Welcome aboard! When you say "local" where is local for you? I have seen models more recent than 1999 selling pretty reasonably around the southern California area. Ebay always seems to have a good selection also at good prices but I would be nervous about buying something like a car long-distance without actually seeing and touching it myself.

Doug

 

If you browse the xk8-xkr section, you'll see a majority of the issues that you will likely face if you plan on buying and owning for awhile. If you can manage it, try to shop for a 2003, and stay as close to that model year as possible if you must go less expensive. There were lots of improvements in general to the transmission and engine that made it a very solid car. Timing chains on the pre 2002s make it very risky to purchase a car and not get them replaced, but if you can put a couple thousand into it, a earlier car may be perfect for you. Anyway, good luck and research till you're blue in the face and go armed with knowledge. Drive the car too.. earler xks seem to have a little more issue with suspension wear and should be detectable during driving...at all speeds. Look for green residue on the overhead console and around the armrest...if the hoses and latch have leaked, you may be able to see evidence (if its a vert your after)

 

Also check out these people:

http://www.texascarsdirect.com/Publi...blicFrame.html

 

It is mostly the blower but there are a few other things like the hood louvers, mesh grill, better brakes, sports seats, better headlights. In addition to the badging and other trim signifying "R" model, there are probably a few more minor things.

If you are like me and admired these cars from afar for a long time and finally get the opportunity to go for one, I figure go the extra and get the R. Alternatively, go the extra and get an XK8 but as recent vintage and low-mileage as possible.

Doug

 

Sorry, I have to agree with Doug's plan 'B'. The XKR advantage might be significant where the roads are straight and flat but in the mountains with twisty roads the XK8 can be scary enough. You might be in a lower gear with the XK8 but either are capable of far more than curvey public roads, traction and reason should allow. Like my shooting gear, the car is capable of so much more than I am.

I chose to spend my money on the best XK8 that my budget would allow.

 

Regarding upside for the XKR, check out the link to a video test drive. It's the new body style not the ones you're looking at but it's a great introduction to the performance of the R. By the way, the reviewer seems unimpressed initially with the car. Keep watching. He changes his mind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9QTNe8X3Z4

 

I am in your shoes or was anyway. I just bought a 2001 xk8 this weekend with in immaculate condition (i mean it still has the new car smell) and only 18,000 miles. I would have preferred a newer car, but frankly I couldn't find a nicer one out there (I posted pictures in the photo gallery). I did everything right on this car. Reviewed all the service records and had it checked out by a highly rated jaguar/aston specialist and bought through a dealer that I trusted. Through no fault of anyone, I picked up my baby on Saturday and the first time I dropped the top the hose for the top burst and i was showered with green hydraulic fluid. Welcome to the world of the XK ownership. The dealer is paying for the repair and it's being done right (both hoses replaced all the way back to the pump). There is an old saying though that there is no such thing as a free horse. Such is the case with jaguar. Even if you think you're getting a "bargain", these are not cars that you can expect years of trouble free service. If you want that, get a lexus sc430. Jaguar's have personality, character and they'll keep you "entertained" in every way--some not quite so pleasant.

I agree that that a '03 or newer is the way to go. I went with an '01 because it was in such stellar condition and only had 18,000 miles on it (convertible hose issue aside---happens to all of them at some point--especially the low mileage cars that sit all winter). I wouldn't really touch a pre-'01 unless you were willing to make a considerable investment in maitenance. I think the nikasil issues are pretty much non-issues now (if they were going to go, it probably would have happened by now). The time chain issue is another story. According to Jaguar USA, my Jag tech and some other sources, jag switched timing chain tensioners in '01 to the gen 2. The gen 2 still have plastic composite components to them and are not as durable as the gen 3 used on the 03 models, but I haven't heard of any timing chain issues on the gen 2 tensioners. The 01-02 cars, are not as potent, nor is the transmission as good as the '03, but the engines seem to have a pretty decent track record as long as you keep up with regular maintenance. If you stick to a car with less than 50k, you can get a 48month/48k warranty on the car which gives some piece of mind (albeit at close to 3k--which, in my view, is the cost of a transmission or new timing belt).

