Jaguar XJ (X351) - Damn Fine Car

[FRUNKenstein]

A few years ago, I got very interested in purchasing an X351 model Jaguar XJ (model years 2010 to 2019). I scoured the dealer auction sites and got close on buying one out of Texas (I was the high bidder at the auction 3 weeks in a row, but the seller wouldn't budge off its reserve price). So, I kind of gave up. About a month ago, I started looking for a winter driver since I sold my previous driver back in March and had been driving the hooptie fleet since then (thankfully at least one of the six of them was drivable every day!). With winter fast approaching, though, I needed a modern, reliable, all-wheel-drive vehicle, and naturally I gravitated to late-model, small SUVs. But, I kept seeing a 2013 base model XJ with AWD show up on the local auction run list - it had been repo'd from a closed dealership by the auction company's floor plan financing arm, so it had been sitting around the auction lot for quite a while. Last Tuesday, I went out to the auction to look at a couple of other vehicles before Wednesday morning's auction and thought "What the hell, let's see if it even starts."

It looked like hell on the outside - dust caked thick on top of water spots. The gloss black rims were matte gray with grime. The inside had these stupid-looking aftermarket front floor mats with diamond quilt done in red deviated stitching and they were beat-up and filthy. The push-button starter switch was cracked and had a chunk out of the middle of it. There is a sliding cupholder cover that was broken into 20 different pieces. There were low fuel warnings and low "Smart Key Battery" warnings glaring at me on the dash. Really, I felt sorry for the car.

That being said, it started right up. The seats were in good shape, and I didn't see anything else wrong with the interior that a good cleaning wouldn't fix. The car drove great. The air conditioning wasn't getting cold, but I figured it may just be low on refrigerant as the car is 9 years old. I didn't want to like the car as much as I did. But, dammit, it was just . . . cool. The gearshift knob coming up out of the console when the start button is pushed is really trick. The instrument panel is an LCD screen with virtual gauges that do some neat shit (the speedometer and tach numbers glow as the needle sweeps past them, for example). The burled walnut interior trim is gorgeous, with a strip running along the top of the dash that's very nicely done. It has a dual panel panoramic sunroof. The stereo system sounds amazing and has a modern interface. The glove box opens just by passing your hand over a sensor on the dash. The steering wheel is wood-trimmed and heated. Just a bunch of interesting features, and on a car that, other than the AWD option and the aforementioned steering wheel, is really just a base model vehicle. When I looked at them a few years ago, I convinced myself that I wanted the long-wheelbase "L" version for the rear seat legroom, but the short wheelbase I bought has plenty of backseat room. It had a nice set of Pirelli P Zero all season tires. So, although I didn't want to like the car, it really impressed me, despite the grime.

I only had one other bidder to contend with at the auction the next morning and ended up getting the car a fair amount below the auction's estimated value. With little bidding competition, I figured this is a purchase that I would quickly regret - I must have missed something (but, maybe, just maybe, the demand for 9 year old Jaguars isn't that strong among real car dealers). As soon as I pulled out of the auction lot and got on the street, I noticed the air conditioning got cold (it was 80 degrees that day). A quick stop at the gas station made the low fuel warning go away, and a battery change on the remote got rid of that other warning - the dash became warning light free! On the way home, I called my mechanic to drop it off for an oil change before I saw the windshield sticker stating it had been done less than 50 miles ago. So far, so good.

After running it through the self-service car wash, I broke out the detailing equipment and supplies. Some McGuire's Ultimate Quick Detailer did a really nice job of getting rid of several months' worth of water spots and uncovered the beauty of the Stratus Grey Metallic paint. As I hand-cleaned the wheels, I realized that they are actually in really nice shape. Because the wheel finish is supposed to be gloss black, I found a half bottle of ceramic coating left over from doing one of the other cars and ceramic coated the wheels (which brought back some of the original factory gloss). Though I'm not a fan of the OEM black wheels, they look OK once cleaned up. The interior cleaned up really nicely, too - the factory carpet and floor mats (except the missing driver's floormat) were all in really good shape under the tacky aftermarket floormats (that got shit-canned at the gas station 5 minutes after leaving the auction lot). I got a cover for the broken push-to-start button for a few bucks online.

