My first Jaguar - a 2001 XJ8 - DC
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12-31-2011, 07:00 AM
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Fairfax, VA USA
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My first Jaguar - a 2001 XJ8 - DC
I bought my first Jag last night.
In May of 2010 a friend had bought a 1999 XJ8. That one was silver and had 110K-120K miles, but was in good shape except for a few aging scuffs on the paint (no rust). I believe he only paid $3500 for it. I drove his 80% of the trip across the country from Orange County, CA to NoVA / DC. From that trip I fell in love with the XJ8 and knew one day I would own one.
Mission was accomplished by using craigslist and AutoTrader to find every 1998-2003 XJ8 for sale within 50 miles of DC, then mapped it all out and spent day driving around to see and test drive each car. It was amazing the difference between the cars. Mileage ranged from 73K to 120K and price from $3300 to $7995. The worst car was listed at $5200 but was in much worse shape and more miles than the one at $3300. Out of the top 10 I went to see, after the day I was salivating over 2 - and did the carfax and started crunching #'s to make a choice. Both were in excellent shape. The top 2 were:
* 2003 White XJ8 w/ 91K miles for $7995 (small dealer)
* 2001 Black XJ8 w/ 73K miles for $6995 (private owner)
This was a hard choice, and I was trying to stay within $5-$6K. The White would only go down to maybe $7K, the Black came down to $6K and then balked at my $5500 offer. After some back and forth we agreed to $5800. I'm so stoked. I'm the 3rd owner of the car. The car literally looks like new and it drives like a dream.
A question I have is with all the excitement on the Jag forums about getting the tensioners replaced, so before buying I asked and he said that the prior owner assured him before he bought the car at 48K miles that the tensioners were replaced. He seemed like he’s trustworthy but I don’t take anything for granted. He didn’t have the records from maintenance. From the CarFax report it shows the service / maintenance dates and mileage consistent through current. But the CarFax doesn’t say tensioners nor timing belt.
So perhaps you Jag gurus can help me figure out if 1) I have the engine that needs the tensioners replaced, and 2) if I do have they already been replaced.
The maintenance service dates are all regular intervals. Besides recommended maintenance logs, these are the other entries:
11/1/2001 - Door weatherstrip replaced / Antenna replaced (14K)
3/14/2002 – Lower control arm bushings replaced (19K)
11/13/2002 – Relay replaced (30K)
3/23/2003 - CD changer replaced (35K)
5/28/2004 – New owner (48K)
12/2/2006 – Electrical system serviced / Engine serviced, Brakes serviced / cooling system serviced (58K)
9/21/2007 – Suspension serviced (62K)
2/4/2009 - Electrical system serviced / Engine serviced, Suspension serviced, axles checked (67K)
3/23/2010 - Electrical system serviced, axles checked
8/5/2011 – Water pump replaced and coolant flushed (70K)
Feb 2009 to Aug 2011 it was only driven 3K miles. He said he had bought it for his cousin to drive while in the USA from May 2004 then his cous went back to his country early 2009 which is why it wasn’t being driven and why he was selling it.
This is the most awesome car. I hope to make it last a long time and to be proactive in caring for her. If you have any advice or suggestions for a hit list of what to do and what to check I would seriously appreciate any tips.
Thanks!
-AF
In May of 2010 a friend had bought a 1999 XJ8. That one was silver and had 110K-120K miles, but was in good shape except for a few aging scuffs on the paint (no rust). I believe he only paid $3500 for it. I drove his 80% of the trip across the country from Orange County, CA to NoVA / DC. From that trip I fell in love with the XJ8 and knew one day I would own one.
Mission was accomplished by using craigslist and AutoTrader to find every 1998-2003 XJ8 for sale within 50 miles of DC, then mapped it all out and spent day driving around to see and test drive each car. It was amazing the difference between the cars. Mileage ranged from 73K to 120K and price from $3300 to $7995. The worst car was listed at $5200 but was in much worse shape and more miles than the one at $3300. Out of the top 10 I went to see, after the day I was salivating over 2 - and did the carfax and started crunching #'s to make a choice. Both were in excellent shape. The top 2 were:
* 2003 White XJ8 w/ 91K miles for $7995 (small dealer)
* 2001 Black XJ8 w/ 73K miles for $6995 (private owner)
This was a hard choice, and I was trying to stay within $5-$6K. The White would only go down to maybe $7K, the Black came down to $6K and then balked at my $5500 offer. After some back and forth we agreed to $5800. I'm so stoked. I'm the 3rd owner of the car. The car literally looks like new and it drives like a dream.
A question I have is with all the excitement on the Jag forums about getting the tensioners replaced, so before buying I asked and he said that the prior owner assured him before he bought the car at 48K miles that the tensioners were replaced. He seemed like he’s trustworthy but I don’t take anything for granted. He didn’t have the records from maintenance. From the CarFax report it shows the service / maintenance dates and mileage consistent through current. But the CarFax doesn’t say tensioners nor timing belt.
So perhaps you Jag gurus can help me figure out if 1) I have the engine that needs the tensioners replaced, and 2) if I do have they already been replaced.
The maintenance service dates are all regular intervals. Besides recommended maintenance logs, these are the other entries:
11/1/2001 - Door weatherstrip replaced / Antenna replaced (14K)
3/14/2002 – Lower control arm bushings replaced (19K)
11/13/2002 – Relay replaced (30K)
3/23/2003 - CD changer replaced (35K)
5/28/2004 – New owner (48K)
12/2/2006 – Electrical system serviced / Engine serviced, Brakes serviced / cooling system serviced (58K)
9/21/2007 – Suspension serviced (62K)
2/4/2009 - Electrical system serviced / Engine serviced, Suspension serviced, axles checked (67K)
3/23/2010 - Electrical system serviced, axles checked
8/5/2011 – Water pump replaced and coolant flushed (70K)
Feb 2009 to Aug 2011 it was only driven 3K miles. He said he had bought it for his cousin to drive while in the USA from May 2004 then his cous went back to his country early 2009 which is why it wasn’t being driven and why he was selling it.
This is the most awesome car. I hope to make it last a long time and to be proactive in caring for her. If you have any advice or suggestions for a hit list of what to do and what to check I would seriously appreciate any tips.
Thanks!
-AF
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12-31-2011, 10:40 AM
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01-01-2012, 08:24 PM
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Hey there, welcome aboard, great to have you with us here at JF
Really nice intro thanks for sharing. Glad that you found your way here with your Jag and hope we can help you figure out the tensioner scenario.
You gotta post up some pics when you can!
There really are some amazing and friendly guys here....you're in really good company to discuss anything Jag related or have a few laughs!
A really great mix of information, camraderrie and fun
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