I mean regular maintenance. I was told they cost more than a X300 XJR to maintain. Do they cost more than $2000 a year to maintain?


*****I mean a 2002-2003 X308 XJR.*****

 

It depends who's doing it. I do most of the maintenance myself, and only use a shop for the things I really don't want to tackle. It's cost $2000 a year, doing it this way.

If you used a shop, especially a dealer, for all the maintenance, it could cost a lot more.

Also please note that my annual mileage is quite low.

YMMV. Actually, YMWV.

However, nothing has gone wrong that an X300 XJR doesn't have, if you see what I mean. Most of the cost has been a set of tires, a fuel pump replacement (by a shop, $$$$), a front end refresh (done myself), water pump and belts / idlers, and routine maintenance.

 

So far this year with my XJR-100 I managed to put on tires ($1100) rebuild s/c ($500) and change the oil twice ($100) and put in a K&N air filter ($60) still haven't hit $2000 and those are some big ticket items. I'm trying to figure out how you'd spend $2000 in up keep in the course of a year. I'm pretty sure I won't be rebuilding my s/c or changing out my tires every year.

 

I went back through the service history for my vehicle, from the previous owners, over the last 135K miles. They spent at least $5000 a year, but that's at a dealership.

 

We're they letting them detail it once every two weeks and changing the oil every month! I can't fathom spending that kind of money on a car per year and I have 4 currently.

 

Good question. So far my 2 front tires were replaced. Found out my left front wheel bearing is toast. Parts I'll get from Ebay and I'm not sure how much a shop will charge me to press them in and out. Just take one thing at a time and you'll be fine. Try not to worry about costs to maintain them. Just know it will cost you some time, flesh and blood (DIY guys) and a bit of money here and there. Mentally put aside a few bux going in. Good luck

 

$5k/yr, y'all bump your heads?!

Not accounting for the first year where the previous owners totally neglected my jag - bought it with 4 bald tires, bad alignment, weak battery, etc. I've spent about $40 for an annual oil change, that's it. That's all for maintenence. 40 bucks. Everyone else who spent more was just enjoying pampering their car, it's not necessary.

Oh, and a single $20 wiper blade every other year.

This year was my first maintaince expenses after 5 years at just 40 bucks/year. It needed 2 new tires and full suspension overhaul and then alignment at a cost of about $1300 all said and done. Now she's good to drive until around 2020...

 

The OPs question was not how little various people have got away with, and for how long. I believe that the spirit of the question is hiw much one should reasonably budget to maintain a car of this type.

 

Welcome! Looks like a peach of a car! Still negotiate the price. Not everyone is dying to get into a Jag...that is, except us here

 

how little we've spent and how much we've gotten away with WOULD be an answer to his question.

 

Bought my 99 xjr a year ago with 50,000 miles on it, put 12,500 miles on her in a year... $281 lower ball joint, $1546 tires, $112 wheel alignment, $2877 timing chain, $196 tranny flush filter, 3 syn oil changes $145 each ( every 6 months for warrantee ), $2560 driveshaft hanger bearing.
$225 interstate battery , $338 undercoating/ sound proofing spray.
Lucky for me most of my repairs expenses were covered under 3 year warrantee I got when I bought car.

 

As in all things...it depends.

First year of ownership of a 308...ended up with overhaul of the transmission, all the coil packs, spark plugs, water pump, and a few other odds and ends. Bit hard, but then, got into the body work (which was voluntary; some may question taking care of the tin worms, but I thought it was worthwhile), new tires, headliner, fuel delivery rails, and interior freshening. Fast forward to the second year; got the ASC/Traction error, plugged in computer, saw low battery (it's only 2 years old...), no charging and a whine from inside the bonnet. Alternator test showed no charge. Going in today to get that done. Oh, yeah, replaced the octopus hose a month ago; it was weeping at one of the quick disconnect fittings. Could have just replaced the fitting...but was easier to just do the whole thing.

