These are cars we use for company cars. So they take a beating. But they take it well. Based on that and on my experience for the last 16 years, I would have no concerns buying another Astra. But maybe other Vauxhall models are not as reliable? I can't say. Or maybe other or newer generation Astras aren't? All I can say is that at least I have confidence in the name now. No they are not fancy or luxury cars. But I take a car which runs well over some fancy car which is always at the shop and I can't drive.

I have never owned a Fiat. But I know people who do and like them. They say the bad reports are highly exaggerated and put forward by people who actually don't own one. I guess you really never know till you owned a car.

To be honest, rust is at the bottom of my worry concernslist. Because it's easier to spot than some electric or electronics problem when buying and also easier to repair.

And I would agree a XK8 is much more beautiful than any Audi, R8 or not.

 

Not at all. I'm looking for realistic owners. If the car was really just all roses it wouldn't have the reputation it has. Jaguars in general from the Ford era have a bad reputation and from before the Ford era maybe even worse.

So I'm looking for realistic owners who will tell it like it is, and it seems they are starting to show up and post. So things are pointing up.

 

Sure. Like I said, I have heard this before and with several cars which have bad reputations. "With proper maintenance they are fine". But like I already asked, what exactly does proper maintenance stands for here? Maintenance should mean maintaining, not repairing. Repairs are not maintenance. So I'm waiting for somebody to answer my question concerning what regular, proper or whatever maintenance means with the X100.

 

Oh, so the horror stories are true?

Rust can be a problem with any car if driven on salt. But the other things shouldn't be happening. Like, I'm getting the impression that the electrics must be lived with and will be headache no matter what.

 

 

I owned a 2001 XK8 4.0 Coupe for four years followed by a 2005 XK8 4.2 for two years so that qualifies me as a former owner. Issues I had are well documented on the forum.

Now we've got my credentials clearly stated, please do the same. What is the purpose and motive behind your post?

I'm also interested to know who would use the term MOT and then spell tyre in the US fashion. Then the idea of a company keeping cars for fifteen years is extraordinary.

The weaknesses of the XK8 are well known. The main ones are:

1. plastic tensioners
2. cooling system
3. 'sealed for life' transmission

Less frequent are:
4. throttle body TPS
5. corrosion - front floor

All of these have been widely discussed on the forum. Few would make excuses for any of them and certainly not attempt to deny their existence.

From the content of your posts, I don't know why you are even considering Jaguar.

Graham

 

No point in carrying on with this discussion any further and wasting our time. I will tell the OP what he wants to hear - Stay away from any and all Jaguars. They are NOT for you....

 

I live in England, the part of the UK - not New England.

This is the home of the MoT, and 15+ yr old Astras are exceedingly rare. (I hesitate to say non-existent.)

Oh, the Astra - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vauxhall_Astra

Companies commonly get rid of cars at 3 years old. I've never met any company with a company car of (say) 8+ years (not counting classic cars owned by companies).

What a weird thread.

 

You should probably spend your money more wisely than on a 20 year old Jaguar. I've found upkeep to be higher than my FFR Cobra. Perhaps a new Astra convertible?

 

I have to say I was not sure how to reply to your post. So the best way I found is to address each of your points head on. But why the conspiracy theory tin foil hat approach? It's like you want to acuse me of something but don't want to do it directly.

As for the purpose and motive behind my post, I thought I was clear enough in my opening post. But I can reprint it here:

So, again, to reiterate, I like the car. But I am worried about reliability. It has a bad reputation and if it was all roses it wouldn't. So I'm trying to find out how deep the bad reliability is before jumping in a XK8. But I would have thought I had said as much in my opening post. Maybe I should have made the text red to help driving the point home? Is that effective?



Here is a concept which might be mind blowing to you. But England is not the only country in the world which speaks English. Furthermore, is it not possible that native English speakers who originated from other English speaker countries might live in the UK and decide to keep their own dialect of English? And yet another curious possibility, American English spelling is the most widely adopted online, including by people who speak English as a second language. Actually mostly British will use British spelling online. I see people from non English speaking countries using mainly American spelling. You barely see "tyres", "colour" on forums, especially from international users. So there alone you have three distinct and very plausible explanations, which could have been good enough to avoid the conspiracy theory and snide questions.

