Faults:

I bought this Jaguar back in the year 1999 for 4,000 American dollars.

This car runs like a dream; smooth, quick and is very, very reliable.

I did rebuild the engine after 90,000 miles as it was starting to use oil, though the oil pressure was still up in the 60's at around 70 mph.

Had the wood refinished in 2001. Cost $400, and is still in excellent condition.

Seats are as new because of using a good quality leather cleaner.

Had to remove both gas tanks, as they were starting to rust through. Had them refinished, and put in two new sending units at the same time.

This car is the European version with no emissions fitted to it, as the American spec cars had. So no air pump.

All door window switches failed at one time, but I took them apart and cleaned the contacts... now working fine.

The A/C compressor was replaced by a later type, doing away with the GM A6 one, which seemed to weigh nearly as much as the engine.

This car runs like a watch. It's so smooth and quiet. The only way I know that it's running is to look at the rev counter.

General Comments:

This car has been the best buy I have ever had.

It has plenty of room, and is very comfortable, and has taken me from the east coast of the U.S. over to the west coast, without any problem several times.

Faults:

We bought this car in May from a dealer who advertised it as "mechanically great - no work to be done, ready to drive". That should have been a red flag right there. But it wasn't a fixer-upper.

This review is in October - 5 months later.

(First Mechanic's Service)

Brake calipers had to be adjusted.

Opened up windscreen washer jets on the bonnet - they were clogged.

Replaced fuel injector hoses (that's why these things toast marshmallows from time to time - replace them if you don't want a bonfire).

Sonic clean of injectors.

Smelled remarkably like old caravan at first. Turned out the air conditioning pipe was blocked, and water had backed up and saturated the underlay for the carpets. Carpets easily removed and dried out; mechanic unblocked tube. No more problems.

(First Service: $1400)

(First Electrician visit)

Headlights went off sporadically over speed bumps. The Prince of Darkness (Lucas) was strong in this one. Electrician wired around the fusebox and fixed this.

Air conditioning regassed. Put in an override under the dash so it turned off properly.

Replaced air-con switch on the front panel - micro switches had had it.

Horn worked once. Apparently the steering columns collapse over time - only slightly - but this stops the horn working. Electrician put in override.

Heater assembly reviewed, revised and corrected.

Cooling fan thermostat went - cooling fan wouldn't turn off. Electrician replaced thermostat.

(First Electrician visit: $1900)

(Second Mechanic's visit)

Glass in passenger door slipped off rails when frustrations with Jag boiled over in slammed doors :).

Handbrake adjusted - apparently they're 'holding' brakes, not a 'park' brake; you shouldn't use them unless the hill's really steep.

Replaced thermostat in engine - had wrong thermostat fitted that wouldn't let it reach operating temperature, with subsequent "absolutely horrible" fuel economy. Would sit at 60 degrees rather than 90.

(Second Mechanic's visit:$400)

(Spares purchased)

Replaced antenna drive motor - old one had given up the ghost.

End trim was missing on end of dash ($10).

Replaced indicator light assembly in the rear bumper - old one had had screw holes stripped and the lens fell out on the highway (only $10, but took a couple of hours to fit with my elite skills).

Radio (old cassette player, must have been in since the early 90s) replaced with a cheapie radio.

Digital radio replaced the cheapie radio when we decided we were keeping the Jag (oh boy).

Switch to operate passenger window died - got a replacement easily enough ($5 per switch).

(Spares purchased: $600)

(Third Mechanic visit)

This was the OMFG visit (what, the others weren't?). Car was running rough on idle. Not good over speed bumps. Handbrake (ha!) gone again. Coolant leak. I'll note we received an estimate of $4,000 to do this work. Estimates don't mean much in Jag-world.

Power steering rack replaced.

All six shock absorbers replaced.

While it's up on the hoist, you may as well re-do the brakes - normally a $1300 job. So that was done.

Handbrake fixed - but instructed not to use it. Ever.

Cleaned fuel lines and drained fuel tanks. Got rid of all the sludge in the bottom of the bank. Apparently never cleaned in 26 years - there are drain hole covers that hadn't been touched.

Cleaned drain holes near fuel caps - water possibly seeping in through the fuel cap, as it couldn't get away through the drain holes.

Replaced ball joints. All ball joints.

Fuel sender unit for one tank was replaced. One of the tanks wouldn't tell you how much it had left in it.

