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Well, it looks like I will soon be able to join in with more questions, and the fun of owning one of these beauties. I don't have it yet, but I'm in the process of purchasing a 2003 XKR convertible with MDZ paint, and LHJ trim. Yes this is the one I mentioned in the NJ thread that was a bit of settling, not my dream car. But honestly, after going down and giving it a look over, and a test drive, I feel a bit different. The bodywork is in great shape, and from what I could see, hear, smell, and feel from the test drive and looking it over it is in good shape mechanically as well. Even looks like it had an oil change not that many miles ago, according to the window sticker.
It is not perfect, and the fella selling it didn't know as much about it as I would have liked, but that's almost a reason to rescue it. A couple of things I noticed was one of the low beams was out, and the antenna is broke off (removed). All of the 20" Montreal wheels have at least some scuffing on them,some worse then others. It had not been driven in quite some time (winter in WI, that's a good thing), so the battery was dead (may need to replace), but a jump box got it going easily enough on the first crank. I did have to show the owner how to get in the trunk with the key, not a great sign. Also one of the front tires was a little low on air, and neither of us knew where the valve stem was. We drove to a local shop slowly, and they got us set up. Luckily the adapter was in the glove box. But that wheel was missing the flat cover for the stem, so that's another thing to get sorted. I'm almost wondering if a 3d printed one would hold up. Also, both front tires are getting pretty low on tread, the backs looked OK.
Interior was in very good shape, but again not perfect. The gear selector surround had some scuffing, and there were a few areas that looked like it could be cleaned up a bit better. The floor mats, are also just cut down cheap ones, but that's an easy fix. It doesn't have the tonneau cover for the top, would have been nice to have, but I honestly don't know if I would use it much or not, and I see they are available second hand. All the electronics seemed to work, and the Navigation screen was actually very bright, but a bit slow to react Overall I say the car was in pretty good shape for being over 15 years old. The price was in line with my budget, even knowing I'll likely have a few things to replace and fix. And the convenience of having this vehicle only 2 hours away instead of 18 is a big deal. At this distance I can drive my pickup down there, rent a car hauler from U-haul and get it home in half a day. Otherwise, I'd probably be flying to where ever, having to get a lift to the airport here, and on the other side, and a bit worried about driving a new to me car for a 1000 miles home.
Just called the insurance company (allstate) and was a bit shocked at how much comprehensive and collision coverage would be. With out collision it would have been just over a grand a year, and collision added a couple hundred more. Performance car rates on a Jag, I shouldn't have been that shocked. Considering that would be over 10% for what I payed for the car, I'm not sure it is worth it, I'll have to think on it, may go with just liability.
The one question I have for folks right now, is about loading this on a car hauler, has anyone used the Uhaul ones with this car? Does the front end hit on the ramps with out some blocking? and can you get the door open over the trailer tires? I've used one of these before, but it was just a Jetta, so had no issues.
Thanks ahead of time for all the help I'm sure to need. I'm looking forward to being in the ranks.
Oh, and pictures will have to wait until I get it home, but the craigslist ad might still be up, the guy said he would take it down, but he may not have done that yet. Craigslist add.
Your 'new' car sounds an awful lot like mine when I first got it. Its been a continuous job ever since. If you get a few days spare have a read...... Click Me To Read
These cars are a joy to drive and look at. I am sure you will be the envy of a lot of people. Sure they are a lot of work but with the backing of guys on this, and other, forums any problems are solvable.
So enjoy your new car. As I like to say its a case of "Love at first drive"
Oh one last thing he says "100% stock original", sorry to say its not. He has changed over the bonnet lovers to Chrome ones. I have never seen that on a XK8/R before. Ask if he still has the originals.
Just noticed too that the exterior handles look like chrome ones? Same again ask if he has the originals.
I only mention the above as these cars are turning into a classic. The value has already risen quite a lot since I got mine 5 years ago. Classic cars take pride in being 100% original and in future years you may well find it hard to find replacement parts to bring it back to original state so if he has the parts you can store them for potential future use.
Also ask him to raise and lower the drivers headrest. 80% of them are not working now. The other check. Engine off and key in, just before you turn to start position. Put the car into reverse. Select the passenger side mirror, small rocker switch on drivers arm rest. Tilt the passenger mirror fully downwards using the 'joystick', its just above the mirror selector. When its down release the joystick and take the car out of reverse. The mirror should reset to its original position without you touching anything, including memory buttons.
