I am looking at purchasing a one-owner vehicle with 42,000 miles on it and a very complete service record that included mostly Jaguar dealer maintenance. The car looks absolutely immaculate inside and out (and under the hood) from the 27 posted photos. I'll be looking at the car physically in several days with a friend who is a mechanic (though not one familiar with Jaguars)

Any advice? The service records show nothing done relating to the tensioners or the tranny. Should I expect major problems soon on a car with mileage this low that has apparently been very well cared for?

 

I have a 99 vdp with 130k had it since 30k as long as you keep up the maintenance do the scheduled services you won't have any problems. I had to rebuild the tranny at 100k tho the drum cracked pretty common on these cars that's pretty much it. Good luck

 

ancientskies1:
Welcome to the forum. Especially if you plan on sticking around, be sure to greet everyone in the 'Intros' section. We try to be a real friendly place.

Man, if the price is right, I'd probably jump on the car you are looking at WITH the proviso that if the 'biggie' items haven't been done, you'll be sticking some serious coin into the car just for updates. Obviously, if you can do some or most of the work yourself, all the better. You will need to do the tensioners asap; you should replace the water pump, thermostat, and associated plastic bits - which WILL fail if you don't; and, of course, save money for the transmission.

Most (all?) of these things were resolved by '02/03; but an earlier car can still make for a worthy ride in the hands of a careful owner. Perhaps that's you!

Let us know what you decide. Good luck!
cheers,
Scott

 

You will want to do the tensioners and replace all the old coolant and heater hoses if they have never been changed.
Get the aluminum thermostat housing from Welsh Enterprises. If the fluid has not been changed in the transmission, that would be a good investment. Most transmission shops will work on it for a reasonable price. BMW and Mercedes use the same transmission. NEVER let the engine overheat. Don't try to drive it home if you get a leak. The cylinders do not have a steel sleeve and it damages the Nikasal coating. Take care of it and you will be driving it to 200,000 milles. Not a car that
most can afford if you can't do a lot of the work yourself. Good luck!

 

Thank you very much, gentlemen, for your replies Checking the carfax the water pump, thermostat and throttle-body have all been replaced on the car. I intend to switch out the tensioners at my earliest opportunity.

I am not a mechanic but I have a good one and intend to use the several thousand dollars I'm going to save in buying this vehicle (rather than another I was looking at) towards expected maintenance costs.

I do see that only about 2,000 additional miles were put on the car in the last six years which I wonder a little about. On the other hand I have a '66 T-bird convertible on which I've put about the same number in that time. If I had to guess I'd say the owner went from using it as a daily driver to only driving it on weekends in good weather.

Which brings me to my next question: can I expect this vehicle to perform as a daily (mostly highway) driver if I properly maintain it as you all advise?

BTW, my parents were both Jag owners (420, 420G, Mark X, XKE and XJS). This will be my first one!

 

If you have already budgeted for the upgrades, that sweetens the idea even more. Good to hear the water pump has already been done; though, if the metal upgrades weren't used, you may find yourself doing it again depending on how old the replacements are. (They get brittle with age and heat.)

Delving more into the realm of opinion… I bought a '98 last spring with more than twice the miles as my daily driver. It can absolutely be done, so long as you're not disappointed, from time to time, when it doesn't have the reliability of a Camry. When buying a used car, I always tell myself that it could blow up tomorrow and I have to be OK with that - which could happen to any car.

Do let us know how it turns out! Cheers,
Scott

 

Thanks again, Scott...You are so right about your attitude about used cars (but good thing I've never owned a Camry!)....I will definitely do the "intro" you mentioned when I can. My mom drove a Mark X for 18 years as her daily driver when I was growing up. I think I could write a novel about that alone! :-)

 

The term "daily driver" really does not explain what you expect from the car. If you have other people maintain an X-308 for you, after the tensioners, expect to budget $1000. to $1500 (or more) for maintenance and repairs for each 10,000 miles you drive. There are a lot of things, especially electronics and controls that just do not care how many miles, but rather age, for their life expectancy. Plastic parts age, electronic module's capacitors age, seals age, and the elements attack parts. Your records do not speak to the ABS connector, the plastic water pipe parts, the knock sensors, the SCLM, the transmission A drum, the headliner, the moonrrof mechanism, and a host of other things that can cost a pile of money and are common failures on these cars.

These cars can be a great deal if you work on them yourself. If not, don't drive it a lot of miles or it can (will) cost you money.

Other opinions will vary, but ask those with other opinions how many miles they have put on their X-308. I have well over 350,000 miles combined on three of them.

