Jaguar XJ6
Model years: 1995-1997

This pick caused a lot of brow-furrowing among experts we spoke to. “If you want to make friends, you don’t want to recommend that,” cautioned Bob Merlis of Feral Cars.

Here’s our thinking: During the 1970s, Jaguar reliability was horrid. A common solution to the car’s troubles was to rip out the Jaguar motor and replace it with a good old Chevrolet V8. But in the 1980s, under the leadership of an industrial turnaround specialist, Sir John Egan, the marque started to improve. Then Ford bought the company, infusing money and development know-how. By the late 1990s, the company was scoring well on J.D. Power vehicle dependability and initial quality rankings. So that’s why the last iteration of the classic Jaguar inline-6 sedan is still motoring on, often in the hands of a second owner who’s always hankered for a Jag but couldn’t afford one new.

“With these cars almost 20 years old now, it's death by a thousand cuts rather than catastrophic failure,” says Mark Stephenson, a site administrator for Jag-Lovers.com. “But mechanically, the 1995-97 Jaguar XJ6s are the most reliable cars Jaguar has ever produced. When it comes to the basic function of getting you down the road, they refuse to die.”

For aspiring owners, the usual cautions still apply: Find a Jaguar specialist, and check out Jag-Lovers buyer’s resource to be a better problem spotter.