Jaquar XJR

I am tempted by an XJR for sale in a local non franchise but specialist Jaquar dealer at £9995. The car has done 73000 but it has a new engine main dealer fitted some 10000 ago and a fsh. Its a 1998 on an S plate. The dealer offers a no quibble six month warranty although extended warranties are available.


Does anyone have experience of the XJR? especially the pitfalls or known major faults.

I know they drink petrol
I know they are expensive to service
Insurance is not an issue as being an old fart its only £390 fully comp.

I also know that its hardly green but I only do 4-5k miles a year.



I should also add, I know the major pitfall and she is due in from work in about two hours.

Rod

 

The first thing I'd be worried about is making sure it's a proper Jag, and not a "jaquar"

 

Doh, especially since I own an XJ8. It the booze honest.

Rod

 

Since you've got the XJ8 you know what you're getting into really. Just more.

 

I test drove an XJR once and loved the combination of luxurious interior and sports car handling - it was like a rocket propelled armchair. I also tested the XK8 but preferred the handling of the XJR; thought the XK8 wallowed a bit. I ended up with something completely different but both the XJR and XKR are on my long-term wishlist for a weekend fun car, where day to day practicalities don't matter...

 

Cant quite remember the swap over, but Im taking it this is the V8 version?? If it is, Im quite surprised to hear its had a new engine, Id dig as deep s possible on that. Other that that we never heard of anything major. At 8 yrs old and with that milage you could run into some big bills. Brakes, exhaust and electrics would be my major worry. Saying that, you could end up with a seriously tasty car for the price of a Focus. Id also check the history for any body repairs, they're bloody quick after all.

If your looking for that kind of thing, have a think about the E55, similar performance with fanatstic build.

If you buy with (alot of ) caution you could be well happy!

 

I'd second that advice, you can grab an old shape E55 for beer money these days - huge value (huge fuel bill though too) and strong reliability. My Dad was considering an XKR but since I mentioned it to him he's on the hunt for an E55.

 

The engine change is not a problem as I have researched following advice. The early V8 was known to have problems with high sulphur petrol as were some other engines from 'prestige' manufacturers. The replacement of the early V8 was not unusual and this was done by a pucker dealer. The car has a full history.

I drove it today and it drove like a new car. Everything worked and the gearbox was nice and smooth both cold and warm, through town or giving it large amounts of welly. It felt much tauter than my XJ8 due to the CATs suspension but still maintained that smoothness.

It needs a couple of tyres and maybe some pads plus the dealer is going to check whether the supercharger belt has been changed recently. All this will be done plus a new mot. I have bought it and should have it by the weekend.

Rod

 

:notworthy

That smily is even the right colour.

 

The downside, is that my wife has 3 speeding tickets and two accidents. Neither her fault but one was a hit and run. She has driven my xj8 once but insists on being on the insurance. My quote for the xjr went up from £437 to £572. I suppose being an old git does have its advantages as I had expected the insurance to be much higher.

Rod

 

BMW had major issues with the sulpher thing on their 6 cylinder engines between 1998 and 2002, most have been changed or re-lined so i can understand that.

 

My dad had a 528 and it needed a new engine for exactly that reason after about 10k!

 

Well I picked it up on Friday and although I have not had the chance to drive it much, the preformance is staggering. However, I have had one problem. When I collected it it had a quarter tank of fuel. Yesterday, I filled it right up, drove a couple of miles and parked it tail down on a sloping car park. It was in the sun. Some 20 mins later I was informed that petrol was leaking underneath the rear of the car. On checking, there was a constant flow of petrol through a small black pipe. On unscrewing the filler cap the petrol bubbled up.

I am assuming that due to expansion, the tank was venting fuel. However, it seems a bit strange as I never had this problem on my XJ8 3.2

any ideas?

Rod

 

You may never have that that specific set of circumstances with your XJ8 though. Run the tank down a few litres (not hard with the XJR ) and see if it stops.

 

Yes that works, I have already tried it. However, I would have assumed that the problem should not occur in the first place. What would happen if I lived in a really hot climate?

Rod

 

It's a known issue not to fill a petrol tank brimming and then leave it in the sun. If you lived in a really hot climate you'd know that. It's usually a non-issue in britain.