2004 Jaguar XJ8 Review - More Luxurious Than You Think 

No rust due to an entire ALUMINUM body & REAL burled walnut interior; steering wheel too. Shifter is referred to as a “J gate.” The hood emblem is referred to “Leaper.”

ughh.. okay so this has to be said.. the 3.9 Litre "Ford" v8 was a modified Jaguar Engine, not the other way around. Yes, Jaguar was owned by Ford at the time, but the AJ-V8 engine was none the less designed and built by Jaguar in the UK.

For anybody curious, the AJ-V8 is used in the latest generation Ford Thunderbird, and the Lincoln LS v8. When I order coil packs for my 04’ XJR, I order for a thunderbird just because my buddy has one. On another note, water pump and thermostat cost me less than the same parts for my Chevrolet Trailblazer.

Great review, just purchased a 2004 xj8, I also have a 2018 f type 4 banger and I notice a lot of the controls are similar.

I have owned a 2003 xj8 (2003 same as 20o4 in States)for a year, Seriously the best Jaguar sedan ever made! I'm totally besotted by her! She's in metallic British racing green and is absolutely stunning, this beautiful lady is a head turner and feeds my ego!!😆 I paid 25000 Aus$!, Way beyond A bargain! This vehicle will be a family airloom! She has a different set up in the screen much better and more modern, I've upgraded to Jagdroid, full internet and Cell phone Bluetooth hands-free!, She is Astonishing! All Aluminium body no corrosion, only 102000 KMs(bout 61000 miles) drives like a Rolls-Royce but much sportier, I'm amazed at performance on twisty roads! Only cosmetic I want to do? Is make those rubbing strips on the doors, Chrome!!! Cheers from "Austrelliah"💖👍

4:52 in the UK some people used to put these things called coach lines onto the side of their cars. It was seen as stylish especially on the more luxurious cars. Coach lines are usually completely customisable. It is still possible to have it done today but not as popular as it once was. I only know about it as my grandad still puts them on all of his cars including his 97 xj6 executive

Steve from Wisconsin again, Midway through my last article I mentioned about the relatively good gas mileage for a vehicle of the size of the xj. Due to its aluminum body and underpinning s, it weighs about 400 pounds less than it's rivals from Mercedes, BMW and Audi. This is why it gets better m.p.g. than it's competitors.

Rear foglights standart equipment for all eu cars its law

ZF is a Top German transmission manufactuer ,seen it myself go into the body of the jag in the Coventry Factory ,i think if Jaguar only kept the last shape and modernised it with led circualer headlights and more colour optionns both interior & exterior like the latest Range Rover people would Still be buying them instead they changed the shape entirely wich is fine but maybe offer both models ,no need to change just modernise it as time goes on ,hope jag does this

I own a 2004 Jaguar xj8 with 62k miles on the engine. This girl is a pleasure to drive.

Red rear fog lights have been mandated on all vehicles in Europe since 1980. It's a great feature,& I am still surprised it is not mandated in North America! Pretty much the only cars in North America that have integral factory fitted rear fog lights are the cars that were manufactured in Europe & exported to North America....European branded cars sold in America,& made in North America,usually don't have them. English cars such as Minis,Jags,Land Rovers,Range Rovers,etc have them in North America,as well as some German,Swedish,Italian ones. You can buy after market rear red fog lights at an auto accessory store in North America,& put them under the rear bumper....not particularly common,but I have seen them in Pennsylvania & surrounding states now & then. Oh,actually,there was one American made car that did have integral factory installed rear fog lights,it was an Oldsmobile in the 90s...but I cannot think of the model,off hand.

I drive a jaaaaggggg!

the xj8 is such a gorgeous car. before watching this i didn't even know what was under the hood and they always seem to grab my attention. especially if they're black

Having your leaper stolen suck, you feel so violated. 😩😂

The "Ford" 3.9 V8 is actually a Jaguar design. Ford just got to use it in the Thunderbird and the Lincoln LS.

the yellow paint on the doors may have been to keep from burning your arm on metal that was heated in the sun when you have all the windows down and put your arm out the window to rest it

The steering wheel isn’t fake wood

That looks like the car Celeste Cooper drives in the 1997 film Mother Knows Best

Just have a question I’m having issues with my xj8 2004 where a restricted performance light comes on with the engine. Shortly after it will overheat. I just changed the thermostat and housing but that wasn’t it. Could someone help me out so I don’t keep replacing things that don’t need to be changed.

I am on my 6th Jag now but this time a 1999 X308 4.0 XJ8 Sovereign Long Wheelbase. My favourite model, the Queen used to drive hers!

How is the steering on these cars? Does parallel parking/driving in the city require more effort like a BMW or more towards Mercedes light steering?

I appreciate your Review of the 04 XJ8. It was thorough and learned a good number of the features and where the controls are to operate them.

My favorite part of this video is...no dumb cupholder test.

man i thought i recognized some of the buildings. when i heard you talk radio stations i was pleased i wasnt crazy. im from the aurora area.

an ash tray with cologne in it. how jaaaaaaaaaaag is that?

