So, the thing that occupies my 15-year-old's waking thoughts, other than slogging through homework, is shopping CL for cars. We've come close to pulling the trigger on a manual Saab wagon and an E39 stick shift bimmer. We're looking for something cheap (under $5k? preferably less), not fast, and very reliable. Allowances can be made for cool. That is, we can sacrifice a little reliability if the car is super cool. My son likes his luxury, and his "sport". Jaguar has been mentioned, which got me to wondering: Is there a Jaguar made in the last 20 years that is dependable, desirable, and useable as a daily driver?
Probably the one that’s badge engineered off the mondeo/fusion
Whichever one Frenchy had.
what about the basically ford/volvo ones?
Robbie
UltimaDork
11/1/18 5:09 p.m.
X types can be had cheap, but so can REAL jags.... Oh Burn... 
I think anything reasonably modern should do the job just fine. Like the v8 xj. 1998+
When a jag breaks it will be more expensive than a Jeep to fix however. And the procedures to fix them are different than most other cars. Not hugely, but working on a jag is somehow just not exactly the same as working on most other cars.
In reply to Robbie :
Well, they are British afterall... I wouldn’t expect anything different.
I'm skeered of the Nikasil-lined 4.0 V8's in the late 90's-2000-ish. Also don't want my new driver having V-8 power. LOL. When did they stop putting that big inline 6 in cars? Isn't the XJ a huge boat of a car?
96 was the last year of the 4.0 inline 6 in the xj. That car is a large luxury car. The first three years of v8s had a danger of Nikasil cylinder liners[97-98] and plastictiming chain tensioners [up to 2000] that were time bombs. Other than that, they are pretty reliable.
Q: Most reliable Jag 6cyl in the past 20 years?
A: 93-97 Infiniti J30
Jag styling with Nissan 300z 6cyl reliability.
Sample...in BRG
John Welsh said:
Q: Most reliable Jag 6cyl in the past 20 years?
A: 93-97 Infiniti J30
Jag styling with Nissan 300z 6cyl reliability.
I don't think I would consider a a twenty odd year old vg30de very reliable.
In reply to Jason McRoberts :
Compared to a twenty odd year old Jag?
In reply to John Welsh :
It may be that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but I feel that they missed the mark (by a wide margin) with the styling there, and indeed everywhere else, with every car they've styled since the third generation Maxima of the late 1980's-early-1990's. I've never been a fan of Nissan, and can't imagine paying money for one. But, other than that... 
In reply to John Welsh :
It's an ugly Nissan. Next!
Dave
Reader
11/1/18 10:20 p.m.
Probably not much to go wrong here
Jay_W
Dork
11/1/18 11:17 p.m.
We still have my wife's 02 xtype as a backup car. Dern thing has near 300k on it. Yes, we did have to replace the centerdiff but other than that, mostly, it's been reliable. A few ignition coils and interior plastic bits that like to go on walkabaout but no other big deals I can remember.
That centerdiff though...
Jags are no worse than any other car especially post 2004. I prefer them to BMW just because they are generally not hammered on like a BMW of similar vintage.
There non service able transmissions that are supposed to be good for the life of the car were not the best thing. Especially when the factory service manual said to service them every 40k.
Parts pricing is bmw or Mercedes
dean1484 said:
Jags are no worse than any other car especially post 2004.
Dude, put down the crack pipe...it's messing with your mind, brah....
In reply to 1988RedT2 :
As a daily driver? No! Not if you want perfection!
Mechanically the 4.0 in line all aluminum six cylinder is more reliable Than most. the nice thing is the engine compartment seems roomy with the six compared to the V12. but the rest of it is like any low volume manufacture. HVAC radio, power accessories, have some decent components but switches controls etc. will be as bad as BMW, Benz, Alfa Romero, Bentley, Rolls Royce or any other expensive car.
If he does buy one do not go to the dealer for parts and service. A switch that lasts for decades in a Chevy or Honda will cost 10-15 times the price and last maybe 6 years. Same as the BMW, Benz etc.
Junkyards are filled with Jaguars that have good parts for near normal junkyard prices. Working on a Jaguar is pretty much like working on any other car. Yeh like any car there are shortcuts that save time but a good workshop manual will explain things. There is a great free manual available by Kirby Palm .
The 2 door XJS WEIGHS 4200 pounds and the 4 door XJ6 weighs 4600 pounds so don’t expect 30+ mpg low 20’s is the most you can hope for. And the XJ6 will be closer to high teens.
Robbie said:
X types can be had cheap, but so can REAL jags.... Oh Burn...
I think anything reasonably modern should do the job just fine. Like the v8 xj. 1998+
When a jag breaks it will be more expensive than a Jeep to fix however. And the procedures to fix them are different than most other cars. Not hugely, but working on a jag is somehow just not exactly the same as working on most other cars.
Maybe because many of the bolts remain American sizes instead of metric?
If you work on BMW, Benz,Ford, Chevy. The things are pretty similar. There is a free on line book by Kirby Palm that explains Jaguars nicely. Things to look out for. Areas that could stand improvement etc.
Patrick said:
Probably the one that’s badge engineered off the mondeo/fusion
They tend to have weak transmissions just like their cousins.
I came here to say Forduar as early posters mentioned. I had a 2004 X-Type with the manual transmission as a daily driver for about 8 years. I never had any problems or changed anything other than fluids, filters, brakes and tires. It was small but comfortable, and did extremely well in MI's sloppy winters. I traded it in on a new Subaru when it turned 12 years old because it leaked oil and the transfer case started making a little noise when it was very cold. I like to think it is still out there plugging along. The X-Type was a perfectly acceptable car, but they are getting pretty old now...
My assumption is the X350 version of the XJ sedan that was sold from 2003 to 2006. I think it got the most development attention from Ford to eradicate all of the unreliability out. I have absolutely no experience with these cars and do not want to own one so grain of salt.
