I enjoy my 2000 XK8 so much that I want to use it as a "daily driver". Any thought, opinions concerning using the Grand Tourer for this purpose?

 

hell yeah - mine has been my daily since I bought her Feb of 2012. She had 91500miles then and currently sits at 188650miles. Only reason mileage isn't higher - stupid Covid and then company decided to stay with max telework and only go in 1 day a week - but I still drive her around town almost everyday. She was meant to be driven not be a garage queen

 

+1 on sklimii comment. My last XK8 was driven 50+ miles 5 days a week to work. It had 149k miles on it when I sadly let it go for an XF (more room). I now have another XK8 and drive it often. Retired now so not as much driving but it has 98k miles so far and trouble free once I fixed a few minor issues.

They like to be driven. Letting them sit will allow the gremlins to appear.

 

These cars are really bad at deteriorating if left to sit unused. My car has been a daily driver for the entire 7 years of my ownership. With very few issues that kept it off the roads….

z

 

That's my plan but I will switch off occasionally for my twice weekly business trips of 330+ miles per day....and of course it goes into it's den in winter.

 

mine is driven 365 days a year, rain, sun, or snow. I clean the undercarriage and wheel wells weekly or more after any wet weather event. So far no rust anywhere other than the exhaust manifolds, which had had light surface rust when I bought the car. Even the original exhaust system is in a “like-new” condition.

living on the south Texas gulf coast for a few years taught me how to keep rust at bay when salty roads and salt air are prevalent.

Z

 

I drive my XKR as a daily driver. So far it's never broken down, touch wood but I have had to spend a little money on it over the years to repair things. Next thing are the oil cooler hoses, I am going to replace the two engine side hoses becuase one of them is leaking a little I think from the internal O-Ring. I will try and keep the fittings of the original hoses and see about using them for some better ones at some point. It's just a pain in the *** that the hoses have gone p in price a lot, Ł290 for one of them, Ł150 for the other. Bit mental for a hose.

 

Now all the “little” things are done I am using her as often as possible. I tried to go to Provence when I had just got her but the fuel pump gave up in Belgium. A year later and not a single issue and now I have everything working. Just installed a reversing camera as the view in the convertible is not good with the roof up. Going to the Belgium Ardenne next week. The only time she stays under cover is when they are salting the road. My only problem is when to drive the Xk8 and when to take the Mk2! A luxury problem.

 

My wife's 2006 XK8 was her daily driver from acquisition in early February 2012 until she decided to go back to a Lexus SUV in late October 2018. I now take it out at least weekly for a spirited 25-mile romp. As others have said, these cars need to be driven regularly to keep them happy and healthy.....

 

I use my 97 as a daily and love it. Downfall is my lower back is getting worse, so I do use my f150 a little more now. Sucks being a big guy and getting old smh

 

Definitely a daily driver where roads are decent. Used mine this way for over seven years with no problems. If your trips or commutes are rather long, they are better for the car. However, one should look at normal wear items which parallel my other same vintage but not luxury regular daily driver. I replaced all of the hoses and radiator, the latter ready to fail. Everything else are simply wear items.

Yes, one is placing mileage on the vehicle, but there is mileage and abusive mileage. There are a lot of car clubs where one can see collectible survivors with the high mileage awards. That is cool.

Me, i have this idea of how great it will be when time to overhaul components and whether i wish the fun or contract it out for some bespoke workmanship.

The beauty is in its use.

 

Most of my automotive and motorcycle professional experience has been in the restoration of classic vehicles. I see a lot of machines that can be described as garage queens. Very beautiful and most are very low mileage. But when people start to drive them it’s about a two year process to get them to be road worthy and reliable.

People don’t realize how badly most things deteriorate on a vehicle that’s not used on a regular basis.

Low mileage is often touted as a great selling feature, or very desirable to find when buying.

My view is the opposite. To me it’s been demonstrated over and over that low mileage means two years of finding and fixing issues that arise from disuse.

Parts that rarely can be made to wear out somehow fail when left unused for just months at a time.

Z

 

I agree. Have had lots of Jags and several sailboats. An unused boat is a dying boat, same for cars.

 

The typical 30,000 tons of rock salt laid on our streets is one thing, (actually a BIG thing.....you can't get it off the roads till mid April), but while our winters have been relatively mild the past few years our 120+" of snow brings out some real bone headed driving by others.

We would have to wash the car every night it got above 25 degrees..."they" (around here), say the salt doesn't start munching on your car until the slush softens a bit at that temp. Not sure if that's true but it's local lore. If I had the luxury of a heated garage with floor drain I could see that being a possible antidote to the crust that forms on everything but we tend to winterize our outdoor faucets to deal with the somewhat common low teens to below zero, (F), temps....ya can't wash your car down when it's below 20 and hope to get in it the next morning. I've been frozen out of my Volvo several times after hitting the car wash during the previous day.

Brings up a bit of a back and forth I'm having. I plan on driving my sedan for another 3-5 years then retire it and me. It's awd and handles the winters here fine.

I would love to daily drive an 86-87 XJ6 at that point along with the XK8.....but would still need something "fun" for winter

 

There’s no salt driving conditions worse than Padre Island Texas. Salt is on the roads and in the air 365 days a year. Weekly washing will get the job done if done throughly.

Yes, washing the undercarriage in the winter can be challenging. Having lived thru many winters in sub zero F temperatures I know one has to pick judiciously when to drive, and when the first opportunity presents itself, the salt must be cleaned off post haste. For many, that’s just too much trouble and the “special” car just stays parked.