When Volvo had the “9 out of 10 Volvos produced are still on the road” commercial in the 1970s the joke was: “Only because the side of the road is technically part of the road”!
When Volvo had the “9 out of 10 Volvos produced are still on the road” commercial in the 1970s the joke was: “Only because the side of the road is technically part of the road”!
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Having been the owner of a '74 Volvo, I can tell you that this car was the spawn of the devil.
As I tell friends and acquaintances, “I owned a Volvo…ONCE”.
And, to echo what was already stated, the OP seems to be unerringly guiding himself toward the absolute worst, least reliable makes that are out there. If he wants to be able to merely gaze at a nice-looking–albeit dead–car sitting in his driveway, then all of the marques that he has named are appropriate.
On the other hand, if he is looking for a car that will be reliable, day in and day out, with minimal repair costs, then…as the song says, he is…Looking for love in all the wrong places.
A budget of $5k for a fixer up Jag ? This must the the land of Oz. 
I really didn’t think something like that existed in the real world. You do get that $5k will escalate dramatically if you have any plans on driving it regularly.
Jag made unpopular models, too. I’ve seen some pretty mangy ones (parked, of course).
@VDCDriver OP seems to have made up his mind about what car he wants. I’m not going to confuse him with facts any further.
3 Volvos made the list of top ten cars for teens recently put out. The list was all about safety and not reliability of course.
Top cars for teens. Volvos? Ha, ha, ha. Only if mommy and daddy are paying for repairs and they are made of money. Besides, all you’d end up with is one angry teen if you wished a biggish Volvo on him. A her might think it OK. At least it doesn’t seem cheap.
Everybody in this forum are overly cautious. I’ve only owned one car in my life that was new, and that car kept going into the shop for recalls. All the rest of my cars had 80k+ miles and cost $5k. The worst reliability was my Ford Bronco because the fly wheel was chewed up and kept going threw my starters, (it was my first car and I might have been the cause of the problem). My next car was the 1964 caddy but that was to restore and I sold it because I started college and didn’t have time for it. I then had a ford Tauris. It was the most reliable car. It was an 80k+ mile car costing $5k. I only had to put in a water pump at 130 miles and a battery. Then my new car was a VW. Then my last car was a Lexus RX 300. I sold that when the transmission went at 151k miles. Except for sensors going out, it was pretty reliable. Although at the end my windows leaked, my discs were wrapped, rain caused a window switch to fail, and the drivers door had to be unlocked manually, plus the transmission failed. My experience with 80k+ mile cars for $5k has been good.
As a teenager I did love the 60’s mustangs. Only nowadays I feel spoiled by the features of a more modern car. I test drove the Audi but didn’t care for it.
I’ve test driven a lot of jags. Some are dogs. I have found some very well run ones with rebuilt transmissions. Almost all have some sensor out. Many have bad interior wear. All have been $5500 or less.
The reason why we are overly cautious as you say is because yes you can buy a Jag or other luxury car for around $5,000 but you do have to accept the possibility that you will have to spend a couple thousand to make it something that you would drive on a regular basis. Some are for sale cheap because the interior is worn out and others have not only the worn interior but many other issues as well. If you have someone with you to help weed out the fright pigs from the decent examples then a cheap Jaguar is possible. Cheap to Buy and cheap to run are two different things when it comes to these cars. As you’ve found there are fairly decent ones out there for around 5K but i would still have the top prospect looked over by someone experienced with Jaguars. It will save you some headaches in the long run but if you’re expecting a car like this to be as cheap to operate as the Lexus, It’s very unlikely IMHO
Save your money so you can buy two Jaguars. The rule about Jaguars is that you should own two or more Jaguars because at any given time, at most one will run.
It is OK to buy whatever you want as long as you know the pitfalls. A Jaguar XJ8 that sells for $5000 will be a 2003 at a dealer and maybe a 2004/2005 from a private seller. Any car that is 10 to 12 years old will be difficult to use as a daily driver unless you commute is very short. This is especially so for a Jaguar. If you understand this, enjoy yourself. Just be aware that parts prices will be quite high.
I'm a single man in my 30's, no kids, no girlfriend, little responsibility except work. I've had the mild manner hum drum cars and I'm ready to enjoy driving again.
I’m pretty much in the same boat, but I bought new for my “fun” daily driver. In a few years when I get my house paid for, I could, foreseeably, budget half of my monthly income towards a REAL fun car while keeping my current ride. But I still wouldn’t buy an older Euro car as a daily driver with that budget
There are enough fun daily drivers without the reliability problems of elderly European luxury models. It is true that none of them will have the character or quirkiness of an old Jag or whatever. I’d have one of those for Sunday drives, but use something reliable as the daily driver.
I am not cautious about older cars, its just that the ones you picked have the worst reputations for being unreliable. think about it, why else could you get an expensive car like a jag so cheap.
I always wanted one of those old long nosed million cylinder jags in high school. now I would only buy one if I was wealthy and did not have to depend on it
If I were on a $5000 budget and wanted to have fun, I’d pick up a Crown Vic (P71) at police auction for $3500, and have $1500 set aside to customize it.
And, if anything ever goes wrong, I can go into any u-pull-it, anywhere, and walk out happy. If I called my local pick a part, asking about an Alfa? Peals of laughter!
I dunno, driving a Volvo to go look at a Jag on a $5000 budget? Although my BIL did buy one, I think was an 05 for about $7000. The lady was trading it in and the dealer wouldn’t give her anything for it so he bought it from her. He’s always been a Ford fan though and haven’t heard how its been going with the Jag.