Now, all that said, I love the styling and the way they drive, but I do my own work, and I do not need to depend on any of them- My wife has another car, and I drive the XFR if I need dependability. As Vector (I think) says, "I have come to understand that owning a Jag is like owning a horse. There's no joy in it unless you love taking care of it."


It doesn't matter anyway, clearly you have decided to buy it and I add my wish of the best of luck.

 

I'm not trying to start a debate but, if you are willing, please read Ross's last comment and let me know your thoughts. I have initially set aside $4500 for maintenance on this car. Ross is telling me I should expect to pay $1,000-1,500+ on repairs every 10,000 miles if I'm not a mechanic.

My dad daily drove an '83 XJS for almost nine years before it began to need constant maintenance, but he bought that one new. I had an 11 year old Lincoln Mark VII daily driver that was reliable enough, but this is obviously no Lincoln...and its 16 years old.

I'm willing to take a risk with this car, but do you all think I'm looking at constant breakdowns and a $9,000+ repair bill over 60,000 miles (which is probably what I'll put on the car before selling it)? Are all 98' XJ8's automatically maintenance intensive to the degree Ross says they are?

Thank you in advance for your kind feedback!

Shea

 

I think Ross is more right than wrong Shea. Be prepared, but not scared. Just saying. Best of luck.

 

Shea:

I think it's great that you seem to be following both your head and your heart!

Like I said, it ain't going to be no Camry. Then, parts and repairs are lots more when needed. However, once the major things are taking care of or prepared for (tensioners, cooling system, and transmission), isn't all the rest just wear, tear, and luck? I've got money set aside for my tranny; but even the failure of that is not a given. Perhaps it will make through my ownership. Who knows. With the help of the forum and the internet, you can oftentimes find deep discounts on parts. So, if you have a good mechanic who will work with you, you can keep costs down that way as well. This is the kind of car it helps to have a relationship with - knowing the ins and outs goes a long way to keeping peace. You may find that some of the things (e.g. the headliner described above) you can do yourself, and may even enjoy doing.

Relatedly, the time is SOON coming for us to replace the family minivan. Because I'm committed to debt-free living, we can only look for something used within our price range. Quite honestly, apart from Toyota, almost every car/van I've researched produces anecdotal evidence of mechanical and design weaknesses - from transmissions to wheel camber eating up tires. Sheesh! It's almost paralyzing!

At the end of the day, make your choice and hope for the best. Perhaps that's all you can do.

Cheers!
Scott

 

Shea:
Thanks for starting a dialog on this point! You know, the real answer is that you could use this as an excuse to buy some hand tools, an OBD scanner, and develop some new skills. That way, you can "beat the man" and own a fine luxury european sports sedan for a reasonable cost. Oh, and BTW, I did not say you had to be a "mechanic". Very few of us here would ever be accused of being a real "mechanic", but that does not stop us from working on our car.

 

Hi Scott,

Thanks for the further encouragement. I plan to put about 20-22K miles a year on the car and will be commuting 4 days a week with it. In the 3 or so years I expect to have it my major concern (based on some of these posts) is how often it may maroon me on the NJ Turnpike? I can certainly handle putting $5-6,000 into mostly preventative maintenance during that period. What I'm not sure I want to deal with is frequent complete breakdowns. My mom's '66 Mark X did that a lot and spent as much time in the shop as it did on the road over the long years she owned it (our long suffering mechanic finally said "Mrs. Oakley, if you love this car so much why not just turn it into a planter on your front lawn!"...I kid you not) But my impression was that the few hundred million dollars Ford put into Jaguar had continued the steady improvement of the breed since the (literally) dark years of Lucas Electronics and the like. My dad's XJS was certainly reliable over the long haul.

A few years back I was ready to buy an early X-type 3.0 sport model with the stick. My mechanic at the time literally begged me not to buy it based on its early problems. So I listened to him and bought a low miles Pontiac Bonneville SSei instead...It ended up being the most unreliable daily driver I ever owned.

So I guess it is like you say, any car is a risk...might as well risk it on a thoroughbred!

Best,
Shea

 

Thanks, Ross, I appreciate you pointing out that anyone can learn to work on a car. The thing is I already have other hobbies in my life and just cannot spare the time to pick up another one without sacrificing the others, which I'm not willing to do. I greatly respect all of you who work on your vehicles yourselves. It is just not my thing.

 

I have a 2001 XJ8 with 130,000 miles and we purchased it in 11/2003 from a ford leasing auction (1st owner leased it in 8/2001).

The 40,000 service in July 2005 resulted in the following covered repairs:

Replaced Fuel Cap, Replaced J-Gate Module (Shifter Housing Gasket), Replaced Left Front door rubberseal, Sunroof - Repair Link Assy & Reinstall, Front Control Arms Bushings cracked, Replaced front bushings & Align Front, Replace Rear Pinion Seal, also mentioned
Found Front Pads & Rotors need replacement -Est $736.

