I just drove 2k miles in one week in my 1994 xjs L6. Despite the on going issues I have been having over the past 5 years, it did the trip without a hitch.

Some of my issues I live with is something odd with rear end (its just a noise but kind of loud/ maybe its normal). An exhaust manifold leak only when cold/ goes away when warmed up (I have the gasket/ just needs to be done). The major issue is bucking and what seems like loss of gas or torque converter going at random times (when shifting). This could be many things and I am just waiting for total failure. Culprits are ECU, water in tank, torque converter, fuel issue).

Anyway, I just wanted to say that the car was extremely reliable, even after sitting for a a year or 2 in my driveway. It ran amazingly. I did not get any bucking (loss of gas or tc issue) at anytime during my trip. I did however get it now that I am back to city driving. This could simply be water in the gas. I just sanded and painted to car and I think the drain by the gas cap has clogged. I noticed that fills with water when I wash it...

It did burn a quart of oil in the 2k miles. Is this normal? It seems excessive. I have to check the torque on the cylinder head before concluding its burning oil.

I will be taking this on another trip from San Francisco to San Diego very soon. The car has 127k miles on it. I recently heard of a story of someone with the same car and they have 300k on their 94 xjs L6.

My point here is that these cars are as reliable as any other car. I did replace all the sensors at one point, along with all the relays, light bulbs, pads, shocks, struts, and ball joints. This was done 4 years ago. I keep maintenance up to date and spray all electronic connectors with wd40 every so often. I think I will get to 300k on the engine before any major overhaul. This one is a driver.

My 91 V12 is more of a collector, simply because of the bad gas miileage. Though, I plan on a 2k trip with that one just to keep it in good shape. I did notice with my 94 xjs, after the trip a lot of issues have disappeared. Like a wheel bearing noise (completely gone after the trip). It was a new bearing so I think it just wore in. It also now seems to start up quicker. Some of the creaking has gone away. It no longer pulls to the right or left when breaking. This was due to dirty rotors from me working on it. the long trip up and down mountains has cleaned the rotors.

My advice, take your xjs on a long trip, enjoy it, and stop nit picking on things. Even with small issues, these are reliable cars.

 

Well done.

All Jaguars are built to run, and the garage queens cost more by a long shot.

That oil consumption is probably OK, considering the lack of use that engine has had.

Those "lock up" convertors can get sticky with lack of use, and stale fluid. Mine was, now sweet as, and I do use Synthetic Multi Vehicle ATF, which is an Aussie standard now.

 

Buy 'em while they are cheap, love 'em, drive 'em.

 

There is a cross country bike race in the US where riders do over 3000 miles coast to coast in 7 days on bikes..

 

What we need is a 3000 mile cross country race we can take our jags on. I would be so interested.

 

I agree with the philosophy.

My XJS gets better and better the more I drive it. I have a list of "weird" things, same as you, but the reality is my very poorly maintained and unloved by multiple POs car has never actually let me down and left me stranded at the side of the road.