Hello all. Thinking of buying an XK-8. All advice welcome...
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Hello all. Thinking of buying an XK-8. All advice welcome...
I was recently involved in a car accident and my 1994 BMW 318IS was completly written off (thankfully me and everyone else involved is fine) and i now need a new car.
I've had alot of trouble in deciding on what car to buy and was amazed when i saw the prices of some older XK-8's. I was even more amazed when i rang my insurance company and they gave me an affordable quote.
I've allways loved the shape, style, power and comfort of the xk's and I'm going to look at a 1997 XK-8 with 88,000 miles this weekend and was wondering if there is anything that the earlier models (or any model for that matter) had issues with, that i should look out for.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated as i've never owned a Jaguar of any kind before.
Thanks guys.
edit - In case it makes any difference, I live in Ireland and the car was probably imported from the UK at some stage.
I've had alot of trouble in deciding on what car to buy and was amazed when i saw the prices of some older XK-8's. I was even more amazed when i rang my insurance company and they gave me an affordable quote.
I've allways loved the shape, style, power and comfort of the xk's and I'm going to look at a 1997 XK-8 with 88,000 miles this weekend and was wondering if there is anything that the earlier models (or any model for that matter) had issues with, that i should look out for.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated as i've never owned a Jaguar of any kind before.
Thanks guys.
edit - In case it makes any difference, I live in Ireland and the car was probably imported from the UK at some stage.
Last edited by shanemcconn; Feb 19, 2009 at 05:38 PM.
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From: Ellijay
This is about the most common question on the forum. I asked it a year and a half ago and spent 6 months taking care of the many problems I acquired with my car. Here is a recent link to a discussion.
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ly+cars+issues
Research the repair/maintaince records as many of the listed issues may have been handled once or even twice.
The market prices on these cars make them very attractive at this time and everyone believes that the XK8/R will be a long term classic.
The key issue is the question of who is going to do the mechancial work on the car. With the support of this, and other forums, nothing outside of the engine and transmission is beyond the hobby mechanic but repairs on a 12 year old Jaguar at the dealer will quickly suck the value out of the car.
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ly+cars+issues
Research the repair/maintaince records as many of the listed issues may have been handled once or even twice.
The market prices on these cars make them very attractive at this time and everyone believes that the XK8/R will be a long term classic.
The key issue is the question of who is going to do the mechancial work on the car. With the support of this, and other forums, nothing outside of the engine and transmission is beyond the hobby mechanic but repairs on a 12 year old Jaguar at the dealer will quickly suck the value out of the car.
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My 98 XK8 has been leaving me with a new $1000 repair bill every month, and i'm hugely dissapointed in the quality and reliability. Bought my first Jag in 1971, owned many since, and i'm sorry to say that as of 1998 they haven't come as far as most people think or want to believe. My 1992 XJS was as reliable as this XK8, and I think the quality of materials used was superior. Stick with the Germans, their cars are 100x better.
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Good link testpoint. It is an often asked question, and one of these days, we'll have sticky on the front page of the xk forum that will answer lots of questions for our new members, and eager shoppers.
If you have mechanical ability and knowledge to do engine repairs yourself and diagnose electrical problems, the earlier model jag (1997-2002) may be perfect for you...but if you want considerably more reliability, the 2003 is the year to start with. Everyone will agree with that statement.
Good luck, and look it over good. Keep us updated!
If you have mechanical ability and knowledge to do engine repairs yourself and diagnose electrical problems, the earlier model jag (1997-2002) may be perfect for you...but if you want considerably more reliability, the 2003 is the year to start with. Everyone will agree with that statement.
Good luck, and look it over good. Keep us updated!
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Sorry for the obvious post 
. I used to be a keen follower of the bmw forums and i also noticed that my same post ("i'm thinking of buying XXX...") used to come up all too often on that forum too.
Thanks for the link. I'll go through all of it when i get the chance.
Along the line of fixing things myself, i've allways tried to fix every problem myself (bar big engine rebuilds). TBH, i used to nearly hope something would go wrong with my old car, so i'd have something to work on
.
If this forum is anything like the previous BMW forum, i look forward to all the insight and advice that you will be able to give me in any problems that may occur if i do go ahead and buy the XK-8.
Thanks guys for the very speedy reply.
. I used to be a keen follower of the bmw forums and i also noticed that my same post ("i'm thinking of buying XXX...") used to come up all too often on that forum too. Thanks for the link. I'll go through all of it when i get the chance.
Along the line of fixing things myself, i've allways tried to fix every problem myself (bar big engine rebuilds). TBH, i used to nearly hope something would go wrong with my old car, so i'd have something to work on
. If this forum is anything like the previous BMW forum, i look forward to all the insight and advice that you will be able to give me in any problems that may occur if i do go ahead and buy the XK-8.
