After nineteen years, my 1999 XJ8 that I purchased new in Dec 1998 (120,000 miles) has had a transmission failure requiring a rebuild. I'm told it will cost $5,500. I recently replaced the shocks all around and had an oil leak repaired. I replaced the engine about 30,000 miles ago (engine is 2003 with about 70K miles on it now). I am considering letting her go. By "let her go" I mean - to the grave yard as in current condition isn't worth anything to anyone else. What would you do?

 

Always a difficult decision when an expensive failure occurs on a low value vehicle, do you pump money into something that "isn't worth it".

If you want to own an XJ8 for the upcoming years, I think what I would do is take the $5,500 you would spend on the transmission, add another $5,500 to it and buy the lowest mileage, mint XJ8 you can find. I think there are examples out there that can be had for that sort of money. And depending how you look at it, it would have only cost you the difference between the transmission cost and the purchase price.

Or, after owning an XJ8 for nineteen years, spend considerably more and maybe go for something newer.

Regardless I don't think I would sink $5,500+ into what is basically a 20 year old, 120,000 mile vehicle, which has a true value of just a few thousand dollars. I would figure I had gained the maximum value out of the vehicle at this time, and move on.


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As CK states, that's a tough personal decision, but if your willing to at least give a look around for a used unit, try... Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market and Coventry West - Jaguar and Land Rover Parts
Also, member Swagguar is parting out his car that had a tree fall on it. I got the wheels and throttle body from him. He needs to know ASAP because the car is going into the crusher on Fri.

 

That's on the high end of transmission rebuilds for my region(double+ what I recently paid). Shop around & save her.

 

Cosmetic condition is most important ... A nice rust free vehicle will be worth what a rebuild will cost. You should be able to get that done for under 3k.

A tired vehicle ... put the money towards another one.

 

All great advice . . . for which I disagree but respect, coz you fellas best know your hometown market. Perhaps Kansas is a seaside salt ravaged area or suffers the tons of snow of your Canadian cousins just up the road. Floods at least twice a year? Perhaps you have parked it outside for 19 years in Arizona-like dust storms that have sand blasted the paint back to bare metal . . . dunno . . . but seriously, a 1 owner original X308 that has been carefully maintained and with only "run in" mileage, now being consigned straight to the crusher???

My advice? If you can't DIY, find a shop with a decent price to R&R the auto and use a s/h or refurbed replacement. The ZF5HP24 is no great mystery box, being fitted to a broad range of vehicles. I agree that somewhere closer to half what you have been quoted sounds fairer in your market and that makes your known Jaguar worth saving.

If you disagree, I respect that but plead 2 things. Firstly, at least part out your beastie so that others here might benefit from your years of maintenance. Secondly, I wish you luck finding a satisfying solution among the current offerings . . . lots of luck actually . . . coz even at Jaguar, the stylish Grace, Pace, Space ethos seems more about Conform, Conform Conform . . . oh, and add more plastic!

Hot diggety, Kansas . . . I bet if you shovel through all that sea foam, salt, floods and blinding sandstorm to get into that great car . . . close your eyes, and smell . . . I bet you don't smell burning money; I bet it's the gorgeous aroma of something called "JAGUAR". Then you will know me at my worst, shed full of the beasties and having now taken to parking a growing litter of unloved orphans outside.

Cheers,

Ken

 

$5500 sounds excessive! Surely you can pick up a second hand transmission, do the A-drum preventative maintenance, and then pay a shop to swap it over? Should take them less than a day, surely??

 

Thus my post #3

 

I understand the difficult choice here as I have "retired" my XJ8 from daily use. Mine still looks good and only has a few minor issues that need tending, but when the alternator gave out on my way to a business meeting I got to thinking about how many parts it takes to make a car go and that all those other parts were just as old as the alternator. Even with replacement engine of 70k miles and maybe a replacement transmission of 70k miles, the OP's Jaguar is still never going to be anywhere near as reliable as it was when it had only 70k miles on it.

I'm OK with parting it out BUT, if it went to a typical salvage yard here, most of the parts would go to waste, particularly interior and trim parts. What happens is that when somebody needs, lets say an alternator, all the parts they remove to get to the alternator will be carelessly tossed into the passenger compartment putting grease stains on everything or even breaking anything fragile that those extras might land on. Or somebody takes off a door, window or sunroof panel and it just sits outdoors with everything now exposed to the weather. And then there are the rat rodders that pick parts to put in something else - how many classic Jaguar differentials are under T-bucket now. Plus, many salvage operations won't keep a low production volume car for long. If they can't sell a lot of parts off of it real quick, then they'll go ahead and crush it with a bunch of good parts still on it to make way for a much more profitable Honda Accord.

If an enthusiast parts out the car, then he'll take great care to see that parts are carefully removed, properly stored and eventually well packed for shipping to the buyer. I've parted out quite a few cars and I firmly believe that its a noble endeavor to preserve other cars.

Most enthusiasts however, don't have the space or the time to do it themselves. If our OP chooses to turn the ignition off for good, and doesn't want to part it himself, I would encourage him to try first and sell it to a Jaguar breaker or another enthusiast so that the parts will get the maximum use.

 

I'm afraid my independent garage may be no more economical than the dealer when it comes to labor. I'm thinking their R&R cost is about $1,500 of the $5,500 they quoted (about $4K for the rebuild itself). How does that sound? I have been looking around at salvage transmissions - maybe $1,000 for a non-refurbished used unit. Maybe a less expensive independent garage. I'm in Atlanta now - not in Kansas anymore. If anyone has any independent recommendations I would be happy to hear them. I wish I had access to an equipped garage myself.

 

I paid $2,200 for my rebuild after drum failure via indy shop.

 

What can you buy for $5500 that would be as good? Nothing. Fix the car.

 

UPDATE -
I took the car to another shop and got a second opinion. About $1,000 less for a remanufactured unit installed with a 3yr-50,000 mile warranty / about half the price to swap it out with a used unit. Otherwise, the car is in great shape so I'm going to keep her. Thanks to all for your opinions. Jhartz -- you're right.

 

It pays to shop around -- the price difference can be large. About 2 years ago when my MB wagon was in an accident the trans was damaged ... could have walked away .. .. but the car looked new inside and out. It was worth keeping as I could never replace for the insurance value. The same thing happened when my sister hit a deer with it last november at 150k.

 

A stupid mistake I made a few years ago: 2001, mechanically perfect, but an A-drum failure and other issues clearly on the horizon. And the knees were worn out, so I couldn't get in or out. Traded it for a 13 Range Rover, burning $18k plus monthly for two years. Got new knees, burned another $7000 plus monthly to lease a new Lincoln which is very close in size and function to the Jag. Could have rebuilt the Jag for all that money and had a car far superior to the brand new Lincoln ($70k in 01 dollars versus $58K in 2018 dollars; forgetting exchange rate changes over 17 years, money still talks), and no lease payments.

Old timers on this forum will remember the guy from Moscow that replaced every freaking part on his, talk about envy!!