I recently bought a 2004 XJ8. It is in beautiful condition inside and out and runs very well. It has 100,000 miles on it, so my expectation in buying it is that I'm going to be investing in repairs over time and I figured that into the purchase, so I'm prepared for that. I'm delighted with the car and hope to keep it for a long time. To all appearances, the car has been well maintained, but I do not have service records.

Here's my question to those wiser in the ways of jaguar (and cars in general) than I: what should I do from a preventive maintenance perspective to bring any maintenance issues (belts, etc.) up to where they need to be and do a general diagnostic to restore the car to its best operating condition. Should I bring it to a dealership to have them crawl all over it to come up with an action plan for it? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

I would start by trying to get the service record. This is held by the main dealers on computer and if you give them your VIN and can show that you are the present owner they should tell you what they have on file.

 

You don't say if you are up to doing the work yourself or if you will have to have it done. I do all my own work because I just don't trust my car to other people to do the work. They just don't look after a car the way I do.

Admittedly my present Jaguar is my first venture into the more modern Jaguar. In the past I have played with the older models, Mk1 which I still have, Mk 11, and about nine series III cars being a mixture of both 6 and 12 cylinders. Each time I purchased one it went up on my hoist and got every single thing checked out and fixed before I got to do some serious driving in it.

Even my present low mileage 2005 XJ8L which looked in perfect condition and came with full "Jaguar dealership service records", spent some time on my hoist. I found the jaguar dealerships workmanship was lacking somewhat. Most of the protective rubber boots on the suspension joints were showing splits in them so they all got changed. The under scuttling had been damaged with nuts and other fixtures missing. So I replaced them also. Neither of the rear lights was held in with the required number of nuts thus compromising the water tight seals around them. This was allowing rain water to accumulate in the boot area. In addition in the really cold weather, the front shocks showed a tendency to lose air plus the air supply lines had been damaged so they all got replaced. Belts, engine oil, brake and transmission fluids also got renewed. The tires had been changed and the dealership had replaced them with a different type to the original so the unused spare now did not match what was on the car. I purchased other tire to match the other four.

I also changed out a lot of the chrome work because some of it showed blemishes that I could not accept but that is me just being **** about my cars. The rest was totally necessary to make sure the car was reliable and safe to use.

 

Meirion1: Thanks, I will check out the service records to see what they have on file.

Peddlarbob: Unfortunately, my mechanical skills are modest, somI will be having the work performed in most cases. I also have some bright work that I'll be replacing--the appearance isn't bad, but I'm a little fussy about that too. Thanks for your comments, they are very helpful.

 

It's on a 100k miles so many parts that tend to wear out early will/should already have been replaced, like brake discs/pads, the air suspension compressor, suspension bushes, (esp, all four lower air spring bushes, lower rear wishbones, and front and rear anti-roll bar links). Do you know when it was last serviced, and if so, have you been given the invoice ?

Normally, the good main dealers will put advisories on this invoice to advise of something starting to wear out. If you can obtain the on-line info this will give some information, but if the car has been worked on outside the dealer network then you will not know about this. Me, I like to see service records and bills, gives me a bit more comfort !!

Unfortunately, it seems in the US, there is no nationwide annual check on roadworthiness. Here in the UK, one has to pass the "MOT Test", and at that point, parts that have worn that affect roadability have to be replaced to get the certificate.

These cars are capable of very high mileages, but some parts do tend to suffer from what I call "unfair wear and tear", i.e they would be expected to wear out at some point in he car's life, but Jaguar seems to have sourced parts that are not so good on wear capability, like some of the suspension bushes. Fear not, however, because there is an active after-market selling parts for way less than Jaguar agents. I think use of large diameter wheels and very low profile tyres tends to cause suspension bushes to wear prematurely as in my case, a 30k miles car on 20" wheels, having to have rear lower wishbones and roll bar link.

Do you have any well known and reputable Jaguar independents in or near Fayetteville ? Such guys normally charge less than main agents.