Gents,

Unfortunately I decided to sell my 99 XK8 as I’m away again to work in Saudi. Now it looks like I’ll be demobilising away from Bahrain and Saudi won’t let me import the Jag.

Found a Bahraini buyer in just one day, who loved the car. It’s common for locals here to have a convertible to enjoy during the cooler winters here in the Arabian Gulf. Money has exchanged and he’s happy.

Sorry to see the car go, but needs must and I won’t be needing the car if I’m away. The wife in Bahrain has the Range Rover and she rarely used the Jag. So much so, that as we all know, things tend to go wrong if an old car sits in storage.

I’ve still kept the parts as I’ll be looking for another Jag, in the future, where ever I end up as it’s a fabulous car, easy to work on and this Forum is full of lovely friendly folks.

I’ll still drop in onto this Forum to give my .02 cents.

It’s a sad day, but all good things come to an end. I did what I set out to do - get a XK8 that had sat in storage for 2 1/2 years back onto the road. Improved it with suggestions from this forum, and had the pleasure of driving a reliable fully functioning 20 year old British convertible GT V8 car for 3years. Not bad that.

 

David,

A hard but sensible choice. Electrics are almost inevitably troublesome when a Jaguar is left stored and unused.

Don't leave it too long to look for your next Jaguar because the environmental lobby are determined to rid the Planet of V8's!

Graham

 

Selling a rarely-driven Jaguar is a wise decision. Good luck to you in your future endeavors....

 

David,
Sorry to see you go, but fully understand the wise decision. Maybe you can do like many and soon retire here to S.W. Fla. Drive your Jag 300 days a year.
Good luck and hurry back.

 

Happy trails, David, Your calendar was genius.

 

Sad to see you go, best of luck in your new adventures

 

David,
Sorry to hear that you had to sell the car. With the amount of work you've done to it the new owner will have nothing but pleasure from it. I hope you do keep coming to the forum. Your write ups and suggestions have got me through some projects I wouldn't have had the nerve to try. Thank you and good luck in the future.

 

David,

Sad to see you go. There are still plenty of XK8's being offered on www.autotrader.co.uk. I'm sure you will get one and rejoin us on this thread.

 

Aw, David - we're going to miss you!
Just get the car right then let it go.

Don't be a stranger and, until the next time, take care and good luck

P.S. I'm keeping my calendar.

 

David, agree with above message, do not be scarce. Thanks for your knowledge and efforts. Read you post on my thread, thanks

 

Best of luck sir

 

David, I will really miss your sage comments and advice on this forum and sure hope things go well for you!

 

David,
Know that you will be missed by many, including me. Thanks for your expertise and encouragement. I welcome your dropping back in when you can. May God bless your new desires.
Dr. D

 

Good luck David.

Don't be a stranger.

 

David,

I came across your posts working on a lot of the same problems I had with my car. I always appreciated your opinion and experience. Just one questions, If you had to do it all over again would you buy another Jaguar?

Dave

 

Happy for you sad for us. Who's gonna laugh at and give me a hard time for my "don't do what I did" posts? Hey we'll miss your calendars!!

Drop by once in a while and say hi.

John

 

Definitely plan to have another X100 whenever or where ever I end up, once I have time and space.

The 99 XK8 I just sold was originally taken on as a project car for me as the car had sat in storage for years and I tasked myself to get the Jag back on the road. I’ve previously done similar jobs on a 1970 Triumph GT6 and a 95 BMW Z3. My friends regularly bought their cars to my garage and we use my tools to work on their car problems too. I can now do a BMW door latch repair in about 20 min!

The Jag was fun in the garage and in my case, a lot of maintenance work was needed - suspension, brakes, engine gaskets, Coolant hoses, alternator, seats, ABS. The guys here on the Forum know these jobs well and helped me through some of the tricky moments.

I’ve kept the spare parts and the future plan is to get a X100 Gen2 coup, with an AJ27 motor still 4.0L (as I have engine spares). Don’t need the supercharger complications or bigger engine as I felt the 99 car was quick enough for me.

I love exploring new jobs - I still have never DIY dropped the rear axle sub frame before, not changed wheel bearings and also never stripped a power steering rack. You’re never too old to learn. So hopefully I will will have the opportunity of one of these jobs in the next Jag.

 

Best wishes, I want to thank you for the advice you gave me when I was needing advice. Hope to see your next project on here sometime

 

Thanks for all you have contributed for all of us. Always helpful, always patience with us lesser experienced. May we cross paths again and as always you are welcome to visit anytime. TM

 

The reason I asked is I am thinking of getting more of a daily driver and trying to decide on a Mercedes or a Jag. If I get the Jag it would likely be a XF 5.0 NA and if a Mercedes a E550 or CLS550. I think it may come down to finding a car with the lowest miles and best service history. I just don't have the heart to use my 2000 XK8 convertible as a daily driver. My XK8 was in pretty neglected state when I got it but finally have it well sorted out. But there is no getting around the fact that it is a 21 year old car with 115K on the clock. Just thankfull I never had to deal with rust or body work. I agree with you on the AJ27 NA performance. The more I maintained and repaired it the better it performs.