1994 Jaguar XJ40 3.2 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Sheer luxury, depreciation is a wonderful thing!

Faults:

The air conditioning system was not working when I bought the car, due to a leak in the front condenser. They are prone to being hit with stones as there is little protection through the front grille. At £300 they are not a cheap item to replace and re-gas. I got this amount deducted from the price prior to buying the car.

Next was a problem with misting-up on the inside of the car? Water was leaking into the passenger side foot-well via the blind grommets high up in the bulkhead. The source of the water was found to be a well blocked drain to the wiper motor assembly, the area under the windscreen trim was awash with water. A common fault so I am informed, rectified by cutting the end off the "duck-billed" drain hose.

A replacement remote central locking and security key-fob was expensive at £100, only available from the main dealer. An essential to activate the built-in alarm system and driver conveniences.

Mysterious fault on the Jaguar in-car entertainment system, mine kept requesting the security code for the unit each time I started the engine? No wiring faults were found and the problem went away when a CD changer was fitted to the pre-wired boot??

General Comments:

At £2300 this car was an absolute bargain, although still a big risk for a 1st time Jag owner. The bodywork is immaculate and I had a friend check over the mechanical side. If you haven't experienced a ride in one of these cars it's difficult to be objective on your test drive. They are almost silent when sat inside, and the ride should be of the smooth, glitch-free magic carpet variety! The previous owner had obviously lost patience with the minor irritations mentioned above, all of which were solvable.

I use mine as a weekend car and with limited mileage insurance, they are not as expensive to run as people always assume. At nearly £30,000 when new just 8 years back, you still feel like a millionaire behind the wheel.

Reliability is not an issue with the late model XJ40's, thanks to Ford's input. Regular annual servicing must be maintained, neglect at your peril and the big cat will bite back!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 15th December, 2002

14th Apr 2004, 15:20

The security code error is likely to be a loose battery terminal, or battery lead, I've had it happen twice on various cars when garages have kindly left a battery clip untightened. Check it ASAP as if it resets the code and you don't have it to enter, you're looking at a new stereo.

19th Jul 2005, 12:23

I find reading your review of the Jaguar XJ40 really interesting as you appear to have experienced the exact same problems I did when I purchased mine 3 months ago. When I first drove the car back from the show room, straight away I noticed the car appeared to be steaming up far too easily. I rather naively put this down to the garage giving the carpets a shampoo and it was possibly still wet. I was kidding myself as it soon became clear water was gushing under the passenger side footwell. Anyway, I had bigger fish to fry at the time as in the first week of ownership the car broke down 3 times on me. Just wouldn't start to the total bemusement of the AA. Anyway, it eventually turned out the electrics were faulty and had somehow stopped the fuel pump from functioning. Whether this was related the the leak I doubt, but hey.. I'm no expert. It cost me near £190 to have the blockage in the air con sorted out - the garage where I got the car from refused to pay up stating rubbish like it wasn't under guarantee because the job I'd had done was cosmetic. Great review!

1994 Jaguar XJ40 XJ12 6.0L V12 from North America

Summary:

Graceful performance sedan

Faults:

The air conditioning performance is not to great. It works well out on the road, but in town, especially sitting in a drive through, it does not blow very cold. I do have some very minor oil seepage here and there, but no leaks large enough to worry about.

General Comments:

I love this car! I have modified the air cleaners and installed K&N filters and now it does 0-60 in 6.33s and the quarter mile in 14.67@98mph. Not bad for a 4500 pound vehicle. The 6.0L V12 is a beautiful engine and the GM transmission shifts very good.

The ride height is very low and the car is very stable even at high speeds. It handles great!

Because the full-sized spare and battery mount in the trunk, there is not too much extra trunk space. It is satisfactory.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 8th September, 2002

20th Apr 2004, 21:21

This was my review for my car. I just wanted to add, the car now has 138k miles. I did have a few problems. I had to replace all the front suspension bushings, front shocks, and the radiator. However, the car drives great again. I now own a 1998 XJR too.

1st Jan 2005, 14:57

Can you compare your XJ12 and your XJR for us?? I'd love to hear the good and bad points of each in contrast, as both cars are incredible!!

Thanks.

Paul G.