Anyway, if you love the xk8 like I do and, purchase price aside, you can afford to maintain the car (or are fortunate enough to have the time and skills to repair it yourself), this is really a special car to drive. Not many cars can turn heads the way an xk8 can. I have driven plenty of SL's, vettes, lexi etc. and none of them are as smooth or as sexy as an XK8. They all have their merits mind you, but the jag is in it's own class. I haven't seen an SC430 in any bond films recently!

Best of luck with your decision. Take your time and hunt around for a good one and make sure you spend a couple of hundred bucks to have your jag specialist check the car out and give you thumbs up or down (don't rely on the dealer).

P.S.

I paid 19,750 for my '01, which I think is on the high side, but I guess you get what you pay for (green hydraulic shower aside).

 

Welcome est190, baptism by fire my friend!

 

Thanks h20boy, I have read a lot of your posts while I have been lurking on this site for the past couple of months. You seem to know your stuff. Btw, that's a great looking car.

 

Absolutely one thing I would recommend if you are looking at any convertible is to work the top plenty of times. The 2005 XKR I bought back in August had only 16,000 miles and was/is pristine, except the previous owner only logged about 600 miles in the 21 months he had owned it. Obviously, the car must have sat unused in the garage for extended periods. So not long after I got it I started using the top on a more or less regular basis (weather here in SoCal is almost always top-down weather) and suddenly I noticed a few green drops on the console--the tell-tale sign of an imminent hose failure. Luckily, this was taken care of under the Select Edition warranty that I had.

I don't recall if the 2001 had the adjustable head rests but if they do, you might try operating them and see how they work. This is another chronic problem that was covered by a Technical Bulletin but if there is a problem, it is probably easier to fix yourself versus taking it to the dealer and having them break something else (always seems to happen).

Doug

 

SeismicGuy, that's my story to the Tee! The car has basically logged 600 miles in the last 2 years. It's been a museum piece--which is good and bad I suppose. I did work the top--about 15 times--and the shop did too. I just had a hunch that I was going to have an issue with the hydraulics. It seems to be a unavoidable problem with low mileage, cold weather cars. I guess I am sort of lucky that it happened the first day I bought the car since the dealer is covering the repair--and this looks like a **** of a bill. I dropped by the shop today and the entire interior of the car had been removed (all seats out, carpet up including in the trunk. That's no small job. Supposedly the new hyd. lines are different then ones in my '01, so maybe these will be more reliable. I guess the lesson boys and girls is to drive your jag and enjoy it... and work it out a little in the winter (and use the freakin' top, even if it's just in the garage).

Btw, the '01 was the first year with the power headrests. I worked those babies before I took the car. No problems. I think the issue on those is a poorly designed wiring harness. A good short stop will knock it loose. I took out an extending warranty and that's a covered item (of the course the warranty doesn't kick in for 30 days and a 1000 miles so it wouldn't have helped on the roof).

Seismic, you're lucky you got your roof covered on the jag select program. Jag uses EasyCare for their warranties and the policy expressly excludes anything having to do with the top. Did you fight them on it? What magic words did you use with them??? It's rediculous that they didn't do a recall on this, since it seems to happen to EVERY 97-06 XK8/R at some point. I would cry if I had to dump 2k into this car a day after dropping 21k (plus 3k for a warranty)--half because of the money and half because I woudl have to listen to my wife say, "you should have gotten and SC430. This would never happen with a Toyota". As usual, she's probably right. No way Toyota/Lexus puts out a car that has this type of recurring problem (and charges $78k for it).

 

The problem with the head rests is not with the wiring harness but with the speedometer-like cable that goes from the little motor to the headrest. The actual cable (within the plastic sheathing) is a bit too short and disconnects from the drive mechanism. The solution is to remove about 1/2" of sheathing.

Regarding the hydraulic lines being covered. I had called another Jaguar dealer as well as Jaguar customer service just prior to bringing in the car to the nearby Jaguar dealer. They could have denied the fix since this is technically a "hose" which is excluded under the warranty. However there were a few things in my favor. For one thing, the car had just been serviced at that dealership. More important, Jaguar had issued a TSB and there was supposed to be a fix kit (basically just a section of hose instead of the entire hose) that would have cost maybe $200 for the repair. HOWEVER, this kit was not readily available so Jaguar gave the okay for the complete hose replacement. Since this alternative was not my fault, they completely covered the repair.

