Hello,

I am currently considering the purchase of a 2003 Jaguar XJ8 with 41,000 miles that has been meticulously maintained. The price is great since it is being sold to me within my family but my only concern is the maintenance and reliability of the vehicle. I am hoping I can hear some of your experiences with this car and whether or not you would recommend for a person with very little knowledge about cars. I hear that this vehicle can be notoriously expensive to maintain through Jaguar. I only plan on having the vehicle for a year and a half. Would it be terrible for the vehicle if I got oil changes/transmission fluid changed at a mechanic that I trust at a price much less than the Jaguar dealer with a warranty that would allow me bring it to the dealer for major problems? It would be very difficult for me to spend more than 2k a year on this car for maintenance considering its gas mileage and premium gas requirements.

Thanks

 

Hi,

How often you use this vehicle? Is it for your personal use or commercial use? Tell me more, I can suggest you with the right answer.

Cheers

<a href="http://www.windshieldreplacementplano.net">Windshield Replacement Plano</a>

 

Hi,

How often you use this vehicle? Is it for your personal use or commercial use? Tell me more, I can suggest you with the right answer.

Cheers

<a href="http://www.windshieldreplacementplano.net">Windshield Replacement Plano</a>

 

Number one, never buy a car from a relative; Number two, don't buy a Jaguar unless you plan on doing the maintenance yourself. Just my opinions. Number one I learned the hard way - don't ask. On the other hand, 2003 was the best year for these cars and you can probably get through a year and a half without problems - oh and a Jaguar dealer will skin you alive.

 

I would use the car regularly to get to and from work which is about 20 miles a day for me. You would not recommend getting it maintenance by a non-jaguar mechanic then?

 

I personally avoid dealers like the plague. Reason being I can't afford what they charge. If you've got the money, I guess they're the best place to take your car, but, there are good independent shops and mechanics, and some cater to Jaguars. I have taken a Jag to an indy that was very good, but of course, YMMV. ;^)

 

These cars are a lot more alive than other vehicles on the road. By that I mean they feel, for example if you ignore a fault it will not thank you for it. If you look after the car it will look after you and be reliable. Are you sure you want to buy from a relative though? My pal bought from his Uncle and all he had was the Uncle commenting on how he wasn't looking after the car properly etc.

I love these cars personally and don't want to drive anything else.

 

I think most of us would NOT recommend getting maintenance from the Jaguar dealer. If you can find one nearby, most of us WOULD recommend getting maintenance from an independent Jaguar specialist. Where I live, there's a great specialist right across the street from the dealer.

 

Mine had that exact mileage in 2010 when I bought it, mine is a 2002. It's a daily driver, and I had 10,000 miles of happy motoring. Recently though, I'm starting to have a bit of fuel pressure trouble, not sure what is wrong, its an intermittent problem. I recommend the car highly, it is so rewarding to own, and has been incredibly reliable for a luxury car especially. You should go for it! The family thing, on the other hand... no comment. The maintanence history, luckily, should be easy to track with your uncle. If the mechanic specialises on Jaguars, yes, but these transmissions are finicky and transmission flushes could destroy a trans. This happened to my parents on two occasions (not in Jaguars, one Ford and one GMC), on 7-10 year olf cars. I suggest you keep with the oild he used too. Should be a great car to own, I hope your decision isn't too hard.

 

I'm going to have to disagree with you there, it is wise to change the oil on the tranny. Originally these were considered sealed for life units, but when trannys started giving up at 100K it became apparent that the fluid needs changing. It is recommended to do this every 50K or so and have the filter changed in the gearbox. I had this done and the oil that came out was filthy, and since the change the transmission is nice and silky. There is a video on youtube showing someone cutting open a filter from one of these transmissions, it was full of metal shavings.

Change The Fluids for what it costs it saves £€$ being spent on a replacement transmission.

 

Sorry Stu, by the oil I meant to use the same brand of motor oil. If the previous owner had used Mobil 1 Synthetic, for example, and you started to use Castrol GTX, it would be to bad effect. When I weaned my car off of "sludge" brand, by changing to mobil 1 synthetic, a leak developed temporarily. It isn't easy for a car to change brands I guess. And OP, if Stu recommends a transmission flush, go for it... I guess I just won't personally risk it at this point. Hopefully that goes well! Maybe I will consider doing it soon, I've just ticked past 50k.

