Jaguar XJ-S - Opinions?

[imageWIS]

Originally Posted by Mr. Checks

This thread is about cars

Jon.

 

[benecios]

Originally Posted by Mr. Checks

This thread is about cars

That is too funny,please stop it I only have so many ribs.
In this country a 17 year old kid doesn't buy a Cayman/A8/X5 etc...
Pathetic!

 

[Huntsman]

Originally Posted by benecios

That is too funny,please stop it I only have so many ribs.
In this country a 17 year old kid doesn't buy a Cayman/A8/X5 etc...
Pathetic!

Well, yeah, but that doesn't need you have to buy a Hyundai or a Ford, either. Many of the things suggested in this thread, for instance. There are alot of sharp older cars that are <$10k, and a decent range <$5k, too. You just have to be educated and be willing to commit -- none of this buy it and forget about it stuff that you could pull if you bought a new Camry or something.

~ Huntsman

 

[benecios]

Originally Posted by Huntsman

Well, yeah, but that doesn't need you have to buy a Hyundai or a Ford, either. Many of the things suggested in this thread, for instance. There are alot of sharp older cars that are <$10k, and a decent range <$5k, too. You just have to be educated and be willing to commit -- none of this buy it and forget about it stuff that you could pull if you bought a new Camry or something.

~ Huntsman

I agree but if you read my original post its the insurance that makes or breaks it.In the case of my brother,he could have bought a classic Jag/Merc etc..for £3k but the insurance is going to cost more than the car.

 

[VMan]

Insurance is about $1400-$1800 per year for a male under 25, and without any accidents. Once a man is over 25, I believe the insurance is around $800-1000 a year given he has not had a major accident. Variation is caused by postal codes, driving record, etc.

I think women tend to pay about 25-30% less, on average.

 

[GQgeek]

Huntsman, how much do you spend on the jag annually (just parts and maintenance, not gas), if you don't mind my asking? Is most of the work you do on the car fairly easy with proper instructions?

 

[LabelKing]

Originally Posted by benecios

I agree but if you read my original post its the insurance that makes or breaks it.In the case of my brother,he could have bought a classic Jag/Merc etc..for £3k but the insurance is going to cost more than the car.
You can get Classic car insurance which is unusually cheap. They have annual "mileage limitations" but most of them don't check your speedometer.

 

[JetBlast]

In this country a 17 year old kid doesn't buy a Cayman/A8/X5 etc...
Pathetic!

Notice how I said nothing about a Cayman/A8/X5, sir. There are good cars out there for pretty cheap, actually. I'd rather not drive a rustbucket.
As for insurance, I'll deal with that later! I'm just trying to find a car first.

Brian

 

[Huntsman]

GQ, well this year was tires ($400) and I-need-it-now-and-don't-have-time-to-do-it suspension work so I could have the car aligned for the new tires which was ~$700 with the alignment. That was done at Jag, as the XJ-S has a very sophisticated suspension. Apart from those items, this year was about $200. Last year was about two bills as well, though I did take the top half of the engine off merely because I wanted to see the condition of the pistons/liners/heads. That was $300 for the gaskets/hoses (not really maintenance, just me being fussy). The year before was again about $200, oh prob $250 as I replaced the O2 sensors. The first year was about five, as I had the wheel bearings repacked and did catchup to fix the primary deficiencies with the 12. I honestly think I've been a little lucky in this regard. As for ease, well. The 12's are not the easiest engines to work on. They have some really daft bits. It is also a very large engine in a small hole -- quite cramped at times. The official instructions suck. Kirby Palm's free book, however, outlines most of the stuff they don't tell you. It isn't as easy as a 1970's Chevy, but easier than a 2000's Chevy, as the electronics are simpler and don't require computerized diagnostics equiptment. So if the general idea of working on a car doesn't scare you off, and you have some basic knowledge it should be doable -- you can take your time. I don't know your comfort and/or competence level with such things so its hard to advise. All the XJ-S's will need to have their distributors seen to one way or another, and the cooling system will need to be checked. If you're not a serious car guy, a compression check is strongly advised (two of the issues with the car combine to predispose it to dropping valve seats, if the compression is fine, that hasn't happened). The resource is the book mentioned on this page: http://www.nettally.com/palmk/jaguar.html Let me know if you want some in depth info and I'll post to that effect. Strange that this thread is up now -- I saw the first XJ-S coupe I've ever seen on the roads around here last night. The few I've seen around these parts have been '91 or newer convertibles. Regards, Huntsman