April 2008 replaced Fuel pump and Lead Link (inside Fuel Tank) also covered repair.

Dec 2009 Replaced Front & Rear Brakes (Rotors & Pads) almost $500 in parts and labor.

July 2010 replaced Upper and Lower Timing Chain Tensioners, also Water Pump totaled almost $2000 with labor.

Sept 2010 transmission needed to be rebuilt just over $3000 for rebuilding service & removal/install labor.

April 2011 Thermostat Tower and Thermostat replacement $259.

May 2011 Front Wheel Bearing replacement over $200 for parts and labor.

Dec 2011 Used Instrument Cluster Pack $260 for parts and labor.

August 2012 Rebuild Service on Throttle Body almost $450 for service and install.

Oct 2012 No Heat - purchased used aux heating pump, climate control module and coolant over $300 in parts and labor.

Nov 2012 Replaced Valve Cover Gaskets, Spark Plug Seals, Coolant Outlet Pipe and Coolant, Flushed Heating System over $300 for parts and labor.

Dec 2012 Replaced Driver Door Check and fixed related damage to door - almost $150 in parts & labor.

May 2013 Removed and fixed (resoldered pins in module) ABS Module $90 labor.

Jan 2014 Replace Bleeder Plastic Hose, Brake Stop Switch, Security Locking Control Module almost $300 Labor & Parts.

March 2014 Repaired Broken Wiring near Rear Right Trunk Hinge and found broken driver seat lumbar switch almost $200 Labor.

I did not include regular maintance items such Engine Oil & Oil Filters, Tires, etc.

I also have a 1990 Acura Legend LS sedan (150,000 miles) purchased in 1995.

It almost never needs any repairs (it did have steering rack replaced over 10 years ago).

Jim Lombardi

 

Oil and oil filters for an oil change are X2 of other cars!
And Jim, it looks like you are getting pretty good deals on your work- I don't doubt your reported prices for a minute, but you are an extremely "informed consumer"!

 

OK, so is Jim's experience a worst-case scenario or am I literally being told that typically every X-308 will have this kind of service record?

 

And, if this is typical, are the 2002/2003 models considerably better?

 

Oh, I almost forgot about the replacement of the 10 disc CD player (12/2007) that dealership provided with a rebuilt one also covered by my extended warrantee.

Some of 2002 XJ models received the 2nd generation tensioners and 2003 XJ X308 models may have the metal 3rd generation ones.

The forward disk failures in the XJ8 X308 all model years (1998 thru 2003) ZF transmissions. The XJR X308 have mercedes type transmissions and do not have this problem.

A lot of the electronics are failing because of the vehicles aging process. Also the use of plastics hoses and other engine plastic components in these cars cause problems.

Even my 1990 Acura Legend has a main relay that has to be replaced very so often (soldered joints crack inside the relay case).

Jim Lombardi

 

From memory, here is the list on my wife's XJ8, which is not driven nearly as hard as I drive my cars- all mileage and costs are estimates since I do not keep accurate records- that way I can be in denial! All labor after the first brake job is by me, so no cost included. Not included is normal fluids, tires, cleaning, or road hazard damage repair (well, maybe the radiator!).

Notice my costs are much lower than my suggested budget. I feel lucky, so far, and if I paid myself $10.00 per hour, I would be well over the budget!

November 2002- Took New Car Delivery
60,000 miles -Brake Job at dealer $850.
75,000 miles -Flushed heater matrix to fix no heat
80,000 miles -Leaking Coolant Crossover pipe - $95.00
81,000 miles - Fixed cracked bypass hoses, probably from pipe repair! $ 100
85,000 miles - New tensioners due to bad info - it acually came with Gen III ! $650.
88,000 miles - metal thermostat riser, new hoses $300.
90,000 miles - ABS repair - soldered myself
95,000 miles - SCLM repair- repaired myself $25. for parts
100,000 miles - Antenna $35.00
101,000 miles - New valve cover gaskets $150.
101,000 miles - Tranny flush - $50.00
110,000 miles - New brakes $ 400.
115,000 miles - replaced fuel pump inlet screen
125,000 miles - New fan module -$400.
125,000 miles - New radiator - $675.
135,000 miles - New knock sensors - $150.
135,000 miles - brake switch $25.00
140,000 miles - Headliner - $65.00
150,000 miles - Used SCLM - $ 120.
160,000 miles - New front wheel bearings - $95.
175,000 miles - Temp sensor - $ 65.

180,000 miles - Happy wife- PRICELESS!