Good morning, gentlemen. As you can see from my signature, I am looking for another ride. The XJ8's have caught my eye, and in particular the 308s.

My question is this: I have found two XJ8s that have caught my interest. One is a 99, 72K miles, with a new tranny. The other is a 00, 70K miles with new tensioners, rad, water pump and thermostat housing. They are within 1k of each other. My thoughts are the new tranny would be a better investment than the new tensioners, rad, and so on. No?

While changing the tensioners can be daunting, it does not appear to be beyond my skills (based on what I've read). Paying for a tranny (should it fail) is another thing.

Yours thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

 

welcome to the forum Earsti, is Garland in TX by chance? Could be in my area

In your situation, all others being equal interior-wise, suspension, paint and body...I would do the 2000 with the lower mileage, then schedule your transmission for a rebuild where you replace the A & B drums with refurbished, stronger units, and replace the fluid all for under $1000, and have nothing else to worry about on that drivetrain for another 100k or so. But, that's just me.

 

Hey, h20boy. Yep, I'm just down the road from you.

A tranny rebuild for a grand? I thought it'd be much more than that. For that much money, it's makes sense. Is there a good tranny shop in the DFW area?

Cosmetically, they are equal. But the 00 is British Racing Green, which has always been my favorite of the Jag's colors.

Thanks for your time.