Jaguar XJ X350

[Matt UK]

Hi, not visited here before, so good evening all.

I'm seriously considering an X350 as the ideal car against my criteria:
Spend about £5k - £7k
It'll do 25k miles a year
I want a petrol engine
It needs to be reliable between services - bills I'll handle up to a point, unplanned stoppages will mean an early bath
I need about 26mpg to make the spreadsheet work
My commute is long and on the motorway - this car will be used to pick up the odd client from the the train station, but will not go shopping, to the tip or to B&Q
I need to get in it at 6am, start it up and think; 'nice'

I have a toy for crazy days and the wife has an MPV for practical family stuff

There are a few contenders out there, but the Jaguar XJ is an itch that might need to be scratched this time round - never had a Jag.

Any owners here who could direct me where do I head to get some info?
Where are the problem areas on these?
What are the specs /options / engines to seek out or avoid?

Cheers,
Matt

[V12 Migaloo]

You're probably looking for a 3.0 V6. Fairly bullet proof as they dont have a lot of additional bolt on's which the diesel has, DPFs etc. You should be able to hit 30 mpg with ease on a run. Its a nice engine and suits the car well. Obvious point to look at are suspension compressor make sure its working full time, ride should be smooth above 30 mph, suspension bushes can be loose and may need changing the whole arm depending on where... er thats it really. Oh just make sure you have a new battery fitted or buy a new originak one as the XJ uses a lots of voltage to get everything switched on and low voltages can cause spurious warnings.. Make sure the gearbox oil has been changed or get it changed. Apart from that you should find a 2005/6 updated model (I think double glazing as standard across the range) with about 60/70'000 on the clock, earlier models from 40'000 miles... Not sure if you want the Nav, its fairly old now and you may be better served buying one without. I have a 2006 XJ D, great car, do about the same thing you are doing with it, averaging 34.5 MPG in 20'000miles... Comfy, fast, light, good steering/handling. Reliable, now. Never been stranded. But try and buy from a main dealer or bonefide specialist and get a warranty. Anything that snaps will be expensive, as with all executive cars like this. But buy with a blue chip warranty and enjoy You should be able to find a nice low owner, 50K sport for about 6K?? Let us know how you get on...

Edited by V12 Migaloo on Monday 17th December 09:41

[hahithestevieboy]

I have an early X350 XJR.

When I get in it I do indeed think "nice" and when I put my foot down (which I hardly ever get to do) I think "fk".

Problem with these cars is that there are a lot of little niggling things that can go wrong with them (mostly electrical or related) and the salt corrosion issue (havent got this on mine). Suspension bushes can get expensive and air suspension compressors can go but there is likely to be a polethera of little things that add up and are fairly constant.

Although a lovely car, I personally find that some anciliary things such as heated and power seats, auto wipers etc (stuff of secondary importance) do not work as well or feel as well engineered as some of the german stuff.

I think if I were you, I would go with a naturaly aspirated 4.2 with a nice spec.

[naki]

i think a good start is to head down to a dealer and have a few test drive, especially as you have never had a jag, everyone will have their own opinions about which one is best, but i think they all have their own pros and cons.
but the usual rules applies, buy the best example you can afford.
i thought diesel was the default choice for mile munchers these days? or is someone else picking up the fuel bill?

[Matt UK]

Thanks chaps - bodywork and suspension / compressor seem to be the major watchouts.

Out of interest, I notice that the 3.0 V6 and 3.5 V8 have very similar mpg on paper - is this indicative of running costs in the real world?

naki said:

i thought diesel was the default choice for mile munchers these days? or is someone else picking up the fuel bill?

I like the relative simplicity and noise from n/a petrol engines. Also, I can claim back a higher p/mile for business - doesn't quite break-even, but good enough.

[hahithestevieboy]

According to the people over at the Jaguar Forums, in the real world there is very very little difference in the consumption of the petrol engines (superchaged excepted that when pushed can drink like barney gumball at a free bar).

Personally, I have driven a 4.2v8 sov and and XJR's only. It was bordering on impossible to get the Sov to make any noise and even at full chat the V8 woofle was very very subtle. My brother has an x-type with the petrol v6 and it is a nice unit and the performance is very decent and will be similar to the XJ owing to it's light weight.

I would suggest that LPG might suit your usage profile quite well. Certainly if doing large motorway miles, then the cost difference between a diesel and a petrol can more than pay for the conversion. You might even find a pre-converted sovereign and it would probably be a better (faster and smoother) car than the diesel which is not equivilent really. Maybe add that to your spreadsheet and see how it works out?

