Ah! That's correct! I've been away so long that I thought all of the 4.0 liter engines had the plastic tensioners. Thanks for jogging my memory. I just texted him to ask him to send me a picture of the VIN. If I remember correctly, I can get the manufacturing date off of the vin, correct? Or do I need the engine number?

This car has clearly been well maintained at the dealer. He had records from the dealers which even showed the times when it had been washed and waxed. As far as residual value, I don't really care. If I buy another one I don't intend to ever sell it. It will grow old with me.

 

Sam,

You had a 2003 XK8. You should remember that the 2003-and-newer models come with fewer potential flaws in their engines / drivetrains. Do a little more refresher reading here, then do yourself a favor and look for a 2003-or-newer XKR. I think you'll be significantly happier in the long run....

Whatever you decide to do, we look forward to having you back in the fold....

 

Jon89 Don't say that ...those of us with pre 2003 cars need him to buy it, fix it while taking the great videos he does. That way we can all fix our cars...LOL

 

That may be, but I'm for Sam (and any other XK8/XKR buyer) getting the best bang for his buck....

 

Sam, There was a post recently where someone wanted to figure out the build date of the engine. As I recall he was told you need the engine's number, not the VIN. Someone answered and explained how to decode the exact date.

I'm sure someone will correct this if I remember wrong of if it changed for your year.

John

 

Welcome back Sam!

 

You should take Jon89's advice; however since I have an '01, I'm with Rick!

Price seems a little high given age, miles and condition. Mine has 142k and is doing fine, but then I have put on the last 45-50K miles myself using your videos to keep it in shape. Also have motorcarman handy for the hard stuff.

BTW, you need the engine number for age. Some motors sat on the line waiting for bodies. The manufactures date on the door frame is only when it rolled off the line. Not sure the VIN will yield the correct date for the engine build.

I'd low ball him and see if he is really going out of country. If he is, then it won't sell until he returns anyway. More time to look around for a 2004-2006 model.

Good luck either way.

 

He's looking at an XKR that has the Mercedes gearbox, metal thermostat housing and other improvements over the non-supercharged version. And as it's a 2002 it should have the same upgraded tensioners as the 4.2 version, so in reality the difference between the two is not as great as you might think - plus it has a supercharger.

 

Sam,

New member here, actually still shopping, haven't found the right car yet. Here is a link to my thread on engine build dates. It should have the information your looking for.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...te-vin-161902/

Griff

 

Go low, at least with the 02 you can drop in a LS1 and a 6 speed manual, that would make for some great videos!

 

Well you are a blast from the past! Question did you get the car?

 

Let's take up a collection and buy the car for him so that we can get him back here

Doug

 

best idea ever!!!

 

The engine number is better. The vehicle gets an engine
that has been built and waiting for installation.

On the other hand a friendly dealer may be able to look up
the original engine number from the build sheet which you
get by giving them the vin.

Any service writer or parts guy can do this.

.... oh and welcome back ... maybe

ps. tensioners, $200? and 8 hours if you work really slow.

 

Apparently I need to keep looking at XKs until Sam finally gets back in the game:

 

welcome back. do what i did with the boat. say honey look what followed me home. or a nice bribe involving jewelry seems to work. all jokes aside looks like a nice car.

 

So what did you decide?

 

SAM!!!

OMG.... we need you back Buddy. Get an 4.2L XKR Coupe. (Hmmm .... I wonder "why" I'd ask you to buy one those - lol)

Do hope you'll return to us. You've been without a sweet ride for long enough.

 

Hey man! My first sports car was a 72' GT6... I was a freshman in highschool. Love those cars

 

The GT6 is a hard car to get rid of! After about a 15 layoff and a 9 year Mod Project, she just won best Resto-Mod at Britain on the Green. There are parts of this car that go all the way back to my college GT6, in 1975. Yikes.