A practical and illustrated hands-on guide that takes you step-by-step through examination and purchase of Jaguar's highly-developed flagship saloon, which took the company from the Leyland years into private ownership once more.

The XJ40 had a long development history and underwent sophisticated and thorough testing on several continents. Featuring an array of high-tech features such as a digital dashboard, it drove superbly and won the UK’s prestigious ‘Car of the Year’ award. Most early cars have gone to the crusher by now, and those that remain are of variable quality. Even the last XJ40s are now 14 years old and can suffer terminal decline. For the careful buyer, however, they represent true bargain luxury cars, provided you buy a good example. This book will help you pick a sound car and avoid the depressing experience of buying a superficially pretty XJ40, which turns out to have serious problems through neglect or wear. It takes you step by step through your initial viewing and a more detailed inspection, where each aspect of the car is given an objective numerical score reflecting its condition, with the total overall score supporting your decision to buy or walk away. There is no safer way to avoid buying a bad car short of paying for a professional evaluation.