Hello,

I am planning to buy an X100 XKR soon. I am based in the UK and prices seem to be creeping up! Currently I could afford a late 4.0. Should I take the plunge now or wait until I can afford a 4.2?

Do 4.0s deserve a bad reputation or am I being paranoid.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Nick

 

Here's what I think you are going to find. 4.2 guys like their 4.2s, 4.0 guys like the 4.0s. It is human nature to do this.
Subjectively here's my best shot:
4.0
4.0 Coated motor in the earlier cars. Nikasil. If they didn't get blown or replaced by now, should be fine. Warranty replaced quite a few.
Tensioners are plastic time bombs and must be replaced with 3rd generation steel ones.
Those are both the biggies.
This car will take a small block Chevy motor if you get your car hot or bust a tensioner...valves meet pistons.
4.2
Refined engine.
body skirts some love (4.2 guys) some think they break up the pure lines of the car (4.0 guys)
Front facia is quite different.
Theres more chrome on interior bits.
Sooo.
The 4.2 is better arguably on electronics and drive train, the 4.0 cars can take a Chevy crate motor.
I have a 4.2, so I say get a 4.2. After doing this I would do it again. They still have things that need to be addressed in 4.2, but I would say more refined.
That being said, God willing, my next car will be a nice 4.0 XKR coupe with a blown motor and zero rust....for real cheap...with a Chevy crate motor making 450 hp. & some killer tranny that fits.

 

Whoops. I see your in the UK.
You guys have Jaguar parts everywhere. Get whatever speaks to you loudest after looking at more than 3 or 4, just to get an idea of what you prefer.
What you really need to watch for is rust there.
I don't know when these cars will start going up, but I'm shocked they haven't yet. I hope they don't, not just yet.

 

Why won't a chev motor fit into a 4.2 body ? Not that I have any plan to do so......just curious ?

 

Mate,


From my personal experience, do not wait! Go out and buy the nicest car that you can afford. We were put here for a good time, not for a long time.

In 2015 I was diagnosed with bowel cancer. I'm still here and so is the 2001 XKR (4.0) that I purchased to drive to my chemo and radiation appointments. It helped get me through some hard times

First thing I did when I got it was to have the plastic tensioners replaced. My only other major expense in the past three years has been a new battery and shocks.

The car is still worth what I paid for it three years ago and still puts a smile on my face every time I get in and drive it.


Cheers,

Stu

 

 

Rust is the killer in the UK - everything else can be fairly easily sorted.

If you can find a late model 4.2 with the exterior / interior colour combinations you like and fairly low mileage - and - if it is within your budget - go for it.

But - if it has rusty bits around the wheel arches or rear suspension - walk away however nice it looks.

 

The only difference in reliability between a late 4.0 XKR and a 4.2 XKR is the timing chain gear. If you are looking at a 4.0 car it needs to have been updated - if it hasn't, budget for the cost of that - the very last of the 4.0 cars had the latest timing chains from the factory, so you might be lucky.

Otherwise all the common problem areas are just that - common to both versions (including rust as David has mentioned). Jaguar did not magically fix everything on these cars in 2002.

The only other major difference is the 4.2 car has the ZF 6 speed gearbox and the 4.0 XKR has the Mercedes 5 speed gearbox - both are reliable gearboxes. Only you can decide if the price difference is worth it for the extra gear and how much extra you want to spend.

 

What model and year did you end up purchasing?

 

@StuG, ditto


I am going to agree with StuG wholeheartedly. do not care if there is a resale issue, if one is slightly better than another (4.0 or 4.2), what kind of mods are possible, future collectable, better refinement (most problems with all cars of the time usually presented in the first year or so of a new design, can be fun to sort anyway) OR your financial situation unless it is a really close to the wire one for you. Nah, do it anyway. Get the one that you can grab in reasonable condition and afford now. If ever a 4.2 comes around you can always sell yours if you want, but something is being told to you now. call it your sixth sense. it could be something about the market for these cars or you personally. this is not big money and people facing the end of their lives only regret NOT doing things.


i literally decided to get mine after a major life change with many things undone. just did it over a three week period right before a neurological disease started to take away my ability to use my hands and produced some of the worst pain i have ever experienced and threatened to end driving as well as other things due to loss of the legs and violent spasms in them. since i almost died twice before and was pronounced once, this is nothing new to me. and i am probably younger than many here. this should tell you that one never knows when. live responsibly and then live now and adapt and make due with what you have.


well 16K US miles later making sure that i did not put others at risk, lots of meditation and focus to keep from having issues while driving, it is well worth it. and my condition is reversing with treatment, how long, who knows. sometimes limits as to what you can afford or do open up other opportunities or teach you things. now i take very long trips as well as to and fro business appointments and doctors except where risk is unreasonable for this car. you cannot be depressed when you are driving one of these especially with the roof open. you always want to look your best which affects you. perhaps this is the best therapy that could be purchased. not bad for not pulling the trigger in 2001, look what a lot of us here are saving.


i like the 4.0, you rev it a little more, 4.2 is a little more drive able at the low rpm's. pull your trans and do the A-drum. future issue is now gone and a very thorough fluid change is possible. while there i dropped the oil pan for a gasket, clean. previous owner did the tensioners, chain and water pump. if your motor ever fails and it is a 4.0, there is the LS conversion kit which is really cool since it is bolt in. you can always go back. rebuild your original motor at your leisure. you only need outside assistance for fracture inspection and machining. i learned to do it for other cars, so can you. what i am saying is that there is always an option if you refuse to say something cannot be dealt with.


do not over analyze. i was just beating up a client for doing this. a little due diligence, consult the right sources and risk within logical limits. and deal with what comes at you.



listen to that little voice, the worst regrets are those things that we wished we had done.

