Against all reason (wife’s words), I’m considering upgrading the Timex like reliability and simplicity of my Miata for the opulence and panache of a Jaguar XK8. This would be primarily a weekend toy, the third car in the family. The daily driver duties are covered. I’m willing to put up with some things not perfect but I don’t want to be stranded. I’ve studied enough to know the engine and transmission issues of the 4.0 engines.

I have three likely candidates, a redone 1999, a high mileage 2003 and a low mileage 2003. All have clean Carfax, none have any service records. Body and interior in good shape on all cars. I understand there are aging issues on 13-16 year old cars and a different set of wear out issues as mileage goes up. Thankfully, Lucas electrical is not involved.

1. 1999 with 100K miles for $7K. In the last 5K miles the following items have been replaced, transmission, koni shocks, tires, timing chain and tensioners, plugs, hoses, sparkplug wires, and convertible top hoses. Has new leather seat covers.
2. 2003 with 132K miles for $7K. A few issues like mirror adjustment flat spots, airbag flashing codes when seat belt connected, seat adjustment flat spots. I’ve read the fixes for above and can either fix those myself or live with them. Expect that front end bushings will need replacement and will have to pay for that. Decent rubber. Interior amazingly clean for mileage.
3. 2003 with 45K miles for $12K. Obviously the safe choice. I have not seen it yet but should be near perfect but much more money.

And yes, when I do get one, I'll need to get a realgage installed.

 

Ken, I do agree the seemingly safe choice is the 45K 2003 sticks out as the one to get, but I would lean toward the '99 if condition is close. You can do a lot of stuff for $5000 and the look is the same. The 4.2 has less problems, but if they replaced all those parts on the '99 and were not searching for a problem they couldn't find, that is my choice.


Wayne

 

I would go for the 2003 over a 1999 any day, due to the much improved gearbox and other improvements.

As for which of the two 2003s to go for, that would depend on condition, but $5K pays for a lot of fixes.

 

Not my money, but...

Option #2 offers the 4.2 engine and 6-speed transmission. 132k may be higher miles, but as noted by the other posters, $5k fixes a lot of issues. (full disclosure: mine has 136k and many forum members are above that number) Plus you will use it as a weekend driver, so won't be adding that much more yearly.

Make sure you have a competent Jag indie check it out for you and good luck.

 

Do as I did..I kept my Miata for a twistie mountain road rocket ride and bought a 03 xk8 for date nights with the wife. Best of both worlds.

 

Are you looking at a convertible (I assume to replace the Miata) or a coupe? There are XKR's available at the $12000 upper limit of the three choices you represented. The Mercedes sourced 5 spd. transmission of the 4.0L XKR is the best of all of the choices offered in the whole model range. And so long as the secondary tensioners have been changed from the plastic to the metal the 4.0L cars can last a long time. Mine has approximately 160,000 miles, looks like new and runs very well. If it's a convertible and the hoses have not been replaced, you will be experiencing the infamous "green shower" at some point in the future, so budget for replacement. Expect some jiggling in the front end that takes some getting use to, but overall, a beautiful, enjoyable ride.

 

I think I would go with the 1999. Everything that is big $$s has been done. Your not going to put a lot of miles on it, and it has the 1 piece seat, which means you don't have to pay $600.00 when the headrest motor craps out. You also won't be waiting for the Green rain. I also agree, for 12K I would look at a 2000-2001 XKR. Just my 2c.

 

Another vote for the 03 with 45K. PLEASE take the time to thumb though a history of fixes required on high mileage cars. With no Maintenance history I would spend the extra 5K n the 03. If your not into getting greasy and lack automotive repair skills and tools you can easily rack up multiples of $5k in repairs.


An acquaintance of mine bought an 01 up from Florida last spring said to be road ready (Ebay Purchase). It was shipped up north to NY State and as of last counting he spent $17K on repairs / rebuilds and hasn't done the tensioners yet, and it is still not on the road.


The 99 is a $7K car, no mater how much you put into it, it's still a $7K car.

 

To some extent, most of us have been through this process of elimination (our cars are rare, but not that rare, so there are choices to be made), so our answers will probably neatly fall in line with whatever choice each one of us made for ourselves.

