Jaguar_World_Issue_186_July_2017
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<strong>July</strong> <strong>2017</strong> \<strong>Jaguar</strong> <strong>World</strong> |37<br />
X350XJ<br />
XJ84.2<br />
theboatoutandgofortheV8.Ignoring<br />
thesuperchargedXJRandDaimlerSuper<br />
V8models,whicharecurrentlyoutside<br />
thescopeofa£3kbudget(althoughXJRs<br />
aregettingclose…),therewere3.5-and<br />
4.2-litrepowerplantsbasedontheAJ<br />
V8enginefromtheX308,butbothhad<br />
slightlylargercapacities.<br />
Inbothcases,theengineshavebeen<br />
extremelyreliable,withtheteething<br />
problemsoftheearlierAJV8sironedout.<br />
Indeed,forseveralyearsinsuccession,the<br />
XJrangewasinthetopthreecarsinthe<br />
annualJDPowerreliabilityandsatisfaction<br />
survey,suchwas(andis)itsdependability.<br />
Itwould,ofcourse,beunreasonableto<br />
expectacarthat’sfastapproachingits15th<br />
birthdaytobecompletelyfault-free,andin<br />
thecaseoftheX350thereareoneortwo<br />
faultsstartingtorevealthemselves.<br />
Oneofthemorecommonproblemsis<br />
failureofthesuspensionairbags,whichlose<br />
pressureovertimeandcanleak.Theparts<br />
toreplacethemarenotcheap–£300-<br />
£400–but,ontheplusside,they’reaquick<br />
andrelativelyeasyparttoreplace,witha<br />
specialistfamiliartothemodelbeingable<br />
toswapthemoverinlessthananhour.<br />
X350sarealsopronetoelectricalfaults,<br />
usuallydowntopoorearthsinthebody<br />
electricalcircuit.Sometimes,cleaning<br />
theearthpointscanmendthem,but<br />
occasionallyit’stheentirebodyprocessor<br />
modulethathaspackedupandtheseare<br />
anexpensivepartfrom<strong>Jaguar</strong>ataround<br />
£500,thoughspecialistbreakersdosell<br />
tested,usedexamplesforaround£100if<br />
that’sagambleyou’rehappytotake.<br />
OneofthemajorbenefitsoftheX350,<br />
though,isthatitsaluminiumconstruction<br />
meansitdoesn’tsufferfromcorrosionin<br />
thesamewayas<strong>Jaguar</strong>sofold.It’snot<br />
uncommontoseeblistersorreactionson<br />
theveryedgesofpanels,whichleadto<br />
paintdamageorspiderycracksinthepaint<br />
underthelacquer,butthere’snoriskofthe<br />
rampantcorrosionthatisknowntoaffect<br />
previousgenerationsofXJ.<br />
TheX350didawaywith<br />
traditionalsteelconstruction<br />
andinsteadusedan<br />
ext<br />
xtrudedandbonded<br />
aluminiummonocoque
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