I bought my 2004 XK8 convertible last November and promptly put her into the garage to clean her up, replaced every fluid, filter, and hose and painted the bottom with POR 15. I never want her to see a Canadian winter in her life again. With all of the great help from this forum I have fixed the headrest’s and gotten through a frustrating airbag warning light and dinging event. I have had her out for 6 weeks now in Southwestern Ontario Canada as we finally have spring and have put on 3000 uneventful kilometers.
My question is we are planning to drive the 3500 km’s to the Gaspe Peninsula in July and I am apprehensive about taking the Jag, because all I read about on theforums is problems, and naturally that is what it is for. 20 years ago I had a1994 XJ6 Sovereign that I drove the 2000 km. to Halifax, never even thought about the cars reliability and I knew far less about it then I do now. I think the forums are making me paranoid. I sure would like to hear from some folks who make long worry free drives. I am so looking forward to driving the length of the St. Lawrence River south shore, top down and mountains in the distance,but would hate to have trouble with a very reliable Hyundai sitting in the driveway at home. I will never hear the end of it from my wife!

 

Most of the people on the forums are having problems when they post which is a small percentage of the number of these cars that was built. over 90,000 units where produced of the x-100. When these cars are sorted which it sounds like you've done they are reliable. I would have a pleasant trip and don't worry. Also I've haven't had a problem going on three years.

 

+1 Don't worry. If you have done the work, these are very reliable cars. Their intended use is as a GT car for eating up miles of pavement.

I drive mine on a daily 50 mile round trip and have made many 300-600 mile trips over the last 3 years. I was only stranded once, about 5 miles from home when the fuel pump died.

I would not hesitate to take mine cross country at any time.

Take a roadworthy set of tools, some extra oil and water, and some sunscreen. You'll be fine.

 

Spending time on the forum can easily leave you thinking Jaguars should never be taken more than walking distance from home!

In the past twenty years, I've covered more than 60k miles touring across mainland Europe in a variety of Jaguars and the only trouble I've had which I couldn't fix at the side of the road was a burst cooling hose in an XJ40 on a Christmas Day.

You've done the maintenance and put on a reasonable distance since the XK8 came out of hibernation so just go ahead and enjoy it.

Graham

 

these cars are meant to be driven!!! Don't let the reports of problems stop you - that is the general purpose of the forum, help members either fix or get pointed in the right direction so they can speak intelligently to a mechanic without fear of being swindled.

I drive mine daily and would drive it in a heart beat - actually considering a 2500 mile round trip later this summer.

 

I've had my XK8 for 7 years now and the only faults in that time and 26k miles all over UK and France, have been a failed windscreen heating element - fixed under warranty - and the continuing uncertainty with the steering column tilt motor every time I put the ignition key in!

 

well the car is an 04, no timing chian worry there.
Just take some extra $$$ incase you have to stay overnight somewhere and a need for a tow truck.
Yea if you live here, you think all jags are crap. If you have taken car of it, fixed things as needed you will be ok. Just do a quick look see over anything you can visually see and know, GEE THAT IS A PROBLEM before ya go.

 

I drive mine all the time in VERY hot weather and have never been stranded (knock on burl-wood),
Every problem i have encountered was an issue that could be resolved at my own leisure.
In my opinion these cars are very dependable especially on long distance trips. When you do need to fix things they can be a bit difficult because repair-ability does not seem to be a huge factor in some of jaguars engineering choices and there are a lot of sensitive sensors so you are more aware of things not running ideally than you would be in a more "dependable"car.
I would bring a code reader along just for peace of mind. This way if it does throw a code, you can check to be sure it is nothing serious and address the problem when its more convenient.
also i would take it for a few long commutes before to make sure there is no problem that has been unable to present itself on shorter drives.

 

+1 on all of the above previously posted.


Please bear in mind that a forum is mostly about people with issues and hopefully fixes, so you will see a lot of negatives. You won't see the other thousands of happy owners with no problems or issues as they don't visit or post here.


You've done everything you can, do your normal checks as you would in advance of a long journey like this, then go and enjoy it, have some fun.

 

As well as "the usual" precautions (check the spare, carry fluids as you like, a code reader and so on) for my car just in case of a car-specific problem occurs I made sure how to:
1. release the EPB (even bypassing the module if needs be)
2. put trans into N
3. carry a decent wheel wrench or the like
(these may not apply to your car)

Otherwise, just drive

Oh - if you have soft 2-part lug nuts, think about changing them.

