POS = Piece of ****
Car breaks down every 4-5k miles, my ex-wife does not cost as much

I have put $6,000 into it an it does not have 100,000 miles on it and I bought it at 63k.
I am now hearing a grinding noise in the right front, started last Thursday when I hit a bump and went a way when I hit another bump, now everytime I turn right or left I here the grinding noise.

Jaguar should be ashamed of the CRAP they build, my Volvo 850 T5R has 350k plus miles and is in better shape than my 97k mile Jag. NEVER will I buy a Jag again, they have are junk, I have rebuilt the whole suspension, tensioners, roof lines, thermostat housing, shocks and mounts, ball joints, tie rods, seat cover and headliner.

My Volvo, has had a new starter, rebuilt alternator and rebuilt turbo since I have owned it.

 

Sorry you're so upset with your Jag. Hoping to lighten the mood a little



Here = a place
Hear = to detect a sound with your ears







Cheers
DD

 

Do you feel better now? I can't believe I responded to this thread.

Vovo = boring

 

Probably not much sympathy to be found here,but reading between the lines it appears you are not entirely satisfied with your jaguar.Maybe the car doesn't like you.

 

Sounds like someone is over tired.

 

QUOTE=randyb;772698]POS = Piece of ****
Car breaks down every 4-5k miles, my ex-wife does not cost as much

I have put $6,000 into it an it does not have 100,000 miles on it and I bought it at 63k.
I am now hearing a grinding noise in the right front, started last Thursday when I hit a bump and went a way when I hit another bump, now everytime I turn right or left I here the grinding noise.

Jaguar should be ashamed of the CRAP they build, my Volvo 850 T5R has 350k plus miles and is in better shape than my 97k mile Jag. NEVER will I buy a Jag again, they have are junk, I have rebuilt the whole suspension, tensioners, roof lines, thermostat housing, shocks and mounts, ball joints, tie rods, seat cover and headliner.
Surely the "shocks & mounts, ball joints & tie rods" would come under suspension?
I suspect you're makig it sound worse than it is

At nearly 100k miles and with todays roads with pot holes everywhere, speed bumps all over the place etc etc, suspension parts replacements are becoming more & more frequent

My Volvo, has had a new starter, rebuilt alternator and rebuilt turbo since I have owned it.[/QUOTE]

No offence but if you're Volvo has been so good ( owned from new? ) why didn't you buy another one?

I can only assume you bought the Jag because of the cleek lines, the sexy looks and the luxury aspect?
These attributes are ( again no offence intended ) quite the opposite generally of a Volvo which has different appeal.

Unfortunately luxury costs money I'm afraid

Any issues we can help with?

Thanks

 

Repairs and Maintenance costs = $0.16 per mile.

I find that neither surprising nor unreasonable. A Jaguar never has been low cost transportation.

Graham

 

A Jaguar is not for everyone!

 

Providing a place for Randy to vent has already been very helpful, I suspect.

Cheers
DD

 

Randyb, I bought my Jag with 135,000 miles on it. I spent $11k fixing it, prior to hot rodding it. The person that owned it before me did NO maintenance and had driven the snot out of it. My expense was anticipated.

The Jag is on the exotic side of things. It's like this... you're comparison is like comparing an F1 race car to a bicycle. The bicycle is reliable transportation that is easy to fix and typically lasts a long time between maintenance issues. The F1 is, well, fast and furious. Ahem... it requires more maintenance, and the chicks dig it.





Aw, yeah! The photo above is proof that God exists!

 

My neighbor across the street complains just as vociferously about the BMW station wagon he has--every repair is very expensive and it needs repairs often. My guess is that the higher-end car you are buying, the greater the expectations that it should be perfect. I have been generally satisfied with my Jaguar but have to admit I was surprised at the amount of shoddy material that are used here and there. I had expected that a car in the $75K plus price range would have used less pieces of breakable plastic than I have found and that things like hydraulic hoses for the convertible top would have been better engineered and that idiot false warning messages due to touchy electrical/computer components would not be so prevalent. Still the basic drivetrain components seem pretty solid.


Doug

 

I suspect the grinding noise you hear, is that your power steering fluid has been drained, possibly a leak. I suggest you pop the bonnet and check the power steering level. If it is empty, top off with ATF fluid, I forget the specification. Then, search for the leak.

With everything you've already done to the car, I suspect that you're in for a lot of worry free miles to come. If you wanted a rock solid appliance, you should've bought a Toyota Corolla. As it stands, you bought a Jag XK8. It's not an appliance, it's not bullet proof, what it is, is full of joy and ear to ear grin inducing driving dynamics. If you don't appreciate the car for what it is, then you have no business buying a british luxury GT.