Well, it is my company. So I would think I have the right to keep cars for as long as I think they serve me well or as long as I please? It's not a 5000 employee company. The cars are used to perform different tasks and they do the job well serving the company. So why spend money to replace them? Money is better invested elsewhere.

Well, at last, despite the snide, you at least address the actual point of the thread. Thanks.

And for all the above there are proper replacements or solutions which solve the problem for good? Or is it a case of just keeping replacing them prematurely to keep the cars running?


I saw the gearbox problems thread. But as my interest is a manual swap I didn't look at it. Besides that I tried searching the forums and found fragmented information. And having a fresh thread also opens the door for new solutions to be suggested, which might not have been around last time a given topic was discussed. So with all that, I thought I would start a topic.

Looking at the reactions in this thread I'm not sure about that. Only very few actually addressed what I asked and pointed faults. And so far nobody has answered my question about what "regular maintenance" means with the X100 and if it really means regular maintenance or regular repairs.

Because like I said, I always liked the X100. Even more than the X150.

 

Vauxhalls! used to love them now I hate them. Have had 2 zafiras and 1 insignia from new and owned to 4 years old and all of them have been on a recovery truck. I've had my 20 year old XK8 for 3 years and has never broken down on the road.

 

It appears you are adamant about a definition of what is meant by 'regular maintenance'. It can best be defined as maintaining the vehicle according to the manufacturer's maintenance intervals as outlined in the vehicle Owner's Manual.

If you haven't done so already, perhaps you may want to read through the X100 Owner's Manual and become familiar with the maintenance/service intervals for both time and mileage.

Perhaps another Vauxhall may be just the thing since you're readily familiar with the vehicles and know what to expect.

 

Where?

It doesn't deserve one.

But if you want something that matches the Astra just get another Astra. They're nothing like as great in my experience as you make out, however. I'd put the Astra down as just another car. Not especially reliable or any other metric.

The X100 has more to go wrong and is rather more of a thoroughbred but at least is not in Ferrari territory.

 

In terms of regular maintenance, mine has an annual service and MOT by an independent Jaguar specialist in Suffolk. The only unscheduled maintenance while in my ownership was the replacement of the fuel pump. I replaced the knock sensor and the wheel sensor myself using the excellent guidance you will find on this forum.
We are a friendly and welcoming bunch despite what you may have thought from our responses (we can also be suspicious of bar room criticism). When you drive one of these cars, it is not just driving a tin box which gets you from A to B, it is an enjoyable journey which will put a smile on your face and if you see another XK look at their smile and give them a wave.

 

Jaegar, Jaguar's reputation for having reliability issues was well earned prior to time that Ford purchased the company and infused it with cash and with some management discipline. I have owned many cars over the past 50 years of driving, from a new 1967 Camaro 327 with two-speed auto (thanks dad) to current C-Merc, RX Lexus & 2 XKRs. When my wife requested that we buy a new 2003 Type S, I was wary of the marque's reputation for high maintenance expenses particularly because we new the local dealer too well. I bought it anyway and wow. It was the six cylinder, but it had plenty of power for SoCal freeways and absolutely no maintenance issues over first 70k mi. It was totaled in freak parking lot accident and my wife started driving Lexus RX's. I bought two XKRs last year (2001 w/40k & 2006 w/30k) and so far i have had no serious maintenace issues with either. The headrest adjuster on the 2001 is not working properly (minor fix-see threads) and the 2006 has the "check brake lights" code which is probably a burnt out switch (also covered by threads). In every other respect, they look and perform as new. I challenge you to name another 15 year old 390 HP grand touring or sports car (loaded with gee-whiz options of the day) which you can purchase for the cost of a new corolla that can match it. If you want absolutely bullet-proof reliability and low maintenance costs for $20k or less, buy the Toyota Corolla. Like someone said earlier, maybe the XK8/XKR is not the car for you.