 

I would say take a hard look at this before buying anything like an older car. What you are looking at is only the acquisition cost. If you are already maxing out at this point, what are you going to do for maintenance cost? Older cars like these can sometimes have unexpected failures, and although most can be managed fairly inexpensively, on occasion, some problems will hurt financially. Are you planning on doing most of the work yourself, or having someone else work on it? This car is INSANELY well documented, which makes it a dream-come-true for a home mechanic. My take is that you should be able to comfortably afford whatever car you set your mind to (in terms of acquisition cost) because there will be expenses later. I know it is somewhat negative and exaggerated, but all our cars are issued of the same assembly line with the same parts, so all issues reported on this forum are likely to apply to any of our cars at any time. So you have to be ready for some of that.

The other more general point is that the market (buyers and sellers) for X100 XKRs is small at a given time, so price can vary a lot. It sounds cliche, but it really boils down to individual sellers negotiating with individual buyers. I am not sure I believe in "trends" in this low-supply/low-demand market. FWIW, some (most?) of us have hunted for the right car for months before making a purchase.

Just my thoughts.

 

Hi Nick, a good tip that you may not be aware of is to go on the UK government web site and check the MOT history of any potential purchase by entering the vehicle reg number. If there are any MOT failures or even advisories for corrosion in the recent past I would walk away.


UK cars can and do rot really badly although they may look fine from the outside. Yesterday I saw on ebay a 2005 Xk8 4.2S with a new MOT for £6900 which seemed too cheap. I checked it's history and on the 9th may it failed the MOT on rotten inner sills both sides, rotten front and rear crossmembers, rotten floor pans both sides and rotten seat belt anchor points. I was amazed when a pass certificate had been issued the same day with no advisories, is it really possible that this amount of work could be completed in the same day? Mickey mouse MOT comes to mind!


My advice would be to go for a 4.2 as the earlier gremlins had been ironed out. Make sure you try to get at good look underneath if possible or pay for a RAC or AA inspection.

 

As others have said, if you replace the plastic tensioners on the 4.0L motors, you should be fine with a 4.0 if the price warrants it. The Mercedes 5spd trans seems to be the stoutest, least worrisome trans in any of the X100 iterations, and that only came in the 4.0L XKR. My 2002 4.0L XKR is now undergoing a complete restoration where I am spending more than what I paid for the car a 175,000 miles ago. I love that car even though my X150 XKR coupe drives so much better. There is a grand feeling driving the X100 and for me a closer link to Jaguar's heritage. And it's arguably the most sensual body style since the E-type. Don't be afraid of either the 4.2 or the 4.0 so long as regular maintenance was done throughout and so long as the rest of the car is in the condition you expect.

 

Most important for me with a UK car would be the tin worm test irrespective of whether the 'R is 4.0 or 4.2, otherwise it's down to your preference in aesthetics and bells 'n whistles.

Take your time and be guided by your head not your heart; these cars always look great even if the previous owner was Fred Flintstone.

The UK gov. site can be quite an eye-opener.


Good luck in your search

 

This thread needs more pictures to help.

 

it is impossible not to smile just looking at one. the company deserves praise for creating items that bring beauty into the world.

 

I may have missed the answer to this.

A couple of times posters have said that there is a Chev LS kit for a 4.0. Is this not possible with a 4.2 ? I am just curious .

 

Currently no. Just 4.0 cars. The kit has programming involved to interface with the ecu's that was economically feasible for the earlier cars as they were more prone to blowing up due to the tensioners and what not.
There are entire threads here about this if you search.
As the later cars age who knows, they may make it for the 4.2 cars. The conversion has very good reports. Then there's the guy building an electric one. Wish we heard more from him. It looked very promising.
I would only crate motor one that is dead. I take pains keeping my convertible absolutely factory, except for clear side markers...and other minor things.

 

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We need a few pics of earlier cars as well for this guy.

 

it is due to the upgrade to the 32 bit ecu; it is more about the year and not displacement. and a lot of interior parts, such as the gauge cluster are affected by this. you cannot yet achieve the nice plug and play where every light and gauge works with the LS conversion.


given the above, a transplant to the 2003+ x100's would be from a more modern x150 or the F-type v6 as there is probably a greater chance of interfacing the the vehicle and engine. however, at least in the USA, it is often not emissions legal to install a newer engine in an older car even if it continues to operate as it did in the original vehicle and retain all smog equipment and emissions performance. no one ever said that our regulatory agencies were smart.