My first post. New to forum as of last night. Always loved Jags since my first experience in high school with uncle's 71 XJ6. Putting my 01 XK8 for sale soon as looking to upgrade (watch Bring A Trailer soon). Drove a low mile 07 XK and liked it. Been researching and found a few XKRs and Portfolios. Love the look and like idea of 420 horses. Curious of the experts thoughts and advice on 07-09 XK vs. XKR vs Portfolio. Thanks!

 

The portfolio gets my pick firstly its a very rare car and comes fully loaded with the 6 piston 400mm alcon package, a more detailed interior including the contrast stitching and a premium sound package and more than enough hp to keep you happy

If you have the funds are willing to wait i would be more inclined to go the portfolio over the xkr

With the n/a 4.2 it can do everything the xkr can do but definitely lacks the outright punch associated with its s/c sibling , having said that with a few exhaust mods you can easily see it moving down the strip in 13 sec

In terms of driveability the n/a will always have to be revved quite hard to get it up and moving as opossed to the s/c which has effortless power anywhere in the entire rev range

The reason i went with the n/a was only due to the fact the xkr was between 20-25k more at the time of purchase and found it hard to justify the extra payment

 

I have no idea what your budget is, but you should know that a member of the forum - Richzak - has his pristine 09 Portfolio Pack XKR up for sale. It is listed on ebay. Or you can do a search for his recent posts on this forum. Good hunting!!

 

Thanks. The price diff seems to be small $10K these days. Appreciate the insight

 

Saw that post too. Beauty of car, a little more than my budget

 

Welcome to the form. Your last post sums up pretty much what you can look for. DO the usual price scans on the used car sites ( cars.co , cartrader.com , etc.) and plug in the price range you're looking at. Based on that you'll see what you can get. Good luck.

 

I've got both the 07XK and a 2010 XKR
First thing I can tell you is that the XK is a far smoother ride. I kinda miss that in the XKR, which is harsh by comparison.
300hp on the XK is perfectly fine and she climbs easily past the 130 mark without complaint, you just don't get to dust any rustangs or hopped up Acuras.

Obviously, I wanted more HP, and the 2010 introduced a new 5.0L engine that belts out 510hp in the S/C version. However the list of problems with the new powerplant continues to grow, whereas the 4.2L was fully sorted and absolutely reliable.
In truth, I fear I will miss that, as "Jag repairs" and "inexpensive" are seldom used in the same sentence.

To me the ideal car would be the 2009 portfolio. The last of the 4.2 lineage, and fully loaded to boot.

Best of luck, and welcome!
Vince

 

If you are considering an XK don't drive an XKR.

 

Yeah, what he said ^^^^^^^^

 

Vince,

Exactly my thoughts. It's a keeper.




Stuart

 

Magnificent ! love the colour combo

 

What are the 'problems'?? Can other 5.0 owners corroborate this?

I'm also in the market for an XK (but in no rush to sell my XJ8L) -- a Coupe 08 or later. Don't like the ugly antenna in the 07 or the look of the convertible. Only wish the coupe had a moon roof like other cars or the newer F-Type.

 

Waterpump and timing chain tensioner come to mind

I have the 2007 coupe and deleted the antenna problem solved

 

I don't believe the timing chain has been an issue for many has it? I've seen one thread here and one on the Landover forums. I had a ticking at startup this past winter, but it has not driven me to replace the chain. Can someone link to full on 5.0 chain failure threads if they don't mind?

 

SeanU im not going to post every single thread up here on this particular thread however feel free to use Google search and you will see the numerous cases out there

 

Reliability trends posted on forms as ours are not supported by any creditable data. I don't believe a few issues that crop up are a trend . Look at the members here and you'll see there are insufficient numbers to fill a database. I would think we would need a larger sample size considering the number of cars produced. How many people who have the 5.0 have had either WP or timing chain problems vs the number of Jags in the world today. I usually consider a reliability issue when there is a factory recall and fix something similar to the Audi 2.0L oil consumption problem where they had to replace pistons as a result of a class action . Just for fun lets take a count and see how many form members had to replace their WP and timing chain vs how many on the form own the 5.0L engine. I'll start , 2012 XKR still with OEM WP/TC .

 

The question should be a 5.0 XK or 4.2 XKR?

Comparing XK to XKR is a different kind of question. I think most would take the XKR if they could have either one, but considering the price constraints, I think my question may be of more use...

 

Probably should include mileage.

 

Hi psucat1988, I'm also new to the forum although had my XKR for a year and a bit and went through the dilema that your going through. I test drove a fair few cars while I was searching and started at the bottom of the "would like to spend" and ended up at the top!

I felt that there wasnt much difference between the models in terms of driving enjoyment but opted for the 5.0SC on the basis that it thrilled me the most especially when I test drove it up hill... until I took it for that second test on a country lane I was just about to buy a 4.2 SC in Silver... I now feel its the best car I've ever owned and makes me smile all the time. I do lots of miles in it and it always cheers me up no matter what mood im in!

my advice is to test lots of cars as the Cabriolets offered a different experience with the roof down that I really enjoyed but wasnt for me due to practicality and track time I wanted the stiffer hard top.