As of today, I have left the ranks of Jaguar owners. I want to thank all of you for your camaraderie, your commiseration, your assistance and your friendship. Collectively you saved me thousands of dollars and countless headaches.

Friday afternoon my 1999 XJ8 suffered a complete transmission failure, at less than 88,000 miles. With all the other work the car needed it simply was not worth the repair cost, and I parted company with it.

I enjoy reading this board, and I will pop in from time to time to read. I will not be posting much, unless it is a topic or a repair I am familiar with.

My sincere thanks to the best auto support group on the internet.

 

Sorry to hear about your cat, what is happening to her?

 

Hi there Orca99usa, sorry to hear of the failure of your Jag and that you'll be leaving Jag ownership.

I do hope you pop in as often as you can and let us know how things go with you and your new vehicle, whatever that may be?

Although obviously Jaguar in the main, we like to think of ourselves as car enthusiasts too, and there's some great people and good craic to be had.......so please drop by and say hi from time to time.

Thanks for the kind words on the site and best wishes for you & your new ride

 

She will be sold at auction somewhere in Las Vegas, I assume.

 

So Sorry... I just purchased my first Jag, and am a newbie on the board... (guess it's the circle of life)...

 

Sorry to see you go - keep in touch and good luck.

 

sorry to see you go, GET YOURSELF ANOTHER ONE you will

 

Commiserations, hope you decide to buy another.

So I went out to start my Jag this morning, started fine, gave it a bit of throttle ........engine failsafe mode....gearbox fault.....abs/trac fault. Running really rough and when put into gear it banged in with a loud noise. I thought, this is not good and started thinking about scrapping it. Anyway, switched it off, put the ignition on again, left it to go through the cycle for a few seconds and then started it. Perfect. Engine running sweet as a nut, cycling through the gears perfectly ! No abs/trac fault light.

Strange cars these Jags, designed to scare the owners and succeeds most of the time. I wonder what caused the errors ? Only occurred when I put my foot on the throttle so maybe throttle related ?

Observations welcome.

 

@ orca99usa - Sorry to hear your XJ expired, it's knowing when to fold I guess

@dinger, how old is the battery?

 

The battery is Jag OE and it's 3 years old.

 

Until about an hour ago, I gave this about a one percent chance of happening. Due to economic circumstances (which will last for about the next 90 days, but I need wheels now) at the present moment I have to buy a vehicle that I can pay cash for. I was looking at vehicles locally that are within my price range. Then I ran across this:

1995 Jaguar XJ6, good condition, AC and heater works.

I don't know any more than this. I am going to see the car tomorrow morning. It could almost pass for my late XJ8 - same body style, same color, although the wheels are different. In the photos the interior and paint look immaculate - which is more than I can say for my old car. If anyone can tell me anything about this vintage of XJ6 - especially whether they are prone to engine and transmission problems, and at what mileage they should be left alone - I will be grateful.

 

I don't have a lot of details, but for the sake of immediacy,
I can say that the Forum Juju on the subject suggests
that the 4L/ 4spd is a bulletproof combo and would make
a great car. Also 289 lb-ft of torque, so quite a torquey
engine!

 

Many thanks. Will probably be seeing the car in a couple of hours, may know a little more then. Going to have my Jag mechanic look at it if I have time.

 

Just check the usual used car stuff. This model is SOLID. No known big issues like the early edittions of X308.

 

The '95 was the first year of the X300 (over here I believe). They have an excellent reputation for reliability. Funny Dinger mentioned the warning lights coming on. My Jag has done this a couple of times lately. The "TRAC Unavailable" and even the "check rear lights" warnings have come on. It's definitely due to the cold weather we've had and it's time sitting allowing the battery to get a little low. They do go away after a minute or so, but I'll have to take a look at the battery. This has happened to me before and it was due to flakey grounds.

 

I took a pass on the XJ6. Cosmetically the car looked very good. Then I got inside. The first red flag (apart from seeing 181K+ on the odometer):

"You have to push the button under the dash to start the car." Someone had bypassed the starter switch. Other goodies: The check engine light was on, meaning that the car would not have passed the smog check necessary for tagging. It had company. The transmission warning light was also on. A toggle switch was wired in to bypass the driver door window switch (but curiously, it would roll the window down but not up). It added to the ambiance lying there in the door pocket.

"Who does your repairs and maintenance?"

"My dad. He works on cars." (Not "He's a mechanic.")

The top half was missing off the air cleaner, the air filter held in place by two large rubber bands (if I'm lying, I'm dying).

"I was asking $2,400, but I didn't get a lot of interest." (The car was listed on CraigsList for $1,900).

No kidding.

Maybe some other time. No idea what other horrors this outwardly nice Jaguar was hiding. I was afraid to ask. The wiring probably looks like spaghetti under the dash, after dad finished bypassing everything.

Had I had plenty of money for a project car and not needed something to rely on for daily transportation, I might have bitten - but not at the asking price. This car has potential in the right hands. Unfortunately for the seller, I need something I can drive to work. Now.