Love my 16 XJL - has 87k miles on it (acquired used a year ago).

So far driving it less than 3k miles a year. Gets on the freeway at least once a month otherwise 1-3x a week short hops at around 40mph on country and suburban roads.

Sometimes can go a week or two with no driving.

Anything different to consider re maintenance vs the standard factory schedule?

BTW thanks for the Falken tire recommendations here - bought some and such a smooth ride.

 

Consider changing the oil twice a year instead of once a year, even if that is only some 1.5k miles between changes. Even more so if you have the AJ133 V8 SC which HATES mainly short trips.
Another thing which modern Jags doing mainly short trips don't like is the battery so it pays to put it on a tender/maintainer when sitting in the garage for days on end.

 

Just a thought from having been a boater. You might consider a fuel preservative if your tank has fuel sitting in it for months. Todays ethanol blended fuels tend to separate leaving water in the tank when the fuel gets old. We boaters worry about it when pulling our boats for the winter lay up. I used to use a product like "Store N Start" year round since fuel sits in the boat at the marina for long periods. There are many good additives on the market today that have been developed specifically to keep fuel from getting stale and separating. Opinions welcome.

 

Another recommendation to hook up a battery tender. Your usage just about requires one.
.
.
.

 

I've had a boat too and I have a few classic cars, none of which see a lot of use. But a boat mechanic gave me some advice years ago which has been working for me. He said if you stick with a top tier fuel like Chevron with Techron or Shell V-power, it already has sufficient additives in it. He warned that my boat had a 16 gallon tank and that was more than I'd use in a typical whole season for its little 2-stroke outboard motor. He advised to just fill the tank halfway and then add a couple of gallons of fresh fuel each time I went to the lake and that would keep the fuel fresh. Another big thing with fuel is keeping it mixed and for classic cars, keeping the sides/top of the tank coated with those additives to prevent rust. Some people with classic cars will start their motors and let them run stationary in the garage for a while a few times through the winter, but that doesn't stir the fuel in the tank. Need to get it out on the road for a few miles so the fuel gets shaken and stirred. If you have long periods of ice and salt and can't drive it at least once a month then you may want to consider to fill the tank all the way full and use extra additives.

I do at least one car show a month from March through October and drive everything around the neighborhood periodically so they all probably average once every six weeks throughout the year and have not had any bad fuel in over 30 years of hobby. And that's all carburetors - modern fuel injection that forces fuel in at high pressure is a little more forgiving of stale fuel than carburetors that rely on the engine vacuum to suck fuel through tiny pinhole sized orifices.

You'll be fine on fuel driving as you describe. But do get a CTEK or similar high quality battery maintainer with at least 3amp capacity. These highly electronic computerized cars are NOT nearly as forgiving of a weak battery. They drain a surprising amount maintaining memory and running background emissions tests when the ignition is off, plus short runs don't fully recharge. If you do happen to need to replace your battery in the future, make sure to get a modern AGM type as they're supposed to hold up better (i.e. last more years) to deeper discharges and infrequent recharging if you do have to leave it a while without a maintainer plugged in (i.e. maybe if its parked outdoors or you live in apartment where you can't plug in).

 

Many thanks for all the advice - very helpful!