 

Jeagar, you may have been hoodwinked and misinformed by ne'er-do-wells and miscreants. No Jaguar model was included in the venerable Edmunds.com list of "100 Worst Cars of all Time": https://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/...-all-time.html

Nor did any Jaguar models make the Consumer Reports list of the "20 Worst Cars for Reliability": https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...orst/75275986/

Or even Consumer Reports list of the "Top 10 Most Unreliable Car Brands": https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...-cars/3304413/

All automobiles require maintenance and eventual replacement of time-worn components. Metallurgy and technology continue to improve with lessons learned from field operations, but, by and large, the XK8 and XKR have proven themselves as reliable as any make/model, if maintained. Salted winter roads and simple neglect are what make vehicles unreliable (excluding any vehicle included in the lists above...).

These classic, sexy cars, popular as they are, tend to change owners, who have varying degrees of ability (or interest) in maintaining them. Any 12-to-22 year old automobile is going to need occasional attention, but the fact that they have even remained around for 12-to-22 years is a testament to their reliability. I myself remember when few cars were expected to exceed 5 years or 40,000 miles in their useful lifetimes, but now 150,000+ miles is the norm (with maintenance and replacement of a few aged components). Even most people today wouldn't last much past 55-60 years of age without getting some parts replaced. lol...

 

Might I point out that you may not have many former owners commenting, because typically people leave forums once they no longer own the car that the forum discusses.

That being said, I have owned a 2005 XK8 and currently own a 2006 XKR among other Jags (see my signature below). So I suppose I'm both a former and a current owner. My 05 was purchased with 85k miles, sold with 95k miles and my 06 currently has just over 60k on it.

I suppose I will start out addressing the generalization of a "bad reputation." Frankly, I feel that sentiment is carried over from the Leyland era. After the infusion of cash from Ford, the quality really improved. I can say that my Leyland-era Jag, my 87 XJ-SC, has certainly been more problematic than the X100s. But lets focus on those.

Over the 3 years and 10k miles I had the 2005 (keep in mind it was a higher mileage car too), I changed the oil, coolant and brake fluid. New front pads/rotors and new tires. And that's it. Nothing you wouldn't need to do on an Astra or any other car. On the 2006, I also replaced the tires. Changed fluids, and lubricated the rams for the convertible top. A transmission service is coming up. I do have a bent rim, which is a very hard to find BBS wheel and will probably cost $1000 to replace. Other than that, nothing has really "broken" on either of the cars during my ownership.

That being said, buy smart. Both of my cars came with full dealer service histories from new. I think the total of all maintenance and repairs at dealer prices on the 2006 came in at over $20k - thank you previous owner!

As others have mentioned, there will be hoses and other rubber items that are aging and need replacing, as they would with any older car.

But regular "repairs"? Not in my experience, with either of my X100s. I can't say the same for my Land Rover LR3 or XJS - but I still love both of them despite thousands of dollars in repairs needed. Which brings me to the mindset it seems you have, with continually bringing up the Astra.

The X100, although built under Ford ownership, is not a Ford. It's a proper luxury grand touring car, and the sticker on my 2006 was approaching $100k. Certain things, if they break, will be much, much more expensive than a plastic GM product. So, if the idea of possible expensive repairs on a needy, 12 year old luxury car, scares you - then I'd advise sticking with the Astra. You will not have a pleasant ownership experience.

 

Why, oh WHY, would someone who expresses such an opinion of the reliability of a stock X100 even consider buying one and converting it to manual transmission??? I am sure that such a conversion would not introduce any reliability issues...

 

It would seem Vauxhall, Fiat and FORMER Jaguar owners are to be believed but CURRENT Jaguar owners are not.
If your own positive opinion of the Astra after 16 years of experience is valid then so too is the opinion of an X100 owner.
It is strange that you would seek to exclude the very people with the most knowledge on the subject and even stranger as to why you so distrust their word.

 

I like to think he's not a troll, despite appearances.