A word of caution when you get your car back--make sure the NAV system works. When they did my hose replacement, someone had inadvertently broken a wire that went to the NAV so I had to have the car there another day for them to fix that.

The only other problem I have had is the seat position memory recall. Every so often if I hit "1" on the memory setting, the seat moves into some weird position that I had never set--seems it sometimes has a mind of its own.

I need to bring the car in for the J004 recall (reprogrammming the trans?) so I may ask them to check out the memory module for seat position.

Doug

 

By the way, where did you get your warranty from--dealer? aftermarket? And how much time/miles does the $3K cover?

Doug

 

Thanks for the tip on the motor for the headrest. When I have an issue, I'll keep that in mind.

As far as the warranty goes, I went throught 5Star Warranty (they are a broker) and purchased an 4 year/48k warranty through Premier policy, which is issued by Warrantech and insured by Wesco Ins. Group (not a risk retention policy). Warrantech is legit and have been around for years. The actually provide the aftermarket coverage on the cell phones for both Verizon and AT&T and I know some dealerships that offer the this program as their Certified Preowned insurer. Volvo and Jaguar offer policies through EasyCare. Their policy for out of warranty jags was far less comprehensive and way more expensive (4,200 versus 2715). I was able to negotiate down the price of the warranty by almost a $1,000 bucks. With jags, given the repair costs, your options for older models (pre-2006 that are not currenty under factory warranty) are limited. Companies like Warranty Direct simply won't issue policies for them. XKR's are even harder to get policies for--superchargers are expensive repairs.

I haven't had to put in a claim yet, but I am financing the warranty for 18 months at 0% interest and if I put in a claim and they refuse it for whatever reason, I'll cancel the policy (I have heard good things, so I am not too concerned). My jag specialist has customers with the plan and he reported no issues--so that's a good sign.

You got lucky on the hoses. I have heard of some people that didn't quite make out as well and got "hosed" for $2k on the repair. I also have heard less than stellar things about the "repair kit" for the problem, i.e., it's not that reliable and there are higher incidents of recurrence. My hunch, and you would know better than me, is that some techs have a tendency to not do the splice and couple properly--also, you're still using the original hose, which I have been told has been replaced with an improved hose for the full hose kit.

My tech is putting in the full kit--that's some mess of a job!!! I stopped by to drop off some pieces that I picked up from mina to have installed while it's in the shop. The entire cockpit and trunk were dismantled and essentially gutted. I can imagine how a memory seat module can get messed up in that process. I don't have nav on my car (I like the three gauged and I would rather use my megellan than a 2001 OEM nav system which is ancient), so no issues there.

 

hey est190, thanks for the compliment. It seems each of us have a particular 'area' that we have had some extensive work done either ourselves, or watched someone do it. Doug did his own headrests, knows intimately about the leaking top latch for instance. Theres Gordocatcar that practically rebuilt his front suspension..so he's a great source there. I have done my own brake rotors and pads and think i am the only one on here that has replaced the factory stereo and nav systems in the XK with something else. Gus has done the top hoses, mirror fix, throttle body wiring connector, and other issues. I don't mention those tech guys...cuz they know everything. It just seems if you put a handfull of us xk8/r owners in one thread, there's a good chance that we'll have experienced 90-95% of the typical problems on these cars. I know i've put alot of money into my car, but for some reason, the advantages considerably outweigh the maintenance, and i never even think about regretting this purchase.

BTW, how long will your car be 'out of commission', and did you get a loaner?

 

I brought the car in on Monday and the got the tubing at the end of the day. Just got the call (2:40pm) that the car is done. Whoo hoo!! I finally get to enjoy it--although timing worked out ok since it has been raining everyday that it was in the shop (although the sun is out today). I'll pick her up tomorrow morning.

My warranty doesn't kick in for another 30 days/1000 miles, so this is not a covered item. So, I didn't get a loaner car. It's ok though since I still have my Volvo S60 until the lease ends on July 29. Not sure what I am going to do after that. I need to get a car that can be driven in the winter (I am in NY and need to deal with snow and ice). The jag is going to be resting comfortable in the garage only to be taken out to stretch her legs in the winter. I might just get a older grand cherokee or something along those lines.