All bushes, various rubbery parts and seals (leaking from brakes, coolant, power steering fluid, transmission) replaced. This car had apparently been let sit since an engine rebuild 5 years ago - these cars need to be run and keep lubricants up to those rubbery bits.

Basically the suspension is completely brand new now. I had expected to have to do this at some point; on the plus side it now goes well over speed bumps, and suspension is just great.

Washed windscreen.

Lots of other little things I've probably forgotten.

(Third Mechanic visit: $5963)

(Fourth mechanic visit)

Car 'squeaky' now after suspension rebuild. Probably new rubbery bits needing lubrication.

Four days after picking up the Jag from the OMFG mechanic's visit, the Jag broke down on one of our busier roads. Wouldn't fire over; still running rough and idling badly. Ended up getting it flat-bedded to the mechanic.

The wife's commentary to the mechanic was, I am sure, enough to make a sailor blush (recall that this was the reason we put it in on mechanic's visit #3 to get fixed - not suspension!).

(Fourth mechanic visit: $who knows)

General Comments:

Strangely, the list of things that have gone wrong - and the price tag - haven't turned me off this car. It must be the endorphins.

But it should be noted that this was not a fixer-upper. This was not a restoration project. This was sold as a car that was mechanically A1. We paid $A11,000, admittedly through a dealer, but that should have secured a good example.

The idea was to get a classic-looking luxo-barge to swan around in, rather than spending lots on a new Beemer or Merc.

We have been bitten - badly - by naivety and rose-coloured glasses. We wanted this car - God they look good and cruise better - and we have paid for it.

Oh boy have we paid for it.

We didn't have a mechanic's inspection (it was bought through a dealer). Our first mistake of many. Get one, or you are opening up a world of hurt you cannot conceive of. Dealer warranty, surprise surprise, plus $3.50 will buy you a cup of coffee in this town.

Walk away if there are any doubts - there are still plenty of these about that your example won't be precious.

Now there are some good points here. The interior is really good. That leather came up nicely after some leather dressing. Some cracks in the wood veneer, but really nothing major there. A patina of age that is just right.

Hoodlining had been replaced at some stage. No leaks from the electric sunroof that we can find (still works! Yay!).

The engine was rebuilt 6000kms ago, so the core engine should be OK (sigh).

The car was repainted in the late 90s and still looks adequate. It will need a refresh at some point. No rust to speak of. These are all good things.

When running, it runs well. The suspension - even before the refit - just floated. For a two-ton car, there was no body roll around corners and twisty bits. The turning circle for such a long car is just great; it's quite light and easy to park (mostly because it's quite narrow).

Fuel economy of course is just shocking for around-town trips. We've discovered - too late! - that we do many 5-minute trips. 5 minutes is how long the Jag takes to reach operating temperature - until that time it just pours petrol to the motor to get to operating temperature. On our usual 'short hop' commutes, we are getting around 20/21 litres per 100kms (it's got 2 45 litre petrol tanks - a hint in itself of poor fuel economy - so that's about 400kms around town before fill ups). If you drove longer trips, the thermostat will open up at operating temperature and you'll get better economy, around say 17l/100kms. On highway we have got it down to the 12l/100km. We did a little jig when we got that.

I swear though I could actually see the fuel tank gauge dropping as we drove along.

They say a Jag XJ6 makes the owner happy twice - the day they buy it and the day they sell it. That has been our experience. We have now dumped a metric ####load into this car and it doesn't run reliably.

Driving the car feels special, and you get comments from everyone who sees it (derisive laughter from those in the know). They look gorgeous and drive better. They are solid - they thunk the old-fashioned way when you close the door, and you won't crease the bonnet if you sit on it.

Get a good example, and I am sure you'll be happy. "Good" is going to mean it needs to have been used though and maintained regularly. That seems to be the key. Ours had paperwork - but unbeknown to us, some of that paperwork was for some stellar bodgework (e.g. the air-conditioning looked like it had been serviced - there were receipts - but it was for a bodgy override switch that burnt it out after twelve months).

Part of our problems relate to our lack of time and mechanical skills. If I was fixing it up in my spare time, perhaps the costs wouldn't be so bad. But even if I had the skill, I don't have the time, and in any case the $6000 bill was made up of $4000 worth of parts.

In a triumph of hope over experience I am still hoping to make this car work properly. But we are feeling punch drunk. If my mechanic can't fix the rough idling, and he tells my wife this, he may be punch drunk too. Maybe we should trade it on an econobox that will last all of six years before it goes to the crusher.