I have been searching for a new car for a while and always loved the XK but wanted a coupe not a convertible and I could find quite a few convertibles in the price range I wanted and even lower but in my area I would be afraid someone would cut the top. I found this XK in Luna Gray on Facebook Market place and made a deal for $8500.00 I actually knew the owner who lived across the street from my relatives back in the 70s It has 83K miles looks pretty good except a scrape on the right side wheel arch and a little bubbling under about size of a nickle a quarter side area on the edge of the hatch above the chrome.. I never though I would ever see bubbling on an aluminum car but I guess it happens. I'll have my body shop touch them up. The rest of the car looks mint inside and out. Runs and drives great. I am not too familiar with the model spent some time going thru the owners manual last night. I still have my 2003 Vancen Plas but it's getting old wheel arches have started to rust it's showing her age and for a daily driver here in New England it's common.I just have this one pic for now. I will take more pics after I wash it when the sun comes out. I would appreciate any advise from other XK owners but from what I researched these are pretty good cars. My last two Jags 98XJ8L and my current 03 Vanden Plas were very reliable and easy to maintain and never cost me much in repairs.(If this is the wrong place please move it to the proper forum)




Took this in the garage last night when I picked her up.

 

The price seems right from what I've seen recently. My 08 XK started needing repairs @ 110k. Alternator, water pump, hoses, expanson tank, rotors-pads. @ 125 shocks,mounts, some sus pieces.
wj

 

Congratulations John,
Looks like an excellent purchase.
The 4.2L is bulletproof and just broken in at 85K, assuming regular maintenance and care by the PO.
You will want to have the ZF transmission serviced (fluid and filter) in the next 15K if not already done.
As any near 20-year-old vehicle, be on the look-out for oil/fluid leaks.
Finally, rubber suspension bushings fail due to age as much as wear.
I think that the specific environment, source of ozone, more than age, may be responsible if excess deterioration is found.

Welcome to the XK forum.

 

Looks like a beautiful car, John! Congratulations!

Cheers,

Don

 

You can tell it was washed and waxed recently

 

What service records did u get?

Water pump, suspension, alternator should probably been done by now...

great color...

 

I got the complete Car Fax 11 pages long 82 entries. The last entry was for Oct 2025 I assume when the person I bought it from just got it and had it checked. He only owned it for 6 months he had to sell it because they needed something more practical. It got an oil change and all the fluids checked the car gone over at a local Jag dealership. I will most likely have my mechanic go over it this month.It came from Florida the first owner bought it new took it on and off the road probably a snow bird. It was sold or traded to a Jaguar dealership resold as a certified Jaguar used car twice before it got to the guy I bought it from. I do not see the alternator being changed but the electrical system and suspension system was gone thru. I saw that every time it was in for maintenance they nitrogen filled the tires even when the tires were replaced. I have been a mechanic for years and never heard of that. I had to research it and it is a thing.

 

I use 76% nitrogen in all my tires, even for the lawn tractor.

 

May we assume you are describing atmospheric air, which is about 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 1% argon, 0.04% carbon dioxide, water vapor and miscellaneous other gasses... ?

Here's an interesting article about using nitrogen in tires:

https://www.consumerreports.org/cars...s-a6260003694/

Cheers,

Don

 

I'm in the Utah valley, we have 2% smog that displaces nitrogen.

 

The Consumer Reports test compared Nitrogen to "Dry Air".
Back in the days when classic muscle cars were new, and "gas stations" sold tires, oil changes and tune-ups, "Dry Air" was misunderstood and often viewed as an unnecessary expense.

"Air Dryers" were expensive and rare. Further, because the problem with air was misunderstood, air pipe layouts sometimes made the problem worse by carrying condensate directly to outlets.

The area where I grew up was known for high relative humidity. It was not rare to find liquid water inside of tires or to find the location of a puncture by observing water spitting out.

In the days when "wet air" was a real possibility, filling tires with Nitrogen made a lot of sense.

 

Very nice! Welcome to the club.

 

Thanks, Everyone. Of course I did a little research and that article from CR was very informative. Of course the car is equipped with tire pressure sensors and i do know that no matter what you do tire loose pressure. The only time I have let a car sit and three of the four tires lost 50% of the air the one that had fix a flat didn't it only happened once so not a scientific result. I checked around me and there are not many places that offer nitrogen fill options.and one place quoted me $60.00 to do all 4 and it was kind of far from me. I do have a moisture filter on my compressor but not sure it really makes a difference or not when I add air to my tire. @Quickcars I would have love to have scored an XKR but all the local ones were either very expensive or beat with high mileage. I am afraid if I had all the HP I would just get in trouble! LOL Going to get it one the road today I hope so I can drive it. I think I am keeping my 03 VDP on the road it's a bit more practical and will be my winter ride.

 

Enjoy..

The ride is much better on the XK.

fast enough for me..

Better mileage too

 

Here, the tire pressure fill station at costco is free, and provides Nitrogen.
Also, the gas is "Top-Tier", provided at a savings... with no ethanol in the super blend.

 

Depends on where you live. You won’t find any ‘no ethanol gas’ within a 30 mile radius of Chicago at any traditional or big box store gas station.
Closest I can get it is about 10 miles south of me at a small airport. It’s for airplanes, but they will dispense it into 5 gallon cans. I get it to use in my yard equipment (got tired of replacing carbs on my lawn mower (easier to replace than clean out)).

 

It's "easy" to remove ethanol from gasoline, as long as you have a couple large containers and some water. One clear container is very helpful.

 

In central Texas we have ethanol free gas for @ .50 a gallon more, today's price is 5.15 + .50 a gal tomorrow's price = more.
wj

 

Good to know there is a COSTCO very close to me.I do not think they sell gas though. I put gas in my VDP yesterday 4.89 a gal for Shell premium. Luckily I might fill up ever 5 to 6 weeks. I do not drive much and if I keep the VDP that will be split in half between the two. I have always used a gas additive from Lucas in all my cars and it's helped keeping my cars running well. When I changed the plugs in my VDP after it hit 120K they were very clean I probably didn't have to change them but I got the plugs online and wasn't going to return them.

 

January 19th 2025 I took a picture of fuel prices near me. It was $1.79-9 at that time.