Hi all,
I am about to purchase a one owner 2005 XJR with 64k miles. I received the service records from the owner. It seems that most of the common failure points have been taken care of in the last 15k miles:
Air compressor
Left and right air shocks
both lower control arms
expansion tank
a couple of hoses
oil pan gasket
the shifter bracket bolt
right headlight
nav control module

Is there anything else that could be on the horizon? Seems like an awful lot of things that have already gone wrong with a 6 year old car with only 65k miles. By comparison, I have a 14 year old M3 that did not have too many issues until it hit the 100k mile mark.

The Jag does have 7 more months of Easy Care warranty so that is somewhat reassuring. I don't want a car that is going to have to go the the shop every few months, though. On one hand I am glad that all of these items were repaired, on the other hand it is a bit unnerving that they had to be repaired in the first place, if that makes any sense.

Thoughts?

 

Go for it. It's one hell of a car. You will love it.

 

I have a 2005 XJR, as you can see. What color is the one you're considering?

In any event, this forum can be your guide. I researched my inclinations here for over a year before I finally took the plunge in late September. My car has just over 67K miles now, and I have no idea what kind of maintenance it was subject to over the last several years. I test drove it extensively and LISTENED to it. It came back to the lot without any rattles or codes or error messages.

Up until this moment, it has had zero issues. I say: GO FOR IT!

 

Air compressor is a common problem, mine was failing at 35k miles and replaced. Not too expensive though. I think Jaguar finally realised the problems there can be with a full air suspension system, because it is not mentioned at all in relation to the new XJ from 2009-on. AFAIK this new car only has rear air suspension, and normal steel springs on the front. Doesn't help us poor owners of the X350 though !

L & R shocks/springs - unusual; these DO fail but is not all that common. They are very expensive to replace.

Lower control arms, (I assume you mean the front suspension), - the joint fails, but Jaguar only supply the arms.

I cannot help thinking that all that work on the front suspension indicates a useage problem with the previous owner, as my car is OK at the front, albeit I had to have new rear lower wishbones recently.

Expansion tank is apparently a common, but fairly cheap thing to fail. Yes, why don't Jaguar use a better one !!

The rest do not come up much on this forum, so are not common, although the headlamps are of two types, one more prone to fail than the other.

You don't mention the rear suspension. The joints on the rear lower wishbones are prone to fail, and only the complete arms are supplied by Jaguar at a very high price, but internet suppliers charge less than half this, but you would have to get an independent Jaguar specialist to fit them or DIY them. Bushes on the bottoms of all the spring/shock units do not last all that long, but are quite cheap to buy and replace.

In my opinion, the use of 20" wheels and skinny tyres puts excessive loading onto the suspension joints, because the tyres do not absorb anthing off the road, so it all passes through to the suspension. I have converted to 18" and 50 aspect tyres rather than 35.

One word of warning - look for corrosion at the leading edge of the trunk lid. The horizantal lip on the rear screen seal wipes the underside of the lid, and the grit that lodges there eventually scrapes away enough paint for corrosion to start which then creeps round to the top side. Cut this lip off with a Stanley knife if there is no corrosion and it will not then occur. This lip does nothing, as there is a trunk seal under the lid and a water drain channel.

Also look for corrosion creeping out from the crevice above the rear number plate lamp plinth, another common area. Then also on the D post either side of the rear screen or creeping out from under the rear screen seal. Not all cars are affected, and a lot depends on how much the car is driven on salty roads in winter.

Essentially the aluminium body of this car is really superb, an aircraft fuselage on the road, but Jaguar were not sufficiently up-to-speed in 2003 on aluminium corrosion aspects to avoid a few issues, but these do not affect the integrity of the car at all, or at least not up to now anyway.

Other thing that can happen is ocasional rough gearchanges, and/or hunting on warm-up. These are all fixed by software updates at little cost, even at main agents, I know this because I have had them done.

I hope I don't sound too negative, as I really like my XJ6, and have taken it from 30k to 50k miles since May 2010 with no reliability problems at all in terms of breakdowns on-the-road.

 

It's not a mistake, and you'll love it.

 

thanks for the input guys. I need to make up my mind here pretty soon. I have 2 small kids so that is playing into the decision somewhat - not sure how practical it would be.

Attached is a picture of the car.

 

my my. Ebony on Sand.

I have 4 kids. From a total cost of ownership perspective, I looked at it like this:

Cost of a new Camry/Accord/other boring Japanese box of cr@p, around $30K all in for a "well equipped car". Cost of a 2005 XJR, quite literally the car of my dreams: around $20K. So, I am taking the $10K I'm "saving", and applying it toward cost of maintenance/ownership. Then, I have a virtual BIBLE of wisdom at jaguarforums to help me keep costs to a minimum and prepare for future maintenance and repair projections. So, I own the car of my dreams instead of those horrid econoboxes that the American public has convinced themselves is acceptable as a source of primary transportation.

 

I'm with the others, especially with SuperTrav. I too considered a new Camry or accord and he's right on. I bot an '05 VDP & it's sooo nice. The whole family loves it. Two things I found after buying it: the 2 left-side dash vents do not blow as hot of air as the 2 right vents, so I'm working thru that. Also- the headliner is beginning to sag & I did not notice it during purchase. So check these two things out also. Both are pretty common, but use it for your negotiating.