Check out the Sat Nav too. I do not have it but others that do are not very complimentary about it. The alternative 3 dials seem more popular.
Not trying to put a dampener on your purchase on the contrary it looks like a really nice car. If I were in your shoes id buy it, just trying to make you aware of potential issues in advance rather then the "I wish someone had said" situation.
Thank you guys. Don’t you hate it when your nice, long, well thought out posts get deleted as you try to post them. I will give it another go.
Thank you Graham, I knew I was posting a wall of text, and should have done something different with the question. Hopefully someone who knows will still find it.
Frank, thank you for your honest, and “frank” response. I do appreciate it. The add was written by a salesman, who enjoys flipping cars on eBay, so I took the whole thing with a big grain of salt. I have no delusions that this car is going to be a “one of a kind” survivor, but an average example of a great looking sports car. I looked it over, tried several of the electronics, and gadgets, and based on how it looks, sounds, and feels, it’s in solid shape. I’m convinced that at this price it is worth a bit of a gamble. There are the little things I mentioned in the first post, and of those the most expensive should be new tires and refinishing the wheels. I also have no faith that the water pump or tensioners have been changed, so I will probably have that to do in the near future, or at least look to see. If this was the $18k coup I was briefly thinking about in NJ, I’d expect it to be completely sorted, and documented, but at $11k, I’m more excepting of a few things being not perfect.
I also noticed all the aftermarket chrome trim in the photo, and honestly wasn’t thrilled with the look in the pictures. Besides the pieces you mentioned, there were also some on the mirrors, and around the headlights. My guess is that it is just chrome covered plastic, but I didn’t check. The thing is in person, it shows much better then it looks in the pictures, I actually could see it growing on me, but we will see. And regarding the originals, I don’t believe this owner had it long enough to do that much damage, it was probably a few owners ago. According to car fax there have been 5, and it spent 10 years in Texas before coming north to WI. I did not check the headrest, since it started in a good position for me, but I will soon. You are right I should have checked the tilting headlights, but I forgot that was a thing with these cars, we will see, and if it’s an issue, it may be a day time driver for a while.
John, double check the dates. I dont think 2003 engine's had plastic tensioners. As I recall that ended in 2001, i hope I'm right for your sake, but do check it out.
John
Likely because the front upper shock mounts are shot (the Jaguar part crumbles with age, lift the rubber cover and check for bits of orange foam). This is why the front end looks so low. This low ride height causes the suspension to collapse some, and results in excessive negative camber.
Also, double check the rubber lines to the front-mounted oil cooler. They will likely need replacement, especially if there is ANY seepage at any of the aluminum/rubber interfaces. These lines see full oil pressure and deteriorate with age. The rubber part eventually slips off the Al tube and you loose oil pressure instantly, while the engine oil pump dumps all your engine oil on the road. These lines are pricey and you need 4 separate sections.
Last, expect a transmission maintenance in the new future (pan/filter, oil, etc.).
If you get bored with the wheels, I'd be happy to buy them! Nice car!
I pay about $750 a year on the 00 XKR and about $1100 a year on the 07 XKR; full coverage on both with $500 deductibles and 250/500 for liability stuff. 31 Female here at Progressive in Michigan. I have to imagine Wisconsin is cheaper given your state doesn't have as idiotic a situation as our state.
Forensic analysis but did anyone answer your question?
good luck with the purchase. Here in Bahrain, I’ve no idea what U Haul trailers look like. Worst case scenario is that you’ll have to back the car onto the trailer and scrap the front under tray. It’s only a bit of plastic.... you can fix that too ... along the journey
When I bought my 2003 XK8 2 years ago it was sitting on dry rotted tires. 100 miles from home I rented U Haul Car Hauler. No problem loading and got out of the door without any problems once it was loaded.
I bought my car from a seller 1,000 miles away and had it delivered on a conventional car carrier truck. You might want to check into that. The dealer I bought it from threw in the shipping for free. Apparently, he was a big shipper. But, I would think a U-Haul would work fine as long as the ramps weren't too steep. fmertz is giving good advice on the oil cooler lines, and also the advice about the self-leveling headlights was good. Speaking of the oil cooler lines, I would think we could get steel braided ones for not too much. Does anybody know a source ? I saw where duece2000 was using them on his XKR, but he's in Italy and has his own workshop.
Best of luck, in any case.