 

[Huntsman]

Originally Posted by benecios

I agree but if you read my original post its the insurance that makes or breaks it.In the case of my brother,he could have bought a classic Jag/Merc etc..for £3k but the insurance is going to cost more than the car.

Sorry I missed that -- it's just surprising for cars in the 10-20yr old range. Three thousand pounds is steep! I certainly couldn't afford 6k USD/yr for insurance.

Regards,
Huntsman

 

[Aaron]

Originally Posted by JetBlast

As for insurance, I'll deal with that later! I'm just trying to find a car first.

Brian
Actually, it should be very integral to looking at what kind of car you're buying. Repair and insurance costs are a part of car ownership. Technically I can buy an old Porsche but there is no way I could afford the repairs and insurance if I wanted to run the car on a daily basis.

A

 

[GQgeek]

You really spend that little huntsman? How often do you drive it?

 

[Huntsman]

Originally Posted by GQgeek

You really spend that little huntsman? How often do you drive it?

Yeah, but I'm literally paranoid about the car and watch everything. I was also very careful and educated when I purchased it -- it hadn't ever been hit (you never get the suspenson geometry right again) the big V12 was healthy and in trim, cooling system was well maintained and at the right temp (critical!!!!), exhaust ok, dual coilover shocks ok, running gear, CVs and IRS stuff was tight and not leaking, trans shifted well and with clear fluid, the fuel distribution hoses had been replaced, steering bushings had been replaced, and any of the pesky Lucas electronic gear that was going to fail probably already had. So I started off in a better position than the factory floor, then I fixed a few things to make it much better. But, thinking forward, there will be some biggies coming up: the steering rack is leaking, and if it's not rebuildable it's a grand. The rear radius arm bushings are going and I can't do that myself, no way, that'll be $750. A brake job won't be cheap (maybe $200 for parts) and it will take me a weekend for the inboard rears, though a half hour apiece on the fronts. Anyway, I wasn't glossing it, those were my expenditures.

I don't have a long commute, maybe 40mi/day, and now it's <5mi/day, and the car never sees salt and rarely rain so that helps -- and takes 3-5 months off its clock. This year was the first I ever drove it in January! Regardless, it's less than 10k/yr.

There is a TopGear video about the XJS, probably on YouTube, where they criticize it pretty hard -- good for the dissenting opinion, I suppose.

~ Huntsman

Oh, about it being a large engine in a small box -- a 5.3L V-12.

And if I could find one, I'd try really hard to purchase the coupe version of the violent Lister Le Mans -- a modified 7.0L supercharged 600hp beast of a Jag. The coupes with the full package are quite rare but mindblowing:

 

[maxnharry]

Huntsman-how long ago did you buy the car?

 

[Mr. Checks]

Originally Posted by benecios

That is too funny,please stop it I only have so many ribs.
In this country a 17 year old kid doesn't buy a Cayman/A8/X5 etc...
Pathetic!

Okay, fair enough. If you're asking what American new drivers pay, it's tough to generalize. Every young person I know is an add-on to the parents' policy, and the price wouldn't be as prohibitive as the numbers you quote.

Young men are higher than young women. If you're on your own, with an economy car worth, say, $14,000 and a clean record, I'd guess $1600 on the low end (like 800 pounds) and going up from there, depending upon where you live (much more in urban, litigious areas, less in suburbs and rural). A used BMW or Merc or whatever that wasn't a race version wouldn't be much more.