All-in-all, I'm really happy with this car. I'll sell it come March, but I've already had 2 people at work ask me about selling it to them now. It looks better in person than it does in photos. It has a lot of style, and despite being 9 years old, the tech still looks up-to-date. I feel like I'm driving a $50,000 car rather than a $13,000 car. And at the risk of jinxing myself, the online consumer reviews indicate that they are actually pretty reliable (and I've had good luck with the 4 previous generation XJs I've owned in the past). So, if you're looking for what I would call an inexpensive driver, you really could do a lot worse than an X351 Jag. Here's hoping that my initial impression isn't a mirage!

m_IMG_4245.jpg (182.77 KiB) Viewed 1080 times

m_IMG_4188.jpg (185.09 KiB) Viewed 1080 times

m_IMG_4192.jpg (215.76 KiB) Viewed 1080 times

m_IMG_4193.jpg (190.14 KiB) Viewed 1080 times

m_IMG_4197.jpg (214.47 KiB) Viewed 1080 times

m_IMG_4201.jpg (187.51 KiB) Viewed 1080 times

m_IMG_4202.jpg (214.38 KiB) Viewed 1080 times

m_IMG_4205.jpg (229.49 KiB) Viewed 1080 times

m_IMG_4207.jpg (226.36 KiB) Viewed 1080 times

[gnat]

Congrats. It was a serious pain in my ass (I seriously had it in my possession 6 of the 48 months I owned it), but I loved my 98 XK8. I was wanted a XJR from that vintage as I thought they were sexy cars.

My XK8 was bought kinda on a whim (because I was young, stupid, and had access to way too much money for my maturity level), but it is what taught me that there was more than getting from A to B about cars. If I hadn't bought it, I wouldn't have bought the 996 for the wife.

[Dr_Strangelove]

FRUNKY you got an XJ for $13k? You got THAT XJ for $13k?

Sir, you win all day, afternoon, and night. What a machine, holy cow. It's kind of fuzzy but does it say 7x,000 miles? Wtf man I looooooove XJ's. BLACK XJ'S.

Enjoy in best of health. Hope the ac is just a pump up but that's the least of your concerns right now my friend

[32wildbilly]

If you black out the windows some more that ride is gonna be Gansta' YO!

Actually a nice looking car and I to give you credit for the purchase.

[5chn3ll]

My mom's grey-market XJ with a stroker Chevy V8 is one of the only cars I miss from my childhood. I took it to prom when I was a senior in high school...my date and I spent about 20 minutes at prom and the rest of the night tear-assing up and down Pacific Coast Highway in the Jaaaaaaaaaaag.

Nice buy, Signor Curatore!

Frunky.gif (2.89 MiB) Viewed 1050 times

[FRUNKenstein]

Thanks, gentlemen. Really enjoying the car - I really wasn't expecting much from it. It's already way better than that POS Audi A8L I bought as a driver a few years ago. That's what was running through my mind - "Did I just f_ck up again?" But, so far I'm really pleased with it. The air conditioning has been working perfectly since I drove it off the auction lot. I think it had just been sitting for several months, and stuff doesn't work right when it's been sitting.

[theprf]

That is a really nice car. They sure are depreciation machines though. I hope you've gotten a good one and it treats you well.

[Kalashnikov]

I had a 1995 XJR in college. Would not touch another Jag.

[FRUNKenstein]

I had a 1995 XJR in college. Would not touch another Jag.

XJR - nice! I have had 2 XJRs (a ‘99 and an ‘01, I think), and then 2 X350 sedans before this X351. I enjoyed them all, but the X350 cars were quite a bit better than the previous generation. And the X351 is just completely different. The 3.0 supercharged engine has plenty of power for daily driving, and the car just feels much lighter, especially in the front. The AWD is nice, also. I said that I would sell it come spring, but really I’m in no hurry because it’s really comfortable and I doubt I can find anything nearly as nice to replace it for the $13,180 I paid for it.

[gnat]

My 98 XK8 was a nightmare of electrical issues and I took a bath on it's 3 years of ownership (70k new, 13k in wheels and big brakes, sold for 20k), but that era Jag looked soooooooo much better than anything they've produced since Ford sold them. That car is still my litmus for what "luxury" means in cars.

I look up it's VIN from time to time and it looks like the guy (mechanic at the dealership) I sold it to still owned it when I looked a few years ago. I keep considering trying to see if I can get it back...