USED Jaguar XJ Saloon (97 - 03)

My car

I bought this car in 2001 from a Jaguar main dealer with 60K miles on the clock. Although it is an early model with nikasil bores it has now covered 175K.

The quality interior and smooth V8 engine makes it a superb long distance cruiser. Economy is not too bad managing 28-30mpg on a run.

It has needed a new water pump after the impeller failed. Rear shock absorbers are expensive to replace. The most annoying fault was a loose rear bumper caused by corrosion of the steel bolts in their aluminium brackets. This to me seems a basic design fault and is a difficult DIY job and quite expensive too.

Overall the main dealer has been very helpful,servicing costs are reasonable,a great car.

My car

This supercharged version of the Jaguar flagship is incredibly good. Performance is spine-tingling but deceptive until you glance at the speedo.

It has the usual Jaguar quality interior refinement but some electricals can be a problem as the years progress. Insurance is available at reasonable cost if you shop around.

Bodywork is a lot better than earlier XJ models. It's one of the very best Jaguars I have owned.

It does outperform virtually everything apart from the very top class supercars and it is a luxury saloon - amazing.

My car

I bought my car with 83,000 miles on the clock when it was three years old, with a full Jaguar service history for £13,000.

I used it for my chauffeur business, and never had any serious problems. It was serviced by a local garage. I averaged 22mpg over 137,000 miles. The engine used minute quantities of oil at 105,000 miles, and was replaced under warranty. The gearbox failed at 145,000 miles and was rebuilt for £1500.

It needs new tyres every 23,000 miles. The battery is still the original one! The air-conditioning has never needed to be regassed either! I changed the wheel bearings and ball joints once. That's it.

Grace, space and pace in full measure. At 220,000 miles, I swapped it for a newer model that will last me out until I retire. Buy one, look after it, and keep it as a classic.

My car

After 10 years of owning Jaguars, I was delighted to finally get the XJR Supercharged V8. It was two years old with 20,000 miles. It is now four-and-a-half years old and has done 53,000 miles.

This week it threw its big end shells and ruined the crankshaft. When I recovered it to the garage I was amazed to discover that 'they are renowned for it' and was shown four engines next to each other all with the same problem.

In this day and age, how is it possible that Jaguar's flagship saloon is 'renowned' for blowing up fully serviced engines at such a low mileage? I am outraged and will never buy a Jaguar again.