The previous owner kept a detailed log of everything done to the 98 XK8

I was happy to see (or maybe not) quite a bit of work done by a Jaguar dealership.

Included were:
Chain tensioners
Throttle body housing Throttle body
Cam cover gaskets
Engine Drive belt
All new hoses
Thermostat
Water pump
Housing
Lower wishbone front bushings
Power steering rack
Rotors and pads all around
Brake switch because shifter would come out of park without foot on brake.
Rear view mirror

All dealer serviced.

So now I ask you....

How can a car with only 40K miles go through this?

Should I be happy that this work was done?
(keep in mind, this is my FIRST used car).. I'm a little skittish right now.

 

I would say regardless of mileage the previous owner has been a very conscientious one in that all the major items know to fail have been upgraded.

Rejoice in the fact that you didn't pay for it and now have a very sorted car.

 

+1 on Jim's comment only to add that there are three categories of issues which the previous owner would seem to have dealth with :


Known issues - that includes big things like the tensioners and water pump, and less serious stuff like the rear view mirror.
Normal service items - brake pads and rotors.
Age related deterioration - hoses being the prime example.


Possibly the *only* item on your list which would not necessarily have been done by a careful owner on a car that's 18 years old is the steering rack so see that one as a bonus, not something to be concerned about !!

 

Some people take pleasure in, or feel obliged to take their car to the dealer at regular intervals for 'inspections'. Invariably, the dealer will feel obliged to find 'something' to make the owner believe the shop visit was worthwhile and that the practice of regular inspections should continue.

 

Add to the list of items for today

Just finished putting in new Bilsteins all around,and front upper mounts.
All bushings and joints are fine.

Was amazed at the comfort level that this "sports car" delivered on the way home form my mechanic.

 

Bear in mind that 18 years is 18 years, irrsepective of mileage. Rubber bits degrade due to time as much as use.

 

Pull the receipt for the tensioner replacement. What is the date? There were lots of first generation tensioners replaced with plastic second generation tensioners. The only difference being that the later version had a spring added to reduce the chain rattle that was a signal that the tensioner was about to fail. The plastic body cracked and the plastic slipper fell off with equal regularity.

The second generation was replaced by the metal bodied 3rd generation mid year 2001. The plastic ones remained in stock and were even sold on eBay for several unknown years after that. Unless that item was done in the past 10 years I would want to verify that the metal bodied tensioners were in place.

 

The tensioners and tensioner chain, etc were done on 11/16/2007
At that time, the car had 33,000 miles on it.
The car now has 46,000 miles.

The Throttle body and housing were done 10/20/2004

 

That's an impressive list. I would say very complete for a '98. 3 years ago at 50k miles I did almost the same list. But I did it myself after the purchase.

Since then I have had 20,000 blissfully sweet miles. In fact yesterday my wife and I drove the Jag 3 hours each way just to get the best Scallops and Chips on the planet. That's confidence!