XJ40 as a daily

Just get it bought. Life is too short and there are too many different cars to try. If the thought is in your head, if you're anything like me, you'll buy one regardless of what everyone says anyway (see my beetle thread)

I had cheap X300 as a daily for a while a couple of years back. It was both wonderful and hard work. I suspect a lot of the issues would be the same with the XJ40.

On the plus side the driving experience was lovely. Could do endless miles and enjoy them all. The AJ6 / AJ16 engines are smooth, powerful, sound nice and generally very reliable. It was one of those cars you look for excuses to take for a drive.

On the downside, it was a 25 year old car that had done plenty of miles, that means 25 salty wet winters on the road. While my car didn't suffer some of the bodywork rust issues that are common, corrosion was still the main enemy. Putting the car into daily use soon showed up some issues, nothing drastic, just a couple of bushes to change, a wheel bearing, etc. But these jobs were made so much harder because most of the nuts and bolts hadn't moved for decades. At least the parts were fairly cheap, and easily available.

Ultimately it was this kind of general age related corrosion that ended my ownership experience. I had a failing diff output bearing, not uncommon with the Jag IRS. I bought the part cheaply and easily, but was unable to change it with the diff in the car as the heads had rusted off the bolts holding the side bearing in. I tried all the tricks (hammering on smaller socket, welding on a nut etc) and failed, there was nothing for it but to drop the subframe to get better access to the diff so I could drill the bolts out. I came to the conclusion that removing the rear subframe would have meant plenty more bolts that would probably round/shear and need replacing, the brake lines didn't look like they stood a chance of coming off in one piece and once it was apart I'd probably find several bushes and there parts that would need changing. None of this is an insurmountable problem, but it would have been several weekends work and meant no way of getting to work while it was in bits, it was a sign that I needed to consider my priorities and ultimately lead me to selling it.

Probably if I'd not had the diff problem, with another 6 months driving I'd have gone through the basic maintenance cycle, and things would have got easier. Most of the basic maintenance jobs would have been done and the seized/rounded bolts already dealt with.

Fuel economy... I had the 4.0 AJ16 engine and was averaging about 20mpg. Around town it was comfortably under 15mpg... but you just gotta learn to fill it when it says empty and not work out the MPG.

Would I do it again? Not as a daily, it's not worth the Sunday nights in the rain on the driveway trying to put the car back together in time to drive to work on Monday. But I'm also really glad I have done it, and ultimately it was part of planting the seed in my mind that lead me to buying my Daimler project.

Regarding the X308, personally I much prefer the interior design of the XJ40 / X300 to the X308. The AJ6/ AJ16 engines are also considered much more reliable than the X308 v8. The AJ16 is the final iteration of a tried and tested Jag straight 6 that dates all the way back to the XK engines of the 50s, all the problems were ironed out years ago. The AJ8 engine was new for the X308, and as such has a whole bunch of issues they couldn't force when designing it. An example being the cam chain tensioner which I believe had several revisions and should be checked which version you have as earlier versions are prone to failure. On the plus side for the X308, they are meant to be a bit more refined and do noticeably better fuel economy.

Dailied my XJ40 4.0 manual for a couple of years when I was 23-24ish (2013-14). Was rock solid reliable while I had it, and it's only really my own fault that it ever came off the road (put an LSD in and didn't get the shimming right). Even took it on a big roadtrip to central France (pictured!).



Was pretty thirsty for a 23yr old on not a great deal of money but I made it work. The manual helps tick up the mpg a point or two, and you can get good economy on a cruise (think 25-28mpg). Around town it's closer to 18. Worst I managed was 8mpg after some rather rapid progress cross country if you're wondering, they're a bit soft at the limit but nice and neutral.

Electrical horror stories aren't justified. Just steer away from the very early cars (so '87 and '88) and you'll be ok. That's probably good advice for car buying in general, no matter what you're getting.

Seems to be more on FB marketplace for a reasonable price, whereas the ones on eBay seem to be on the upper end. Really nice ones are climbing in value now, but you can still get usable ones within your budget.

Mine is a bit of a goldilocks car, and probably one that you'd want to aim for if you can. It's a '92, which means post-digital dash and a 4.0, but pre-Ford. When Ford came in they improved the electrics, but also changed the bulkhead structure which made it more susceptible to rust. Both are reasonable propositions though.

As for why you'd actually want one...
There isn't a car I've driven before or since that has made me feel as baller as I did rolling around in this Jag. Combination of the interior, the way it drives and the way it looks so different from anything else on the road. Hell of a vehicle just for that feeling alone.

Oh, and there's an excellent and very knowledgeable forum for them (XJ40.com), and a chap there called Naki has hoarded all sorts of parts over the years so you can still get quite a lot of stuff for them (including bits of trim and whatnot).

Being as its not our wallets at risk........BUY ONE and entertain us with the horrendous pitfalls pleasures of ownership and massive reliability and sensible running costs

I wouldn’t but I’ll say more later.

EDIT : I had a chat with the Jag friend of mine

They aren’t the best built with in built water leaks they rot for England anyway. Daily use won’t help that.

Even my Jag loving mate would call you mad for selling an E39 for an XJ40, and he’s owned the lot from an S1 to an X350. He used to race them and XJSs as well. I know on XJSs some
Spares have dried up like master cylinders for some variants and some just are plain wrong despite being new. New springs for example just have an XJS now looking like a reverse speedboat. But that’s your choice these days

My XJ40 was rotten in 2006! It wanted floors, inner wings repairs, boot floor issues and sills, repairs if done right would have outweighed the cost of the car fairly quickly.“, even today. Mine had inner wing patches aplenty as a 'bit of welding' over the years. It did become a bit of a patchwork quilt.

Spares for the pre-Ford cars are becoming trickier. SLS bits are now hard to find as are interior parts/electrics. The Series cars have always had more demand and thus more parts for them.

I also doubt WFH will last forever

It’s the only 80s car I’ve seen have the floor plan completely detach itself from the car at the front when on a trailer.

Sorry if it seems negative but after having owned one and seeing a mate bring in loads and loads of them since 2006 to break due to them rotting and in later times aforementioned spares issues, I couldn't recommend one to anyone. A W124 doesn't quite have the class but in terms of rot and spares availability, they are leagues ahead, especialy with Mercedes providing the backup.

It's something the E39 will have over even an X308. As I've said before, I can get most parts for my M3. My Mondeo? The stock is already drying up. Jaguar Classic generally won't put things into production unless there is significant demand for it, with 10 years being their 'reduction' status.

Just an update - I was so close to buying an xj40 but ended up going for an xj8 instead.

Thanks for all your help!