Man the plastics in our 97 XK8 is just stupid. The black volume botton on the radio falls off, the covers around the drivers seat belt female part has fell off, today the cruise button pops off. For a car that cost so much new there are a lot of silly thing going south on it when I feel it being only 15 years old is just not cool. Cracks in fake wood thing around the shifter, the defrost surrounds rattle. Just sill man, just silly.

 

Agree, some of the plastic bits are quite dissapointing...but that wood is real.

 

It's no more plastic than any other car really. In fact it's less than some.

 

It's not the amount of plastic, but the quality of it that is the problem.

I for one cannot believe the electrical connectors under the hood. They do not seem up the the environment they live in, and so they crumble apart most of the time when you touch them.

 

I don't know if your car is a convertible or not, but the sun really destroys interior plastics. Need to keep them wiped down with a UV blocker.

 

Yea it is a Conv and it is in a garage ALL THE TIME. It is just cheap stuff that I prob can't even get replacement parts for.

 

I am ready to just SELL IT! ha ha ha. It is a 97 but all the problem issues fixed and NEW TIRES with 50 miles on it.

 

Weird... in my 2003 I haven't had any problems with the plastic. The wood piece around the shifter is cracked, but I think that's real wood, right?

 

What bugs me (not limited though to Jaguar) are all the plastic bits and pieces in the engine compartment to route wires, tubes, hoses, etc. These fall apart if you look at them and are impossible to find replacements.


Doug

 

I haven't had a problem with those, either. There was some black foam over the metal braces that connect the shock tower to the firewall. The foam disintegrated into dust, but it seemed totally unnecessary anyway.

 

The only plastic bits in mine that aren'tperfect would be a couple things on the engine cover, on the boot light thing (battery side) and the piece in the centre console that had one of the nubs cracked off before I bought it.

I also broke the third brake light when I took it out.

 

I think a lot is down to enviroment, a lot of the complaints you guys are having are non existent here in the UK, yes we have cracked laquer issues, and I find the black on the interior temperature control buttons rub off easy, but never really had any probs with the interior plastics, only through rough handling rather than degredation.

My biggest gripe under the hood is the rubbish convoluted hose used for most of the breather system going (particularly) from the L/H cam cover to the throttle elbow, always brittle, always breaks into bits when disturbed

 

The only problem mine has had is rattling defrost vents. Here is how I fixed it: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...nts-faq-45338/

 

My Jag ownership experience is with older models (my '95 is a "newer Jag" in my mind) and I've always found a mixture high grade and el-cheapo parts. It looks like nothing has changed :-)

Broadly speaking I'd say that Jaguar puts the money where it counts most.


Cheers
DD

 

Use JB WELD on the BACK of any plastic cover you are worried about BEFORE it cracks- My Benzy SL500 has all kinds of plastic issues- its gotten to the point that when I buy a $600 plastic piece I immediately reinforce all weak points- I STILL BELIEVE they manufacture weak points so we have to keep replacing every few years !! Ford/Jaguar is no exception . I already reinforced the "cracked" passenger seat cover on my parents xk8- and the shift console on the 500.- Dont forget to ruff up the edges where the JB WeLD is applied on the BACK of the plastic.

Peace,

Robert

 

You can look on ebay or around the web for deals on the carbon fiber. Look very nice and inexpenive upgrade for your car.

The buttons I have recently purchased from ebay for $20.

The plastic that really make me mad is the plastic under the hood. They are getting soft plyable or hard and brittle.

My 2 cents

 

My car is 10 years old and most all of the plastic pieces are in excellent shape. My engine compartment does look new. This car was in Dallas for the first 7 years of its life. The wood is good and the only issues is the foam in the center console has deteriorated and the rear seat belts have faded, like most of them do. otherwise I cannot complain. I've kept it in garage for the most part since I've had it.
Doug
2001 XKR Silverstone

 

You could easily get a replacement for that radio knob - by ditching the lame-*** stock stereo.

 

My third brake light was cracked in multiple places when I got the car, most likely from sun exposure. It's a coupe, and that item would be rarely touched, much less handled roughly. I'm not sure if I can save the cover or if I need to find a replacement.

This kind of thing boils down to the bean counters at the company deciding what grade of plastic to use. Often times the car companies themselves don't even make the plastic but use subcontractors. For our cars, there is a good chance the parts were made by now-bankrupt Plastech:

Plastech Engineered Products - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

But if not them, then perhaps one like it in the UK. I've already found one connector with the Ford logo on it (under the dash), so who knows. Either way the plastic manufacturers can make whatever plastic the car company orders, but for $62k new I'm still surprised at the low quality of some of the parts inside my coupe.

 

I have a 1999 Jag XK8 (well taken care of with 59,000 miles) and have found it to be one of the cheapest plastic component cars I've ever owned. So far I have had the follow problems:

1. Cheap plastic chain tensioners replaced (very common).
2. Driving down the road one day the plastic roof light console fell into my lap. The cheap plastic holders had disintegrated so I had to glue it in place.
3. The cheap plastic thermostat housing had to be replaced with a metal one to stop the leaking (very common).
4. Breather hose to throttle body basically disintegrated along with the pcv hose (or whatever it's called). Both had to be replaced due to throwing codes.

Very unsastifactory for an expensive luxury car. I'll never buy another Jag again. I have cars ranging from 1918 (Model T), 1950 Ford F-1, 1955 Desoto, 1968 Mustang, 1991 Jeep Wrangler and 2008 Lexus LS430. And none of them are as cheaply made as this Jag. Sorry. But it does run well when pieces are not disintegrating off.

I know I won't get any love for a post like this on a jag lovers site. But the facts are the facts.