Does anyone else carry tools, a belt, a couple gallons of water, and a quart of oil in their XK8? My wife mentioned that I might not have as much faith in my car, as I did in my Corvettes, and Porsches.....Hell....even my FIAT X1/9 seemed as less of a threat to my wallet, and I drove it to the track.

Maybe it is just from my early experiences, that I do this, or the occasional yellow failsafe engine mode message I get.......No codes, pending or otherwise, just a message. I have even bought a special scanner, just for this car. I doubted my sanity, after doing that.

This car sure seems to occupy a lot of my mental space, even when I am not driving it. Just this past weekend I put on this oversized Hayden plate design transmission cooler designed for trucks that tow trailers, and class C motorhomes, because of the trans issue I had, when I first bought her. Heat kills transmissions, and our radiators aren't exactly heavy duty. I also changed the filter for the 2nd time in 12,000 miles. I ordered the dip stick tube kit, for the trans., for future services. Life just seemed easier on less complicated cars. Thanks for listening to my rant.....Mike

 

Hell I have fixed most stuff that these cars (03 anyways) have issues with. I do not do any long road trips though. I only drive my car around the great Cincy area, 3 hour drive at best. So I have nothing hauling around with me.

 

I was just like you with my first XK8 back in 08'ish which was a 97 model.
My 03 had some known issues other then the leaking fuel rail. Otherwise everything I have done to it was because it needed it from the time I bought it. Now I don't think about it much anymore.

 

I have 2 suggestions regarding the Paranoia. First keep in mind that an average of 500 people are watching this blog at any one time and approximately 20 are have Transmission problems. If you have fixed it. Let it go... Second QUIT READING THIS BLOG. Its driving you crazy. Consider your car a disposable. If it costs more than 5000 to fix you can buy another one... Where else can you get this kind of enjoyment for this little money. One last suggestion... Join AAA..

 

I even carry a floor jack in case I need to change a wheel. On long trips a spare fuel pump and coils. Also a fairly large selection of sockets and wrenches and the laptop with Autoenginuity.

But all that stuff is just to prevent a breakdown, not fix it.

 

yea he says the right thing. There are MANY of these cars out there having few issues and you don't see them here.
These cars have all the same issues all cars have at 15-20 years old. Rotting hoses, WP's going out, fuel pumps going out, etc. These car parts just cost more and it can be harder to find a shop that you can trust with these cars. Most chain shops should never touch these cars in my opinion.
I will agree that I don't care for all the electronics on these cars that can go koo koo and it take a bit to get sorted out.

 

Nothing but a first aid kit and a bottle of water. Carry out regular preventative maintenance that indy's and dealers don't do and you will have nothing to worry about.

 

C'mon Mike,
You know you love her really...

M

 

I know where you are coming from. I'm somewhat paranoid, due to a relatively small number of experiences early on (all of them self induced I might add).

It's a kind of on edge feeling where you feel for every new vibration, and listen for every new sound looking for anything that might be out of the ordinary. This usually affects me for about the first 30 minutes of a trip.

I think it's a consequence of A) a couple bad experiences, and B) not driving the car enough.

It is ALWAYS when I screw around with something that the hiccups come. And it's not even that they are that bad, I've only been stranded once. For a water pump failure. That I had replaced as a preventive measure while I was doing other maintenance. And it was 5 miles from home. It was a manufacturing defect, no fault of the car, but now I've got one eye forever locked on the temp gauge.

Reality is, that any time I've taken the car for an extended trip I've never had a problem. In fact, the more often I get the car out and run the sh*t out of it, and the further I go with it, the happier it seems to be.

Even the tires like it better, they tend to get flat spots and thunk away for the the first few miles. But run em up to 130 and suddenly the round out and the car is smooth as silk. Who knew.

So my advice, just swallow hard and drive the damn thing. A lot. A long way from home. Like you stole it.

It will win you over.

 

I have AAA and an LS1 drivetrain waiting for a terminal motor/transmission failure. Every code my car throws I open the hood and its "oh, that popped off" and I'm back on the road in 30 seconds. If it had new tires and bluetooth radio, I wouldn't hesitate to drive it across the country.

 

No tools needed anymore now that we have cell phones.

 

I know how you feel. It's like a child that you love but don't trust. I never think about anything when driving my other cars, but I'm just waiting for the next check engine light on the XK8. I have now had 3 weeks of trouble free driving. We'll see how long this lasts.

 

#1 Once you get her sorted the faith builds. I drove mine 1000 miles last weekend with out a care.

#2 I didn't carry as much, tools, fluids, etc., in the Corvette. Mostly because there wasn't a trunk.

 

When I got my 2004 XK8 2 years ago I scoured this forum for all of the great information and tips. I came away feeling confident that I had done all of the maintenance items that I didn't know about for an undocumented car. Still, before the first trip of about 3000 miles from Southern Ontario to the Gaspe Penninsula I had cronic Jag Paranoia. I took a few tools, fluids etc. Had a great trip with no issues. Next trip was last fall from London Ontario to Myrtle Beach, another 2000 mile trip. Soaring throuigh the Smokey Mountains I pushed her a little with no problems. I have now had 20,000 trouble free miles on my kitty and can hardly wait to be off to Myrtle Beach again in 6 weeks and all I take with me is a can of McGuires quck polish and a duster with my CAA card. As of this morning the car has 112,000 miles on her and runs like new.

Relax and ejoy the ride.

 

My wife's 2006 XK8 has been her daily driver for four-and-a-half years now. Just turned 104,000 miles yesterday. She drives it to Tampa and back several times a year to visit her elderly mother and she's never had a problem with it during those long road trips. I've sorted the known issues and flaws as they pop up and do the proper maintenance at regular intervals. She still loves this car and I presume we'll keep it until it begins soaking our bank account for more than I can stand....

 

I have had mine for 3 years this fall and this year is the first year after all things needing got fixed have been done and it has been a daily driver to an extent.
I may pick up a older one that APPEARS drivable and have a LSx drive line ready for it someday.

 

Check engine and restricted performance came on yesterday

 

Well, You did poke a stick into the hornets nest..

Seriously, good luck - hope it's nothing serious.


Mike

 

 

Mine has never stranded me, but I do carry a lot of tools in the trunk just in case. Frankly, I'd jam an inde specialist back there if I could.