10+ year old Jaguar XK

Domi

Domi

Domi

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6 Sep 2008
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790
Mid life crisis I guess but I am seriously considering an XK as my next car but of course I have the huge fear of massive repair bills etc associated with big expensive cars.

So basically anybody got any experience and could give me a more realistic idea of what such a car might cost to run (8,000 miles per year ish and not so worried about fuel costs).

It would be an older car with a top end budget of about 8k, but even for that sort of money there seem to be stunning well looked after examples out there.
 
If you buy a pre 2000 car be aware of the nakosil issue, although if it has survived till now, the chances are its ok.

Make sure you get one (or feature in the cost of the following) that has the following:

Updated thermostat and water pump.

Updated timing chain guides and tensioners (£1200 quid job)

Apart from that they are absolutely fantastic cars, i have had several of them.

15mpg round town 20s on a run, no more to service than any other prestige marque, find a good local specialist, main dealers will kill you.
 
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My old boss had two. First one was brilliant didnt put a foot wrong and was reliable as any car then it got stolen. He loved it so much he bought another one. The 2nd one had no end of problems. Luck of the draw i guess.

I do remember the tyres were massive possibly 285s on the rear. Aint they all auto boxes??
 
I've always fancied one but can never stomach the idea that it costs 2-3 times the amount of an XJ for essentially the same car.

I wouldn't worry too much about nikasil either - but to add to Mark's list - make sure the throttle body has been changed if you pick up a 97 or 98. Should be free at main dealer though.

If you buy well, they're not too expensive to run so don't worry too much about the horror stories - as said, get a good specialist and also don't move the car around on the drive without letting the engine run for at least a minute!

They cope with miles very well and got better as time went on so I would probably aim for newer/higher miles rather than older/low miles in my opinion
 
richolmes72 said:
I've always fancied one but can never stomach the idea that it costs 2-3 times the amount of an XJ for essentially the same car.

I wouldn't worry too much about nikasil either - but to add to Mark's list - make sure the throttle body has been changed if you pick up a 97 or 98. Should be free at main dealer though.

If you buy well, they're not too expensive to run so don't worry too much about the horror stories - as said, get a good specialist and also don't move the car around on the drive without letting the engine run for at least a minute!

They cope with miles very well and got better as time went on so I would probably aim for newer/higher miles rather than older/low miles in my opinion
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This man speaks the truth, i would just add that i always let mine get fully warm before turning them off.

That may seem a pain when you just want to alternate cars on the drive in the garages etc, but its much less than the pain if you flood them by turning off still cold :)

Sadly the free throttle body (as a recall) has expired, however you might still get a bit of good will out of a main dealer.
 
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jellybeard999 said:
In what way?
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Essentially they have the same engine and drive in a similar way to XJ's, is what Rich means i think, yet cost twice the price.

All be it for a completely different body, but i can see what he means.
 
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