I recently sold my 2001 VDP to make room for another dream car. I am now considering selling my daily driver and getting another X308, possibly an XJR/Super V8. One of the reasons for choosing the XJR is that I hear there are less major problems (ie. transmission and tensioners). Now, it is my understanding that the XJ8/XJR use the same tensioners, but the ones in the R are less likely to break because the car does not have VVT. Is this correct? Also, I know the transmission is a Merc unit, but are there a lot of known issues with those? Are there any issues that affect the R model exclusively compared to the NA cars?
(I am looking at low mileage 2001-2003 MY).

Thanks in advance!

P.s I'm sure this has been covered many times before on this forum, but there are so many threads I just couldn't seem to find one that answered these questions straight.

 

Do it.

 

Get an 02 or 03 XJR -- most of the later cars had all the problems sorted.

With the 02-03's you don't have to worry about if it had an overheat event.

You need to have the tensioners looked into with all of them ... Jag did some strange things ... thankfully it is easy to check.

The MB trans after 2000 was very good -- main problem is the electrical connection -- also an easy and cheap fix --- less that $50.00.

SC has proven to be very reliable.

They still have a couple of nits -- ABS module - TB issues.

Good luck

 

Ideally get the 2003. I have an early 2002 and it needs tensioners.

I have been super happy with mine, even though I'm planning on adding lots of hp.

I have a 2002 XJ8 and XJR.

 

haha. Yeah, I'm leaning towards it.

 

Buy it. You know what the issues are, so you know what to look for. Even if you find one that has an issue, maybe you can factor in the cost to fix it. GL You will not regret it.

 

I would say, The biggest thing is to get a car made after 8/01. 9/01 to
be safe, some August of '01 cars had plastic tensioners. Check with
your mechanic, (note a tag to the lower right of the engine block (when
looking at the car from ahead)).

The N/A cars have a ZF gearbox which only has so much of a service life.
Some guys on here have had them up over 130k, but many have failed at
70k.

The Merc gearbox in the XJR is pretty solid, all the way from '98 to '03 only
minor changes were made.

If the engine is a nikasil one, from what I understand, if they have good
compression now, they will likely continue to serve well, possibly with
extra power over their steel-lined successors.

I'm sure you already know all this, there are a million threads discussing
these topics. But I think these cars are seriously enjoyable, you should
snag one while you can.

 

ianclements.

Exactly. Cavet Emptor. You know what you're looking for, so look. Even the tensioner issue is clearly apparent; ticka-ticka-ticka-rattle on start up. If it develops once you've bought it, then it's a £400ish kit and a weekend, but BUY THE CAR. All you have to really consider, with knowledge of it's condition, is the price. What do want to say you drive; a nice sensible Vectra with a touch of kit, or Porker killing luxury device people admire rather than resent.

Buy the car.

 

If I could get y hands on a Super V8 I'd go for it in a heart beat but they are unheard of here. Literally, went to the dealership asking about the Super V8 and they looked at me like I lost my mind and was speaking Greek. And these are suppsoe to be the experts. Hell, there is only now two Vanden Plases in El Paso that I've seen and one of them is mine. And two burgandy ones, and a black one and silver one that is base model non-extended wheel base. And a 97 XJ6 white, super clean, but got in a minor fender bender the other day.