Thanks guys for the very speedy reply.
Last edited by shanemcconn; Feb 19, 2009 at 07:30 PM.
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My 98 XK8 has been leaving me with a new $1000 repair bill every month, and i'm hugely dissapointed in the quality and reliability. Bought my first Jag in 1971, owned many since, and i'm sorry to say that as of 1998 they haven't come as far as most people think or want to believe. My 1992 XJS was as reliable as this XK8, and I think the quality of materials used was superior. Stick with the Germans, their cars are 100x better.
THE_STIG, I know it might be painfull
, but do you feel like giving a lowdown of the problems you've personally had with yours. If it makes you feel any better, I've also seen a lot of horror stories with the larger engined BMW's (rear sub frame failure is not pretty and very common) so the Germans don't allways get it right, but i do appreciate your concern.
Last edited by shanemcconn; Feb 19, 2009 at 07:41 PM.
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What is your budget if you don't mind my asking? Even the post-2002 xk8 and xkr are incredibly affordable and I would recommend trying to stretch a bit for that vintage. And by the way, I have owned a couple of German cars and have friends and acquaintances who also have owned BMW and Mercedes and they are certainly no joy when it comes to reliability and maintenance.
Doug
Doug
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Hmm, this has me quite worried. I thought the older Jags (pre 1997) had alot of problems due to inferior (read 'cheap') electric looms and electrical connectors but i thought this was fixed in newer models. Is there any truth to this?
THE_STIG, I know it might be painfull , but do you feel like giving a lowdown of the problems you've personally had with yours. If it makes you feel any better, I've also seen a lot of horror stories with the larger engined BMW's (rear sub frame failure is not pretty and very common) so the Germans don't allways get it right, but i do appreciate your concern.
THE_STIG, I know it might be painfull
, but do you feel like giving a lowdown of the problems you've personally had with yours. If it makes you feel any better, I've also seen a lot of horror stories with the larger engined BMW's (rear sub frame failure is not pretty and very common) so the Germans don't allways get it right, but i do appreciate your concern.
Off the top of my head with the XK8, with just a little more than a year of ownership i've done the timing chain upgrade to the third gen tensioners. They also did some 'while you're in there' stuff such as cam cover gaskets, etc. That was about $2500 at the dealer. Belt tensioner/idler pulley/belt drive system, $600. Power steering pump, $700. New throttle body position sensor (I think that's what it was?) $800. Looking at repairing a power window right now that's going to run $1000 at least. Have had an intermindent starting problem since I owned it, dealer can't figure it out because they can't reproduce it, and it's left me stranded several times. Quality of materials used on the car are just average. I know there has been a few more repairs I can't remember. Too many plastic pieces broken/starting to break. Climate control is iffy and doesn't work 100% as it should. Squeaks and rattles as you drive down the road. I'm not saying it isn't a beautiful car that doesn't ooze charm and charisma, because it does, but I expected a better product. We have an Mercedes E320 of the same year, bought it when it was almost new, and after ten years and 100k it still looks, runs and drives exactly like it did when it was new.
My XK8 has 80k on it, maybe if you find a car with half this you won't have any trouble, and maybe my car is not a representative sample of every XK8 out there, but just be aware what you could be getting yourself into. Good luck!
Last edited by the_stig; Feb 19, 2009 at 10:42 PM.
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My instincts are telling me to run a mile from such an old high performance car, but the price and the looks keep pulling me back in.
My previous BMW was going on 15 years old with about 110,000 miles but with a 1.8l engine, it was defiantly the baby of the 3 series group and was realativly easy & cheap to repair. Once you got into the big 2.6~3.0L engines (and of course the dreaded M3's) things started to go very wrong once you got on the unhappy side of 100,000miles and expensive repair bills were never too far away.
I guess these types of car are cheap for a reason. If your lucky and you get a good one (or you are your own mechanic) then they can be brilliant, amazing even, but any repair on such a high performance engine/drivetrain/suspension can get very very pricey.
As for my budget, i've set aside about ~€12,000 for my new car. However, cars are much much more expensive here in Ireland than over in the US. For example, there are currently 4 1997 XK-8's for sale that i'm looking at, all with around 100,000 miles and all of them have a starting price between €9500~€10,000 ($12,000-$12,600). Thats as cheap as they get here.
Then you have to add €1550/yr (~$2,000) for car tax (which is based on engine size in ireland for old cars), which has to be paid by law every year, then another €1,000/yr for insurance and probably about €3,000/yr on petrol. All this makes owning such a large car like the Jag very expensive to run and thats all before you start adding general maintenance and possible repair costs. Also of course i'm failing to mention the dreaded "R" word that is effecting us all at this time and the possibility of being jobless for a while.
Hmm, i think i'm convincing myself that this could potentially be a very bad decision...
