Hi all, Looking to get a XK8/XKR...have read the forum for as much info as possible, and the FAQ section is great, however after reading the issues that were on the early units with the Throttle bodies, and Hoses...which year models are the ones to look for.2001, 2002 ?..hopefully most of the big issues would have been fixed by Jag by then...is the XKR more of a challenge to maintain ...or should I stick with the base XK8?

 

Howdy,

I'll just launch a trial balloon here; other opinions surely will follow.

XK8 / XKR: doesn't seem as though the "R" owners have more headaches. About the same probably.

Vintages:
'03+ ... the car was as sorted out as it was going to be. Tensioners fixed, better gearbox, slightly bigger motor, other lesser stuff. Most desireable cars by a good margin.
'01 & '02 ... somewhat better than earlier cars. Likely to have nicer wheels. 2nd gen tensioners (I think this was the period) but these may not have really been an improvement and should be upgraded. Some interior improvements.
2000 & earlier ... these suffer from pretty much all you've heard about, and the earliest could have nickasil.

More than likely I've forgotten something or got something wrong. Hey, it's a start.

Good luck,

 

As the XKR 1999-2002 shares the same drive train as my XJR, I would say the XKR is the better vehicle in this series as it's tranny is the Merc 5sp and has very little in the line of issues as long as you ignore the 100K fluid recommendation and change is at least at 50K if not before.

As Dennis indicated the '03 and up changed to the 4.2L and 6sp trans and is a superior vehicle in many respects. You will find the '03 and up hold their price better so you will definately pay more for them. If you simply do your research on the vehicle's maintenance history and have patience in your search you will do quite well with a pre '03, or simply search for the '03+ and find the best possible value.

 

summed up pretty well by Dennis and midlife. Nothing I can add here. With that knowledge, either a 2001/2002 xkr, or 2003+ R or N/A is your 'best' bet for the more reliable versions.