1984 Jaguar XJS H.E. review from Netherlands
"Car must be appreciated as a classic car that needs attention and money spent"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
Alternator failure - alternator has been rebuilt and reinstalled. No problem since (20.000 km ago)
Windshield wiper motor failure - motor has been rebuilt. No problem since (50.000 km ago)
Final drive bearing failure - bearing including end of drive unit (Part Number CAC 2022) replaced. (1.000 km ago)
General comments?
Very reliable car when bought as a meticulously maintained vehicle and serviced regularly by dedicated and motivated technicians.
Go only for the traceable full service history including the bills, not only the stamps in the booklet!
Some knowledge and feeling for technique is an advantage to own these cars and visit your garage with a sensible complaint.
A rust preventing treatment is a must when the car is still in rustfree condition. I am not talking a little layer of grease on the bottom - I mean the works by a professional specialist! My car is exceptionally rust free thanks to a 1000 Euro Dinitrol treatment 50.000 km ago!
Don't spend money on expensive upgrades if you don't yet have a reliable and well serviced car. Take the ticking financial time bombs out first! Unfortunately the XJ-S may have quite a few. On the way you might learn that just owning a rare good example is just as fun as owning an even rarer vehicle with all sorts of exclusive gimmicks on an actually pretty poor base car.
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| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | Yes |
| Year of manufacture | 1984 |
| First year of ownership | 1999 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2004 |
| Engine and transmission | 5.3 H.E. Automatic |
| Performance marks | 8 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 9 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 10 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | 8 / 10 |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 196000 kilometres |
| Most recent distance | 269000 kilometres |
| Previous car | Mazda 323 |
| Date of Entry | 20th January, 2004 |