 

Give it to me. I will take good care of it.

 

randyb - I have spent more on my XK8 AND I only had the car for just over a year driving it only 6k miles. I know of a few other things that I will have to replace soon, including tires.

I can understand your frustration, and trust me, I have thought about selling mine as well - while everything still works! I can fix some things, but some I have to get repaired and pay a lot.

All of us have car stories - the good, the bad, and the ugly. There were a few cars in my life I could not get rid of soon enough, but there were others.. I still miss them after many years. I think all of us gets frustrated with the Jag at some point, but it is also the only car in many, many years that make me feel 10 again - and just for that, it is still worth it!

I hope your issue is a small, cheap one to fix!

 

My refrigerator is older than my Jag and has never broken down. However, no one who has ever seen it has remarked on what a sexy appliance it is.

Sorry you're having so many frustrations. If it isn't working for you, then sell it. Cars should be enjoyable and not just appliances.

 

The moral of the story is simply this - always do your due diligence on the model as well as the specific vehicle you are interested in prior to pulling the trigger....

There's no question that these XK8s have their share of costly issues that must be resolved at some point. The more you can do yourself or with the assistance of your friends, the better off you'll be....

I catch myself grumbling about the quirky ZF transmission, the eventual green shower fate that sooner or later imposes its will on all of the ragtops, the ridiculously-complicated electronics that tend to throw warning messages just for the hell of it, the less-than-stellar-quality plastic parts that are far too expensive for what they are, the seemingly-fragile wheel speed sensor systems that must be cleaned/checked/repaired on an ongoing basis, and various other items that have a permanent place on my weekly checklist when going over the car. My wife's 2006 XK8 is a maintenance hog compared to our 2005 S-Type or my 1999 Dodge Ram pickup, but my wife truly loves her car and wants to keep it for as long as she can. So I bite my lip and do what is required to keep it as roadworthy as possible, at least for now....

There may come a time when I have to put my foot down and declare that like it or not, her XK8 must be kicked out of our stable due to excessive running costs and inordinate amounts of time I'm having to spend fixing the damn thing. But I'll probably still have a battle on my hands when that time finally rolls around....

 

When in doubt, I ascribe to the addage, Life it too short to drive boring cars.
I had a 98 S70 Volvo once, the dashboard fell out into my lap. I just threw the car away.

 

I just want to drive at least 1 month without something going wrong. Have had the car 21 months and it is getting real old to fix the car every other weekend.

Now looking back, I was a tad harsh.

H2Oboy, you obviously have not driven a 850 T5R, for a front wheel drive heavy car, it corners so much better than my Jag.

 

As written by Randy
But take a look at it, It looks like the design team got there ideas from the Dodge Diplomat.

 

randyb,
I can certainly empathize with your frustration. I bought my 2002 XKR three years ago, and I know I have put in at least 2 1/2 times as much money as you to get it to a place where it's reasonably reliable. I bought it with 62K miles on it and now have 125K miles on it, and it is certainly more trouble free now than at any time in the past three years. Having said that, I can tell you from my personal experience after purchasing 3 Volvos in the mid 1980's, that in the 25 or 30 cars I have owned in the past 44 years, the 3 worst, most service intensive automobiles I have ever owned were the 3 Volvos, (3 different models, 244GL, 740, 740 Turbo). My wife drove the GL, my elderly parents the 2 740's. None of the 3 Volvos lasted more than 25K miles before we had to get rid of them. My wife's blew an engine at 21K, my mom's 740 Turbo went through 5 turbochargers in the first 2 years, my dad's 740 sounded like a diesel from day one and started to fall apart immediately after purchase. (The 740 Turbo never made it home from the dealership on its maiden voyage). On the other had my 200K Chrysler Pacifica has just about never had anything done and is so superior to that POS Buick Enclave (on its 4th transmission in 60K miles).

I got my XKR as an incredible underpriced bargain ($15,000--3 years ago with 62K miles and in near mint condition), so I wasn't too upset at the beginning when I had to spend money, but when it never seems to end it's mentally as well as monetarily draining, especially because you can't count on it for everyday transportation. Outside of a fried original alternator about 4 months ago, when you finally get things sorted, it's actually pretty reliable, a pleasure to drive, and still one of the most beautiful automobiles on the road. I hope you come up with a solution or get to the point that it finally becomes reliable and a joy rather than a nightmare.

Good Luck, and I don't think it's something that other forum members should be making fun of, it's a severely frustrating experience that makes you question your own judgment in purchasing it in the first place.
tberg