bought '98 XK8 conv. in 2006 with 36K on her. Had dealer replace tensioners immediately. I now have 111K miles. Had a lot of bugs that I was able to correct myself with the help of this forum. Going to replace the plugs soon. Down to 23mpg average. Driving is about 75% highway at 70 to 75mph.

 

My XKR is my primary vehicle. It has 44k on it now? I also put about 15k miles on my XK8 which has 14x,000 miles on it. It has a few issues but still drives fine. Both loved being driven regularly.

 

My 2005 XK8 is my daily driver. Bought it with 24k on the clock last November and have done 4,000 miles since then. I don't think I could keep it parked and just drive something else :S

 

So far after 3 months this week, my XKR has been daily driver reliable. It is a luxury in of itself to drive it whenever I want to and not have it be 'down' a third of the time for repairs like my last fun car was (a 1986 Porsche 944 Turbo). What a difference that alone is! It rubs shoulders in reliability with what I still consider to be my primary car, my 2002 Audi S8, though I'm driving the Jag at least twice as much. I can't help it. And it doesn't seem to mind either.

It goes without saying to stay on top of the maintenance- then you're good. Mine is ready to drive cross country today if I wanted.

 

I work as a real estate appraiser in NH and drive my 98 XK all year round, over dirt/mud roads, through blizzards, rain storms and sub zreo weather (studded snow tires help). 20-25 K miles a year, no major problems. It does draw some strange looks from farmers and woods folk when they see it growling past the barn in the middle of a snow storm in the rural areas of the state, especially with my co pilot, my Irish Setter, hanging his head out the window on the passenger side. "made to go not to show"!

 

I drive mine daily in the DC area and make frequent trips back to NH. The car is very reliable, probably more so since I took as many precautionary measures right when I bought it, at 68k miles (hoses, fluids, belts, odds & ends). It's at 111k now and the only mishap was a bad thermostat. When that happened in DC, I was close enough to a repair shop near where I was staying and got it fixed, but looking back it's something I should have foreseen.

So get your entire cooling system checked to include the water pump (was it ever replaced?), ensure your timing chain tensioners were updated and consider an upgrade to a real temp gauge too.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned transmissions yet. You may wish to get your filter swapped out and replace the fluid with a synthetic version. Debates abound on which one to use, but I went with the Mobil synthetic brand at 85k miles and have had zero troubles since. Transmissions are a seriously weak point on the XK8 with may failures occurring around 100k miles. Don't buy the 'sealed for life' nonsense the dealer tries to sell you, they will all fail - usually much sooner in hot city driving without a filter/fluid swap. Meanwhile, the only difference I've noticed since the fluid/filter swap is a bit more gear noise, audible from the outside. After this many trouble free miles I'm writing the extra noise off to different viscosity properties of synthetic versus non-synthetic fluid - it still shifts just like it should.

Lastly, watch your engine oil levels in city traffic, especially. Though mine does not visibly smoke, in city driving I am always adding oil between changes, increasingly so as the engine wears. I have an oil analysis done at every oil change (overkill, I know, but I'm a bit OCD). So far, the results don't show any major wear and tear, but the tolerances on these engines are probably just not as tight as say, a Mercedes. My wife's ML350 has similar miles and never needs a drop between changes - oil analysis reports shows that engine is holding up far better, albeit with less city driving than mine.

Good luck

 

Oh yeah - if you haven't replaced your plugs yet and you're about to, platinum plugs are probably better and will last longer in repeated city driving. They are more durable than the standard copper core versions.

 

Hi
I use my 4l coupe everyday, 80 miles a day 20+k a year, mixed motorway and some stop start. Never been a problem even in the uk summer traffic jams and ac on full even the mpg is respectable. Drive it and enjoy it you'll be unlucky if it lets you down in my opinion.
James

 

I like all of this.

 

I've only recently purchased my 02 XK8 but I find myself driving it every day!(dispite having it in the shop twice already for some not so minor repairs) My other car is a KILLER 2010 XF balck pack on lunar gray and it's getting to sit it out a lot!! I have to force myself to drive it now, the XK8 is so much more fun!!
And it gets better mileage than the XF! Who knew?!?!?!?