I am a 30 year XJS owner but new to XK8s.

There is an '04 XK8 convertible for sale close to me. Red w/ blk top and interior.
No history on the car. Appears nice. 130K miles
Am told everything works except the convertible top. I
What is a price range on these cars? What are common gremlins or monsters to be concerned with.
How easy are they to work on (I have access to a lift)
Thanks in advance

 

You will need some sort of maintenance record, if not a bit of searching will prove valuable. The top operation was mostly the same during the period 97-06, a big plus.
The '04 engine has most of the bugs of the early engine solved.
The suspension with 130K would be my first concern if not already done in the last 40k miles.
Look for uneven tire wear, inside wear on front or back means bad camber, springs and shock mounts will solve that issue in most cases.
Lots of sensors throughout the car but a good OBD II will rear most of the problems.
Good luck.

 

Bradscat,

As a XJ owner, you'll be familiar with most the Jaguar issues. The X100 2004 model (Gen3) should have the 4.2L engine and ZF6 transmission where most of the earlier AJ-V8 engine and gearbox problems had been already been ironed out.
I can't comment on the market price, but in terms of the convertible top, the cause of the "not working" needs to be identified. I wouldn't be surprised if it was because the hydraulic hoses have gone bad so some-one may have just pulled the 40A fuse, or pulled the relays. Could be the pump, controls, sensors, but you'll need to dig. All parts are available if you do want to get it going, but many just live with operating the top manually as it can be alot of effort to repair the hydraulic system.

The fact you have a car lift, makes the Wayne's suspect suspension overhaul job alot easier for DIY. The 130,000 km is actually a good sign to me as it shows the car has been used and driven. The To Do list depends alot on what the maintenance history is like and how the car is on the test drive. If you find the car stance has a drop rake at the front, it's probably either squashed front mounts or dead lazy springs. Engine Valve cover gaskets seem to only have 2 to 3 years life before they start leaking, plus the front timing cover seal may be leaking (I just lived with it - a really minor leak I had when hot) as changing it is a big job.

The heater pump is often suspect (always on if you have blower going hot or cold), and there's often dodgey wiring connectors in the engine bay (mine was a broken coolant temp sensor on the cross over, crumbling VVT clips etc) probably due to the age of the car. Also I would look at if the power steering line is leaking at the metal/rubber crimps, and if the coolant rubber pipes are perished esp. at the thermostat tower, plus see if there's condensation in the head lights (common - expensive fix). Also think of changing the fuel filter (often forgotten when serviced), changing ATF oil in the transmission, rear diff oil (preventative measures which you probably know from the XJS).

The rest is electrical which is easy enough to check off on a test drive. ABS/DSC problems are common (seen on the Dash) but Forum Members here have have fixed it DIY. The Brake pedal switch is known to fail, plus solenoid valve on the J Gate stick (to move it out of Park). Stork wiring is known to break behind the steering wheel (easy soldering fix), plus the plastic retainers on the door skins/cards are very brittle from age so may rattle (another 5 min fix). There's a weird short in the overhead sun visor which seems to be cause of weird electrical gremlins due to a shared fuse.

Good luck on your purchase, Take an OBD2 reader with you when you see the car and report back what you find.

 

Tho an old post, I wanted to mention re: conv. Top not working on an xj8 conv. … I had the problem, 3 mechanics couldn’t figure it out. Then I took to an Auto/boat Upholstery shop. THEY SOLVED! The contacts for electricity to the top is under the roof button, under the j-gate. The contacts were dirty, a lil corrosion. Cleaned the contacts & all was restored ($600, 90% labor). Been working great for 2 years. (j-gate slots allow dirt, soda, moisture to accumulate in the j-gate.) xk8 (60k miles) DOES have many sensors. Too many imo. Last two years I had to replace 5. A/c parts fail. Other than that over 4 yrs. owning pretty much maintenance… oil changes, tires, errors codes (trans. code was a switch for the left side of j-gate manual shift), DO CHANGE TRANS. FLUID @60k- 75k (disregard manual & sealed for life line), GLTA.