Jaguar XJ (X351) - Damn Fine Car
Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2022 12:38 pm
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!
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!