Luxury at a cost (Jaguar XJ8)

Member Name: phoebe1

Product:	Jaguar XJ8
Date:	05/04/03 (2940 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Supreme luxury, Fantastic ride, Prestige on the driveway

Disadvantages: Poor build quality, Expensive services, Expensive to run

I have owned my T reg XJ8 4 litre automatic Jaguar for two and a half years. It had 12400 miles on the clock when I bought it from a Jaguar dealership for 26500 pounds (including warranty), who were registered as the previous owners. Needless to say, it had a full service history.

It is a lovely looking car with loads of luxuries including leather seats, auto fold back mirrors, auto dip rear view mirror, climate control etc.... It rides like a dream and gets the looks. The 4 litre engine is magnificent and creamy. A sports button mode on the gearbox gives it a performance of 0 - 60mph in under 7 seconds.

The fuel consumption for this 4 litre engine is 20mpg around town (curiously my XJ6 3.2 litre engine does only 15-17 mpg). At 70mph on a long run it can get as good as 30mpg. All this information can be obtained from the trip computer on the control panel.

If you are over 35 years old, with a good claims record, then the insurance is pleasantly affordable ( make sure you shop around).

This is a good car if you have children. Our three (and their friends!) all love riding in it.

Now for the bad stuff. There are too many design faults which cause repairs, albeit under warranty, which simply should not have happened. For example, a fault developed in the steering system at low speeds which caused a clicking sound - repaired under warranty. The engine needed replacing after 50000 miles. Thank goodness this was again under a warranty (5 years although the handbook states 3 - is this Jaguar trying to cover up a design fault?) A new engine costs between 5 and 6 thousand pounds!!!!

Not under warranty was the excessive wear on front wheel bearings at 50000 miles at a cost of 500 pounds to just get it through an MOT. You would not have expected that poor wear and tear on a Ford Fiesta, let alone a luxury car. Every time it goes in for a service it costs at least 500 pounds.

Tyre wear can be expensive. That costs a
bout 600 pounds to replace every 20000 miles.
The interior space is satisfactory, but the boot is far too small for a car of its size.

If you are going for kudos and have got money to burn then this is the car for you. Just don't expect the bills to stop once you have bought it.

Summary: