A while back I decided to look for a second fun car and started looking at the only possible brand, JAGUAR! I eventually found a 1988 XJS Coupe on signal red. Then I set off on a total restoration, even changing to black! It was really stunning when I finished. But, as I really wanted a convertible, my poor 88 XJS didn't last long.
I started searching for a drop top Jaguar and finally found a black, 02 XK8 about 5 hours away so I hit the road. The dealer sent me more pics and answered a few questions but when I got there, the car was a bit worse for wear. BUT, the interior was stunningly preserved, unlike the exterior. I checked what I could to try to make a good offer and ended up with the car after the dealer assured me the car was in tip top shape.
NOT!!!!!!!
The very first thing I noticed when I got it home was the rear shocks didn't like my local roads since they were totally shot. Cha Ching, 900.00 (including a complete service)
Next, I noticed a coolant smell within a few days and now I'm replacing the thermostat housing and upper manifold for cracks and leaks. THey had put in stop leak!!
Next, the brakes started grinding so now new rotors and pads! $$$$$
Then , after checking the AC at the dealer and it blew cold, the AC doesn't work!! They charged it right before I got there to look at it. AC repair now!$$$$$
ANd the kicker, the hydraulic convertible hoses are bad at the pump. When it stopped working, I pulled back the panel in the boot and found the most jack legged patch on the hose ever!! New hoses ordered and waiting to be installed.
All of this in the first 20 days. I've got my attorney working on it as the dealer seems to have a TON of previous complaints on very similar situations.
I'm sure I'm looking at more issues and as long as my wallet can keep up, I'll get it done!!
It sucks since I purchased the Arden kit to install but these repairs have pushed that back a few months until my bank account can recover. (I'm actually concerned I'll rip off the new front spoiler with curbs and bad drive ways!!)
Words of comfort anyone?????

 

No words of comfort, but certainly some words of advice:

Pre-purchase inspections are always worth their weight in gold. Don't bring a strange car home without one....

 

Glad to hear you are going after the dealer. Stop Leak and band-aids on hoses should have been disclosed. You should be able to know what you are buying.

Words of comfort? We have had people on the forum buy cars that had non-functioning engines due to deception. I am glad you are not in that boat. I would change all fluids immediately if that wasn't part of the "service" you described.

The thermostat housing, top hydraulics, brakes, and shocks are things many of us have replaced at or before your vehicle's age so you may have been doing these in 12-18 months anyway but I am sure you would have negotiated differently had you been aware of their current condition...and it sucks to have to do them all at once within 20 days of owning the car. I see you are a senior member so I suspect you know this, but if not done already you want to add "assuring that you have steel secondary tensioners" to this list. Failure there can mean a failed engine: at that point words are comfort are really hard to come by!

Summer's coming and once you resolve these and get that thing reliably rolling you will find all the joy you were looking for as there is nothing under $25K that can come close to driving the XK8.

 

Only words of comfort is simply you are not alone. The inspection did not help me either!

Don't get me wrong, I love the car. The way it looks and drive is fantastic, but I don't know for how long I can keep it if more things starts going wrong..

 

THanks for all the advice!
I did go with a list of things to check that I searched out on the forum so I did make an attempt to find the main issues. I'm mad at myself for not being more aware of the hydraulic system. Everything I found focused on the front latch area and I really didn't know of many issues at the pump it's self. I should have spotted the dirty hand prints around the hand hold on the front of the top. AND the missing allan wrench at the pump.
As for the tensioners, I was told that my year has a newer improved factory version that really doesn't give many problems. I did have a complete fluid change including oil and my mechanic said there was no debris in the oil that is a sign of tensioner problems.
Luckily, my brother is a great mechanic and says we can do a few of the things ourselves. The coolant repairs are within our scope, and I may attempt the hydraulic hoses as well. Already purchased.
Ac will be professionally done.
As I said, I do love the car but after all the repairs, I could have found an 07 or newer, not that they don't come with their own hellish problems!!

 

The XJS must have been a ton of work and $$$$ to restore. Now you have a 12 year old car to do again! Hopefully once you fix the (?) normal wear and tear items for a car that age you will really enjoy. All the die-hards on this forum think it is effort and $$ well spent. And you will be increasing the reliability as you go, so things should be looking up once you get by this initial hump.

 

I too had an 88 XJ-S. Loved the car but did not have a choice when the head gasket blew. Always wanted a convertible. Started searching for XK8s. When I found the one I wanted I did have it inspected at the dealer. Even after the purchase I still had to work though the normal issues of thermostat housing, convertible hoses and stuff. Some of these issues are normal when acquiring an XK8. But it was a great purchase for me. Sorting out the issues on the V12 XJ-S was fun but there are not near as many issues on the XK8. Much more reliable and fun the drive with the top down than the XJ-S coupe. You will get it all sorted out shortly.

 

My XJS was in great running condition (formerly owned by a nascar mechanic) so the engine never gave a day's issue, except for power steering. Most of it's work was interior and exterior. It was a real beauty once finished.

I'm finding this XK8 was simply run to death with no regular maintainence to keep it tip top. It's just unfortunate that all of the things are major repairs so the $$$ is getting aggravating! I'm used to dropping coins in my Jaguars on a regular basis, but really??? 20 days in and looking at a total of 4000.00 there about. Good thing I just got a home equity line!!

I've owned 10 jaguars over the years so I must be infected with the Jag bug, or cat!!

