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To The Leaper. Ouch. That's bad. There must be a hundred threads with that title. After Himming&Hawing since about 2011 the decision was made to fly to Chicago for a 2005 XK8 Coupe'. Silver on black. 50,000 miles. Florida car. Only been stolen and recovered 3 times. Local Hot-Rod Dealer. Normal wear in the interior. But the body. The paint. It was flawless. Not one door ding. In 10 years. Almost zero to no rock chips on the front-end. It had to have been repainted recently after being wrapped around a tree and bursting into flames.
By the way, Jip is my 'handle' and have been a regular lurker and rare poster for some years. At 10 years old I remember when the first XKE's(E-type) came out and had to have one ever since. Did for 6 months in 1990. Different story. Cars, boats and motorcycles seem to be of interest. Along with everything else. Like everybody.
So my wife and I grab the Jaguar and hit the road for the Seattle area. Take our time. No hurry. Stretch it out to 7 or 8 days. And almost every night in the same Comfort-Inn Motel.
This might be The Badlands of Somewhere. Nebraska or something.
Some scenery. Montana.
At a funky gas station.
Yellowstone National Park.
Another tank of gas.
At home in our driveway. About 2400 miles later. A nice feature.
Of course I had to ruin it first thing. Lowered 1''. You'd almost think I had the thing all planned out.
So she's finally back home for good, this time.
And not wishing to be totally gauche, I happened to land the one in a million license plates.
Last edited by Jip; 11-22-2015 at 12:01 PM.
Reason: Thread
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Hell. I didn't even know that, LnrB. And we've toured Yellowstone 4 times. First time in a car. Never having been anywhere near Chicago it was a real joy being able to drive at 80+MPH for 1200 miles of corn fields for three days. And legal. Set the Criuse at 89 and still got a steady 26MPG. Freeway is flat and straight. Only saw to cops in two days. Then Wyoming gets interesting. Tourist roads from there, all the way home. Maybe another 900 miles.
Looks like a great trip home. I wasn't expecting to see buffalo right next to the highway!
Enjoy the forum.
Graham
As you can see I weenied-out out at the last minute regarding an early 2000's XJR. At that time, 2011, I think 2005 XKR's were still in the $40,000.00 range. Way out of mine. This one was $16,000.00. I figure I'd re-introduce my big self now that I actually own a Jag-u-r.
And back to the paint for a moment. At every gas stop and crappy motel we stayed in, I'd always walk around the car determined to find that Tell-Tale sign of a recent paint job. That taped edge inside the door jam. Along the window seals. Somewhere. When my wife and I got home I took the car to my local body shop. Greg said, nope. That's original paint. And pretty near perfect. I didn't know Jaguars are known for their paint jobs. Maybe they're not but this silver car makes my wife' silver S500 Mercedes-Benz look like it was paint-rolled. Maybe it was.
And while at the shop being lowered the bottom of the car is just as clean. Doesn't look like it's seen much water. Sadly, it will here. The engine compartment also looks sparkling new. The gold or silver cadmium coating on the little bright metal parts don't look like they've seen water either. Somebody must've replaced every single metal part on the engine. I know this stuff because I've lived in Western Washington for 60 years and just don't see 'Never Seen Rain' cars very often.
Oh, and I love the car. Every gas stop someone asks WTF. Didn't see another in 2400 miles. Just 2 XJ's. Saw about 40,000 Mercedes. 'Cedes, if you're a Rapper.
And thank you folks for the re-welcome. All yalls. While shopping for the appropriate key fob I get the impression the chrome Jaguar on some old/vintage hoods is referred to as a 'leaper'? I'll use my old fob for now.
....... And back to the paint for a moment .......
Jip,
My two previous Jaguars were both XK8's - a 2001 and a 2005. The paint on the 2005 was superb (as is my current 2007) and noticeably much better than the earlier car.
Jaguar invested heavily in their paint process and this was the typical standard on the later XK8/XKR.
You're lucky the front bumper hasn't needed a repaint. They often pick up a lot of stone chips.
Indeed. When we left the dealer in Chicago the front 'bumper?' was free of any rock chips leaving me to believe the car had been recently repainted, front to back. Bad sign, maybe. And body shop paint jobs are often better than factory new paint. I have some of both right now. When we got back home I washed the car as the front plastic bumper was covered in bugs. After a careful examination my poor car now has 3 pin head size rock chips. Boo Hoo.
Anyway, the factory paint is the best I've ever seen on a new car. And, yes our body man said the plastic bumper nose piece may have or probably has been recently repainted.
Thank you, gwg. I can now see how one can have two. Then four. Then six. Then eight. Ya' know. I'm reely reely beginning to like this car. It usually takes me about 6 months to decide if it's a keeper or not. The poor M-B S600 Twin-Turbo V12 just didn't do it. Freakishly fast as the car was, after a year and a half I still couldn't love it. I was literally afraid of it. One finger print on that blinding black paint would send me into convulsions. Not a good way to have a 'nice hair' day. With the XK8, if I try really hard I can totally relax in that homie interior and feel like I'm in the Worlds Most Expensive Dodge Dart. Not overwhelmed like the S600's plethora of bells and whistles and beeps and chirps and switches and knobs and horns and alarms. And no F'n dipstick. How the F you sposta' check the oil? You can't. Because it doesn't use oil. I could never relax because I never knew if there was any oil in that $100,000.00 engine. And I made a 30 year career out of checking dipsticks. It wouldn't even let me do my job.
