Motorway Mile Munchers

[240PP]

Yep, looks nowhere near as bad as it sounds

[DeskJockey]

Very caramel and toffee. Don't like the rear screens (always looks naff), but the rest is rather lovely.

[IanF]

XJ-L? I like the colour combo. Train and turns in the rear on the way home sounds like the right choice

[Beany]

Very caramel and toffee. Don't like the rear screens (always looks naff), but the rest is rather lovely.

More Worthers Original if you ask me.

[Mito Man]

Very caramel and toffee. Don't like the rear screens (always looks naff), but the rest is rather lovely.

More Worthers Original if you ask me.

I thought it looked like it folds away and hides everything unlike other cars and it does looking on google images.

Also appears to have independent HDMI ports for each of the screens so you could stick in a pair of games consoles and have a LAN-Co-Op session

[DeskJockey]

That's not bad then.

@Beany : Werthers?

[Beany]

That's not bad then.

@Beany : Werthers?

Those are the ones.

Obviously, not being an old fogey, and having the body of a 21 year old, I don't need to think about these things that much - so mis-spelling it is acceptable.

[JonMad]

Looks lovely for an older fella. Panels don't quite line up above the headlight?

[Mito Man]

Yeah, I've read a few buying guides on various forums about these, consensus is that it's a normal thing and no XJ ever came perfect
https://www.jaguarforum.com/threads/wha ... 1s.138049/

Also, apparently it weighs only 1800kg in diesel form
The V6 petrol was 100kg less!
Although this one may weigh close to 1900kg being long wheel base and having all the extra toys.

But still, a massive car, under 2 tonnes.

[Jobbo]

Obviously, not being an old fogey, and having the body of a 21 year old, I don't need to think about these things that much - so mis-spelling it is acceptable.

A 21 year old St Bernard dog?

[Swervin_Mervin]

Are the diesel lumps in these any good or prone to bork? As it's JLR I'd naturally tend to assume the latter for any part of the car tbh.

[Mito Man]

Early ones suffered from snapped crankshafts but that seems to be more of a 2.7l and Land Rover problem, later Jaguar fitted ones seem to not suffer from that. Biggest problem seems to be oil dilution due to DPF cycles - I found a thread with a guy moaning about having to get his oil changed every 2000 miles because of it but then he was using it to do a 4 mile commute each way

Otherwise they seem no more or less reliable than any other 3 litre diesel.

[Beany]

Obviously, not being an old fogey, and having the body of a 21 year old, I don't need to think about these things that much - so mis-spelling it is acceptable.

A 21 year old St Bernard dog?

The correct response is "It doesn't count if it's in your cellar, Beany"

This place is really losing it's touch.

[16vCento]

My 3.0 has been absolutely fine, as long as it's being used for long runs there should be no issues with it, just take it easy and let it get up to temp before using a decent amount of throttle, high loads when cold has killed a few.

Colour looks nicer than I thought it would.

[John]

Back yet?

[Mito Man]

Yes, Jag acquired, just got home half an hour ago and my phone died from Waze. I’ll do a write up once I’ve had something to eat and maybe a better poke around it.

[GG.]

I'd like that a lot... if it had a V8 in it.

It does rather look like your Dad now needs a chauffeur however.

[nuttinnew]

If you hadn't've said it's a L I wouldn't've guessed it.
Travelling many miles by train to get a car to do many miles seems almost perverse.
As there won't be a "guess the new car", and because it's part of the reason for getting it, I suggest a "guess the mpg on the trip home".

[16vCento]

They're great cars, I'm sad that Jaguar shelved the replacement as it looked great, this will be the last proper Jaguar they ever made really, the new XF and XE were nowhere near sadly.

Keep an eye on oil dilution (you can force an oil level reading by having the ignition on and opening the bonnet) and being prepared for suspension bushes to fail and it will do you well.

It will also eat rear brakes if driven enthusiastically, which given its remit I'm guessing you'll avoid.

[Mito Man]

We arrived at the dealership at 11am, ran by a father and son team who seemed genuinely enthusiastic about cars. As I got out the car the father exclaimed “those 645s leak oil from everywhere”
Had a good look around the XJ, it was immaculate bar needing the water spots polishing off all the chrome trim and the drivers seat leather needing a light wiping down. The underside of the car and exhaust heat shields even looked shiny still.

My dad and the son sat inside the car to look at all the infotainment and tech at which point I was distracted at the other end of the workshop talking about cars. So I missed the test drive and saw them just driving off.
On returning from the test drive the son said “bloody hell I shit myself” - apparently my dad got the car quite sideways on a roundabout. So the test drive was great and he purchased it and we got to driving back.

I only took this one pic whilst we stopped for a quick slash at a motorway services. It was overhanging both ends of the parking space. I think it may be almost as long as a Stagea.

It’s a nice colour in reality, and with the anthracite wheels will hide grime well.

So eventually we get home and I finally get taken for a quick spin. First unexpected thing, from the outside it sounds like a diesel. From the inside at idle and low rpm it sounds like a petrol W12. Eh. Higher revs it sounds like a petrol V6. I don’t know if it’s fake audio being played but you wouldn’t know it’s a diesel if you’re just being driven around in it. It has oodles of wheel spinning torque and the bonnet rises under acceleration. My dad worded it rather better but said the car doesn’t feel compromised because of the diesel engine but it complements it well. The 8 speed ZF gearbox is very smooth and hilariously the car has flappy paddles.
The ride - surprisingly BMW like. I thought it would be more of a barge, but it’s pretty stiff and doesn’t roll very much at all, you can feel all the various road imperfections and surface changes. More suitable for a driver rather than being driven in. Still smells like new leather inside. Meridian sound system - amazing.
My back and legs felt rather tired after a solid 300 mile slog in the 6 series but 25 minutes of sitting in the XJ later and I felt much fresher.

I took a series of rather random but amusing pictures.

What does a Caterham and an XJ have in common?


Not a spec of dirt on any of the electrical plugs or nooks and crannies


The seats still have their leather car guide tags!


All 4 tyres are original!