and fairly easy to replace, the labour time is likely to be the biggest cost, not the parts. The rear lower wishbones are a bummer, basically because being castings there is the possibility of cracking of the housing when pressing bushes in/out. Having said that, these items were used on the Lincoln LS and there are plenty out there on the internet at half the Jaguar dealer price.

I would think there are very few Jaguar dealers in Hawaii and even fewer, even none, Jaguar specialists. If you are good at DIY then you can do most of the servicing and repairs yourself. For DIY It would be essential that you bought a code reader that can read all the Jaguar DTC codes.

I would recommend you buy the latest year you can, and the lowest miles, plus ensure the car has been serviced correctly. As for reliability, this is OK, it is the durability issues with suspension parts that mean I would award the car a 4 on your scale. All European cars suffer under the yoke of expensive parts, and also lack of knowledge of them in the USA.

 

The bushing life does scare me a bit considering I don't have the means to replace those myself with any ease whatsoever. It sounds like it might get a bit costly having to replace those. Are the air suspension system itself, and the drive-train for the V8 models quite reliable? If yes, I assume that means most of the cost of maintenance would be the minor bits?

And to my knowledge there is only one Jaguar dealer and one Jaguar specialist. We do have more "European specific" mechanics but I suppose that isn't really the same.

 

It is important not to dismiss these saloons because you're scared of the parts prices. There is an awful lot out there on the internet at very good prices, and parts can be winged to you very quickly. However you will need a shop that will work with parts you supply, OR, they are happy to order based on your instructions as to the best place. If you take the car to the Jaguar main agent, they are forced to use new, Jaguar-supplied, parts so no used stuff or anything off the internet.

Here is a UK-based supplier

https://www.berkshirejagcomponents.c...s-c102x2773641

If you have a look around the suspension and shock bushes sections you'll see they are not outrageous. This is because they mostly come from the OEM supplier, not via Jaguar. However, you must make sure you don't buy a neglected car; maintenance at the right intervals and properly done is the key to successful ownership. The youngest car you can possibly buy will now be 10 years old, and will probably still look immaculate, these cars were extremely well built. I'm driving an XE now, but may go back to one of these in time, as has the editor of the UK Jaguar Enthusiast CLub magazine !

 

Thank you for the info. I'm still a bit on the fence on choosing either an X350 or an X308 so I'll have to put some thought into it... Although this was very helpful.

 

The X350 is a far better car, and built totally of aluminium.

 

+1 on the x350 being better. I've owned many models, and the x350 is the best (excluding vintage) by far that Jaguar has ever built.

 

+1 on the X350...a classic automobile. IMHO, a low mileage X356 (those built in late 2006 or 2007) might be your best bet. They have all the updates and improvements that went in to the X358 models (electronics, drive train, brakes, suspension, etc) but still retained the classic X350 body style. I believe these were only sold in North America but I could be mistaken.

 

I'll definitely have to keep my eyes peeled for one of those then. Thank you for the info!

 

I have owned many and my current is a 04 VDP I bought 4 years ago with 88k on it. just turned 194k. nothing outrageous and other than the air suspension the cars are great. And you can always convert the air suspension to conventional shocks and springs