So..car has 128K. Things break or wear out. (D)PO put off reasonable maintenance (he let his granddaughter drive the car around...who promptly roached the original engine by driving it down the highway with the coolant level at nothing...but the replacement was out of a late '03 that had been totaled from the back...so I lucked out on the tensioners and chains...latest and greatest double row chains, metal tensioner bodies, etc...), so, it's fallen on me to do so. But, I knew that going in.

For myself...I budget 3-4K a year. This year, only up to about 800 on her...wheeeee!

I think it depends on how well it was taken care of previously, whether there are things that have been left over, and your comfort level with doing some of the wrenching yourself.

 

$50/year.

 

I look at regular maint as oil changes, brakes, tires and belts. If you include a trans well that's not maint. That's a break down item. Really that question depends on how much you drive. I change oil every 3000 miles(don't really care if others let it go longer or not). I check the brakes every other oil change. I check all fluids every 2nd to 3rd fill up. I drive about 15k per year. With odds and ends my budget for the last 2 years has been 500 per. I have spent less and this year I am tracking to be right on. Mostly due to a new battery, valve cover gaskets and new plugs. If you look and know your car then you can sometimes avoid a major problem by seeing a minor one start.

 

Key word above is REGULAR maintenance. If you're an average driver, that might one or two oil changes per year. If you DIY, that's less than $100 per annum.

If you want to include filters, tires, brakes and other wear items and if they all come due in the same year, I'd guess $2000 for DIY or the sky's the limit if you let a dealer do it.

The question is somewhat like asking 'how long is a piece of string'.

 

I mean what does it REALY cost each year. I don't want to buy one only to not be able to afford to keep it going. I mean 02-03 years where there were supposed to be less problems.

 

These arent low cost vehicles. Typically in the first year of ownership I could see spending $2000 easy getting things in order with decreasing costs the longer you own it. Ive done new tires, battery, transmission service, fuel pumps timing chain, etc etc etc in less then 9 months of ownership, but all that work means in the next couple of years you (should) only have to worry about fluids and filters. So plan on investing in it now and enjoying it for years to come.

 

What it "really" cost is subject to purchased cars condition, area, miles used annually etc. I've owned/driven everything under the sun and I find my past X300 and current XJR no more difficult/expensive to maintain then my last two Explorers. There is nothing special or mythical to attend to. It isn't a Farrari. They take oil/filter/wiper and good quality fuel plus tire rotations. Stuff comes up from time to time but that's expected on any vehicle. Buy the best example you can afford with a good ownership/service history and enjoy.

 

Regular scheduled maintenance is as outlined above.

If you're expecting someone to predict what's going to wear out or break in the next 12 months on a given 15 year old car (any car, not just a Jag) and how much it will cost to fix, it will be easier to predict the stock market.

Unless I'm misunderstanding your expectations.

 

There is no real answer though. It depends on what maintenance was kept up with prior to you owning it. If it was iffy, then you'll spend more initially getting it back up to par. That inflates the first couple years numbers. If it was meticulously taken care of, then your costs per year drop significantly for a bit until it's time to do it again.

Likewise, if you are on top of maintaining it as it goes, it lessens the chances of a sudden large expense at once. If not, then you could get away with oil and tires for 3 years and then suddenly be outlaying thousands for transmission or engine work.

And lastly, as mentioned, if you DIY the work, you'll save a large chunk over a dealer cost. Looking at the figures one person posted above, where it was near $3000 for a timing chain service. Or $145 per oil change? These are things that are drastically cheaper if you do it yourself. So it depends on what your own plans and abilities are. And who knows, what kind of mileage do you do, and what tires do you like? Are you going to drive it 10k a year with budget tires, so it averages a $500 set every two years? Do you plan on driving it 40k and putting a $1000 set on every year? Giant difference just in tires.

I would say a do-it-yourselfer would likely be fine to budget $1000 a year, with a backup thousand in the bank just in case it's a year where something happens, assuming a decently maintained car to start with. If you are planning a dealership or even indy shop to do the work, easily double it. If the car hasn't been maintained properly, but is one you just can't pass up, also plan on double or triple in the first year or two, just go catch yourself back up to where it should be, to give you better peace of mind going forward.