[andymadmak]

I have a 4.2 X350, now coming up 90k miles. I do love it. Smooth, silent, good ride and nicely chuckable due to its light weight. I've had the rear suspension arms done (They all do that sir!) and a gearbox oil change is recommended.
To Germany, 100+mph, FULLY loaded with heavy stuff averaged 29mpg. 34 is more like it if you keep things mildly legal. 24 round town.
My first Jag, and I have to say I am very impressed. Buy on condition and history.

[hahithestevieboy]

andymadmak said:

I have a 4.2 X350, now coming up 90k miles. I do love it. Smooth, silent, good ride and nicely chuckable due to its light weight. I've had the rear suspension arms done (They all do that sir!) and a gearbox oil change is recommended.
To Germany, 100+mph, FULLY loaded with heavy stuff averaged 29mpg. 34 is more like it if you keep things mildly legal. 24 round town.
My first Jag, and I have to say I am very impressed. Buy on condition and history.

I never went past 150mph when I was in germany. I dont het anything like those consumption numbers and I dont drive like a tit either. Ive been getting 17mpg round town and 25 max on a run (not that I do many runs). Recently i've been getting 14mpg round town but the runs are so short that I'm shutting the engine down just after it's finished heating up. Terrible to use it like that.

Ironically, the fuel consumption driving through holland and germany was better in the jag than the mrs' honda hrv 2.0 and that was going much faster in germany. Hammered it though. Several hours at a time at 130+ cruse.

[Matt UK]

Thanks for your inputs, much appreciated.

There are not that many cars in budget near by - I'd love to say I'm the sort of bloke who gets on an easyjet to view cars the other end of the country, but I'm busy with a young family so I'm on a limited radius search.

So, firstly I want to buy on condition and history - either privately from an enthusiast or from a reputable dealer.
Secondly I want to buy on spec - premium sound system heated & seats are important, ideally I want a car with less chrome than more and I'd prefer the darker interior to the lighter one.
Which I guess means thirdly is the engine. I have to admit, I think I'd rather stick to the V6 with my miles, but if the above 2 criteria were met with a V8, I'd probably bite the bullet.

Made a couple of calls this afternoon. First car looked promising, but 5mins on the phone with the seller and I realised it was a 'no'. I tend to follow my gut and it didn't feel right. Second call was a bit better, but the Inde selling the car really knew very little about it and the spec was far enough away from ideal to make walking away easy.

Got something lined up for the back end of the week which I'm hoping will be promising, will keep you posted.

Edited by Matt UK on Monday 17th December 22:30

[andymadmak]

hahithestevieboy said:

I never went past 150mph when I was in germany. I dont het anything like those consumption numbers and I dont drive like a tit either. Ive been getting 17mpg round town and 25 max on a run (not that I do many runs). Recently i've been getting 14mpg round town but the runs are so short that I'm shutting the engine down just after it's finished heating up. Terrible to use it like that.

Ironically, the fuel consumption driving through holland and germany was better in the jag than the mrs' honda hrv 2.0 and that was going much faster in germany. Hammered it though. Several hours at a time at 130+ cruse.

That is the only problem, the big V8 does take a few miles to warm up, especially on cold mornings, and it does drink a bit when cold. If you're doing very short journeys then I think that might be the problem. I also tend to drive mine on the cruise control a lot when on A roads/ Motorways. It typically gives me better consumption than my own right foot!
It also taught me that I was using far too much throttle most of the time.. Don't get me wrong, I'm no Miss Daisy, but I'm firmly of the view the Jag can be finessed into giving much better consumption at no real sacrifice to rate of progress


Oh, and I hit 156mph in Germany and it was fabulously drama free. Lord alone knows what an unrestricted R would do!

[NST]

I've been looking at these lately. Is the the refresh X351 (?) less likely to suffer from paint bubbling?

I drove a X350 R a few years ago.. it really is a awesome car.

[andymadmak]

NST said:

I've been looking at these lately. Is the the refresh X351 (?) less likely to suffer from paint bubbling?

I drove a X350 R a few years ago.. it really is a awesome car.

The paint bubbling affects early cars mostly. I have a small amount on mine which has not gotten any worse over the years. I was told that it is caused by the fact that JLR used steel rollers for the aluminium panels and tiny bits of steel got embedded in some places - which subsequently corrode. As I said, my 2004 car has a couple of minor blebs on the boot lid and the bottom of one door. Neither is visible unless you REALLY look for them.

