After the unfortunate and untimely demise of my X260 2.0D AWD, I'm thinking of purchasing an XJ6 Series III 4.2 Sovereign (1986 or older) as a daily driver.
I have been looking at the X300 and X308 V8s but 1986 or older will save me €1500 to €5000 annually on road taxes.
In general I'm using my car for longer drives (200-1000km round trip) in Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and France and since COVID most of my meetings are online so I don't expect to do over 15K kms on a yearly basis.
Am I overestimating the capabilities of a 30 year old XJ6 or is this a good plan?
And what do I need to be aware of when purchasing and driving the XJ6 Series III?
I have read the quick reference buyer's guide, but maybe there is more I need to know.

 

You may save on the road taxes, but even with a Series 3 with its fuel injection, you'll be pushed to exceed 18 mpg, so your fuel bill may well mean there are no road tax savings compared to the later models with the aluminium 6 and V8 engines. Also, if you're going to do long trips as you describe, the car needs to be in apple pie order, and finding such a car will be difficult. Who would service and maintain the car ? You really need a Jaguar specialist shop that knows the ins and outs of XJ Series 3 cars.

However, it is possible to run such a car as a daily driver because I've done it, although it was some years ago. Having said that, I didn't do all that much daily driving !
The XK 4.2 long-stud engines have a fatal flaw that causes cracking between the bores and repair is very expensive, involving removing the existing liners and inserting lipped liners. So its an engine out and total strip down job. On my car which had cracks, I managed to find an uncracked and serviceable block and rebuilt the engine round that. From about 1983, the block was changed to the so-called "slotted block" design that eliminated the cracks, but even then, head gaskets are not long lived, so you'd be looking at doing on at about 80k mile intervals. Main othr aspect of these cars is that the bodies are prone to rusting so careful checking is necessary to make sure you won't have to do a vast amount of bodywork.

Why not buy the X350 series, which has the style, but not the downsides, (although even these have their own regularly occurring faults).

Just bear in mind that the youngest car you could possibly find would now be 36 years old. The V12s were made up to 1992.

 

I have about 13 years experience using Series III Jags as daily drivers, including my present V12. Years ago I had a 6-cylinder.

Until 2 days ago I had never been on the back of a tow truck. Fate caught up with me in the form of a split radiator hose.

Anyhow......

And briefly......

It is 100% doable. But plan on spending a chunk of money getting the car fully sorted-out. FULLY sorted. Then regular service and occasional weekend puttering with small repairs. These cars can be reliable but it takes some effort. They'll never be a "drive it and forget it" type of car. They never were. And, I doubt you'll find any 35-40 years old cars that don't require extra attention.

If you're a decent DIYer the work can be fun and not outrageously expensive. If you're not a DIYer, well, deep pockets are required.

That's it in a nutshell.

Cheers
DD

 

I second Doug. Once I sorted out some issues (using a decent mechanic) I use my car as a daily (mines series 2 ).
I have been driving every 2nd day and have done the 4 seasons with no major problems. My trips vary from daily school runs to driving down the coast (3 hrs round trip). I don't think of the fuel bill as I only drive between 7-10k annually.
if you don't mind tinkering you can sort out a lot yourself, with the help of this forum.

 

I will be using my '84 XJ6 4.2L for my daily driver ( I don't drive a lot, maybe only 600 KMs per month). I am a DIYer and feel pretty confident she is in tip top shape. I know she will need attention along the way, just yesterday I had to tighten the Alternator belt due to a sudden squealing, but it was a pretty simple process thanks to a Youtube tutorial.

We don't really get snow here or salt the roads, just rain in the winter.

 

I drive my 1982 XJ6 4.2 most days but I'd be nervous of doing the sort of mileage you talk about in Northern Europe. The mechanics will hold up with regular maintenance but I'd advise against taking it out regularly on salted roads in the winter months - avoiding rust will be hard.

I bought a 2000 XJ8 as my daily driver. It's almost as good looking as the older car but feels more robust. I know it's still a steel car but I find it easier to keep on top of the areas that are vulnerable to rust. It's a bit more economical too!