Wow, thanks everyone. I really appreciate the advice, I may not head all of it, but it’s great getting it. ;-)
Thanks Bob for the confirmation on the U-haul trailer. I figured as much, but wanted to confirm. I’ll throw some blocking in the truck just in case, since the front does seam a bit low. And David U-haul is a renter of various trucks and trailers here in the US, mostly used by people to move from home to home, but other DIY hauling as well. They are a big enough company that they are very standerdized on things, so a car hauler from New York should match one from Seattle. And it’s only $90 for the rental, and I already have a pickup truck that can haul it.
John I’ll read up on the tensioners again, you are probably right that they switched them out by then. If so, I guess that is one less thing to worry about. But I have to add the oil cooler lines to the list now. And I would also not be surprised if the transmission did need a fluid and filter change. It worked fine on the day, but the owner did mention it not liking reverse in the cold.
fmertz, that sounds like a strong possibility about the upper shock mounts. I’m hoping those rubber parts are still available, and that them deteriating has not wrecked too much else. I did notice the car had a slight track to the right if I let the steering wheel go completely, but I didn’t even notice it otherwise, even with just a couple of fingers grabbing it.
80’s rule, you are way too young for that handle, but I’m a bit over a decade older, and male but my rate would be about $100 more then your 07. But they are both supercharged 4.2 engines that generate almost 400 hp, so that probably has more to do with it. Since I don’t plan on driving this in the winter, maybe I can work out a 6-7 month a year deal with collision, and the remainder liability only. We will see. Oh, and I do love the wheels from 10’ away, or while moving, it’s just they are scuffed up bad enough that I may want to look at having them refinished at some point. While the owner was in salesman mode, he brought up the fact that they are rare and expensive. I didn’t completely buy it, but I do wonder how many of the 20” were Montreal’s vs Detroit’s.
Now even though this car started life as a Texas car from everything I can tell, I remember seeing, and flipping the front defrost button next to the rear defrost button on it. According to the online pdf of the drivers manual I found, this was only on Canadian cars, is the manual correct on this? Not a big deal, I just thought it was odd.
Otherwise, I believe this car may have been fully optioned, since it has the Nav system, and the 20” wheels with what I think are the upgraded brakes. The only thing I didnt check since I didn’t know how until after I got home, was if it had adaptive cruise or not.
Oh, and I apologize for another wall of text with a couple of questions buried deep within. I’m on an iPad right now, and selecting things to change them does not seem to be happy right now. At least these questions aren’t important, only curiosity.
Last edited by John Nevets; 03-21-2019 at 06:51 PM.
John, no we all have front and rear defrost buttons. BTW, all those suspension parts you wondered about are still available. Hey, if I can change them, I'm sure you can too.
It does not look like yours has adaptive cruise control. I looked at the photo in the ad and I can only see 1 button by the J gate. That would be the S for Sport button. Its not a great loss I have heard of horror stories when the cars put the brakes on going around a bend etc.
fmertz, that sounds like a strong possibility about the upper shock mounts. I’m hoping those rubber parts are still available, and that them deteriating has not wrecked too much else. I did notice the car had a slight track to the right if I let the steering wheel go completely, but I didn’t even notice it otherwise, even with just a couple of fingers grabbing it.
Welsh Enterprises sells an upgraded part that has great reputation for durability. Folks buying the Jaguar part often end up re-doing the job a short few years later.
Wow, thanks everyone. I really appreciate the advice, I may not head all of it, but it’s great getting it. ;-)
Thanks Bob for the confirmation on the U-haul trailer. I figured as much, but wanted to confirm. I’ll throw some blocking in the truck just in case, since the front does seam a bit low. And David U-haul is a renter of various trucks and trailers here in the US, mostly used by people to move from home to home, but other DIY hauling as well. They are a big enough company that they are very standerdized on things, so a car hauler from New York should match one from Seattle. And it’s only $90 for the rental, and I already have a pickup truck that can haul it.
John I’ll read up on the tensioners again, you are probably right that they switched them out by then. If so, I guess that is one less thing to worry about. But I have to add the oil cooler lines to the list now. And I would also not be surprised if the transmission did need a fluid and filter change. It worked fine on the day, but the owner did mention it not liking reverse in the cold.
fmertz, that sounds like a strong possibility about the upper shock mounts. I’m hoping those rubber parts are still available, and that them deteriating has not wrecked too much else. I did notice the car had a slight track to the right if I let the steering wheel go completely, but I didn’t even notice it otherwise, even with just a couple of fingers grabbing it.
