Owners have filed 101 complaints on the Jaguar XJ6, covering 1983–1997. The system named most often is Seat Belts (24 reports). Worst years by volume: 1996, 1989, 1992; cleanest: 1983, 1987, 1985. 14 reports describe a crash, 1 a fire. On average the car was 9.8 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Jaguar XJ6
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 101 XJ6 complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Seat Belts 24 Read
I have a 1993 jaguar xj6 and every seat belt mechanism except the drivers' one is broken. The driver's housing is broken, but the latch still works. One latch in the rear works, but the housing is broken. Jaguar us tells me that these items are not covered under any warranty. However, as I understand the law, all…
Drivers seat and the rear drivers seat buckles were broken. Consumer stated that the seat belts did not fasten. Ts seat buckle assembly replaced
Head previously (8/13/01) reported to you the refusal of the dealer/mfg. To replace an inoperative seat belt buckle that is part of the passive motorized seat belt assembly . Requested $330 to repair/replace. By coincidence, the buckle on the driver's side assembly failed in exactly the same way only hours after…
Service Brakes 14 Read
The consumer took the vehicle to the dealership on 2 occasions regarding the recall for the slight hesitation the vehicle experienced, however the problem recurred. There was also a chronic intermittent problem with the brakes, the vehicle made a hissing sound and was slow to stop, which caused the consumer to rear…
Sudden rapid acceleration, resulting in loss of control/accident
I have a jaguar xj6 1988 for about 3 years I never use it until december 2007. I became involved in an accident around dec. 15 2007. The police say that it was my fault because I was moving to flordia during that time I did not fight the case because this is the only vehicle that I have now am using it more often. But…
Vehicle Speed Control 12 Read
"uncontrolled rapid acceleration" on private property
In reverse I was backing into my carport. When I needed more gas the throttle hung and it made it impossible to control and I backed thur the wall and into the kitchen approx 4 feet inside taking out my doors and kitchen cabinets the stove and other valuables, at approx 20 plus mph the throttle had hung up before in…
Wife parked car, notice another space, started & put car in drive, car accelerated, applied brakes, brakes failed to stop car, slammed into another car
Fuel System 9 Read
This 85 xj6 jaguar was brought to my shop for repair.the left rear gas tank started to leak after I put 2.00 in gas in the tank. My shop was hirerd to repair the tank. The leak was in the (seam) of the tank. I noticed this car had very big gas drain plugs in there tanks,about 2.5 inch across with a enter plug 1.5…
Transmission failed, also park switch failed
Since consumer bought the vehicle fuel tank had been leaking fuel in the interior, then tank was repaired, but smell of fuel was still there, affecting consumer's health
Engine And Engine Cooling 7 Read
Recall item failed, tried to replace not available. No safety defec tmentioned
Failure of the temperature sensor causes the engine to stop dead without warning. This happened twice before the problem was fixed. I was lucky not to be in a vulnerable situation!
When in stop and go traffic vehicle stalls/ shuts off without prior warning. Then,after she turned vehicle on dashboard. Stated transmission was in limp mode, and engine check light was on
Power Train 7 Read
A young child was able to knock the shift lever from park into gear without a key being present or locked
Rear end (differential) problem. When driving at about 40 miles an hour you can hear a roaring noise from the rear end (sounds like a truck instead of a luxury vehicle). This supposedly was fixed by prior service, however the problem still exist and service technician admittedly hear the same noise that again has been…
Transmission (limp home mode). Coming to a stop exiting the ramp the car shuts off, and when started again the transmission light is on, and limp home mode. This was taken in for service and the technician said no codes where presented in the computer to indicate a problem therfore they reset it and said it just…
Suspension 6 Read
Consumer states that vehicle vibrates/engine surges and computer glitches. Gas flows into the cylinder head down to the oil pan. Owner tried to take car through the lemon law
Rear suspension is gone. Vehicle bounces around significantly. Dealer recommends replacement with rear end kit
No summary
Electrical System 5 Read
Engine stalled due to failed ignition coil
Starter failed
Interior lights stay on when vehicle goes off. Consumer has to disconnect the battery for the interior lights to go off. This failure drained the battery. This problem is caused by an electrical system failure
XJ6 years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Air Bags,vehicle Speed Control | 2 | — | |
| 1996 | Air Bags | 4 | — | |
| 1995 | Electrical System,interior Lighting | 1 | — | |
| 1994 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 1993 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 1992 | Fuel System, Gasoline,seat Belts | 1 | — | |
| 1991 | Power Train | 2 | — | |
| 1990 | Seat Belts | 1 | — | |
| 1989 | Exterior Lighting | 1 | — | |
| 1988 | Exterior Lighting | 2 | — | |
| 1987 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — | |
| 1986 | Structure | — | — | |
| 1985 | Fuel System, Gasoline | — | 1 | |
| 1983 | Fuel System, Gasoline | — | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 82 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.2 |
| Worst single series | 5 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 9.8 years |
A model average of 1.2 hides a worst series at 5. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the XJ6?
By complaint volume, 1996, 1989, 1992 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which XJ6 years are the cleanest?
1983, 1987, 1985 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Jaguar XJ6 have?
101 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1983–1997. Of those, 14 describe a crash and 1 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.