 

A well-maintained 2003 XJ8 should be a WONDERFUL car! If the maintenance records are satisfactory, who cares if it came from a relative or not. A low-mileage 2003 should be ideal; it gets you past a whole host of earlier defects and just before the beginning of the flacky air bag suspension. Find a reputable independent local Jag mechanic and go for it! Jags are expensive to maintain, but not more so than other luxury brands. You can buy a beautiful automobile at a remarkable discount, and that is just great. But you will be well advised to recognize it as a down payment with future payments in the form of more expensive maintanance as the offset. Most of us think the experience is worth the difference. My 2003 XJ8L VPlaz (81,000 miles) has been a joy for almost 5 years now.

Good luck in your decision.

 

2003, 41000 miles and meticulously maintained. I should think you'd get through a year and a half with a lot of happy driving in the vehicle. Did your relative have it maintained by the dealer? If so, even better :-)

My dealer wanted to charge $250 just for a tire rotation. DOH! I decided to take it to a local mechanic for general maintenance, after which started developing fault after fault (including going in for a smog test, resulting in a $800 bill because the top hose blew off. WTH?). They got so busy, I think they just whipped the cars in and out.

Thanks to this forum, I do most of the maintenance myself and now found a mechanic I trust for the jobs I don't think I could handle (haven't come across one yet though). I've probably save a couple of thousand dollars in maintenance and repair bills.

Even with the odd small fault here and there, I love the car, and enjoy driving it. I've certainly learnt a lot more about autos since I bought it (LOL).

Once I drove the vehicle I just had to have it, and glad I bought it.

beaky

 

bkrasne when you're about to buy a XJ8 it's not about expenses or maintenance... or price of OEM parts, or fuel consumption, or whatever else! It's all about desire and feelings I know it sounds a little bit pompous, but this car isn't just another car for a year and a half - after you buy it (if you do so) it will soon become a part of your life in a way you just can't imagine. I'm sure that in time you'll find out that doing most of the maintenance won't be a problem even for yourself - you'll have to read, read, read and thеn do it very carefully. First time you disassemble something in your Jag is a little bit scary, but it's not like building and spacecraft - just be patient

I have my XJ8 from about a month and my wife is about to kill me for spending more time with the car than with her... And even after investing all of my last standing money in the car, I just love it and I can assure you - spending money for something that makes you happy is the best investment ever. That's the reason why if you intend to have the Jag just as an item that drives you from point A to point B - the right decision would be not to buy the XJ8 or else you'll begin to hate your car.

And talking about the maintenance... I see you live in Florida and I believe there are enough Jags so even the mechanic who's not a dealer-specialist-moneyspender would be able to do most of the repairs or maintenance. I can assure you that my biggest nightmare is finding a place to do even the small things over my XJ8, because in Bulgaria (this is EU country, far away on East) even living in the capital, sometimes I feel like I'm the only one having a Jaguar... Nobody has ever seen such machine... even in the Jaguar dealer. That's the reason why I had to do everything by myself... I strongly believe that in your case it would be much easier.

Wish you luck and hope you become part of our Jag-society

 

Nicely put Estilian. I concur :-)

 

as long as it doesn't decide to screw you over with something random, at that mileage with that year, you should be good to go. as far as buying from a family member, I would prefer to buy a car from any of my family members compared to anywhere else, but I know how particular my family is, and everyone's family is different.

good luck

 

It's not that I don't like my family members, it's just that I've sold a car to a relative and continued to hear about every squeak and rattle. It seemed like it would never end, until I divorced her daughter (that b*@ch).

 

That's so funny!

 

Must have run in the family then.

 

You face a bit of a conundrum.

On the one hand it should be good to go for a year and a half with little cost other than the usual oil changes, etc.

On the other hand, you might like it so much that you'll be sorry you didn't take better care of it when you decide it's a keeper.

Check the cost of insurance before you buy ... some people forget and are a bit shocked depending on their insurance company.