I currently drive an X300, but would love an XJR. There is a 2004 XJR with 200k miles on the clock for sale locally. The owner just replaced the air shocks with the conversion to coil over. it looks clean and he says it drives great, but the high mileage scares me. He says the suspension bushes are squeaking and need replaced. Anyone have an idea how much that costs? I don't think its a job I can do myself.

Also with the sealed trans, that has probably never been serviced, if it shifts smooth am I ok? With 200k miles I'm not sure how durable they are without a fluid change?

Thanks for the help.

 

If you are not a relatively competent DIY wrencher I would suggest you stay away from this car.

 

​​Also they are not cheap to run when bits start to need to be replaced and 15yrs and 200k says it all.

New bits are expensive; if you go for second hand parts that can mean waiting until you find the right bit, so the car may be off the road in the meanwhile.

 

If you have a good indie European or Jag repair shop nearby contact them for estimates on the costs of maintenance and repairs. Investigate the cost of the transmission fluid replacement and especially the front bushing suspension rebuild. A worn our front end will make the car immediately feel most unsatisfactory. You might luck out and get a few years more years out of the trans, especially if annual mileage will be low.

Modern cars have long service lives compared to cars from the 50's 60's and 1970's. I'm 64 years old and I remember when cars needed a valve job at 50-
60,000 miles and a complete motor rebuild at 100,000 miles. Tires only lasted 25-35 thousand miles!

200,000 miles are a lot of miles. I'm not saying that cars at these mileages can't be good buys or last for a reasonable amount of time.It all depends on the maintenance and repair history . I've got a '96 Mustang that has 209,000 miles, 60.000 put on by me. I've also got a '96 Ford Explorer that I bought with with 252,000 miles on the clock. I've added 8,000 to that. It did come with a thick file containing work orders for many major components including the transmission. That's why a detailed repair history is so important. Many times major components are replaced under warranty and that would be good to know.

 

I own a 2004 XJR with half the miles of your proposed purchase. There are just so many things to check out. If you are handy, the car could be a good purchase especially as a second car. Checking compression and looking for codes would be a good start. You could easily spend $1K on the front end suspension alone. There is also front shocks that would cost $600 each. The rear would be a little less costly. The transmission could easily cost. $5K.

I assure you that these cares are really fun to drive, so if you are lucky you could get a fantastic car.

RyeJag

 

Hi ryejag,

I assume that since we haven't heard back from Jagwire64 for two months he probably did not purchase that car.

Cheers,

Don