 

Being an '02 you probably do have the all metal tensioners, which are OK. If you can, I would check them just to be sure. That is something that can make your car undrivable and worthless in short order.

There were 3 generations of tensioners on the 4.0: 1st -plastic, 2nd-plastic with spring assist, 3rd-metal with spring assist.

Hopefully the assurance about your tensioners did not come from the dealer you purchased it from! Those kind of guys give all the dealers a bad name.
Vector

 

If it's the same dealer who sold it to you, I would not take much stock in his word.

The 2002 MY (US) is where Jag changed over the tensioners to the 3rd generation. Problem is that it happened in the middle of the model run, not at the start. So there are only two ways to tell what you have: 1) pull the cam covers and look, or 2) get the engine number which has the manufacture date code imbedded in it. Armed with the engine's date code, search this forum for when the change over took place. The smart guys here have it down to month, day, year and time of day I think. Maybe even if it was overcast that day or not.

Do not use the manufacture date on the door panel. The engine manufacture date is almost certainly different.

 

Cam covers are a fun project for you guys and as mentioned, well worth the effort. If you replace the gaskets and o-rings you'l have peace of mind that the covers won't leak. You can change out the plugs, use some dielectric grease on the coil boots, etc...... Then all is up to your specs and no need to worry. I bought a 70 XJ6 that ran okay went I checked it out, but started to have problems shortly after. Pulled the cam covers and discovered the exhaust cam was totally dry and the lobes wearing round! Seems that the prior owner didn't like to change the filter, so bits broke off and plugged the oil pipe up to the head.. So see what's going on in your engine and hopefully will be clean as a whistle with metal tensioners. Then you guys can

 

I put an extended warranty on my '05 XK8. Expensive, yes, but I sleep better.

 

The dealer didn't have any info on the car. My mechanic was the one who informed me of the tensioner improvements and said with no debris in the oil, and I might add the oil hadn't been changed in years from the way it looked, either they were in good shape or the new metal.
Where would the engine build date be located? Probably not in an accessible location like most things on this car!!

 

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...jr-99-a-53631/

Here is a link on the engine build date (its an XJ link but should be applicable since the core engines are the same). Heaven forbid it's just straightforward and easy to find! A call to a different dealer seems a good first step as noted.

PS- I don't want to dispute your mechanic but this tensioner issue is huge. If there were bits of it in your oil that would indeed be an alarm to not turn the engine over one more time. However just because there is not doesn't mean the car is safe from failure/disaster. They can only be seen with the valve covers off (or maybe with a flex-shaft camera). The second generation plastic ones were reportedly not much more reliable than the fist gen. So please be SURE you have the steel, especially given the stated condition your oil was in.

 

Philhef,
I understand your frustration as I went through even more repairs. When I bought my XKR about 3 years ago, it appeared nearly as new with 62K miles on it. I did not do an inspection because I was provided with an absolutely complete service history from day one to the day I bought it performed by the local Jaguar dealership in San Jose, CA. I have spent more in repairs than I paid for the car. These include all new bushings, hydraulic hoses and roof latch actuator (hoses twice), supercharger rebuild, transmission rebuild and wiring harness replacement, tensioners, ABS module rebuild, heater hoses replacement, thermostat and housing replacement, windshield washer bottle replacement, (and many more things I've forgotten).......this all from a car that had been factory maintained with documentation to prove it. I was ready to burn the damn thing. I hate to jinx myself, and somehow know that I will, but the car is running better and without those annoying little warnings now at 118,000 miles than it has ever run. It is a pleasure to finally not wonder what's going to break down today. In the dozens of cars I've owned in the past 44 years, this is my first convertible and I have the top down every day that it's not raining (about 360 days a year here in the San Fernando Valley). I love looking at it, I enjoy getting compliments on it (also, almost everyday), I enjoy driving it, I even enjoy washing it (it seems to be a relaxing activity). You'll get the "bugs" out, one by one, and eventually it will become the car you had hoped to get.

 

Here it is for the XK8 engines.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ocation-70577/

As the second post in the link says, the easiest way is to give the VIN number to a dealer who can look it up for you. It's really hard to see on the motor.

 

I'm not going to let this car get the better of me!! My theory is to drive it like its fine and take what comes with a smile, and a few drinks!!
I found another mechanic that works on jags and German cars and his quote to do a few of these things was half of my current guy.
Makes it easier to fix things faster. I am buying my own parts as needed so saving money there! Thanks Coventry West!!
Now for the Arden kit.
I'd really like advice on installing or not. Is that front spoiler going to survive??

 

I know this is may be getting repetitive, but you should get the tensioners checked, if they fail you will need a bucket full of drinks.

 

I'm sorry, but that makes no sense at all. Because he didn't see chunks of tensioner in the oil they are OK or metal? That really sounds very silly coming from a professional mechanic.

The second generation plastic ones are never really "OK."

Like Norri said, not to be repetitive, but check the tensioners visually or you may regret it. For the price of "a few drinks" you can pay to have your mechanic pull the covers and check.

We are really trying to help you here.
Vector

 

This list does not seem too bad, sure better then my 26 items that got fixed.

BTW, I did not buy my car from retail dealer, got mine at the auction as trade in from Miami, FL.
I also do not think that my car was misrepresented, it was simply behind on some maintenance, yet it ran like a beast.
In your case, I agree that it was patched up to get it off the lot and for that I'd pinch that crappy dealership too.