 

You should be fine, Remember even if something occurs, your modern cell phone will connect you back to these forms within mins. So you can find a quick answer. I probably take more longer trips than short (1200-2000 mi) and as stated I keep a few select tools and fluids with me just in case.

Enjoy your trip.. take pics!

 

My wife drives her XK8 solo to Florida and back five or six times a year to visit her mother. That's a 1,500-mile round-trip depending upon how much around-town driving she does while there. I always make certain the car is ready to roll before she leaves. She always carries her AAA membership card in case of emergencies. She's never had to use it thus far, knock on wood. As others have said, just keep your car maintained, be prepared for emergencies, and drive. Good luck on your upcoming trip....

 

Thanks to the responders for the encouragement, I feel a lot better now, and am feeling a lot less pesemistic about the upcoming trip.

 

Your "fee" for all this sage advice and confidence building is that you must post pictures of your trip. Jags in their natural habitat of being on the road are always welcome here.

Have a safe and enjoyable drive.

 

Curious now, what maint has been done to the car? Give me info to SCARE you.

 

What you have is called Technicians Syndrome......It is called that because all dealership techs see is the failure side of the car repair industry. I thought Porsches and Audis were time bombs, until I found out how other manufacturers cars faired. I talked to the used car tech, and felt real good, about our products after that. All mechanics thought the cars they worked on were the worst cars on the road, until we talked to techs at other shops, or read cost per mile in magazines, like consumer reports, motor trend, and other publications. I went into buying my 99 XK8, and my 07 X Type with open eyes, as to what could go wrong. Neither car has surprised me. The X Type hasn't given me a lick of trouble, because it is basically a family sedan, and was driven that way before I got it, and my XK8 was known to have chain tensioner and trans issues. I ended up replacing the trans, because it was set up enough, by some shade tree to get me home, and maybe work for a couple weeks. When I drained the trans, the fluid came out like honey, with black specs and metal in it. I changed out the tensioners, before they became an issue. I knew these issues before I bought the car, and expected the trans at least to fail, with the miles on my car. They had pretty much all the bugs worked out of the cars, by your car's year, and as long as you don't fall into Jaguar's sealed for life trans BS, and change your fluid and filter like a normal car, you should have smooth sailing. Have fun on your trip.....Be cool....Mike

 

[QUOTE= You won't see the other thousands of happy owners with no problems or issues as they don't visit or post here.

You've done everything you can, do your normal checks as you would in advance of a long journey like this, then go and enjoy it, have some fun.[/QUOTE]


I sold my 1998 XK8 in April so that I could try a 2003 Porsche Boxster S, a completely different type of car. The Jag never gave me an ounce of trouble and my only expenses were timing chain tensioners as preventative maintenance, and a new headliner thanks to some mice in the garage. I drove 8000 kms over two summers. Although I never had occasion to take it on an extended trip, my maximum driving time in one day was about six hours. I only hope that the Porsche runs as reliably, as they cost even more to fix ! Note that I still frequent this forum even though I am now Jagless. Perhaps not forever ?

 

Nice one Dave, thanks for sharing.


Recently, I took my X358 ( 58 plate so around 7 years old with 77k miles ) on a longish journey.
I left Glasgow at 4am and travelled to London, arriving at around 10am, onwards to Oxford and then back to Glasgow later that night, some 800 odd miles in total.
I cruised at 75mph mostly, with some roadworks at 50mph and a few triple digit blasts to relieve the boredom, all without any incidents, breakdowns or issues of any kind

 

You can go to any car forum and they are all the same. Its mostly problems that show up. I have a 2000my and would not hesitate to go anywhere with it. My wife and I toured the North East US last August and the only thing that I noticed about my Jag was how well the fuel mileage was when in GT mode.
CAA membership is cheap piece of mind to have regardless of what you drive. Also saves money on motels too boot.
Enjoy your trip. Nova Scotia bound next year.

 

Many years ago I was a TV repairman (that was when they used to go wrong) and every day I saw an unending procession of broken TVs. After a while I was convinced that nobody in this town had a working TV set anymore.

As others have said, if you only see the broken kit then it skews your perception of the reality - you never hear about the stuff that just keeps working perfectly.