80’s rule, you are way too young for that handle, but I’m a bit over a decade older, and male but my rate would be about $100 more then your 07. But they are both supercharged 4.2 engines that generate almost 400 hp, so that probably has more to do with it. Since I don’t plan on driving this in the winter, maybe I can work out a 6-7 month a year deal with collision, and the remainder liability only. We will see. Oh, and I do love the wheels from 10’ away, or while moving, it’s just they are scuffed up bad enough that I may want to look at having them refinished at some point. While the owner was in salesman mode, he brought up the fact that they are rare and expensive. I didn’t completely buy it, but I do wonder how many of the 20” were Montreal’s vs Detroit’s.
Now even though this car started life as a Texas car from everything I can tell, I remember seeing, and flipping the front defrost button next to the rear defrost button on it. According to the online pdf of the drivers manual I found, this was only on Canadian cars, is the manual correct on this? Not a big deal, I just thought it was odd.
Otherwise, I believe this car may have been fully optioned, since it has the Nav system, and the 20” wheels with what I think are the upgraded brakes. The only thing I didnt check since I didn’t know how until after I got home, was if it had adaptive cruise or not.
Oh, and I apologize for another wall of text with a couple of questions buried deep within. I’m on an iPad right now, and selecting things to change them does not seem to be happy right now. At least these questions aren’t important, only curiosity.
I buy my insurance with renewals at 3/30 and 9/30. I just drop down to comprehensive only, not even liability, while I am storing the cars. I just call and get it lowered the day I park it for winter. I bring it back the same way when I want to start it back up for the year. This saves me about $500 a year between the 2 cars. Those numbers I gave do NOT include that money coming back. So really the two cars together are about 1300 a year, not bad for two supercharged V8 RWD luxury GT cars.
My username has a history when I had a modified C4 Corvette, and I really do like the eighties despite I only enjoy 2.5 years of it! The username comes from a license plate, which before I had it, was my late uncle's on a beautiful twin turbo flying mirror Testarossa. He passed, the plate lapsed, then I bought it. Literally right now, I'm blasting Dio, so the name isn't entirely from the plate lol.
I had my wheels refurbished about 2-3 years ago on my 00, I had one of those mobile wheel refinishers redo them at $75 each. 3 had curb rash from the previous owner using the force to park and although I've fixed that stuff before, I had a work project that was eating up my weekends and my employer offered to pay as a little discretionary bonus so I'd just work a Saturday while the guy did it. They are still immaculate. Given my double fives are complex wheels, it would have taken a little while to do them up. Your wheels are WAY more intricate and the money spent out is more than fair to not deal with the nonsense!
Having rebuilt a lot of transmissions, my advice is not to expect much from a fluid change. Change the fluid as it is good maintenance, but it may not make anything better. If the fluid is REALLY bad, which is unlikely at the mileage, it may hasten the demise as the friction particulate in the fluid may actually be assisting in operation. I personally would change it. For preventative maintenance, I'd also change the supercharger oil ($30 for two bottles of fluid and a syringe kit on ebay), and that's a half hour job, an hour if you forget where you put your allen keys and zip ties (zip tie the coolant hoses out of the way). These both are items usually neglected by most owners. Consider differential too, but that's a little more involved.
Oddly, my XKR Convertible was leased initially as a corporate lease out of Atlanta, but it was ordered WITHOUT navigation, but I have heated seats and all that (which I think was standard). Some owners remove the nav systems as they are quite outdated, but theres other ways to utilize the screen to do cool stuff. You'll see as you hang out more here!
When I bought mine 4 years ago I had Allstate. They wanted $300 a month. Switched to Progressive. Both the Jag and my wifes Rogue $150 a month. Full coverage on both.
I am not sure what the insurance system is like in the USA. However it cannot be too different than ours in the UK.
A typical scenario. You insure your car on comprehensive insurance and lets say you value it at $15000. Heaven forbid but your car gets totaled, written off. You contact your insurance company and say something along the lines of "Money please" they then look up their value for your car and say here is $9000. Hang on! I insured it for $15,000. They apologise but insist they can only pay you the "Book Value". You challenge them to find a car like yours in the same condition and specification for the lesser money and it falls on deaf ears. You may if you badger them a lot get a couple of hundred more but thats it.
Here in the UK we can get what is called "Agreed Value" insurance. You chat to your insurance company, not all insurance companies do agreed value, and say if I were ever to replace my car like for like the value would be $16,000. You are sometimes limited to the mileage you do in the car. The more mileage you are going to do the more you pay. Mine is limited to 3,000 miles a year. Just right for me. If you have a write off/totaled car you should then get the full $16000.