If I were in a warmer climate, I wouldn't hesitate to use my Series 3 as the daily driver but that's not the UK! If you decide to go ahead, there are lots of good buying guides on the forum.

 

I would defenitely do it. For myself, I am driving a series 1 as daily driver. the xj6 series are made to be driven, and really every trip is a joy. I drive it year round, summer and winter. Salt on the roads or not.

BUT what I did do is replace the 4.2 xk engine with a aj6 engine from an xj40. These engines are much more reliable and consume less fuel. I understand that that may be a bridge too far to do for yourself, but there are actually 2 for sale, with this engine conversion done. :

The adverts are here:
https://www.jaguarforum.nl/forum/cla...6-motorombouw/
(the other one I can't find at the moment, but was a red series 2 with vinyl roof, also in the netherlands).

 

Likewise.

ALL my cars, Jags only sadly for other brands, as Daily Drivers.

Insane mileage over the years, and as Doug and others have mentioned, and STRESSED, get them right, NO SHORTCUTS, and enjoy them.

There is a saying I heard and memory now fails me where I heard it.

"Stairway to Heaven, Highway to hell"

I reckon the traffic flow is predetermined, and why not in a Jag.

 

Absolutely. Been using a SIII as a daily driver for a number of years. If you can do your own work on the car you'll find they're not that expensive to run, and the more you run them, the more they like it.
As mentioned previously the only downside is fuel consumption - but there are a lot of people that happily daily drive SUVs and trucks that use far more fuel - and don't look near as classy doing it.

 

I've been wondering about this...anyone know what they're like if you have to park outdoors where it snows a bit? How effective are the defrost and heater under those conditions?

Another thing to consider is other drivers on winter roads. A Series 3 isn't going to give much protection if you get hit, and you're sitting pretty low. No airbags or ABS etc.

 

If working properly, very effective.

Good points. Little protection.

And the low-profile is a definite disadvantage in today's world of tall cars and SUVs. First, you can't see around them. Second, they can't see you. In fact, on the same day of my split radiator hose I was clipped by a driver in a new SUV. I am pretty sure that the height differential played a part in this. The roof of my Series III isn't as tall as the beltline of the SUV.

I think I was simply out-of-view.

Minimal damage, thankfully

Cheers
DD

 

I have a Series 2 that I drive "daily" in good weather only, because I promised the PO I would never drive her in the rain. (I can hear it now; "What do you care what the PO thinks? You've had the car for Years!" It's a matter of keeping my word, whether they're looking or not).

I have Never had such a comfortable car to drive! She virtually floats down the road, corners like she's on rails, gets Loads of attention (I think she's the Only example of her kind left on the local roads), and is just pretty to look at! I spent some quality time (several months) getting her well sorted, but now I would confidently drive her to Maine (if I had any reason to drive to Maine).

However, as others have mentioned, in a car like this, Low to the ground as it is, one Must drive Very defensively (Always expect someone will do something Really Stupid right in front of you, you'll seldom be disappointed), because, as mentioned, others simply Do Not See such a low profile!

I plan to drive mine at least until I'm 80 (there will always be bootleg gas somewhere) or until they pry my keys from my cold dead hands.

 

I have a company work van that i use during the week, but evenings and weekends belong to the jag, but mine ( like LNR) has been lumped, but even before the transplant, I had no qualms hopping in and going wherever whenever, don’t get me wrong, it had its share of issues, trans went out, fuel pump went out (twice) had some ac issues, all easy enough to fix or source parts for. I bought the car in 2005, with every intention of swapping engine in straight away, took me over ten years to get around to it due the jag engine running so well!

 

If you are mainly doing longer highway drives, don't discount a V12 car if you find a good one. I find the highway fuel economy is similar between the V12 and 6 cylinder, but the extra power and torque of the V12 can be very useful.

I could get around 12 L/100km on the highway in a V12, city was around 16, but it depended on the time of year. Economy was worse in the winter when it was very cold and summer using the AC on maximum.