[V12 Migaloo]

Matt, its a good car for a young family too, if packed right the boot will take a pram and cot plus luggage for the week end. Isofix positions are good too and plenty of leg room to stop them kicking the back seat...
It sounds as if you're after a 3.0 v6 Sport, try and buy a post 2005 car if you can, as these have very many small but significant upgrades, double galzing etc. Take a look at this one...
http://www.bakerbrothers.co.uk/used-cars/jaguar-xj... (PS I have no affiliation with this company its just one of the nicer cars I found) a bit on the pricier side though

[hahithestevieboy]

andymadmak said:

That is the only problem, the big V8 does take a few miles to warm up, especially on cold mornings, and it does drink a bit when cold. If you're doing very short journeys then I think that might be the problem. I also tend to drive mine on the cruise control a lot when on A roads/ Motorways. It typically gives me better consumption than my own right foot!
It also taught me that I was using far too much throttle most of the time.. Don't get me wrong, I'm no Miss Daisy, but I'm firmly of the view the Jag can be finessed into giving much better consumption at no real sacrifice to rate of progress


Oh, and I hit 156mph in Germany and it was fabulously drama free. Lord alone knows what an unrestricted R would do!

180+ apparently. I didnt get to try it on mine, but apparently on older models (pre x350) you could bypass the limiter by locking out top gear.

In any case, I think my car could probably do with a refresh of some of the bushes around and about and some new disks and pads as I am starting to get some play in the dreaded lower wishbones (not enough to fail MOT yet) and a shimmy in the steering under heavy braking when at high speed but none of this is noticable even at (english) motorway speed. My lately average is about 12mph aaarrrhhhh.....

[NormanD]

andymadmak said:

That is the only problem, the big V8 does take a few miles to warm up, especially on cold mornings, and it does drink a bit when cold. If you're doing very short journeys then I think that might be the problem.

The modern Jaguar V8 was designed with little water in the engine so they do warm up quickly

[Mon Ami Mate]

I've recently acquired a 4.2. I did a lot of homework and drove a few different cars. There is very little difference in fuel consumption and running costs and the 4.2 actually uses marginally less fuel in mixed use than the 3.5. It is considerably smoother and more torquey. I absolutely love it!

[Domf]

andymadmak said:

NST said:

I've been looking at these lately. Is the the refresh X351 (?) less likely to suffer from paint bubbling?

I drove a X350 R a few years ago.. it really is a awesome car.

The paint bubbling affects early cars mostly. I have a small amount on mine which has not gotten any worse over the years. I was told that it is caused by the fact that JLR used steel rollers for the aluminium panels and tiny bits of steel got embedded in some places - which subsequently corrode. As I said, my 2004 car has a couple of minor blebs on the boot lid and the bottom of one door. Neither is visible unless you REALLY look for them.

I've seen a lot of x350's all the way up to late 57 plate with bubble paintwork, Most common areas:-
Bottom of 'A' and 'C' pillars, bottom of rear doors, boot lid. Also seen on bonnet and even roof! Jaguar resprayed a number of cars under warranty, check any potential purchase for this documentation. It is casued by the mix of steel and aluminium, I have friends in the aircraft industry and they know all about the problems of paint adhesion on aluminium,ever wondered why some airlines went for that unpainted aluminium look

[Matt UK]

Mon Ami Mate said:

I've recently acquired a 4.2. I did a lot of homework and drove a few different cars. There is very little difference in fuel consumption and running costs and the 4.2 actually uses marginally less fuel in mixed use than the 3.5. It is considerably smoother and more torquey. I absolutely love it!

Nice car, looks great in red as well. O/T, but is that pic from Cheddar Gorge?

In my area / price range the V8s seem either old and leggy or with too much chrome for my liking.

Looking likely that I'll have to slum it in a V6 for a year or two.

[Mon Ami Mate]

Matt UK said:

Nice car, looks great in red as well. O/T, but is that pic from Cheddar Gorge?

In my area / price range the V8s seem either old and leggy or with too much chrome for my liking.

Looking likely that I'll have to slum it in a V6 for a year or two.

Cheddar Gorge

Mine has done 80,000, full dealer service history, and cost my old X Type 3.0l and £3500. Absolute bargain I think. Worth shopping for.

[Six Fiend]

Mon Ami Mate said:

Cheddar Gorge

Mine has done 80,000, full dealer service history, and cost my old X Type 3.0l and £3500. Absolute bargain I think. Worth shopping for.

Oh stop it!