An  XJ-S Jaguar is a car in need of being well maintained if the owner wants to avoid some very costly repairs due to neglect. A Jag is like a beautiful woman, high maintenance but can be very rewarding depending on your perspective. Most of my US buddies say "Dave Jags are very unreliable and costly to run why do you have one?". Yes Jaguars can be unreliable but so are a lot of other cars, and do these other cars look as good as a Jag?

I chuckle at the people with their negative comments because they drive a big old truck. If I have a choice between driving a truck (Everyone who is anyone in Denver drives an Explorer or an Expedition, yawn) or a v12 Jag I know what my choice would be ... , but hey you can't carry a gun rack or six kids in a Jaguar!

The English marketing people were not good at protecting the Jaguar reputation, i.e. the English did not keep major mechanical faults out of the media as other major manufactures tend to do (American manufactures excel in this category).  The English tend to be too honest. If you look at other web sites for BMW, Porsche or Mercedes you soon learn these cars also have poor reliability in many key areas such as engine overheating and transmission problems. These European models are also VERY expensive to run and maintain.  

In order to maintain your XJ-S the first thing to do is download and read Kirby's book. Most of my repairs and modifications here are based on THE BOOK. Kirby has done a great job of summarizing a large array of problems, fixes and modifications. Reading thru 500 pages can take a great deal of time. 

For the new owner, or a person thinking of purchasing soon I have summarized most of the primary repairs and modifications conducted on my XJ-S Jaguars. The list is long, but once accomplished the owner has world class car capable of taking on the late 1990 models from other luxury automobile manufacturers. Remember this car was first brought into production in the seventies. 

The reference page for Kirby's book is included for each of the repair as of Feb 2000 to allow the browser to find more detailed information on each subject. Also Hess Owners may be able to find spare parts at :

Andre's Jaguar Service
759 N Lime Ave
Sarasota, FL 34237-4406
Phone: (941)953-4280

XJ-S Repairs and Modifications completed on Dave's Jaguars

   1) XJ-S Ignition  System (To 1988)

   2) XJ-S Cooling System

   3) XJ-S Oil Leaks

   4) XJ-S Fuel System

   5) XJ-S Engine Modifications and repairs