Hello,

Planning to buy -98 XK 8 with 120 K miles. I have heard about the cylinder coating problems and timing chain adjuster or something??? Please advise me, how the problem shows, and over all major concerns about this kind of Jag.
Thanks a lot all ready.

Sami

 

Lots of mid Winter car dealing going on.

Another current thread on the same subject:https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=48278

In that thread are several links to used Jaguar purchase checklists.

The three big ones are Cam Chain Tensioners, suspension both ends but particularly front and Nikasil. If you have gotten to 120k miles Nikasil is probably not a problem but an advantage.

With that many miles maintenance / repair records would be a big plus. I bought one with 106k miles only to find that everything from front suspension to transmission was brand new.

See the FAQ Sticky above for more information than you ever wanted to know.

 

IF you can not get any maint history on the car, and since it is a 98, with those miles I would stay away from it. The market for these cars is a BUYERS market. Find something with better miles, with a maint history. My .02 anyways.

 

I bought mine for $5K with 72K miles. No dents. No rips. I added new tires. It was sitting for a year and the tires had flat spots. I also changed out the original water pump and thermostat. It was running a little hot. For what it's worth. K

 

i just bought my 98 XK8 6months now with 60K miles on it but unfortunately i spend around $3K already for new tires and front suspensions, air mass flow meter, plus overhauling the gear box (cost me more) because after a month of use gear box was broken. still i did not check the tensioner, thermostat, water pump. I'm driving it daily heading to my office but still im not convinced with the performance. And the smoke coming out from the exhaust smells bad really bad. I think i need to overhaul the engine. Can anybody advice me please?

 

I live in Grand Rapids, MI. I think I know what car you're talking about.

Are you talking the red convertible that keeps coming up on craigslist from that has been listed first as a 98 XK8, now a 1997 XK8?

Current Ad, 1997:
http://grandrapids.craigslist.org/ctd/2158746391.html

Previous Ad, 1998:
http://grandrapids.craigslist.org/ctd/2131155659.html

I just bought a 2000 XKR Vert and I've daily driven a 1995 BMW 740i for a few years. Both are nikasil lined cars. They are an electrodeposited coating to the aluminum block in the place of conventional cast iron liners. As test point said, at this point the nikasil is a non issue as long as it is good right now.

The cam chain tensioners are what I would say is between a should and must do item; you should do them immediately, but must do it pretty soon unless you're a gambler with good luck.

That car, if everything checked out and it had some new drivetrain parts, and was in great cosmetic shape, I'd offer 3.5k and pay no more than 4.25k. It's not that it's likely a crap car, it's that it's been at a dealer for about 2 months, it's not low miles, and it's at a little car lot dealer who likely paid about that and wants to dump it at this point. If it didn't check out perfect mechanically, with a bunch of new parts, I'd just walk away.