Hello,

Thank you in advance for the help. I'm new to the forum, and Jaguars. Maybe that will change and I'll be a Jaguar owner. I would like to ask your honest, unbiased opinion.

I'm considering purchasing a mid to late 2000's XJR, around 2003 to 2005 or so. That seems to fit my budget. I've done some preliminary research on the car, and so far I really like what see.

What I love about the car are the lines. Beautiful, understated sporty elegance. In a sea of copycat car styling these days, the XJR stands head and shoulders above the status quo. It dares to be a bit different, and ya know thats okay. The interior is well apointed and luxurious. I really like the powerful V8, and seems to possess nice torque, and excelleration.

Let me tell you why I'm considering the XJR ...

First and foremost, I like the prestige that the Jaguar brand possesses. It's a car that makes one feel a bit special, honored and accomplished in life.

I've mostly been a sportscar owner, own a vette now, that has nice hp an torque. I love the throttle response. I'm getting a bit tired of falling in and cimbing out of sports cars, but what attracts me to them is the power and handeling, as they're just a blast to drive. What I don't like about sports cars are the ride quality and comfort, and lack of cargo space.

I have a 2003 luxary SUV that I bought new, that I love to drive for the comfort, but it lacks handeling. It's comfortable as a sofa and corners like one too

Enter in the best of both world's (I hope) - My first sports sedan.

Most of the consumer reviews of the XJR seem glowing and positive, however there are some that have had extraordinary bad mechanical, electrical problems with their pre owned, low milage XJR, spending 10's of thousands on repairs soon after purcase. Although the positive reviews outweigh the negative, it is still cause for concern in consideration.

Please tell me ...

--What can I expect in terms of reliablity and build quality?
--What things need to be serviced/changed at what millage intervals, and what is the average cost to have these done?
--Does one need to have rich, deep pockets to own this car?($1K-$2K to have a timing belt, tensioners, water pump changed, for example, isn't unaffordable for me, but $3K-5K for that job, for example, would be a bit overpriced for my wallet)

--How is the handeling? (Acceleration, cornering, etc)
--How is the comfort over smooth and uneven roads?
--How is the noise level and sound proofing?

--Tell me what you love about your XJR?
--Tell me what you dislike or disapointed about?

-- What should I watch out for when buying a pre-owned XJR

Thanks for your help

 

Best of luck to you BUT your on the X300/XJR 1995-1997 forum which covers XJR's with the 4.0 6Cyl not the 8Cyl which is what your after.

 

Mine has been sort of ok reliability wise, except for emissions. Its definitely a challenging car to work on, and they have some odd quirks. But then other times you'll be pleasantly surprised by cheap shared parts and simple cleaning fixes. Scrub your grounds and that cures a lot of electrical gremlins. There's lots of room to work on the exhaust side; I replaced all 4 O2 sensors in an afternoon. The intake side however is very cramped, most work is done from underneath.

 

This thread was almost nine years old before you replied. The decision has probably already been made one way or another.

 

That's odd... it was in my feed like it was new, didn't even think to look at the date.

 

And the decision was undoubtedly NOT to buy a Jaguar, as his 97-post thread asking in the X308 section shows. He was accused of trolling them because he could not see any value in those vehicles he was supposedly interested in. Eventually the moderator closed the thread.