2004 Jaguar XK-Series Review
Type:
Pros & Cons
- Divine exterior shape, smooth V8 engine, good balance between luxury and performance.
- Some low-grade interior materials, cowl shake in the convertible, useless rear seats.
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Consumer reviews
Read what other owners think about the 2004 Jaguar XK-Series.
Most helpful consumer reviews
t2000s,04/08/2004
Beautiful car, get lots of compliments.
Have had a lot of problems. Just
recently had the whole engine replaced.
Under warranty of course!
Every couple of months its something
else wrong. Power window went out on
psgr side. Convertible top gets stuck
often, cig. lighter goes out, engine
coolant light always comes on, pwr to
side mirror has gone out sveral times.
Rick,11/11/2017
XKR 2dr Convertible (4.2L 8cyl S/C 6A)
I bought this '04 convertible used (in 2017) and to get an $87,000 car with under 40,000 miles for only $17,000, I call that a value - even if it is a few years old. Looks-wise, as far as I'm concerned this is the most beautiful car on the road! Anywhere! Ever! Period! The perfect update in body lines but still reminiscent of the legendary XKE. I can't stop looking at it! You know, anyone can buy a Camaro, Mustang or 'Vette, and they're nice cars and all, but they're a dime a dozen. With the XK, and especially the rare-ness of the "R", now you have class. People constantly stop to gawk and often ask me what it is. And it gives you a special feeling when you can reply, not "Chevy" or "Ford"...but "Jaguar"! The best was when I came out of a restaurant last month to find 6 elderly women ogling over it! Performance wise it's great, it is fast! Fastest on the road? No, not by a long shot, but faster than 95+% of them. There's nothing like leaving the light and being to 60 mph effortlessly (I'm talking only part throttle), looking back and seeing everyone still just getting rolling. And I always have to turn the stereo down when I do because the best music is the sound of that Eaton supercharger whine! Put the transmission in "Sport" mode and it snaps through the gears and if you nail it from a stop (before it shifts to 2nd, something it likes to do in short order) and it launches HARD! This car has a nearly perfect combination of looks and performance, it really is as quick as it looks. For a sports car it really rides quite nice considering its handling is so crisp. Another big plus is the gas mileage, I can easily get 28 mpg at 65 mph and that's GPS corrected for mileage over a 620 mile trip. How do you beat a car that looks like this, handles like this, looks like this, rides like this, looks like this and goes like this with nearly 400 supercharged V8 horsepower and gets this kind of mileage? Did I also mention what a looker it is too? The interior is beautiful too with the polished burled walnut and leather even though there's no place to really store anything. My biggest "gripe" is probably getting in, or especially, out of it. Tough, I can live with it. A useless "3 marble" tray in the console has a small tray and a 4 coin slot, pretty much a joke. I removed it and made a nice polished aluminum plate in which I installed a combination volt meter (because there isn't one), cig lighter socket (that's always powered now) and dual USB port as the only power outlet on the car is the cigarette lighter inside the ashtray which is only hot when the ignition is on. In this day & age you can't have too many charging ports for all your "stuff". I also removed the ridiculous nav system from the dash (it's user un-friendly, no touch screen controls, runs off a DVD player in the trunk (!) and the last update was before the car was even built. My 35 year old street wasn't even on it!) and I installed a nice Garmin in its place - and it looks factory. Same for the stereo. The old 2004 stereo has a 6 disc player in the trunk, no aux inputs and a cassette deck. Yeah, a cassette deck! Its did crank pretty well but I put a modern Pioneer in its place, replaced the amp in the trunk (kept the Alpine speakers, they're okay) and now I have a modern stereo that rattles the mirrors and interfaces with my phone. These few simple, cheap updates were all this car needed. Maintenance so far has been good, it's been easier to work on (so far) than I'd expected and so far parts (like brakes, etc.) haven't been out of line either. It really makes all the difference if you can take on repairs like this yourself, normal maintenance on these isn't too far out of reach of the average Joe and you'll save yourself a bundle. This car is a keeper. Did I mention how beautiful it is?
It's been over a year, they asked if I wanted to update so I will. I've put about 17K on it now and it's STILL my all time favorite car! But I'll say this, anyone buying these new paid almost $90,000 and they were never a 90,000 dollar car! 60 maybe but not 90. My biggest gripe is the stupid little things that shouldn't be an issue on a car like this. The driver's seat squeaks and squawks when you're trying to get out so I'm going to have to fix that, everything is motorized and the power function for the head restraint (do you REALLY need a power head restraint?) just grinds and growls. Same for the motorized steering column. Every time you get out the wheel moves to the top (or else you'll never get out!) and when you get in you have to move it back down (actually it's supposed to do it automatically). I have to hit the down switch anywhere from 3 to 10 times to get the wheel back down. It's not a big repair but it's something else I have to fix. There is a little rattle in the dash I have to fix. Why should a $90,000 car have a rattly dash at under 60,000 miles? My 160,000 mile/13 winter Chevy truck has never had issues like these at all, what's that say?
Dr Mike,02/20/2009
This car is amazing. The dealer is fantastic and I've had very few problems (a/c drainage hose clogged but was easily blown out by dealer and the lighter doesn't work). Otherwise the car has been a dream!
Dan S.,12/29/2004
Can't believe the envious looks and
comments we have had. Handles very
well, great styling, reasonable gas
mileage. Great acceleration.
Surprisingly quiet ride with the top
up. Problem getting routine parts such
as oil filters, etc.