Hi all,

Last Tuesday my wife rear ended another car in our 2000 XK8 convertible. Body damage looks bad & the insurance company is totalling the car. They‘ve valued the car at $9,100 and estimate the damage in the area of $13k.

I called upon a friend who is a lifelong body repair professional. He says that the insurance company is valuing the damage repairs (parts & labor) at full retail pricing. He assures me that by sourcing used parts, we can repair the car for well under half of the insurance estimate. This friend is extremely experienced and has a great track record of knowing his field. I trust his judgment & knowledge completely. He has indicated that the body repairs consists of repacing the hood, front bumper cover, left headlight, windshield washer reservoir, plastic radiator cover that holds the radiator in place, & the front airbag sensors. He is confident that he can either straighten or replace the front core support. He feels that by using used parts, we can repair the body damage for under $4,000.

Now the tricky part - both front airbags blew in the crash. I‘ve performed a forum search on airbag deployment and found limited information., except that there appears to be several different drivers side airbags that were used. According to the insurance company, the airbag system repair is whst makes the repair so expensive. I know some folks may not agree, but I‘m not necessarily opposed to installing used air bag parts to complete this repair. I'm hoping someone can provide some guidance on what all will need to be replaced in the airbag system, provide guidance to a reputable source for used airbag parts, and also guidance ion identifying the correct replacement airbag parts.

Thanks in advance!

 

Follow this link: Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum - View Profile: julesjag1, he is parting out a 2000 XKR, he may still have the airbags and related parts you are looking for, fenders, etc.

 

Thank you, I will contact him!

 

Here's my understanding. The front sensors have taken a physical hit, they need to be replaced. The driver's airbag is attached with two screws to the steering wheel, and with a two pole cable to provide ignition for it. The package is quite sealed, with the leather top and all, and can't be rebuilt after it has exploded.

Used parts from a decent donor of same age as your car should work as well as your original parts did.

In addition, the SRS control module has an extra safety fuse which may have blown, in the driver's side fuse box. If the module does not work it can be changed by removing the glove box, just few screws.

I just dismantled a front-end collided XK8 from 1999 and put its whole interior of a different color into my original XK8. Including the dashboard which had both airbags blown. And got everything working, without error codes.

Jouko

 

I hope no one was injured?

In the circumstances, I'd take the insurance and walk away but it does sound like a relatively straightforward body repair if you are determined.

As well as airbag deployment, you should check whether the seat belt pyrotechnic tensioners activated. If they have, the belts will also have to be replaced.

Don't vehicle records get stamped in the US after an accident where the insurer considers the vehicle to be a write-off? Over here it becomes a 'Category A' and can be difficult or impossible to subsequently sell.

Graham

 

I'd take the money and walk myself. there prob will be more to fix then meets the eye and while your friend is good in that field of work, how many JAGS has he done and really knows the pricing of used parts. I think what he thinks he can fix it for may be close but i'd bet you will tack on another 2k or so once said and done.

 

Salvage title.

 

in OHIO it is sold back to you or whomever as a Salvage title. If you want to rebuild it you must show receipts for EVERY part you use to fix it, any paint work, all of it, take it to a Ohio State Patrol post and show them the car and all the recpts, if they OK it then you get paperwork from them that you take to a Bureau of Motor Vehicle office and then they issue a REBUILT title which in Ohio then allows you to drive the car anywhere on Ohio roads. If left as a salvage title you are not allowed to drive it on OH roads. A Rebuilt title is like a clear title just lets you know this car was totaled and put back together the proper way, this typically does lower the worth of the car.

 

Bad luck.

2Years ago I had a similar repair to make on a 2000 XK8 convertible.

left an right leading edges, hood and hinges, front panel and new radiator, bumper and bumper cover, new windscreen and 2 airbags, en 2 frontlights and 2 foglights.

Got the body parts secondhand, except for the radiator and windscreen, for 5500 Euro.
The most expensive was the paintwork.
All in all it was 12000 Euro.

In Europe the cars value more than in the states, but seen your damage list.
No frontpanel(a lot of work), no lights, no windscreen, no radiator. I would take the ensurance money and repair the car.

 

Thanks for the explanation. I can see it's broadly the same as we have in the UK.

