Faults:

Electric windows run slow

Piston in front brake caliper seized.

General Comments:

The car was bought for £600.00 for use as a wedding car (for me).

I spent just over £1000.00 on parts which I expected.

New brake calipers front and rear

New brake disc's front and rear

New master cylinder and brake lines.

2nd Hand window motor.

New front dampers and suspension bushes.

Performance exhaust and throttle body from AJ6 Engineering.

The car handles and rides very well although it is easy to make the tyres squeal.

The performance is very good when over 3500-4000rpm. (which is easy with the 5 speed manual gearbox)

The car has started first time and run without a hiccup on my wedding and since.

The car was going to be sold after the wedding, but I just can't bring myself to sell it, the wife also loves the car.

The best point is the fuel consumption between 23 to 31 mpg average.

Over the 1000+ miles covered on my wedding and honeymoon it returned 28mpg.

Many people said I was mad and should have hired a car for the wedding (it would have cost £1800.00 plus a deposit of £2000.00 for hiring an E-type or similar for a couple of days.

The car has been worth every penny.

Faults:

The illnesses of my Big Cat were few and far between. I converted the alternator over to a GM kit once the $500 Lucas one failed, other than that I don't remember replacing any other critical components. An older fellow at an import parts store once told me to drive it daily or the seals would harden up. He was correct. When I sold the car there was a slight leak from the rear main that is typical of the 5.3 liter V-12.

General Comments:

Admittedly, I need to be a charter member of British Cars Anonymous. But this Jaguar was very special indeed.

Like most English car addicts, I have always aspired to own a Lotus Esprit or Jaguar XKE. You can't run with that crowd for $6900 which is exactly what I paid for my XJS.

Yes, I had read Jaguar horror stories and I had certain fears going into the purchase. However, for the price I could have replaced a lot of parts before I would have arrived at what the actual book value of the car was. Jaguars tend to be over valued on paper compared to the real marketplace.

This car ran like a dream. It was actually too quite for my liking. I always thought the V-12 'S' was a sports car, but it is truly a touring car. It was quick AND it was fast, but in all honesty my rough riding 1971 MGB was much more enjoyable to drive.

At 100 mph the XJS sounded like most cars to at 50. The engine purred and the outside noise was slight. It was easy to speed in the car even unintentionally.

If I could change anything about the 'S', I would have a manual transmission. Some of the very first XJS units arrived on American shores with 4-speed manual transmission left over from Jaguars XKEs. At 150 mph this car didn't run out of engine, it ran out of gears. A convertible 'S' would also be much more pleasurable to drive.

When I was doing my initial investigation on Jaguars I was given good advice by a certified Jaguar mechanic. He told me to avoid any Jaguar built between 1971 - 1984. He told me anything before then was all right and that V-12s built after 1984 weren't bad. He told me to avoid later model six-cylinder Jags altogether.

I've owned both a six and a twelve and I think the mechanic was correct. It is hard to beat the look, performance, and satisfaction of owning a Big Cat, but there certainly are less refined sports coupes out there and most addicts are not refined.

My quest for the XKE and Esprit continues.

Faults:

What was right with it??

Owned the car for 5 years and spent £13,500 on repairs and servicing. If anything goes wrong it costs a fortune to fix, and as my car was built by monkeys after a few beers the car was in for repair about once every 8 weeks.

The main dealers are expensive, useless and rude.

General Comments:

A very nice car to drive when working. Could do with an extra gear as 3 are not enough.

Ventilation is useless even when the aircon is working.

Only ever buy as a hobby car.