Over the years, I have seen many people but old Jaguars with delusions of restoring them including my best mate who is a highly competent fitter.
None of them ever succeeded are vehicles all were eventually relocated to their proper homes at the local tips.
Jags were sometimes likened to thoroughbred racehorses that broke a leg every time out. Having been fortunate to have had a 1963 E-type in the late 1970’s and a 1969 E 2+2 in the mid 80’s the problem seemed less the Jag and more that they were complex cars rivalling Ferraris in ways, at a price point the upper middle class could afford. However those who could afford to buy them quickly discovered they could not always afford to service them properly, thus some of their bad rap as things went bad from lack of proper servicing. Much of the rest of it was because of Lucas electrics. ‘Why do the British like warm beer?’ - They have Lucas Fridges.
Absolute classic.
My sister was seriously considering buying a new Jaguar around a decade ago and asked me what I thought.
I strongly advised her against it primarily due to the dodgy pommie electrics.
She bought another new Falcon instead and has had no problems with it.
Times have moved on.
Can we be so sure?
http://www.australiaforeveryone.com.au/motoring-lightburn-zeta.html
Should have - ‘stuck to making cement mixers’? We had one of the Eco/Green credentialed hand cranked versions from the late 50’s.
Mr Lightburn was certainly a thinker ahead of his time, both in respect of global warming and innovation in automotive design! 
P.S.
The washing machines were reputedly equally capable of mixing cement, and not the best for delicates. Hand wash recommended.
My vote is for the P76. Broken down it also made a bold styling statement for the hapless owner standing nearby?
A former neighbour at a former residence bought a new V8 P76, and after he wrecked it, it lived in the back of his single lane carport.
He then went out and bought a new 6 cylinder P76, as unbeliveable as it may seem.
We could easily tell how drunk he was when he came home from the pub based on how hard he hit the back of the first one with the front of the second one.
As they used to call them in the 1970’s, P38, only half a car.
They were notoriously unreliable in past decades, and looks like they are similar to Jeep today…
It is also interesting to note that the Fiat Chrysler group produces the includes the automotive brands Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Fiat Professional, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, and Ram Trucks under its marque.
If one assumes that the J.D. Power survey applies to vehicles sold in Australia, then as a group, Fiat Chrysler vehicles are towards the bottom of the reliability table. It is also worth noting that the survey indicates that Fiat vehicles are significantly less reliable than Jeeps and are the least reliable of mainstream US brands.
I venture to suggest that is not the case. The dealer networks, warranties, service requirements, and road/operating conditions are different between the countries.
They are, but if a vehicle comes from the same factory with the same specifications, then one could argue that the results could be similar.
A lot of vehicles manufacturers have manufacturing in the US as well as Asia and Europe…and there is potential that the different manufacturing plants have different quality standards for vehicles being manufactured. Australia traditionally has vehicles sourced from Asia, (South) Africa and Europe…rather than models also made in the US (take Honda for example which Australia typically gets from Asian plants, rather than from the US ones).
It would be an interesting exercise to compare makes and models for the US and Australia to see their manufacturing origins and whether there is a likelihood for a differing reliability results.
Because of our fuel quality we do not get the latest standard in engines from the EU (ie we are currently only Euro 5 standard they are currently Euro 6), would this also have an impact on quality?. This may also be reflected in cars from other destinations that have higher standards re emissions and economy.
Regardless of where built, there is generally a step somewhere in the process to tailor to a particular market. One aspect of our differences is that our paved/sealed roads are usually coarser than those in the US, causing vibrations differing to those found there. As a result the suspensions are tuned differently to cope. Sometimes that works better than others, but is a difference.
I remember US sourced cars here in the 1970’s had throw-away automatics because they could not cope. As I stated above re Jags, times change, but.
And whilst on the subject of suspensions and Jaguars, a real estate agent I know bought one around 15 years ago.
