QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q & A
Jaguar World's technical advice service
WHAT THE BREAKERS SAY
Auto Reserve breaks numerous Jaguars ranging from the X300 XJ to the XK, XF and XE, so they must know most of their weak spots, but has that put them off owning and running them? We ask brothers and Auto Reserve proprietors, Andrew and Daniel Harper to explain more.
Q: What do you drive as your daily car?
A: Andrew My daily is actually a Toyota (sorry readers) – a Hilux Invincible X which is great for towing trailers with heavy Jaguars. But our family car is a 2014 XF 2.2d R-Sport saloon in Italian Racing Red. We have owned it from new and it is now approaching the 100k mark. We initially aimed to get 10 years out of it, but having had literally no faults other than two door locking units in all that time, we have agreed it should last another 10! Last year I fitted an XFR sport seat set and changed the suspension to BC Racing coilovers to make it a bit more fun, but other than that it is as it left the factory and has been superb.
A: Daniel I’m the opposite of Andrew – I have a Jaguar for work and a 2023 Toyota Avensis for my family car. My Jag is a 2006 X-TYPE 2.5 Estate auto in Carnival Red. It was a car that we bought for dismantling back in 2019, but I was having electrical issues with my XE at the time and began using the old X-TYPE to be more certain of being able to get to and from work every time. It has been so reliable that I have never stopped using it since then, and living on the edge of the Peak District the 4WD has come in useful on multiple occasions when the snow has fallen.
Q: Which Jaguars have you owned in the past?
A: Andrew I wanted an XJS as a young lad and remember one in particular that caught my attention every time the school bus passed it in the morning. I had to wait until I was 22 to get a Jaguar though, which came to me as an unloved, high mileage, manual (undesirable in the trade at the time), doghair ridden X300 3.2 Sport which had been traded in at my friend’s Subaru dealership. It wasn’t even five years old but due to the state it was in I picked it up for just £1,500 as a bit of a “get this tired thing off the forecourt” bargain.
A few years later I picked up another X300 – this time an auto. I still own this one, and even used it as my wedding car 17 years ago. It currently lives in a barn together with a 1996 XK8 convertible (Antigua Blue), two 1998 XKRs (both Phoenix Red) and another 1998 XKR that is a race car project.
My favourite was a 2004 final facelift XKR in Platinum Silver, which I had since 2018. It had a full charcoal Recaro interior with dark wood, but this was moved on last year to make room for my S-TYPE race car to live under cover.
A: Daniel I had an XE R-Sport in Polar White from new in 2016, but it was plagued with electrical gremlins and I handed
