Should I buy an XJ40

Yes ... and then go racing with it


IMG_6426 by Retro Rides, on Flickr

Of course you should buy it. I seem to recall from considering this years ago that cars built after Ford took the reigns in '89 are a lot less electronically suspect than earlier cars.

Ok

After a gocompare number plate check its an XJ6

Should you buy an XJ40? Yes!

Should you buy the one next door? I'm not sure. In short:

-The flaking on the tailgate is down to tinworm. It's a common spot. I'd have thought tailgates were pricier now as even 10 years ago they were rotting here. Our '89 XJR had a shot tailgate back in 2005.
-The bodies are OK but they can rot badly in a few key areas including the A pillars, C Pillars beneath the windscreen rubber (it's a water trap), Rear of the sills and floorpans can go frilly.
-Engines are pretty tough. If it's misfiring it could be as simple as iffy plug leads or the HG blown between two cylinders.
-Door handles break, with the Pre-Ford cars being worse

IMHO buy one but be sure to look in the key areas and to not be taken in by a nice exterior and lashings of wood.

In working order they are a lovely thing.

You deffo should get it! they are fantastic cars. It will show up as an XJ6 (the same way as a 5 series BMW can be a 525 across many different model years) the XJ40 is the late 80's to early 90's square model. The one that came after was the X300 if I recall, but they will still be badged XJ6.

I have had 2 of these, both 4.0 litre straight 6 models with the sports auto box. They were fantastic cars, great engine to work on.

Things to look out for...

Saggy headlining, almost all of them get it.

Rust rust and more rust. Check inner arches, sills and boot floor they go badly here. Near where the struts mount forward seem to go badly too.

If it is rust free you are on to a winner. They are beyond comfy.

I'm also an XJ40 fan and previous owner, would recommend buying one

As mentioned above, the later Ford-overseen cars are a bit improved in terms of build quality, and have analogue gauges which are less troublesome than the early digital dash

You can get the XJ6, but some are also badged Sovereign which gives you a better spec level overall (My Sovereign had cruise, leather, AC, headlight washers etc.)

Sovereigns also get the big square headlights where the XJ6 has the 4 circular headlights. The square 'fish tank' headlights are quite pricey to replace if the reflectors get rusty etc.

Rust is the most important thing to look for as abve

As mentioned, engines are pretty 'bombproof' but can have their issues. They can puff out a bit of smoke on startup due to worn valve stem seals (I think the angle of the valves exacerbates this as well). Mine also developed a graunch sound on start up which was sorted with a new starter.

Parts are pretty easy to come by and not overly expensive, for the really hard to get bits, you can still go to Jaguar for parts and their heritage department.

Do you know what engine it is? Mine was a 4.0 which was lovely, but was also the thirstiest car I've owned to date! (around 17mpg over my ownership)

Have a pic of my old one



Its actually back up for sale by the guy who bought it off me, www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C860426 but I don't think much to the new wheels and hes asking a decent wedge for it!

I've seen a few more '40s pop up on here lately in threads, gives me the feeling I should get another one day.. My ultimate would be a 4.0 with manual gearbox

As Adam73BGT was saying, it is without doubt one of the thirstiest cars I have owned too. Id go as far to say it was as bad if not worse than the 3.5efi Range Rover Classic I had. I still love the look of them though and would easily have another one. I just missed one that was already LPG converted. have a good look at the chassis too. It is kind of like a box section either side. they can rot badly there.

All in its an epic car.

That is surprising. My XJ40 XJR 4.0 was actually fairly decent on petrol. It could get around 18-20MPG around with careful driving and around 27MPG on a run.

The E32 730i we had at the time seemed like the Exxon Valdez! While it sounded lovely it did not do more than 22MPG even when trying. From the Jag it was quite a shock. It's not the first time I've noticed the small engined BMWs being thirsty however.

YES! Buy it

Great cars - and starting to rise in price now - I had the 3.6 and was a thing of wonder