You do understand that this was an eBay contest, right?

Since you seem to know Toyota/Lexus - what are the weak points on an ES300 / ES330 to look for on a used one? Before you say anything, yes, I am fully aware that it's a Camry with nicer headlights and thicker leather - but I'm looking for a low-mileage Florida/Georgia (used little old lady car) for my Mother-in-Law…

My experience has been completely the opposite. BMW and particularly Jaguars have good forums with non-accusatory adults (many with technical backgrounds) who are happy to assist. That was the biggest gripe about the P.O.S. Honda (09 EX-L V6 coupe) I dumped - the forums were a bunch of teenagers who would alternate…

You win - that first, darker red one in Houston isn't beat to snot and riced out, although it does have 210,000 miles on it. I'd still rather buy, drive, and wrench on an XJ6 or the 525i, but I'll confess that you've made your point.

$9500 in woeful aesthetic condition (ripped center console, fart can, stickers, faded paint, terrible wheels, etc) compared to every other example car shown. You just made my point about why there wasn't a $6K example in this list, so, uh...thanks?

Link to one for sale?

In all of my car ownership, my MOST reliable purchases have been Volvos (e.g. 1998 S70 non-turbo manual) and Jaguars (1995 XJ6) and my LEAST reliable (and hardest to work on) was a Honda (2009 Accord EX-L V6 Coupe). This is diametrically against "generally assumed internet knowledge", so I feel the need to pipe in…

Find me a decent OEM stick shift SC300 with a clean title for $6K. I'll wait.

I assume you are allergic to wrenches.

Except that the 95-97 normally aspirated XJ6's suffer from NONE of the maladies of the Ford sourced V8. No assinine air-ride, no Nikasil flaking, none of it. Just a humidor on wheels for cheap.

As I said in my other thread, my mother's 95 XJ6 died in an accident with 220K trouble free miles. I'll admit that it lived an easy life (garage kept in upstate SC), but the paint and leather were of such high quality that it looked FAR better than the average Lexus LS400, Q45, or BMW 7 series of the same vintage and…

Low miles and in stock-ish configuration? I absolutely agree. You're suggesting modifying it for more power and hoonability that will make it vastly less reliable.

I love it, but why does it have to be TEAL?

Manual swap + Aftermarket Turbo = less reliability than anything else on this list.

My experience (I can show copies of titles of a '95 XJ6 and a '00 T6 S80) was VASTLY different, and I'm a Volvo fan (PV544, P1800, C70 hardtop, aforementioned turd S80, S70, V70R owner).

Compared with other mid-90's luxury sedans, the 95-97 XJ6 platform is reliable and easy to work on.

Because the T6 is pretty reliable, right? LOLOLOLOL

The comparison to a Miata is accurate - a bit heavier, but that straight six is lovely compared to a four. Especially now that depreciation has hit, the Miata and Z3 will be comparable priced (same year and miles).

You are very wrong about the '95-'97 XJ6's. In my experience that generation was every bit as reliable (perhaps more so) than similar era Lexus LS400's or first generation Infinity Q45's, which were direct competitors. Ford spent a ton of money fixing the issues - my mother's 1995 XJ6 died in an accident with 220K…

Many looked for a clean SC300 with a stick shift for $6K or under. None could be found.