Where each one leads
Alfa Romeo Spider
- Against cars of the same year, the Alfa Romeo Spider comes out better in New York safety inspections (fails 71% less often than average) than the Jaguar XJS (fails 38% less often than average).
- Fewer Alfa Romeo Spider cars in the Netherlands carry an illogical odometer record (16.3% against 35.7%).
Jaguar XJS
Ahead on none of the like-for-like measures.
Too close to call: MOT pass rate against cars of the same age.
Only measures that do not depend on how many cars were sold: pass and failure rates against cars of the same age, ratings, fuel use and CO₂. How we compare
At a glance
| Alfa Romeo Spider | Jaguar XJS | |
|---|---|---|
| Model years in the US safety record | 1981–1992 | 1981–2002 |
| New cars registered in Europe | 1,556 (2010–2021) | — |
| Licensed in the United Kingdom | 2,628 | — |
| On the road in the Netherlands | 3,371 | 923 |
| In traffic in Finland | 130 | — |
EEA new-car registrations (CC BY 4.0) · DVLA licensed vehicles (OGL v3.0) · RDW (CC0) · Traficom (CC BY 4.0) · generations: Wikidata (CC0).
Reliability and problems
| Alfa Romeo Spider | Jaguar XJS | |
|---|---|---|
| UK MOT first-time pass rate | 68% | 78% |
| … against cars of the same age | +13% | +13% |
| New York safety inspections failed | 0.3% | 1.0% |
| … against cars of the same year | −71% | −38% |
| Illogical odometer records (NL) | 16.3% | 35.7% |
| US owner complaints | 4 | 82 |
| Most complaints about | Wheels | Fuel system, gasoline |
| Model year with most complaints | 1987 (2) | 1990 (15) |
| US recall campaigns | 4 | 12 |
| Manufacturer service bulletins | — | 426 |
| NHTSA defect investigations | — | 12 |
Complaint, recall and bulletin counts grow with the number of cars sold and are not adjusted for it. UK MOT: DVSA anonymised MOT results (OGL v3.0); New York: DMV inspections; complaints, recalls, bulletins and investigations: NHTSA (public domain); odometer: RDW (CC0).
Fuel, emissions and price
| Alfa Romeo Spider | Jaguar XJS | |
|---|---|---|
| Official combined fuel use, Canada | — | 12.9 l/100 km (1996) |
| Average power of new cars in Europe | 90 kW (121 hp) | — |
| Average mass in running order | 1,110 kg | — |
| Dutch list price when new (median) | €46,257 | €88,635 |
| Average odometer in Finland | 118,000 km | — |
Canada: NRCan Fuel Consumption Ratings, most frugal version of the latest year (OGL Canada). Europe: EEA monitoring of new-car CO₂ and on-board fuel meters (OBFCM), CC BY 4.0. Price: RDW catalogue price (CC0). Finland: Traficom (CC BY 4.0).