If he's "giving" it to you, I wouldn't be worried about anything; just enjoy. Just my 2-cents.

Doug

 

Ditto Seismic

 

I would be worried about the tax ramifications, and set up a slush fund in which to stash some money or the IRS...

and I would be worried about jealous peers who are saddled with far less good fortunein their XK8 ownership experience, and far worse Grandparents. I recall reading something about Kazsam's Grandpa making him cut the lawn with a pair of scissors. He still has the scissors, so if you see him running towards your car with them be very aware...

 

I'd worry about not pissing off Grandpa until the Title transfer is complete...sorry, had to add that.

 

This poor guy is probably sorry he asked us bunch of jerks in the first place

Anyway, before buying my XKR, I did endless scouring of websites like this, and talked with and or visited at least half a dozen independent local mechanics that were very familiar with Jaguars. I was able to satisfy myself (and much more importantly the wife) that these cars are pretty much as reliable as other sport/luxury type vehicles in the same class.

Doug

 

I gotta say that you set yourself up for this kind of abuse. And it certainly is not limited to the Jaguar forum website. I am on several car forums and, on any of them, if I were to start a post by saying "someone is giving me this car, what should I be concerned about" then I would expect to get some good-natured flaming.

If you seek other websites to ask the same question, I recommend downplaying that you are being given the car and just ask the pertinent questions. Again, just my boorish 2-cents.

Doug

 

Good one Jagtech, the days prior to lawnmowers were terrible

 

People like myself would consider the lack of a sense of humor to be a detriment when contemplating the long term ownership of an XK8.

If the fortunate but cantankerous young man is already aware that his gift posesses a Nikasil engine, then he posesses the resources to read all of the information he requires. Maybe he's just using this one for bragging rights.

 

I agree with with Doug; this is really a good forum with 'real owners' who usually respond in a mature adult manner with less 'pissing contests' than other forums.

As far as your situation goes; I would make two assumptions. First of all your Grandfather would not 'give you the car' if he thought it was a POS in need of major repair. And, secondly, it is a 10 year old car that is out of warranty. Someone has suggested that you establish a 'slush fund' (to pay gift taxes); I would expand the amount to also be prepared to pay for repairs.

If you don't have the means and/or desire to drive and maintain an XK8...you could always trade it in on a 'brand new car that has a warranty' .......... to use as your daily driver.

good luck

 

The question was too open ended. Look around on the forum for a couple of hours and you'll get a good read on what to expect from the XK8. Grandpa has probably adressed some of the mainteance issues. That said, A 10 year old car (hi-performance car), is going tocost some bucks for up-keep. As for long trip, I drove mine to Reno and back from So. Cal (1200 miles) with no problems, and would do so tomorrowwithout thinking about it. If you are so concerned about a breakdown, the XK* is probably not the car for you.

 

OK here goes, if your Grandfather serviced the car regularly and has had no problems with it you should be OK unless tour grandfather is sadistic and wants you to hurt yourself. Before you take the long trip have all your fluids (the cars) changed and filters( the cars) changed including the trans. Have your pressure checked (the tires). Then, enjoy the ride

 

Nikasil is a non-issue if you dont already experience cylinder wall problems. Highsulpher gas has been phased out for years now.

The early models chew up the rubber bushing parts on the front control arms. They also have underengineered front wheel bearings. These parts experience slow wear, with plenty of warning, neither of these will break on your upcoming trip.

Search for tensioners and chains on this site. Lots of stuff you need to know.

The rest is Car Care 101. Read the posts and get under your own car once in a while.

PS. It is not good manners to ask a favor, then complain that people aren't helping you enough.For someone who comes onto our forum;without ever contributing one positive piece of information; then criticizes active contributing members who are joking around about your good luck... Youend up looking pretty much self absorbed. Nothing personal, just telling you what it looks like to us.

Good Luck with your new car, and have a safe trip. gordo

 

No problems here Hapsburg. We are actually a very helpful crew, and go out of our way to help new Jag owners.Its always difficult to get a read on people when you cant see them so sometimes feelings get bruised when there was no intent.

BTW I forgot to mention convertible top latch hoses. They're just simple hydraulics, but the problem is compounded becausethe hose breaks at a point on the header bar and the oil drips down onto the console. Quite a mess.

I am six months into ownership on a 65k mile '97 Vert. I have spent about $2500 (incl $900 for tires) on fixing all the known defects. Today I think I have a daily driver that is every bit as dependable as my 300zx TT and/or the BMW 325xi.

The old rap on Jaguar build quality is not true on these cars... That being said, they are still expensive to repair and require moderate attention to keep in good working order. We tell people who can't handle these cars to buy a Toyota or Honda. They are like appliances... you just plug them in and drive them for 150K miles. Jaguars are a little more tempermental. But they are beautiful cars and when running right are powerful, smooth, quiet and very roadworthy.

Peace. Gordo

 

Welcome hapsburg, can't add too much to the above help from our members. To summarize most of our ownership, here and other forums you will find out, that on the Xks, there are a few trouble areas to watch out for, and most likely repair during your reign. Once you do that, the car should be very reliable for another 7-10 years. If i were to think of one area where your year model may be weakest, it would be in the older-style transmission. Sounding like it has low mileage on it already, if you implemented a fluid change and filter schedule now, you may easily avoid any future problems.

Your question is one of common occurrence at our site, and if you are not new to forums (and we all had to start at one time or another), my first recommendation, and others will sugguest, is to read thru all of the older posts...maybe up to a year old in the xk8/xkr section...you will learn from other's experiences and troubles more than you ever will from a broad-stroke question like you tried. After many hours of reading, I guarantee you that you will have 99% of all your curiousities fulfilled. One thing that I never understood, and it is a negative aspect of this forum, if you can call it that, that googling doesn't bring up any threads within the forum. I do not know why this happens, but the information isn't readily available to most internet browsers that I have tried. The only way to get the info is to dive right into the XK boards themselves and begin reading.

Now, once you have immersed yourself into all of the old knowledge, issues, and fixes that have been discussed at length in the posts, fire up more questions and inquiries that may not have been answered in your research. That's where the fun really begins.

As for my XK, it is a daily driver for me, and I put about 19,000 miles on it my first year. Brakes here, suspension work there, (no vert hydraulic failures yet), steering wheel reach motor went out, and a new set of tires has cost me some of my time and money, but only slightly higher expenses than a typical vehicle will require. From your experience with ownership of porsches, I doubt you will find any large discrepancies between maintaining either one.

Drive for awhile, subscribe to a few sections of the forum, and get involved whenever you can...time w/ ownership will help that. Welcome again.

 

Your questions were valid and not rude at all. Once you get past their strange sense of humor, our members can be very informative and eager to help. I apologize for some ofthe initial responses you received, and Im glad you finally got some helpful advice. Some of us(me) are just a little jealous that we didnt have the great fortune to be given such an awesome car. Enjoy it and welcome to the forum. [sm=welcomesign.gif]