I just picked up my first Jag back in March. I've been a loyal BMW guy for over a decade, but my wife loves the XK so I bought her a used 2001 XK8 with only 36K miles on it. I have to admit that I drive it a lot more than she does. It is a gorgeous vehicle. So here is my question...

We just broke the 40K mile mark this weekend (yes, she averaged 4K miles per year up till now and we put 4K miles on her in four months). I checked the service manual and they recommend a suite of services (mostly the, "every 3 years or every 5 years independent of mileage"). The previous owner kept all the service records so I can see what was done and what wasn't... while he was very good about oil changes and such, he did not perform the various fluid flushes or belt/hose replacements.

If the car is performing normal with no problems, is it really necessary to flush the coolant, and the power top fluid, and the brake fluid, etc... ?

Thanks in advance!

Given that you live in Columbus you should flush the brake fluid if nothing else. Get a mechanic who knows the ropes to inspect the belts and hoses.

Given that you like the car so well, why not treat it to the full monty. ie,everything the book says. I'm certain there are good independant jag shops in the Columbus area. We used to have 1 or 2 of them on this forum.

Clearly the watch phrase for these cars is: preventative maintenance. I have owned my 2005 XKR for three years now with no major problems. However, during this period of time I have had the cooling system fluid and brake fluid replaced along with the BG service for the fueling system. I have also had the transmission fluid drained and the filter/pan replaced along with the regularly scheduled service items. These are great cars and I have found them to be quite reliable when well maintained. As a general rule I take the "intelligence" gathered from the Forum brain-trust, look for potential problems and weed them out. If you love the car, like most of us on this Forum do, then pay along and you are very likely to have a problem free classic car that will always deliver you in style.

Enjoy the road ahead.

Reznik6044
Make sure your plastic tensioners have been replaced, Preventative maintenance is the key to many worry free miles. It's cheap insurance
Doug
2001 XKR Silverstone

Thanks all for your replies. I guess I know it would be best to do all the preventative maintenance... I just didn't expect the maintenance to cost so much. But I should have known better. So my next job is to find a good local Jag independent mechanic.

Don't be afraid to turn your own wrench! They are just parts and pieces.

But I know some people just cannot wrap their head around working on their own cars, which is alright.

Post a feeler out for JagTech he has a shop near columbus OH I seem to recall.

I wouldn't be opposed to turning my own wrench on this car since it is a third car and it wouldn't put one of our daily driver's out of commission. However, my fear is the cost of fixing something I screw up could be much higher than just paying someone to do it right

Daddy-o's right don't be afraid to wrench it yourself, 99 percent of the time your not going to mess things up. Besides you got a limited supply of knowledge right here. You'll save more than enough on a couple of jobs to pay for the 1 percent you may screw up.
Doug
2001 XKR Silverstone

asside from the wealth of knowledge on this site... is there a good service manual or reference guide that I can get that would help provide instructions for how to do maintenance?

jaguar technician information system (JTIS or jaguar TIS), downlaod for free around the forums (search for the link) to burn ur own CD or buy a CD on ebay for around $10

awesome, thanks!

^ you bet rez, g'luck!