Hello Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum members !

Apologize in advance as this post might be lengthy for some members, but I am looking for your guidance to some DIY links + vendors that sell the parts cheaper than Jag dealers.

I have been eyeing a 99 XJR for the last couple of days. The car has 108,250 miles, I ran the CarFax today and it shows up with two owners (Owner 1 - Corporate , Est. miles/year:8,760/yr, Est. length owned: 9 yrs. 3 mo. | Owner 2 Est. length owned: 9 months). The car was sold by Bluff City British Cars, TN and has spent most of its life in AR, LA and OK. I called the Jag dealer in AR that is showing up for all the service records (www.southernautomotivecompanies.com ) to get a copy of the service history, but have not received anything as of yet. I had the pre-purchase inspection done by two different Jaguar independent repair shops and the following items were discovered:

Issue #1 Front shock bushings worn, need to replace strut tower: The dealer wants $270 for this part each side. Can I buy this part from some other online vendor ? I checked motorcarsltd.com and they have this part for the XJ8 but not for the XJR.

Issue#2 Valve cover gaskets leaking: I was provided $599 as the estimate. Looking to find out any DIY links or if this estimate is reasonable.

Issue#3: Sunroof leaking, whistling wind noise on the highway, headliner sagging + rattles: The sunroof panel is not pushed all the way back and I can see a little daylight through the back part of sunroof wear seal and roof meet. While I was driving the car a little amount of the water was dripping in. Can this be fixed by someone who fixes the headliner ? I was given an estimate of $1458 and was told by one of the pre-purcahse inspection shops that both sunrof tracks need to be replaced.

Issue#4: Coolant hose top of the engine leaking: No estimate provided but I was told the hose needs to be changed.

Both shops did not perform a leak don or compression test. They also didn't check the upper timing cha tensioners as it would require the engine top taken apart (I was told they would hear if these items need to be changed when they test drive the car).

Are the issues I listed typical ? I would really like your input on the issues listed (parts vendors, DIY links or TSB's where applicable). I do have a mechanic who will work on the car if I provide the parts. Jags are not his speciality but he works on them along with Rovers, Bimmers and MB's.

Appreciate your input and hopefully tomorrow I will be the proud owner of this Jag.

Cheers

 

I'll answer with my less than lengthy Jag knowledge base and let others improve where I may err.

#1 - Parts available online, relatively easy self replacement job. I believe XJ8 and XJR are the same for this part.
#2 - Parts available in the $100 regime, simple job, check upper tensioners at the same time since the valve covers are off.
#3 - except for the sagging headliner, not a terribly difficult job - it is NOT supposed to make a waterproof seal, the rear half of the sunroof cover has channels that direct water to drains on the inside of roof... rear cover commonly comes loose from front cover - if lucky, it's just the two retainers that have slipped off of the front cover's pins. Track replacement sounds way out of the ordinary.
#4 - not difficult nor expensive job

Do a bit of searching on each of these topics and you should find a plethora of information here in the forum.

In most of your cases, as long as you do it yourself, the parts cost is relatively low... if you have it done, the cost is going to depend on the shop - highest always at the dealer by a significant amount.