But I like the XK. Even though in the first week the passenger door window 'Lower/Upper thing quit working. Then a week later the drivers door window thing quit working. And the dash lights occasionally flicker. But no worries. My mechanic drives a very nice '89 XJ and already has the micro-switches to fix the windows in about a hour. Read all about 'em on this forum.
Too cool.
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So I might just fill-in my fellow Catsters after putting about 5500 miles on the car in 4ish months. After the first week at home in rainy Washington the passenger door handle micro-switch went wonky. Lifting the door handle the window went down a bit. Opening the door and releasing the door handle, the window went back up making the window hitting the rubber weather seal and messing it up. So with a passenger I'd run the window from the drivers side. I can deal with that. Then the drivers door started the same thing a couple days later. Two micro-switches a few days apart. Made an appointment for the following week. Shop had the switch overnight. Drivers door fixes itself in a few days. Passenger door gets fixed by shop. New switch. Very common, I read.
A week after the passenger door gets fixed the dashboard gauge lights start flashing randomly. This was visible in the dim daylight. I wondered if the headlights were flashing so I avoided using the headlights until I could determine if they were flashing and freaking-out other drivers. Not flashing. A week later the car is in the shop and found some questionable ground wires. All fixed now.
As I mentioned before the second day I had the car while still in Illinois, a ticking sound was heard when cold starting in the morning. Ticking went away in a couple of minutes and stayed away all day. After almost four months of the morning ticks my Mechanic decided lets started with the easy way and put Sea-Foam in the crankcase oil. Added 8oz. to 8 quarts of oil as per instructions. Drove it around town a few days and still ticks. Mechanic said drive it 50 miles on the freeway. So I did. Yesterday. Got on the freeway and after a bit of study I settled on 4th gear at ~50mph equals ~2500rpm. In 6th gear it's around 1700rpm. I figured 2500rpm might get things going. Maybe 80 miles total. This morning I'll start the car and listen to a totally silent running engine. Right? If not we move onto the latest in other crankcase additives. Some kind of clear goop made locally. Some kind of replica expensive stuff for half the price. Guaranteed to rebuilt your engine in just 50 miles. By the way my Mechanic drives a nice '89 XJ6 he loaned me for a day or two while repairing the lights. Nice car. Never been in one. Never been in any Jaguar to speak of. Couple test drives at the dealer. Hell, that ain't nothin'. Oh yeah. Lifters. If the Miracle Rebuild'in a Can doesn't work then it may be open it up time. Stay tuned.
So how do I like the car? First time Jaguar owner? Having owned plenty of American, German and 3 Japanese cars in 50 years the Jaguar is a bit different. It feels similar to my wife '96 Mercedes-Benz S500 Coupe'. If I close my eyes while driving(figure of speech) they feel almost the same. Seating position, etc. Ride quality? Sporting sedan, sort of. I guess it feels like a high-end American car. Which I've never been in but I imagine a top shelf new Lincoln would feel different than a low-end new Ford. The XK is a pure joy to drive. Being inside is easy to forget how wild the car looks on the outside. If not for the acres of wood inside you'd kind of think you're in most any very nice car. Only funner. More fun. Lowering the car didn't effect the ride very much. That is what the techie said at Mina Gallery who sold me the springs. Plus, with the help of a previous thread I was able to correctly align the rear camber, which seems to be an issue among some Jaguar lowerers. The XK now corners like it's on rails. I've heard that term and have or had some good handling cars, but this is the first car I've had that almost personifies that feeling.
The initial plan was to use the XK as a daily driver. I'm not a 200 mile per day commuter anymore so the 300,000 mile Infiniti is no longer required. However, I still do drive almost everyday and first car I grab is the XK8. I plan to literally drive this car into the ground. I hope to set a world record. I read so much about Sunday drivers and week-ends only and summertime only and sunny days only. By now the Brits should be able to make a normal car for under $500,000.00. Batteries Not Included.
So there you have it. Four month, 5000 mile report. Love the car. Has your British electric quirks I'm happy to put up with. Actually they are kind of comical. Some fix themselves. That's always nice.
11-22-2015, 10:54 AM
'Finally Made the Leap'
Hell. I didn't even know that, LnrB. And we've toured Yellowstone 4 times. First time in a car. Never having been anywhere near Chicago it was a real joy being able to drive at 80+MPH for 1200 miles of corn fields for three days. And legal. Set the Criuse at 89 and still got a steady 26MPG. Freeway is flat and straight. Only saw to cops in two days. Then Wyoming gets interesting. Tourist roads from there, all the way home. Maybe another 900 miles.
Maybe it was.
