Just stopping in to say I read through the whole thread, was also born in 87, and love the work you've done on this car so far. I really like the gold basketweaves, and the green center caps are a perfect touch.
My apologies if I missed it in the early stages of the thread, but how many miles are on the Jag? I too am guilty of judging these cars as unreliable without any real experience with them. It seems like you've spent plenty of effort keeping this one going, but it also doesn't seem like any of the major mechanical systems have been troublesome.
In reply to Gunchsta :
Thanks! The wheels have really transformed it in my opinion.
its currently got about 95k miles. Many of these cars (especially if they're still nice today) just sat around in garages and that is harmful to a car's reliability as well.
i would say that many of the subsystems are suspect (for example anything made of rubber, or anything that was 'high tech' at the time, or much of the bandaid engineered things added during the model run like the fuel injection) but overall the drivetrain and suspension are well built and understressed. This one has had its share of work needed, and often the repair job takes a lot more time than I think it should, but it has also started every time I've twisted the key.
so after 5 years I'd say the reliability is great for what I need, but i also don't depend on it to get to work.
Excellent synopsis thank you!
I was raised on the theory that the lower miles the better, but I think that's a bit of a misnomer when it comes to old/classic cars. Sure there is less wear and tear with low miles, but that also means significantly more time sitting, which as you've said can also be detrimental to a cars overall condition.
Keep up the good work!
