Hi, I found Jaguarforums after I purchased my 2006 XJ8L and have found the threads and posts very interesting and informative.
This is the third Jaguar I have owned (previously 1962 MKII 3.4 and 1978 XJS V12) and have enjoyed their performance, comfort and relative trouble free motoring.

I bought this XJ8 as my wife, dog and I want to do a long distance trip this summer, about 6000 miles from Phoenix to Ohio to Georgia and back to Phoenix taking about one month.

The Jag was a one owner car with 53K miles, its dealer inspection resulted in new brakes and rotors, replaced both front upper control arms, changed synthetic oil and filter, air filter, 4 wheel alignment and crankcase vent valve.

I have only driven the XJ8 500 miles so far but am impressed with the handling, performance and MPG - getting about 20MPG on short runs but 28MPG on the highway which I think is excellent for a 300HP large car.

I would welcome any advice from members on what extra maintenance and or preventative measures they suggest before leaving on the 6000 mile round trip.

I did manage to post pics to my garage, but I am not yet able to view pics in other posts yet as this is my first post.

Thanks,
Steve

 

With that lovely car you should have no trouble doing that trip. The dealer inspection seems to have fixed the necessary items. I remember buying my previous car, a Rover 75 in 2007 on 39k miles and driving straight off to France, Switzerland,and Italy - no trouble at all, and an easy 80mph cruise on the french autoroutes, so head off with confidence !!

The only possible thing I can think of before you go, is to ask them to check out the compressor for the air suspension system - usual way is to look for any fault codes in this area. These compressors are not a long life item, (although not too expensive to replace on service exchange). Replacement takes about one hour labour. However, as yours is a 2006 with not all that many miles, it should be OK. Do not worry though, as failure is not instantaneous, they just start getting a bit lazy in pumping up the air reservoir, this being detected by the control module and flagged up as a fault. Some people go months before they get it fixed.

 

Thanks Frazer for the tip on checking out the air compressor, I'll get that done

 

Hey there Mullion and welcome to the forum, good to have you here.
Nice intro, thanks for sharing..............

You might find the off topic good for fun, maybe check out the mug shot thread and add yours?
Some really good guys and great techs, top vendors offering good pricing levels and great service, and more to come....all good

In the meantime I've upgraded you manually to full forum access so you can better view the site

 

Thanks for the welcome Jim & thanks for upgrading my access

 

Mullion, welcome, but you didn't mention whether the A/C in the XJ can cool you down in those 105degree summers Enjoy the forums and be sure to wave when you drive through Fort Worth with the family and the dog. I cringe thinking about that leather and the dogs nails...you gotta plan for that? I put a cushion I custom made for my big shepard-lab mix, then cover the armrest with another pillowcase. You can't be too careful you know.

 

Welcome to the forum,

Sounds like the ideal car for cruising accross country.

 

Thanks for the welcome h20boy and Norri.

Re the dog (70lb Sheppard Chow mix) on the back seat, (I love the leather seats which are already cleaned with Lexol and conditioned with Leather Honey) for the road trip my wife made a custom cover for the back seat. Also as a road trip car I had the whole front aspect of the car covered with Scotchguard 3M paint protection film (helicopter tape), it is practically invisible and stops those paint chips from flying rocks.

Regarding the question on A/C in Phoenix. We have already hit 110F this year and I am really impressed with the Jag's A/C. When you park a car in the sun, in a short time the interior gets up to 140F+ (opening the sun roof and dark tinted windows helps a bit). The Jag A/C cools in just a few minutes, I guess the development time Jaguar spent at the Arizona Proving Grounds paid off

 

Hello Steve and welcome to jaguarforums.com. I know that you are anxious to get started and we are anxious to meet you and talk about your car. We have a baseline / criteria that must be met before full access can be granted. Please enjoy the forum and be patient once the baseline has been satisfied full access will be granted. Please continue to post and accept my welcome to the forum.

Please take a moment and read the information provided to you explaining the rules. Be patient and enjoy the site.