It can be quite an eye opener to see what the insurance companies value your car at. Remember to that is the maximum you will get, you might not even get that. They do not live in the real world. Just because you say its worth $16k and they charge you more because you valued the car at that does not mean you will get $16K.
The Ranks have been Joined! Let the fun/ work commence!
Well, the deal finally went through. And I have the car home. A had to wait a bit since I was out of town for a while, and then on Wednesday when I was supposed to go and pick it up, I woke up in the middle of the night with food poising. So, today ended up being the day. A little longer then I hoped to get everything done, but it worked out. I definitely think there are some untold stories with this car, and so far, I'm fine with that. Like I've said before, at this price, I expect a bit of that. I'll come up with a list ( and more pictures) eventually, and see what you folks think. One of the things that slightly worries me now more then when I first inspected it (and this is going to sound odd) but is how clean and new looking the engine bay is. Besides looking like it was detailed recently, most of the rubbers and plastics look no where near 16 years old, I'm thinking it's a possibility the engine had a major (unreported on carfax) overhaul within the last 5 years. This could be not a bad thing, if done right, or a worse thing if covering up another problem. I'll dig around here and see if there is an engine ID that should match the VIN, and that I can see with out digging too far. I'm also going to give the Jaguar dealer that serviced the vehicle for the last several years prior to the guy I bought the car from a call and see if they can tell me anything more. The previous owner was a bit scatter brained, and going through a bit of a rough family time right now. So while I'm glad the deal is done, I don't expect him to be a big help in getting to the bottom of this. Also, I'm not sure he knew, just liked the car, and thought he could flip it. He didn't own it that long. It's only been titled in his name since September, but I think he bought it earlier, and hoped to flip it with out paying tax, but that is a wild guess on my part.
Otherwise, I found a couple other little issues, but nothing glaring or too expensive that I missed on my first inspection. I'm sure I'll find a bit more as I find the quirks of the car.
By the way, the Uhaul car hauler did work out great, but a couple of reminders. One, being that our doors barely clear the trailer fender (maybe 1/2"), so it is best to swing the fender out of the way. Next, our front tires are frickin wide, so make sure you have the strap fully wrapped around to the back side. I thought I did, but when I stopped to fuel up after a little while, I realized one had come loose. Car hadn't moved, but still not a great thing. Also, like most trailers they haul like crap when they are empty, so limit the amount of time you need to do that and you are better off.
Anyway, off to do more reading, now that I actually have the car, I have plenty more to learn. Oh, and I guess better get a ctek on order. Car started up fine every time today, but I'd like to keep it that way.
With old cars, I see signs of maintenance as a good thing. Just like many of us, you’ll find modifications that previous owners have done. But some won’t be pretty!
OK, lets try this again. I just did this post in the quick section, and it didn't work out so well. So lets try in the advanced.
Well, I'm not so worried about the engine bay anymore, some bits do seem newer, but some are showing there age. And I found that out by breaking my first one. It's a piece of plastic that holds on the inside air filter retaining clip.
Not a big deal, i thought more funny then anything.
I also couldn't find any number plates up by the front of the block for an engine ID, the SC sort of dominates that area. But I did find this label back by the transmission. I don't know if it tells anything useful or not.
And speaking of the supercharged XKR's, how do you folks manage to keep your engines so clean with those big holes in the bonnet?
I'm guessing the stock louvers had something a bit different to help protect things from oh rain and wind blown debris? I guess that can be added to the list already. I had thought about the look from the outside, I just hadn't realized the inside. That's on me. That is also what I meant by letting the Fun commence. Driving these things is the work, but it needs to be done as well. ;-)
In my fist post I mentioned the worn tires, they don't don't look quite as bad on further inspection, and the wear does seem even. But I still did check the upper mount, the rubber does seem firm and fine.
And hear is a few overall pictures of the engine bay, that first "worried" me when I got home.
The rubbers still do seem pliable, and most of the plastic has the new sheen to it, just threw me for a bit of a loop.
Well, I think that is all for tonight. Will probably have more tomorrow. Hopefully I got this photo thing figured out, I think that is what ate me previous post. I guess you have to manage attachments before just dragging them in. Since this is my first time posting photos on this particular forum, let me know if I screwed it up some how.
03-20-2019, 02:59 PM
Look to be Joining the ranks soon.
Joining the Ranks
