Ok, I Have been a member since April and this is my first post... I know bad of me. I currently own a 1997 Land Rover Discovery, so I understand the in's and out's of English vehicles.

My questions (yes I have looked through 90% of the posts in the XJ8 section)

1. is 14,800 a good deal on an 03 XJ8 with 60k on the clock? I drove an 02 and 03 and the 03 was tons better and was only 2k more in price.
2. What kind of issues can I expect out of this vehicle. I have read about the tensioner, but after asking the dealer the service guy said this car would not have the plastic tensioner issue.
3. I have also read about transmission issues, is this because no one changes the fluids?

I am a moderator on a Disco forum, so I do understand about searching and how newbie posts tend not to get much response, but I am hoping I can get some advise since the car is in my driveway for the evening and I get to enjoy it till around lunch time tomorrow unless it becomes part of my family.

Any advise or help and I will be grateful.

 

Welcome to the forums

You are a mod on a Disco forum ? Then your bro (if available lol ) should be on R&B Forum lol
I believe Ken and other gurus to help you out just as see this thread

 

hmmm never thought about an R&B forum... But at least thanks for the reply.

 

Hey Joey,
welcome to the forum bro ( you finally came outta the closet huh?)
Nice choice on the XJ..............Although I can't help any on that model I'd suggest sending a pm to Ken@ ritishparts on this forum or asking in the general tech help section / XJ section so you'll get better exposure.
Good luck and please keep us informed

Jim

 

Whatcha talking about Joey, this place is different; we takes care of our new guys! Welcome!! Sounds like you are doing the legwork before buying, and for that, I commend you. I am certain that the 03 XJ and the 03 XK have the same engine and transmission package, and saying that, I have asked alot of questions about our cars w/ a service tech that is a promoted jag mechanic. He tells me honestly that he has only seen one ZF transmission failure (6hp26 if I recall correctly) in his shop here in the Ft Worth area...says they are very solid and most reliable. I plan to test this theory as I am at 76,000 miles and counting and it is still performing like a new-ish car. i think the 2002 XJ also had this transmission, but not an '01.

Hope you get some more info in the XJ section if you post up there as well. Good luck, and be patient for that perfect car in all respects...inside and out.

 

Thanks for the welcome (Jimc64 and h20boy). I post a link to this post in the XJ8 section. I am hoping for a response, I didn't want to double post. I know after driving it around last night I really like the car.

 

Welcome Joey...Good luck with the XJ8....I heard that you may want to look at replacing the timing chain tensioner, I think it was for this model..worth looking into anyways..

And don't post ***** like Jim does..J/K

 

thanks for the welcome Dennis... So far so good, the only issue with the car I can find is a short in the steering column dealing with the auto headlights.. when you push on the steering wheel or move it (other than to just steer) the auto lights will go out. But that is a warranty issue that I know the dealer will fix since it still has full warranty till April 09.

 

THAT ENGINE HAS THE METAL BODIED TENSIONERS, NOT AN ISSUE, ON THE TRANS THERES A COUPLE BULLETINSTHAT MAY APPLY BUT ONLY IF YOU HAVE THAT PROBLEM. DISCO....DIDNT THAT GO OUT IN THE 70'S
THATS A GOOD CAR, AND A FAIR PRICE

 

As Brutal said, the tensioners are not a problem for that year.

I think you are wise to service the "sealed for life" transmission. Most all transmission shops now have the machines to connect to the cooler lines and change the fluid.

 

Brutal and Ken, thanks for the welcomes...

I Just realized I typed Disco and not Land Rover Discovery Moderator.... i.e. a land rover forum... oh well.

Well I didn't buy the car so off I go looking again, I asked them how low on the price they would go, and they offered 14k... I countered with 12k and they said they wouldn't do it. Trade in value is right at 10k on the car, so I figured I was being frugal... oh well.

 

WELL KEEP LOOKING BUT I KNOW WHILE THEY MA Y HAVE GIVEN 10K ON TRADE(ORHIGHER TO GOOD CUSTOMNER OR TO MAKE THE NEW CAR DEAL) THE AVERAGE BILL TO PROWNED DEPT HERE TO MAKE A CAR READY TO SELL IS $12-1500, MANY TIMES THEY NEED TIRE, ALIGNMENT BRAKES ETC. ALOT OF PEOPLE TRADE IN WHEN THEYT NEED TO MONEY IN THEY DONT WANT TO, THEN WE HAVE TO. aND IF ITS TOO MUCH MONEY WE WHOLESALE THEM AND USED CAR LOTS PICK EM UP AND DONT DO ANYTHING TO THEM, THE BUYER ENDS UP FORKING OUT THE MONEY AT THAT POINT

 

although a very good point, the service guy said they didn't have to do anything to this car... Tires were new already, brake job had already been done, the only thing the dealer said they did was the 60k scheduled maintenance.