Faults:

Part of the LCD display for the climate control has dimmed.

Headlining is sagging over the back seats and needs replacing.

General Comments:

I've recently returned from overseas, and wanted an interesting sedan for my gentle 20 km round-trip commute, but didn't want to spend a fortune.

I found this car for sale in Queensland with just 66K km from new, an elderly owner retiring from driving and in beautiful condition. I had the car inspected and a very thorough service performed. They also fitted a mono-strut in the rear suspension to tighten it up a little a-la-XJR - the ride is still superb though. The car was then shipped across the Nullabor to Perth where I've now been using it very happily for the last couple of months.

I'm seriously impressed by the smooth ride, effortless performance (it's not fast, but it's not supposed to be - "rapid" and "unstressed" are better words and if you press the "Sport" button it will spin to the red line with a very satisfying but civilised growl), quietness and general quality feel.

It also looks superb in Carnival red with leather Oatmeal and Antelope interior. It's a very late (Aug 1997 build) X300, which has a high spec - although not the Sovereign model, it has fully powered front seats, sunroof, CD stacker etc. - and crucially since I have 3 kids, three lap-sash seat belts across the rear seat.

The interior space of my standard wheelbase model is not generous for a car this size, but we have a people-mover for when we need a load of room.

The only niggle for me (I'm fairly tall) is that the seat belt upper mounting could do with going a couple of cm higher up the track, but I find the seat very comfortable, and I can achieve an excellent driving position. The boot is actually larger than I thought it would be (the space-saver spare helps), and if you pack it carefully with different sized bags, it will hold a surprising amount of stuff. My friends and family can't believe what good value it was, or that it is over 12 years old.

I love the slightly old-fashioned feel of the car, mated to a reasonable level of modern safety technology. I really wanted the last of the straight six cars rather than a V8 for exactly this reason. The V8 in my 1967 Maserati Quattroporte was pretty special, but for some reason I keep returning to a straight six - all my favourite cars over the years have been straight sixes.

Even though I drive fairly sedately, I am only getting about 15.5L/100Km (about 18.2 mpg) which is pretty ordinary, but even a short open road run sees this improve to about 12.5 without trying hard. Still, that's at least 50% better than the Quattroporte!

Overall I'm very happy indeed. I've found a good workshop here that specialise in Jaguars who will look after the car for me, so I'm all set for a long relationship with this car.

UPDATE IN JUNE 2013:

I stand by every word I said about this car three years ago. It is now nearly 16 years old and I have added 22,000 Km in the last three-and-a-half years of (almost) daily use. It has been very reliable. I've had it serviced every 6 months at Roadbend in Perth who are an excellent independent Jaguar workshop. The only failures have been two cooling system hoses (and one of those went on my driveway - convenient!). Apart from that I've replaced the front brake rotors/pads, an engine mount bush and a couple of the coil-in-plug units. I had the headlining replaced, the wing mirrors resprayed where they'd picked up some scuffs, and got the bulb in the climate control display replaced. Last year I bought a new set of Yokohama db tyres, as the old ones were nearly 10 years old and had got hard - what a difference that made! And that's it apart from routine oil/filter changes etc. The XJ is far cheaper to keep on the road than our 2007 Land Rover Discovery 3 (although that too has been reliable).

I recently drove over 600 km in a day averaging just over 100 km/h and got 10.4 l/100km using premium 98 octane fuel. Outstanding.

I'll check back in another three years and give you a further update - I fully expect to be running the car still!

Faults:

When I bought the car, I researched all of the TSB's and Recalls. The EGR recall was fixed by a Dealer at the time I bought the car.

The oil gauge drops from "normal" to "zero" from time to time. When it first happened during a long road trip... it scared the heck out of me.

I was extremely fortunate to come across a certified Jaguar Shop (non-dealer) in Jacksonville, FL who immediately knew what was going on. A TSB was sent out a few years back advising the oil sensors would need to be replaced. He told me, "Continue with your trip without worry." That was 9,000 miles ago. It stills drops time to time because I haven't had the time to get it into the shop to get repaired. But there is ZERO impact on performance.

General Comments:

I replaced the shocks with Bilstein's at 100k. I bought the shocks in an aftermarket retail store and then had a certified Jag mechanic install them. The dealer wanted over $1,800 for the job. Total cost for new shocks purchased, installed and car alignment came out to a little over $800. The car has always rode impressively but now is even better! It rides like it owns the road.

These are heavy cars with a long wheelbase which provides for INCREDIBLE highway driving. These are not exactly quick cars from the line. (In fact, I think my 1991 Nissan Pickup truck has a little more "zip" to it when you hit the gas.) I laugh when people try to race me from a stoplight. C'mon, I'm over 40 years old! I am gentle with the car and it has repaid me with low maintenance costs. No matter what shop I visit (and such visits are infrequent), the mechanics tell me the 95-97 Jaguars were "Jaguars done right."

This is a luxury car. The ride is quiet, comfort can't be matched (I'd rather sit in the back seats of the XJ6L than in the front seat... but who'd drive the car?), the original stereo is incredible, and the look is Jaguar impressive. Gas mileage is 18-19 mpg in the city but 27-28 on the highway.

If you want a fast and quick car, try a used Porsche. If you want total luxury and comfort... buy this car and be gentle with it. The car has no strain to it even above 70 mph. If you are gentle with the car, it should be gentle with your wallet.