1989 Jaguar XJ6 review from UK and Ireland

Several instrument failures.

Erratic lighting.

Countless switch failures.

Misfire when cold.

Intermittent wipe packed up.

Drivers door dropping.

Rattling timing chain.

Uses a bit of oil these days (expected).

I bought this off a mate for £750 two years ago. Infuriating as it can be, I love this car.

It's drastically underpowered and it's criminally unreliable like a BMW just wouldn't be, but when you sink into the cosseting leather seats, select "D" on the J-gate transmission and waft effortlessly away, the sheer class, refinement and magic carpet ride just blow you away.

The handling is incredible for such a big car with no floatiness or wallowing when pressing on, even with 165k on the clock. The 2.9 engine is very sweet and refined, but overwhelmed by the sheer bulk of the car. Prodding the throttle sees the autobox working overtime to provide remotely decent acceleration. Once rolling though, the performance is effortless, and the car will cruise all day at anything up to 100 mph.

Fuel economy averages about 25 mpg which is okay for the size of car and considering that the engine has to be thrashed constantly to make it go anywhere.

Service costs are very low outside the dealer network, and mechanical reliability seems to be good. I just hope the people responsible for the electrics were fired a long time ago!