Well - I did it. When I sold my X Type a few months ago to make way for a little Peugeot that didn't require a mortage to afford insurance for our 17 year-old son, I decided to treat myself to an old XK8 convertible as a fun car - it wouldn't matter if it had the occasional problem, - there's two other cars to do all the boring stuff, but .......... I wanted something with a bit of style and that I could look at and think "Yes - I will enjoy driving you today". I think I read nearly every post on this forum - thanks to everyone too numerous to mention individually for all the excellent advice - so knew pretty much what to look for. I set a fairly low budget - maximum £6k pounds sterling - and, as I feel reasonably condident with mwechanical stuff, my major concerns were that there should be no rust (a much bigger problem here in the UK than in the US and other "dry" countries.) and there should be no visible bodywork damage. There was no hurry, so I looked at quite a few cars, and a couple of days ago, I found my new "Granny Magnet" (I'm much too old to think of it as anything else !!)
It's a 1997 XK8 which has been extremely well maintained and serviced since new. It doesn't have many toys - a mixed blessing really because although they are nice to have, I know they go wrong on a regular basis - but there's a large pile of invoices, receipts and paperwork which shows that many of the major problems - hood fluid, gearbox / transmission, suspension, throttle body etc - have all been addressed and (hopefully) sorted, and most of the electrickery (seats, windows, radio / CD etc seem to work properly. I can't see any rust anywhere - underside, sills, wings are all immaculate - and you can just tell it has been properly cared-for and not abused. There's a few stone-chips on the bonnet (hood), small marks on the headlining and signs of age on the driver's seat, but nothing that can't be easily sorted. I have only been able to drive a hundred or so miles so far but there's no nasty noises or anything else to ring warning bells. There's a few little problems which I will seek advice about in another posting, and I am concerned that there's no record of any replacmeent tensioners (although the engine is extremely quiet and smooth at tickover and revving) which I will put on the to do" list. I accept I may have paid very slightly over the "book price" at £5.5k but it just feels OK and "honest" - the Jaguar First Aid Kit in the boot has never, I suspect, even been opened. In June 1997, the car cost £59903.76p - the original invoice is with the paperwork which doesn't include a wind-deflector which is also fitted.
In a perfect world, I would have liked cruise control, parking sensors, adaptive suspension, electric headrests, electric steering wheel adjustment, 4.2 litre engine and a friendly pneumatic supermodel in the passenger seat as standard but .............. I'm happy with what I got !! I'm also happy with the black leather - it's much more practical (imho) than cream or beige in a predominantyly wet and muddy climate.
It's an old car with 117K miles on the clock, so I'm not niaive enough to think my ownership will be problem-free but I hope I made a wise choice and that I will have many years of enjoyable driving. I'm already indebted to this forum for pre-purchase advice, and I'm sure I will benefit from all the expertise here as problems (inevitably) arise. I will try and return the compliment by posting whenever I come across something I can sort out myself. I have a birthday later this year, so remote hood and/or RealGauge conversion kits are both on my "wish list."
Here's a picture - will post some more in due course.
Cheers,
David.

 

nice looking xk - agree plenty of info, support and how to's here to keep her purring -enjoy the "granny magnet"

 

Welcome. You have a nice looking XK8 there.

 

Hi David and welcome to a very friendly place. +1 on a nice looking, well cared for example.

Just post up if you ever need any assistance, apart from that, enjoy the car and the forum.

 

This forum has been a lifeline, welcome to the family!

 

She looks good, have fun, but check the tensioners soon!

 

Thanks for all the very appreciative comments - I benefitted from, and, I hope - contributed to - the X Type forum both here and "in the other place" so I already know how helpful and friendly this forum is.
A few more pics - it's just like being a new Dad without all the messy stuff !!

 

Very nice car and in a nice color as well. Looks like it has a few aftermarket touches which are very tastefully done. Usually a good sign of a fastidious owner.

The best are the wheels. The standard early model wheels can look dated, but yours really compliment the car.

Congratulations and welcome to the club!

 

Agree Jag#4 - I would have gone with 17" if that was the only choice, but much prefer the look of the 18" wheels - according to the original invoice, the wheels were an extra £574.47 which doesn't seem much compared to the £1204.28 for "Classic Leather" and £1012.77 for the Premium Sound package (that's all plus 17.5% tax by the way !!)

 

Only my personal opinion David, but those pipes look wrong the way they are.

No offence intended and hopefully, none taken. The rest of the car looks crackin'.

 

None taken - I'm not sure I like them either - can't quite see the point frankly and I prefer the "original" look. Not a priority but on the list of potential changes.

 

A lot of car for little money. Looks good.

Granny Magnet -

Graham

 

Sounds like a good find and well rewarded from your due diligence- welcome aboard! She looks great, congrats. Granny magnet is hilarious.

This forum is indeed a lifeline for these cars should anything go wrong, and it's chock-full of fellow intelligent, friendly gentlemen motorists. Except for a few! But they haven't banned me yet.

Cheers!