Time to go into the "Photo Gallery" section of this forum and convince myself otherwise
My previous BMW was going on 15 years old with about 110,000 miles but with a 1.8l engine, it was defiantly the baby of the 3 series group and was realativly easy & cheap to repair. Once you got into the big 2.6~3.0L engines (and of course the dreaded M3's) things started to go very wrong once you got on the unhappy side of 100,000miles and expensive repair bills were never too far away.
I guess these types of car are cheap for a reason. If your lucky and you get a good one (or you are your own mechanic) then they can be brilliant, amazing even, but any repair on such a high performance engine/drivetrain/suspension can get very very pricey.
As for my budget, i've set aside about ~€12,000 for my new car. However, cars are much much more expensive here in Ireland than over in the US. For example, there are currently 4 1997 XK-8's for sale that i'm looking at, all with around 100,000 miles and all of them have a starting price between €9500~€10,000 ($12,000-$12,600). Thats as cheap as they get here.
Then you have to add €1550/yr (~$2,000) for car tax (which is based on engine size in ireland for old cars), which has to be paid by law every year, then another €1,000/yr for insurance and probably about €3,000/yr on petrol. All this makes owning such a large car like the Jag very expensive to run and thats all before you start adding general maintenance and possible repair costs. Also of course i'm failing to mention the dreaded "R" word that is effecting us all at this time and the possibility of being jobless for a while.
Hmm, i think i'm convincing myself that this could potentially be a very bad decision...
Time to go into the "Photo Gallery" section of this forum and convince myself otherwise
Last edited by shanemcconn; Feb 20, 2009 at 05:37 AM.
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I guess these cars a quite a bit more expensive in Europe versus the US. Here in California, 1999 to 2001 vintage XK8 seem to be priced from about $12,000 to $18,000 US. However, they are generally much lower in mileage than the ones you are finding. Also, California cars are generally pretty desirable due to the lack of harsh weather and the pampering that they normally receive.
Have you considered purchasing a car here and having it shipped? I may come out even or perhaps less but at least the cars are lower mileage and have no rust or other body distress.
Doug
Have you considered purchasing a car here and having it shipped? I may come out even or perhaps less but at least the cars are lower mileage and have no rust or other body distress.
Doug
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I have found a very good mechanic that charges less than half what the dealer charges and I can get parts very cheap. I'm doing everything I can to my 01 XKR while I have a chance at this rate. Soon to have it in 100% condition. I bought it a year ago for less than you can get one today including the repairs I have done so far. Nice running, good looking car and I plan to keep it for quite some time. Has 64K miles on it now.
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Wow, it used to anoy me how cheap BMW's were in america, but how cheap Jags are anoys me even more . In Ireland, with all the taxes & high initial cost prices, it makes owning a modern classic (which i think the XK-8 will definatly become) a fiscal nighmare. Being only 27, most of my co-workers and friends are advising me that this will be something i will regret.
I've been looking at Mazda RX-8's aswell (have a test drive set up for tuesday) but my insurance is the same as the Jag and the MPG on the RX-8 is only marginally better at ~20MPG, than the Jag's ~16MPG (I mainly do city driving plus the odd inter city trip). Thing is that the Rx-8 is 7 years younger than the jag and has less milage and has a very reliable (albeit oil thirsty) engine.
That link you put up earlier about all the problems got me really worried. On my old car i did change all the brake pads and brake discs, the rear shocks, the whole exhaust (after the manifold) and all the typical engine maintenance items on my own (all with stock equipment BTW (i hate modders
)) ;however, most of the problems that were mentioned seem to be engine related. I've never opened up an engine myself (bar taking off the throttle body manifold to clean a sticky idle control valve) and i don't feel experienced enough to do that work myself. Also i live in a flat and only have a communal internal car park to work on my cars at the moment.
Heavy engine work is basically not an option for me in my current residence. In fact, even low level engine work would be rather difficult as the car would be stuck between 2 other cars all of the time with very lmited space around the car (by limited i mean you can just about open the door when the car is parked.
Hmm, i think the time just isn't right at the moment for a purchase like this....
. In Ireland, with all the taxes & high initial cost prices, it makes owning a modern classic (which i think the XK-8 will definatly become) a fiscal nighmare. Being only 27, most of my co-workers and friends are advising me that this will be something i will regret. I've been looking at Mazda RX-8's aswell (have a test drive set up for tuesday) but my insurance is the same as the Jag and the MPG on the RX-8 is only marginally better at ~20MPG, than the Jag's ~16MPG (I mainly do city driving plus the odd inter city trip). Thing is that the Rx-8 is 7 years younger than the jag and has less milage and has a very reliable (albeit oil thirsty) engine.
