1998 Jaguar XJ8 V8 3.2

Summary:

There is no better

Faults:

Not much while in my short ownership. The car was more or less fully restored (cosmetically) before I bought it. Engine and transmission are in great order having been looked after with no expense spared since new.

General Comments:

Always loved these cars. Dream come true for me as I finally bought one last year. Won't say how much I paid but... these are surprisingly cheap practical classics!

Of course, you should use an XJ8 as a second car only. It does 19 miles per gallon, not great even back in the 1990's, and truly awful economy now.

But the car is powerful, buttery smooth, and whisper silent, and I love it. That V8 is the one to go for in 3.2 form.

Beige leather inside is still in great shape after over 25 years. Exterior perfect also, beige/silver.

Classic XJ shape still gets admiring looks when I take it out on a nice day.

When Jaguar was Jaguar and when cars were cars! I love this car and never want to part with it.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 24th July, 2024

2001 Jaguar XJ8 3.2 petrol

Summary:

This car is a palace on wheels

Faults:

Nothing!

General Comments:

I have been a XJ8 fan since testing one about 5 years ago as a replacement for my aging BMW525 (which itself was a fantastic car). I always assumed my subsequent car would also be a BMW, but I just can't like the current range of BMW's as much as I try.

I live in Moscow, Russia and had been without a car for 4 years until October last year when scanning the UK Internet for a car I happened upon a real eye-opener, a beautiful met green 2001 XJ8, full Jaguar dealer history and 1 owner car. At GBP 5,750 it was a bargain! I collected the car in November in the UK, took it to the local (UK) Jag dealer who were great, and they gave the car a quick once over for the price of the mud-flaps I had fitted, and they confirmed that all was in order, so I set off with 2 other passengers and 60kgs of baggage to Moscow.

All I can say is that this is the first car where I haven't felt sick reading in the back. We traveled 4 days in wonderful comfort and not a single problem - we got to Germany from London with a single tank of petrol, so no complaints on fuel economy either.

Since this time, the car has endured a full Russian winter including temperatures of -20 and she starts every time, first time. The roads here a simply awful, but the car just rides over it all. She looks fantastic and feels like a mini Blenheim Palace. I feel like I've got home whenever I get in.

This, even though it's the previous model, is a truly wonderful car to own, sheer pleasure. Thanks Jaguar.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 25th February, 2009

1st May 2009, 11:43

As a long-time Jaguar owner, I was delighted to hear of your happy experience with your XJ. I have a similar car to yours and love it to death. It has never let me down, and although it's not new, I still have people come up to me to tell me how much they love it. It's a beautiful car and a tribute to the long-gone and much-lamented Sir William Lyons, whose input in the magnificent XJ6 in 1968 is still visible in some many of Jaguar's later saloons.

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1997 Jaguar XJ8

Summary:

Unreliable

Faults:

Engine floods very easily if it has not warmed up. Will not restart even when looked at by AA. Have had had to have it towed to garage on several occasions & have been told by dealer that this was a design fault. Is there any way round this or obvious first aid that I can carry out at time of flooding?

General Comments:

Otherwise nice looking & comfortable.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 1st March, 2006

30th Aug 2008, 12:46

My dad's car - a 1995 XJ6 - once suffered this problem, as did a Mondeo of mine. It seems to happen after you start the car, drive it a few feet and then switch off.

If it happens again, try the following:

Switch off ignition.

Press accelerator to the floor and keep it held there.

Switch on ignition, pause a couple of seconds, then turn the key further to fire up the engine.

If the engine fires up, it might splutter a bit but should start to sound healthier after a few seconds, at which point you should smoothly release the accelerator.

The trick here is that when the accelerator is on the floor, this actually seems to instruct the engine management system to NOT take any more fuel from the tank, thus you avoid further flooding and it just burns off the excess that's already in the injectors.

Good luck!

30th May 2009, 17:57

I had a 1994 BMW 525i which suffered from this problem as well, and I always put it down to some issue with early catalytic converter cars. My Dad's Rover 216 of a similar vintage also suffered in the same way. I agree with the previous entry that the remedy was to floor the throttle and keep turning it over and it would eventually start and run rough for a while. I always worried if this method damaged the cats, but I never had a problem. In the end I found that if you kept it running for a least couple of minutes after starting it would restart alright. A bit of pain if you wanted to shunt cars around on the driveway though.