Great presentation and commentary. I drive exactly the same car and i love it to my bone. a solid car but after listening to you I have a question which I hope you will respond to. You said that the parts used in this car is Ford parts...so with that being said will it be okay fro me to take my car to a FORD servicing center if there is a problem or should I still stick to an authorized jaguar dealership? thanks in advance

I bought a 2005 XJ8L brand new and have owned it for 15 years. It is a magnificent auto, both in appearance and performance.It's a dream to drive. I gave it the required dealer maintenance and have had only one problem, when the battery finally gave up. It is the only thing I've had to replace in it in it's life. I would call it a 99% perfect vehicle. the bad 1% is is GPS which is a "dog's breakfast" and I've quit trying to use it.I intend to keep the car for the rest of my life. It's so much better in all respects then the earlier Jaguars I've owned, not from a driving standpoint but from a fault free standpoint. The new Jaguars can't hold a candle to it.

'Grab the biggest knob and twist, probably a joke their"...LMAO! Nice one.

I should hope there's no rust since the body is aluminum.

Any idea which motorcraft coils would correspond to an XJ8? The 04 thunderbird (3.9) and crown Vic are not a match

Yes...all the burned walnut interior trim on Jaguars is REAL. I met the man who selects the walnut tree sections (from California then sliced in Italy) at the factory in Coventry 20 years ago. There is a LOT of hand finishing done on these cars. Makes each on unique. Yellow stripe just weird and pointless.....

The Vanden would've been a better review and no huge climate control knob. Ill let you review my 2004 Vanden XJ8.

oh theres a way to turn off stability control. i bet you can pull a fuse/relay.

The gear shifter is called the "J" Gate also referred to as J Shift

GREAT CAR

Thanks for the in depth review. What happened to that sport button? Dog chewed?

Rear swaybar endlink just went bad: ACDELCO $17 🤷‍♂️

My 04 xjr has a touch screen. Lol

Yellow line for night time visibility

95 - 02 had better styling

Reason for the yellow line? Maybe some areas of aluminium have underlying moisture and had begun to bubble; maybe the owners had the mottled parts refinished and were painted to cover the original paint surface damage(easier than blending with the original aluminium paint job.

Thank, you for you're video and you're time spent. I, own a 2004, x j 8 jaguar 🙏

i feel like this is what buick park avenue stole there last body style after. Theres nothing else that quite looks like this jag.

I just bought 1 of yhese today thank you for the Blog

Love it, great review! Looking to purchase one, 2004....reasonably affordable at that year....

My 04 vanden has a much larger infotainment screen

I own the 05 xj8L so far it's a dream

Im guessing the elderly couple did it to identify their car. Maybe they once tried to force their way into someone elses car. Also this car is made of Aluminium mostly. It weighs about 300kg less than all the other Merc, Lexus and BMWs of its class. Only Audis A8 was made of Aluminium too

The Radio and climate controle units are the basic units, normally it's a touchscreen the size of the climatecontrole and radio put together with satnav aswell.

I own a 2003 xj8 love it!!!

I think the yellow stripe is a tribute to Lister Jags. Typically paired in a BRG/Yellow combo. That's my best guess.....

coil packs are super common on the 3800 engine too. not sure if it's because they're at the front of the engine but every time i take off my plug wires at least have of the terminals are corroded

This guy wrong all the way ford motor company was contracted with jag. And the 2002 ford thunderbird was incorporated with British Motors. However the engine is ford same as the Lincoln LS. JAG never owned ford motor company. Ford changed a lot on The thunderbird engine I own a thunderbird. Don't believe nothing this man saying look up Wikipedia. See these guys get on youtube don't know shit. That's why youtube is miss Leading. Jag been junk since day one ford Motor made a similar engine for there cars Except all the mistake of the jag.you can start for one the timing chain rails which was One of the jag mistake. And so on.

My 97 XJ6 Has 3 Position Memory Seats

Greetings from Wisconsin, I own a 2004 xj 8 which is actually known as model x350.the xj series actually first debuted in 1968, the xj was all new for 2004 (2003 down to I believe 1992 was model x308). My car and of course the one you drove was produced through 2009, when the model x351was introduced for 2010, it being an entirely new vehicle. What concerns me is much of your review info is incorrect. The reason the car you drove is rust free is that the body and frame was entirely made out of aluminum. If you managed to stay awake during high school physics class you should recall aluminum does not rust. Furthermore, the steering wheel is indeed real walnut ( wood). In addition, gas mileage for a saloon of that size was very good, simply because it's rivals Mercedes s class and BMW 7 series as well as Audi a8. The trays in the back seat are called business trays, designed for writing documents and such. This is because the xj in the l model was longer, had more legroom in the back and was often used to transport dignitaries to and fro. In the future please get your facts straight or perhaps switch to reviewing the latest computer games, cellphones or bicycles. Thank you, have a nice day!

It's actually in the family of the 5.4 and 4.6 liter V8. And for you to say more luxurious than you think... Are you kidding? It's a Jaguar. It's more luxurious than anything made in America and most definitely anything made in Japan. Especially under the price of $100,000. You really have to get your knowledge level up if you're going to be in Generation Z / Fringe millennial trying to explain cars. 26 miles per gallon for an 8-cylinder 300 horsepower car it's phenomenal. Also the car does a quarter mile at around a hundred miles an hour and 0 to 60 in just over 5 Seconds. Sports car, it's a performance sedan made for luxury. There are few hacks for this car that can get the car 75 more horsepower just on a laptop. Four-wheel disc, all independent suspension is pretty amazing as well. steering wheel just like all the rest of the wood is real wood in a jaguar Gosh I wish wish you'd talk less about things you don't know about.. I mean you're berating the car because it has a large fan button and you keep grabbing it instead of the radio button that is on your steering wheel period. Shush.

I have a ls3 swapped one on bags on VSKF's when its running again...gotta link.