 

I agree with all of the above. But you'll have a lot more fun in a classic Jaguar. And at the end of the game you'll realize that having fun was the most important part of life.

Jeff

 

It's not the only thing - but it gives life meaning!

 

Thank you all for your input! It helped me to understand which XJ fits my purposes and limitations best.
It's obviously not the older series and I decided that the X350 will be my next Jag.
Last weekend I purchased an X350 3L V6 Sovereign from 2005,
In the coming days I will be busy importing the car and getting it insured.

 

Congrats on your purchase ! I ran two X350s, a 2003 Sport and a 2007 Sovereign, both 3 litre V6s. Every year we would drive to Germany on holiday, stopping in a "ferienwohnung", doing about 3000 miles driveway back to driveway with never a problem. They are really great cars, but can cost a bit to run.

Of the two, the 2007 was the best for not needing much work, even though it was on a higher mileage than the 2003. The 2003 suffered various minor and not so minor problems, the first one of significance was failure of the suspension compressor. This was at around 35k miles, yet its replacement was still on the car and working well at 115k miles. It's clear Wabco, the manufacturer made improvements, as Jaguar were having to replace these under warranty ! The X350 cars were late on sale, and I suspect that Jaguar just decided "what the hell, put it on sale and let the customers be the testers". The main reason I sold the second one was I just got fed up with replacing certain suspension joints. The air spring units all have a bush at the bottom, and these four bushes support the weight of the car. Yet my MB SLK has similar but these don't fail so quickly, probably because they are larger and on a lighter car. The bushes on the rear lower wishbones can wear prematurely, and at one time, this was a hugely expensive job, but now a lot less since the aftermarket found a source for them that isn't Jaguar. This and other things like the heater matrix silting-up which is a common problem. This latter is not, as you might think, a hugely complex job, the matrix is quite easy to replace, but it's just the sheer hassle of it. So I part-exed the car in Jan 2019, for my current XE which has been excellent so far, starting on only 10k miles, less than 2 years old, Jaguar warranty, and half the price of a new one !

Other thing to say is that IMHO the 3 litre is the best engine, suffering far fewer faults than the V8s. The sump gasket can, however leak and need replacing. Do also, watch out for leaks from the coolant header tank, and also the water rail behind the radiator.
Bodywise, the car is totally aluminium and you can get crevice or "filiform" corrosion. This looks like bubbles under the paint, but is actually aluminium hydroxide, a white powder that creeps out from various location, the main one being the boot lid and the rear "Jaguar" chrome piece on the lid, but you can see it elsewhere. I had it on the 2007, but by this time I had worked out how to sort it out myself using retail paint products from Halfords.
Finally, check the fuel tank straps as these are very badly protected and can snap on you letting the tank drop. OK, it doesn't drop out but its a huge nuisance. You can now get stainless steel ones on the internet.
The stupid thing is that the depreciation on my XE is far larger than the sums I was spending on maintenance and repairs on the X350s, so maybe I have been a complete idiot ! It is nice, though to have a reliable car not needing work all the time, plus the road tax I pay is much less, and as a diesel the car does 46mpg, instead of 25mpg.

 

if you start with a choice-condition, well maintained car, driving it daily is good exercise and keeps the machine running smooth.
All cars break down no matter the age, even brand new cars out of the showroom break down a day or a week or a month later. Hopefully not but they do.

on long 800 mile trips between Florida and Tennessee I get approx. 425 miles of driving before emptying both tanks in my '84 with a/c or heater ON, radio ON, parking lights ON and for me that is quite decent gas mileage. in other words I can make the trips filling both tanks twice. You want better mileage? then you need a Toyota.

Hint: start out with all new radiator hoses, Belts, oil and filter, all fluids checked, tire pressures checked, so you don't end up with the old "ALL THE PARTS FALLING OFF THIS CAR ARE OF THE FINEST BRITISH LEYLAND QUALITY" bumper sticker.

 

I drive mine in Los Angeles 5 days a week which is about 200-250 miles. I have to check all fluids once a week and never ignore a problem in the making. Im sure if I ever sell my 1986, the new owner will be one very happy guy. Life is short.