Owners have filed 147 complaints on the Jaguar XJ8, covering 1998–2005. The system named most often is Engine And Engine Cooling (36 reports). Worst years by volume: 1998, 2004, 2001; cleanest: 2003, 2005, 1999. 13 reports describe a crash, 3 a fire. On average the car was 7.1 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Jaguar XJ8
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 147 XJ8 complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine And Engine Cooling 36 Read
While driving 40-45 mph vehicle started to smoke. A few minutes later vehicle caught on fire in the front end. *ak prior to the fire there was slight power loss, odor and white smoke coming from under the hood
- the contact's stated the vehicle was purchased on august 30th 2006, and had problems with loss of power. The vehicle lost power about 100 times while driving65 mph. The contact took the vehicle to the local jaguar dealer for a check up. The dealer informed him that they did not know the cause of the failure. The…
2005 jaguar xj8l. Consumer writes in regards to intermittent engine light malfunctions *tgw the consumer stated at approximately 38,000 miles, he began to experience warning light messages such as engine fault, brake fault and dsc fault. Immediately following the display of the engine light, the engine lost power and…
Power Train 25 Read
The contact owns a 2005 jaguar xj8. The contact stated that when shifting into drive from park, the vehicle accelerated in reverse erroneously. The vehicle was towed to the dealer but the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and the current mileages were 37,000
The contact owns a 2005 jaguar xj8. Upon shifting the vehicle from park into reverse, the gear failed to change over. The contact stated that the pin function was unable to release the gear due to the transmission not changing. As a result, the brakes seized. The vehicle was unable to be driven and was towed to the…
Problems with 2004 jaguar xj8 transmission.*mr transmission fluid was leaking due to a faulty output flange and seal. The transmission also leaked. The consumer researched the NHTSA website and found two recall. One was for the automatic transmission and the other one was for the frontal air bags. The consumer would…
Suspension 21 Read
Dt: the consumer stated he was involved in an accident while driving his 2004 jaguar xj8. The front wheel broke off at the upper ball joint. The police report read that the passenger side front wheel broke which caused the consumer to hit two parked unattended vehicles . No one was injured in the accident
The contact owns a 2005 jaguar xj8. The contact stated that the air bag suspension light illuminated. While driving approximately 70 mph, the suspension lowered without warning, which was a safety concern while the vehicle was in motion. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for inspection and diagnostic…
While driving 0n a city street a "low vehicle warning" came on. The next time car driven the "air suspension fault appeared" 88000 mile and repair is $3,200.00
Vehicle Speed Control 14 Read
While parking the vehicle it accelerated. Consumer turned the vehicle off to stop. At the second occurrence consumer was at a complete stop when the vehicle accelerated causing it to strike the vehicle in front. Dealer was unable to find any defects. *ak
Consumer was pulling inside of angle parking lot traveling about 5mph when accelerate pedal went down to the floor and locked. She tried to hold on the brake, and vehicle drove into a sheet metal wall . There were no injuries at this time
The first incident was at a parking lot booth. I had my foot on the break and the engine raised for about ten seconds like if someone was pressing the gas. It sounded like the engine was going to blow up. I had to press the break pedal hard to keep it from moving and hitting the gate. The second incident was…
Service Brakes 9 Read
On two separate occasions when brakes were applied vehicle failed to stop and continued to roll. The first time this occurred vehicle stopped before hitting the motorist bumper. The second time the bumper was hit. Dealership nor insurance company could not find the cause of the failure.*ak
Was waiting for a light change, when suddenly my car lurched forward whilse my foot was still on brake, bumping the two cars in front of me. The dsc fault light was on after this happened.stating ``dsc not available``had vechical towed to heritage jaguar in freeport, they replaced the fault brake pressure switch. I…
The contact owns a 2004 jaguar xj8. While driving 5 mph the vehicle would not stop when the brakes were applied this caused him to crash into another vehicle. The road conditions were dry. The contact stated that there was damage to her bumper. The failure occurred on five occasions however only two resulted in a…
Electrical System 9 Read
The car cought on fire
Battery exploded, filled trunk with smoke, blew electrical covers off of fuse and relay blocks which are located too close to the battery under the floor of the trunk..exploded when turned ignition key to start car--very violent--if trunk had been open, acid would have covered anyone nearby. Better shielding of the…
I have had repeated problems with the electrical system on this vehicle. It has been serviced by two different dealers a total of 4 times for the same defects which still remain. The drivers electric seat occasionally moves both forward and back while driving moving you either away from the brake pedal or into the…
Fuel System 6 Read
Vehicle cut out on ca freeway 57 at 70 mph due to throttle position sensor fault, (fault code p0121) luckily I managed to get to the hard shoulder without incident. This condition is extremely dangerous especially if this had happened while I was turning in front of oncoming traffic. I was a toyota/mercedes tech for…
I have purchased new 2003 xj8 jaguar. Driven in the past 6 years as a second car. Have only 29,000 mil and the fuel pump totally melted. There was no warning or any indication it immediately died. I was lucky I was not driving on the freeway. I have replaced it with the same kind. What I am worried is to have this…
Our 1999 jaguar xj8 has had numerous throttle body failures. It has been replaced by jaguar and I have had to have it replaced twice. The problem with failure is that it causes a stability control failure which causes the car to be uncontrollable. In fact, my wife hit the edge of our garage entrance way do to it;s…
Structure 5 Read
I was making a left turn at 15 mph when the car suddenly accelerated for a few moments and then settled down. I then took 2 right turns at 10 mph and was attempting to apply the brake in a parking spot when the car suddenly accelerated running over a bush, 10 ft tree, and in to a ditch on east side of highway 41 in…
The contact owns a 2004 jaguar xj8. The contact stated that the brake system, dynamic stability control, and engine failure system warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle failed to start and was towed to a certified mechanic who stated that the wiring in the engine needed to be replaced and water was entering the…
Consumer has experienced multiple defects. The dealer suggests that the problems are due to external damage. Scc ph
XJ8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — | |
| 2004 | Air Bags,structure,vehicle Speed Control,engine | 10 | 1 | |
| 2003 | Fuel System, Gasoline | — | — | |
| 2001 | Engine | — | 1 | |
| 1999 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 1998 | Air Bags | 2 | 1 |
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 | 81 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.8 |
| Worst single series | 7 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 7.1 years |
A model average of 1.8 hides a worst series at 7. 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 XJ8?
By complaint volume, 1998, 2004, 2001 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 XJ8 years are the cleanest?
2003, 2005, 1999 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Jaguar XJ8 have?
147 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1998–2005. Of those, 13 describe a crash and 3 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.