It was not very old when the front suspension needed a complete rebuild and the dealer quoted him around $14,000 to do so.
He had it rebuilt by an independent local mechanic for around $8,000 and he promptly got rid of the piece of junk and bought a new Falcon. No more dramas.
I also mentioned this to my sister when she was contemplating buying a new Jaguar.
Lucky it was not a Territory! Even ordinary manufacturers can made very ordinary products. Note that Ford owned Jag for a few years and eventually onsold it to Tata, the current owner.
Where are we headed?
Reliability (failure to proceed) is one situation no owner desires. The causes and financial consequences are many.
Nearly all modern vehicles by manufacturer and model/variants seem less prone to such events than back in the old days. With little traffic on the roads (relative to today) vehicles with bonnet up were a common sight on any long trip. Today that seems unusual. For all the tens of thousands of vehicles on motorways each peak hour, it might be just as well.
Does the average consumer still judge their current modern vehicle by how often it fails to proceed above all else? Or are there other more critical measures? Eg the cost of servicing, the quality of the radio, the rattles from the dash of some other secret location in the back, the electric window that jams, leaking sunroof, smart key that has fallen apart.
I suspect the small things probably cause more judgement than the much less common one of events. Although a VW with a destroyed DSG gear box might be soul destroying if not covered by warranty.
Another observation is that like the super investment slogan, past performance should not be relied upon as a measure of future performance.
Emotion put aside! Brand loyalty and anecdote ignored. Many off the major defects in a motor vehicle may not be evident until well onto the life of the vehicle. The shiny new hero car for the masses can quickly become tomorrow’s heartbreak.
Recent automotive history is littered with examples of reputable and not so well accepted manufacturers producing some notable and exceptional vehicles.
Some might also suggest the motoring industry has captive the mainstream motoring press and advertising media.
Perhaps our energy could be best spent improving consumer outcomes through increased legal protection and practical lemon laws. At least up until all human guided vehicles are banned from use, leaving Uber and Google to buy out Boeing, GM and Ford.
P.s.
Is there any wisdom in the preceding comments? Take it that for the first two decades of motoring bliss, it was only ever 1960’s design British built 2 seaters, roof optional. Never needed a tow either. As close as to open top motoring now it’s the tractor, although with just one seat that seems to be just fine!
I’ll second that. My observation is that the highly publicised issues fall into a) conscious management decisions, eg dieselgate and similar that is not a fault per se, but a misrepresentation; or b) a part where the simulation was erroneous or they cut tolerances too tight and the part was not up to its intended purpose, eg the Territory ball joints.
Today I suspect the focus should be on how a manufacturer supports or dodges customer support when there is a problem, and especially a pervasive problem where some seem to repeatedly stonewall until there is no choice other than to do the right thing; sometimes that end case never comes for their customers without a fight, or sometimes at all. Yet that does not seem to do much to their marketshare. So que sera sera ?
And now FCA has been fined USD 40 million for lying about their sales figures.
FCA seems to keep putting its hand up for this accolade. A different owner than the one earlier in the topic.
With bottom-feeding grubs like FCA, who needs their crap vehicles or enemies?
The RACV has a list of what they believe are the worst cars sold in Australia. A few are renown, but there are also a few surprises…
While not directly relating to reliability, the RACQ and other motoring organisations have recently updated their list of Used Car Safety Ratings. It makes an interesting read as vehicle safety is often a consideration when purchasing a vehicle, either new of old.
The list of 389 popular vehicle models (for the Australian and New Zealand vehicle fleets manufactured from 1998 to 2017) can be found on the RACQ website…
https://www.racq.com.au/cars-and-driving/cars/buying-a-car/used-car-safety-ratings
Not a Jag, Fiat or French car among them. Are you sure the list is reliable?
If so that second hand Lada Riva looks a good buy! 
And cheaper than a Sunbeam-Talbot Alpine Mk1 Special. Although one of the two is just plain ugly.