Clearly, as a you are looking for a third car, there should be no rush. The hardest part in my search was to figure out exactly what I wanted. From there on, it was just a matter of finding that car with an amount of trouble (distance, price, condition, etc.) that I was willing to put up with. From my perspective, don't settle, take your time, educate yourself, and fine tune your "filter". The fact that you are considering the earliest car as well as the later cars at such a wide price range suggests you are early in this process. You might want to try and narrow what you are trying to find in order to better be able to find what works best for you. No matter your research and diligence, you will probably end up with a car in worse shape than advertised, taking more of your time/money than you anticipated to bring up to your standard, and, as most of us here, end up with a car you enjoy a lot more that you thought you would. Best of luck, enjoy the process.

 

I too would opt for the lower mileage 2003... specifically for the lower miles (and also because of the whole Nikasil cylinder sleeve issue with the 1999). With only 45k miles, as long as it has been garaged (and NOT sitting in the Texas sun 24/7) the car should be in great (if not perfect) condition.


A car with 132K miles will come with a lot of wear and tear on the WHOLE car - from the engine to the suspension to the bushings to the seats to the steering wheel to the shocks, etc. etc. etc.


I bought my 2001 down here in South Florida with 25K miles on it (and I have 32k miles on it now) and it has been a GREAT car with no issues (other than the green shower). It has original paint, original top and pretty much original everything else and it probably looks as beautiful today as the day it rolled off the showroom floor.

 

+1.

Once you go R, you won't go 8. Pre-03, the XKR is just more reliable than the XK8. 03+, they all have a ZF 6HP26 variant (8 or R) transmission, that is much more expensive for fluid (LifeGuard from ZF) and generally much more money to fix than the 02 and earlier R model's Mercedes 722.6. If I buy another X100 XKR, it will be another 2000-2002 XKR.

My positive experiences with my XKR the last 5 years are why I bought an X308 XJR too. That should be a pretty solid recommendation right there.

 

I appreciate all the thoughtful advice. Interesting all three options got votes for the same reasons that I considered them. And you are correct patience is one thing I need more of….as I get older, patience and hair seem to diminish. I have been looking for a while, you should see my spreadsheets as I’ve considered, rejected or just didn’t excite me enough to pull the trigger.

I had not seriously considered the R because around here they are quite a bit more money although I see that AZ and CA Rs are much more reasonable. I’ve already got 1 400 HP car and who needs 2? I really like to touch the cars I buy for the very reason rperformance recited and the flight/drive/haul adds quite a bit to the price.

I love the color combo on the low mileage 2003 and that’s probably the direction I’ll go once I negotiate the price down a bit. Hope to be back in a bit with a picture

 

Whichever vehicle you decide on (I would go for the low mileage '03), take others' advice I have seen on this forum and have a Jag dealer or mechanic plug the VIN into their system to let you know what all has been done to the vehicle by Jaguar. I bought mine on a clean Carfax report and only after purchase began perusing this forum. So I had my long-time mechanic at Jaguar of OKC run the VIN after the fact - and with fingers crossed! Fortunately for me, the news was good - only minor issues over the car's 12 years of life...

 

Just another quick tip. You are more apt to find the best condition, lowest mileage car in the northern states where their owners store them for the winter. Those cars will not have been subjected to the ravages of intense heat and UV which can do a job on everything from paint, interior and dash, to hoses and bushings. Also you will be much less prone to the Top Latch Hose failure where intense heat attributes to the breakdown between the rubber and crimped on connector.


If your not in a hurry don't loose out hope of finding one within driving distance. A fresh crop of cars will appear in April and May. Prices may spike up a bit due to supply and demand in spring, but there will be more choices.

 

In that case, I think you have answered your own question, as it clearly is the one to get, as long as you have money left over to fix the inevitable faults you will find.

 

I'm thinking of getting the license BGMIATA for my cat.

 

Depending on the year of Miata and Xk8 you can do LSx motor swaps into both. Now that rocks!

Go for the low mile 03.

 

"Rick L I'm thinking of getting the license BGMIATA for my cat."

As an owner of both that's just wrong, crazy talk. Depending on which side you are on it could be an insult to both!

 

low mileage if from a state with salt on roads or humidity but higher is okay if from dry states

I limited my search to white and waited. I would stay away from red as I have seen some that fade badly.

 

I have 2 carnival red Jaguars; a 1998 and 2000. The fading isn't a concern since they seem to have done it evenly, at least on mine. I did have clearcoat delamination on my XKR. I've seen that on a few.

If the clear is a certain cloudy or flaking; you're gonna have to repaint that area.