That link you put up earlier about all the problems got me really worried. On my old car i did change all the brake pads and brake discs, the rear shocks, the whole exhaust (after the manifold) and all the typical engine maintenance items on my own (all with stock equipment BTW
(i hate modders)) ;however, most of the problems that were mentioned seem to be engine related. I've never opened up an engine myself (bar taking off the throttle body manifold to clean a sticky idle control valve) and i don't feel experienced enough to do that work myself. Also i live in a flat and only have a communal internal car park to work on my cars at the moment. Heavy engine work is basically not an option for me in my current residence. In fact, even low level engine work would be rather difficult as the car would be stuck between 2 other cars all of the time with very lmited space around the car (by limited i mean you can just about open the door when the car is parked.
Hmm, i think the time just isn't right at the moment for a purchase like this....
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From: Ellijay
I'm sorry if we discouraged you out of the Jaguar.
While the early cars did have numberous issues, by this time and mileage most will have been repaired. You have to understand also that the folks that have never had a problem with their cars are not members of this forum.
Good luck with your new car, Jaguar or not.
While the early cars did have numberous issues, by this time and mileage most will have been repaired. You have to understand also that the folks that have never had a problem with their cars are not members of this forum.
Good luck with your new car, Jaguar or not.
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I'm sorry if we discouraged you out of the Jaguar.
While the early cars did have numberous issues, by this time and mileage most will have been repaired. You have to understand also that the folks that have never had a problem with their cars are not members of this forum.
Good luck with your new car, Jaguar or not.
While the early cars did have numberous issues, by this time and mileage most will have been repaired. You have to understand also that the folks that have never had a problem with their cars are not members of this forum.
Good luck with your new car, Jaguar or not.
That is quite true. I am a member of forums for cars that I own and/or have been interested in for potential ownership. Most of the folks that frequent these places are ones that have had problems and are looking for solutions or gearheads that love tweaking around just for the heck of it. Prior to my purchase of the used 2005 XKR, I was seriously considering a new BMW 335i or a new Infiniti G37. Visiting the BWM forums quickly changed my mind as there were a disproportionally high number of posters complaining about overheating due to inadequate cooling of the turbos (an oil cooler had not originally been provided).
The activity at the Jaguar forums is much lower than other car forums I have visited and, generally, the posts seem positive. At least the potential problems you might encounter with a used XK8 are fairly limited and pretty well documented.
And, by the way, you are only 27 so now is the perfect time to take some chances and have fun. You can afford to go with your heart at that age.
Doug
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Hi Shane,
I live in Ireland and bought a 2001 XK8 six months ago and would be happy to share my thoughts with you if you want to private me. In a nutshell, I would say don't be discouraged from buying, but the old saying 'caveat emptor' definitely applies to XK8s and all premium used cars. A post-2000 car resolves many expensive engine-related problems; I went for a low-mileage '01 rather than some of the higher mileage '02 and '03 examples for sale. Insurance is not a problem if you're over 30 (I purposely waited till I turned 30 before I bought) but you might have to use Xcess Direct if you are below 30. The big issue is road tax - at EUR1,630 per year and likely to rise at least 5% p.a. I also drive mainly in the city and only use it at weekends and the odd evening. I'm only averaging 18-20 MPG but this can rise up to 26MPG on touring. Any maintenance I've had to do so far has been for minor issues e.g. squeaks and instrument bulb replacement etc. I got the drivebelt idler pulley replaced in the Dublin Jag dealer and it wasn't expensive. There is an excellent independent Jag specialist mechanic in Wexford who I can recommend for more costly work and servicing, as his labour rate is half that of Spirit Jaguar.
Good luck if you decide to go for one.
Jonathan
I live in Ireland and bought a 2001 XK8 six months ago and would be happy to share my thoughts with you if you want to private me. In a nutshell, I would say don't be discouraged from buying, but the old saying 'caveat emptor' definitely applies to XK8s and all premium used cars. A post-2000 car resolves many expensive engine-related problems; I went for a low-mileage '01 rather than some of the higher mileage '02 and '03 examples for sale. Insurance is not a problem if you're over 30 (I purposely waited till I turned 30 before I bought) but you might have to use Xcess Direct if you are below 30. The big issue is road tax - at EUR1,630 per year and likely to rise at least 5% p.a. I also drive mainly in the city and only use it at weekends and the odd evening. I'm only averaging 18-20 MPG but this can rise up to 26MPG on touring. Any maintenance I've had to do so far has been for minor issues e.g. squeaks and instrument bulb replacement etc. I got the drivebelt idler pulley replaced in the Dublin Jag dealer and it wasn't expensive. There is an excellent independent Jag specialist mechanic in Wexford who I can recommend for more costly work and servicing, as his labour rate is half that of Spirit Jaguar.
Good luck if you decide to go for one.
Jonathan
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