Yep, I pulled the trigger. Now I'm hoping I didn't go off half cocked! I was originally looking for a 4.2. I got impatient. Saw a 20k miler with good records, and after impulsively bidding and winning, I now own an '11 XKR 5.0! But then I started reading (again) all the horror stories about cooling, chain tensionors, and so on. LOL! Big mistake doing that. With only 20k well maintained miles on the clock, I'm hoping I can get a few miles before any 5.0 gremlins raise their ugly little heads. The only thing that inspection revealed was that it will need rear brake pads fairly soon (at 5mm now). So, I will put on my big boy pants and just enjoy the car until such time as I come crying to the wonderful forum members for help and advice. All dark humor aside, I'm looking forward to being a member of an awesome community and saying in my best Jeremy Clarkson voice, "Honey, let's take THE JAG!"

 

Everything in life involves making choices by comparing the risks to the rewards. In the case of a 20K mile, well-maintained 2011 XKR, the rewards greatly outweigh the risks.

Don't worry, be happy! 😀 Here's how you can do it.
​​​
You can hedge against the risks by opening an online savings account that pays a high interest rate. Deposit an amount equal to what you would pay for a third-party extended service contract (incorrect called an extended warranty). Use that money only to pay for repairs that would have been covered under that extended service contract. Odds are that after 5 years, you'll have money left over in that savings account. That's the profit the dealer and the extended service contract company would have made.

Enjoy the ride!

 

Thank you, Stuart! You and I share the same feeling about "extended warranties". I think the car was a good enough value and I'm excited enough that I won't mind spending money to take care of it properly. Cheers.

 

This has to be the beautiful silver xkr that just sold on BAT. Great car in great condition and low miles.

 

Yes, that's the one. I kept watching the auction for 7 days. Finally, the last two minutes arrived and my resistance went out the window. You're right...she's a beauty. Cheers.

 

The best thing you can do for your AJ133 V8 is change the oil at least twice as often as the scheduled interval, so at least every 8,000 miles not the ridiculously long scheduled 16,000 miles. Many mechanics recommend every 5,000 miles or six months whichever comes first.
Very easy to DIY using a vacuum/extraction pump via the oil extraction tube on the top of the engine (in the middle of the oil fill hole).
Unless you have proof the oil was changed recently best to give it an oil and filter change pronto.
The filter is also on top of the engine and a piece of cake to change, so both the oil and filter can be changed while wearing your Sunday best with no scrabbling around on the ground or under the car.

 

I also have a MY2011 XKR since Jan 2015. It is, IIRC, sitting at 32k Kms (about 20k miles). It does a lot of sitting!!! However, treated with a little care, letting it warm up before pressing on and driving progressively rather than digitally, it has been basically trouble-free. The dynamic headlights are a bit moody but they always were. I really need to finish off looking into that one. The rest has been fine. So with any luck, yours will be at least as good.

Low-milage cars usually have oil changes well between the stated maximum miles if not every year so the likelyhood that it has been run on worn out oil is low.

Make sure it drives straight otherwise get it alligned - makes a big difference. Also, low-mileage cars often have old tyres on them. Check and if so, get some modern rubber - another very noticable upgrade, as tyre tech. has moved on a long way since these cars were designed.

Brakes are easy to work on. Change of rear pads should only take an hour or so each side, even if you take the opportunity to clean and polish the calipers.

EDIT - Just saw the advert and it looks like it has good tyres from late 2022, so no problems there!

 

At only 20K miles, the vehicle should have been serviced on a time basis (every 12 months) and therefore have had 12 services. Anything short of this and I'd be changing ALL fluids to catch anything that's been ovderlooked and give a basline for future servicing.

Hope you negotiated a set of rear brake pads off the purchase price.

Graham

 

Thank you, Graham. On the final day of the auction I got a good look at the service history. It was all dealer serviced and included a "7 year service". The last service was a month or so before auction. A dealer "checklist" was attached and the only thing mentioned was the rear pads at 5mm. I thought, "the dealers are usually aggressive with recommendations, so this car must be in very good nick". That's what prompted the final decision to bid. There were 2 other strong bidders pushing me upward, but I got the car for almost 1k less than the max I had set for myself. If I was ever going to have a heart attack, that final little bidding war would have done it! This car will be properly stored Nov. through April and I don't think I'll add more than 3k miles per year average. I plan on changing oil every May. Changing the oil is about the limit of my current DIY experience. But with this car, I think I'll enjoy learning more. Cheers!

 

Hi Neil. That is good to hear. I hope my experience echoes yours. I'm not yet sure if doing rear brakes should be something I tackle right off the bat with my limited DIY experience. I may splurge and take it to a Jaguar specialist. Thanks for the tip about alignment. The seller and I have had some nice conversations so I'll ask him about that. Cheers!

 

Thanks, Oz. The extraction pump will be one of my first purchases. I will be changing oil at 3 or 4k miles every year when she comes out of winter hibernation. Cheers!

 

I thought owners don't recommend the pump method anymore? Do the dealers use this method or do they drain from the bottom?

 

I had not heard that. I'll do a search.

 

Looks to be an excellent example, surely you’ve little worry. Heat and mileage increase the amount of parts needing replacing, mostly in the cooling circuit so in your case not likely to have any problems there. Using proper spec oil and changing frequently, in your case annually, will likely decrease the odds of running into any timeline chain issues. Due to age, you’re mostly likely encounter more problems with soft trim
than anything else - the plastics are prone to cracking and the interior glues tend to fail.

 

Why would you NOT use a pump? It takes less than half the time using a pump, 10% of the work and nearly zero mess.
The only reason shops or SOME dealers would go from below is that's what they are set-up for, either on a lift (do you have a lift?) or a pit (do you?) but it still takes all the time to remove the under trays to even get near the pan drain. Then you still have to reinstall the trays.
Crazy to not use a pump for an oil change. I DO have a lift and all the accompanying tools and equipment to do oil changes from below, but I won't. I use a pump every time.

 

After years of denial, I'm a recent convert to pumping out the oil and have to concede it's so much faster, cleaner and easier. However, with a "new to me" Jaguar, I'd still be very tempted to drain from below on the first change just to see if any metal particles come out through the drainplug hole.

Graham

 

Well no one is going to go online where you are reading and spend the time to type out a message regarding how reliable it has been and how no problems have cropped up at all!

It's just like the news. You turn it on and you read about the four terrible things that happened to people but you never hear about the vast majority who had a normal fine day. If you have the money and you want it, get it. No one can predict what the future holds related to any vehicle (or anything else for that matter) so let your worries go away. You've made it through every other challenge you have faced up to this point in life, odds are that trend will continue. I do think though with these a little bit more finicky vehicles (MINi, Jaguar, a BMW, Mercedes, etc. etc.) generally speaking I feel like either you should have the ability and desire to DIY almost any repair OR the money to pay someone else to do it. That's all we have control over in terms of risk assessment really.

Congratulations! Does the link stay up on bat after a sale? I've never actually checked but am intrigued to see it now LOL.

 

I've been using a vac pump for a while now. Good way to go.

 

Post tha bloody link ...

 

BAT keeps auction history quite awhile. Useful for researching previous sales. I just search Jaguar, scroll through the active auctions, you then get to the previous auctions.
But if you’re lazy:
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2011-jaguar-xkr-coupe-5/