Graham

 

Take the cash. Even if you bring it completely up to spec it will still be tainted, and you can find another for 9K all.day.long. Or buy one for 5K, and spend the other 4K getting it completely sorted. My .02

 

Hi All,

Thanks for the responses - you've been great, as usual. Just wanted to provide an update. My wife was not seriously hurt, just a bit banged up, sore, bruised and a few lingering pains from the airbag.

As far as the car, I've managed to purchase all of the known needed parts, for just under $3,100!

Here's my list:
- used hood, $685
- refurbished front bumper cover, $900
- new driver's side headlight, $325
- used washer reservoir, $44.50
- used airbags & control module, $697.50
- used hood hinges, $53.10
- new windshield, $230.31
- used radiator/condenser cover/bracket, $35.55
- used XKR grill (mine had one installed when I bought it & I like it!), $112.65

I purchased the airbags from "Airbag Center" in Florida. So far, they seem extremely professional and knowledgeable. Based on my VIN, they were able to identify exactly which airbags & control module were needed for my car. They've indicated that the clockspring does not usually need to be replaced on the XK8's after a deployment. I sent a piece of my steering wheel airbag cover to them so that can be sure to ship me the correct color replacement. All of their parts are guaranteed and supposedly high quality.

My body mechanic has indicated that he can straighten the front core support and replace the damaged parts and paint for $1,500. Barring any other major parts being needed, I am on track to repair the car for under $5,000, which is well under then $9,100 value of the car as assessed by my insurance company.

In Maryland, the car will be assigned a rebuilt or salvaged title. I will have to have the car inspected by either the State Police or an Inspection Station once the repairs are completed in order to satisfy Maryland MVA. This will reduce the value of the car moving forward, but being as we are planning on keeping the car for quite a while, I'm really not that worried about that. I do plan to document the repairs fully through photographs to be able to show that the repairs were performed correctly.

I'm thrilled that we are going to be able to repair the car. We've spent the last year ironing out all of the bugs to get it near perfect just before the crash. This even including a $3,000 transmission rebuild just last December. The only thing left on my list after this is the timing chain service and replacing the front shocks.

As always, thanks for all of your thoughts and ideas!

Tom

 

Tom,

Besides that you make me jalouse about the prices you get(235§ for windscreen, we pay 5 times that), it looks ok. You could buy another car for the money, but this one you know the state of it. Every year I spent some money on mine to keep it in good order.
I changed already the shocks, flushed the gearbox, replaced the watercooling hoses on the engine, last year replaced the diff and the rear subframe. This year the front suspension bushes where changed. I believe that is what it takes to keep them in good shape. Not all owners do that.
Inform us about the result.

Regards,
Luc

 

hello


it is possible repair the AIRBAG ELECTRONIC CONTROL MODULE this car ?


regards

 

I do not know for sure, but mine was not replaced after the airbags got replaced as it was not damaged.
Is your module smashed? I can find the answer in a couple of days.

 

This Airbag control module needs to cleared from all errorconditions before one can connect the airbags again. If not ok the airbags can be set-off or the control light will never go out in which case the airbags will not work when needed.
When I bought the second hand airbags an used Airbag ECM was provided with it. I still have it. But evenso, before usage it needs to be cleared from all error codes before it can be used.


Hope this answers your question.
Regards,
Luc

 

Repairs on my Jag have been slow, but it is coming along. As expected, there were a few additional parts needed: power steering reservoir, fan shroud assembly and a core support. Initially, the body mechanic thought he could straighten the original core support, but found it wasn't straightening to his liking, so he decided we needed to replace that with a new (used) one.

As we near the home stretch, I have just been informed that the driver's side headlight assembly that I intended to purchase was just a lens assembly - so now I am looking for an drivers side headlight assembly for my car. I'm not having much luck for a reasonable price through eBay. Anyone on this forum have one they they're willing to part with? My car does not have the headlamp washer. Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Tom

 

check the for sale section of the forum as there are a few members breaking XK's that may be able to assist. You can also try jagbits (forum sponsor) as they often have used parts or 707autoparts

 

Check out the Dallas TX craigslist. Lots of XK8 for parts.

 

Thanks - I called 707Autoparts before posting. I was unaware of the for sale section of the forum, but will check that first in the future.

I actually found a headlight. My Jag mechanic had two full sets and sold me one for $100 - crisis averted. Thanks again to all who responded!

Tom