Faults:

Cylinder head gasket oil leak to coolant.

Differential replacement.

Hydraulic steering pump and steering rack.

Fuel pump.

Leveling system (ultimately removed).

W/S wiper system.

Active seatbelt system IN-OP.

Transmission failure warning light periodically throwing car into "limp-home" mode (current problem, and nobody has access to proprietary failure codes).

Electronic failures throughout.

Air conditioning under capacity for hot climate.

General Comments:

Wonderful performer when it's running, which is about 6 month out of 12. The biggest problem rests with Jaguar's inability to realize that their name is on the product and to provide a technical and customer support basis.

The second biggest problem is their reprehensible dealer-body which sees customers as cash-cows only, and their refusal to service older cars. Anything that's older than 5 years; they don't want to cope with, as I was told by one dealer when I called that my car was too old for them to work on it. That was in year 2000. This is disgusting; if it were not for independent Jaguar garages which keep a basically good legacy alive, there would not be a single JAG on the road that's older than 5 years.

And now, Jaguar wants us to rush out to buy some more of the aggravation we endured over the years. They need to weed their dealer-body and appoint new customer oriented dealers before I would even consider, as nice as the new models are.

Faults:

Head gasket failed twice (first time was due to poor install by mechanic).

Power steering pump failed, which resulted in intermittent power assist (unsafe). Replaced with rebuilt unit.

Power steering rack seals are leaking. Repaired once, but is now leaking again. Still unresolved.

Rear hydraulic suspension failed (SLS). Replaced with non-SLS parts and all associated hydraulics removed.

Air Conditioning leaking/failed due to rock damaged condenser. Still unresolved because I must convert to R134a in order to effect repairs, which is costly.

Oil pressure sender failure. I'm told this was a common problem. Oil pressure gauge would incorrectly read zero and the trouble light would come on. Replaced with updated sender and has not caused any more issues.

Radio arial does not retract. I was negligent in cleaning the arial. I found a replacement at a local breakers and have had no problems since.

Air thermister failure (fuel fail 16 VCM code). I tried to order a replacement from the (only) Jaguar dealer who wanted $150-170cdn for it, and I would have to wait for them to order it in from England. I called a Jaguar dealer in Seattle (across the border from me in Vancouver BC) and they only wanted $80cdn for it! In the end I pulled the sensor, flushed it out with WD40, and reinstalled it with no more faults.

General Comments:

We purchased this car because my father wanted a nice car to drive after years of agony in a minivan transporting me to hockey practice and school! We had thought that purchasing the vehicle from a local Jaguar club member would ensure little problems, but we were wrong as the vehicle had many unresolved issues that the seller unloaded on us. I also made the mistake of sending the car to a common mechanic for pre-inspection, rather than a Jaguar specialist.

We love the interior. It makes you realize how grim Mercedes or BMW interiors are. Headroom is a little tight for taller passengers, but still manageable. Back seat space is a little tight however. The trunk can swallow almost anything.

Engine performance is good for it's size. It is no match to the current AJ8 or Supercharged models, but we don't use it as a sports car.

The same applies to handling. We are a little disappointed with braking performance however... it is a heavy car and the brakes just don't seem up to the task when the need to stop hard arises.

The transmission shifts smoothly, and the Sport mode does the job, but sometimes fumbling for the button can be frustrating. The J-gate is a little too contrived... we rarely use it.

Despite all the problems, we still like the car very much. I'm not sure we would sell it because the resale value is poor, and lately it has not been giving us any grief.