iansane said:
Pete. (l33t FS) said:
In reply to Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) :
while having the benefit of a lot of cheaper, easily available Ford parts.
The last time I tried to order parts for a late model Jag, the Jaguar dealer said "Those cars are not us anymore. Jaguar is no longer the company that sold those cars. We do not have anything for them."
That happened recently to me. I stopped by the local Jag dealer to see if they could program the parking brake module. "Oh sorry, we don't work on cars older than '08."
Wut.
As a Jaguar lover I'd never use the dealer. Far easier to learn how to do your own work and shop for parts. Plenty of Jaguar specialty companies doing the research for replacement parts.
Jaguar's low volume requires them to buy many many parts from suppliers who also sell that part to other smaller manufacturers.
Plus because of economics minor damage or a relatively trivial breakdown puts a lot of otherwise good cars in junkyards. There are Jaguar specialty yards all over the country but due to the nature of their business they may buy a few cars and that fills up their yard. Then they need to sell off enough parts to justify buying more. In the mean time low sales prices prevail. So it may be possible to have a complete spare car under a tarp someplace for your own parts depot.
iansane said:
Pete. (l33t FS) said:
In reply to Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) :
while having the benefit of a lot of cheaper, easily available Ford parts.
The last time I tried to order parts for a late model Jag, the Jaguar dealer said "Those cars are not us anymore. Jaguar is no longer the company that sold those cars. We do not have anything for them."
That happened recently to me. I stopped by the local Jag dealer to see if they could program the parking brake module. "Oh sorry, we don't work on cars older than '08."
Wut.
That may be around the time Ford sold Jaguar, no?
The way it was explained to me, the company that currently owns Jaguar bought the name, and that's IT, with zero obligations to prior vehicles.
The lack of support for older vehicles isn't unique to Jag, it's even happening to a certain extent with new post bankruptcy GM etc. Not the end of the world, but certainly something I hadn't considered and worth noting. I want' planning on dealers for work, but finding parts is a good point. However, as was pointed out, the lack of support from the OEM has proven a boost to the marque specialists and probably helped raise their game as more people have to turn to them.
What are peoples views on say a 4.2L 04-06 X100 XKR Vs as 11-15 X150 XKR as a nice weather commuter and road trip car. 5-10K miles a year. Regular stuff like control arms, end links, shocks, brakes etc. would be done by me. Anything that looks like it's over say four hours work is farmed out to a local specialist.
Here in SE Mi, while I"m not aware of any Jag specialists, there are a number of shops that do cater to mainly higher end Euro cars. Also I tend to keep my cars a while. Five years is considered short term, ten years is the norm, and I always think over every car I buy as a lifer until proven otherwise.
2008 is 13 years old already, almost double the traditional design life.
Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) said:
The lack of support for older vehicles isn't unique to Jag, it's even happening to a certain extent with new post bankruptcy GM etc. Not the end of the world, but certainly something I hadn't considered and worth noting. I want' planning on dealers for work, but finding parts is a good point. However, as was pointed out, the lack of support from the OEM has proven a boost to the marque specialists and probably helped raise their game as more people have to turn to them.
What are peoples views on say a 4.2L 04-06 X100 XKR Vs as 11-15 X150 XKR as a nice weather commuter and road trip car. 5-10K miles a year. Regular stuff like control arms, end links, shocks, brakes etc. would be done by me. Anything that looks like it's over say four hours work is farmed out to a local specialist.
Here in SE Mi, while I"m not aware of any Jag specialists, there are a number of shops that do cater to mainly higher end Euro cars. Also I tend to keep my cars a while. Five years is considered short term, ten years is the norm, and I always think over every car I buy as a lifer until proven otherwise.
Find the local Jaguar club and make friends. Caution though, a lot of Jaguar owners don't have a clue. They buy because it's pretty and confers a little ego boost over the same priced domestic.
Look for the guy with dirty fingernails. Or obvious signs of actually working on the cars.
In reply to Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) :
I'd buy a 2011+ car for sure. They're just beautiful. They are without the J-gate though 
stroker said:
Ummmmmmm............
(NMNA)
While this may (or may not) be a great car for someone, I'd be looking to spend considerably more on a perfect lower miles car with no stories and everything done and up to date already. While the pics are awful in some of them the hood looks to be a totally different shade to the fenders.
In reply to Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) :
I feel like silver cars always photograph like that
Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) said:
nderwater said:
My in-laws have an XK8 vert. It's a softly sprung boat made for cruising the country club and gliding down the interstate. Zero desire to own one after my first drive. The XK that followed it was a whole different animal.
You mean no interest in the X100, but you like the X150? What was it you didn't like about the driving experience, and what do you like about the later one?
It's a difference in philosophy--the newer car feels like a tool for drivers, the earlier car a tool for touring. The paddle-shift ZF in the X150 is so, so much more engaging than the slush box in the X100. The suspension has more control, less roll. The x150 exhaust sounds fantastic and burbles on downshifts. It's just a more sporting car to drive.
I loved my 5.0 XK. It's a shame I wrecked it.
@Adrian - It's obvious that you've done a bit of research and understand most of the weak points. Unless things have changed a whole lot in the last year (possible with covid used car pricing?), a low mileage documented car should go under $20K. I passed on a perfect 23K mile BRG convertible last spring with an asking of $17K. Also passed on a fairly clean 54K mile '02 for $8k - didn't want to deal with the timing chain and top hydraulics. There's more verts than tin tops and that's definitely reflected in their pricing. I think they're a good value if you're not paying Jaguar pricing for maintenance and repairs.
A 4.2L car will have the metal timing chain guides, 6 speed transmission, etc. and that's what you would want. The "Jaguar Green Shower" is a thing (google it if you're not familiar with the phrase) in the verts that must be addressed. If you start with a solid 2003-2006 car I don't think you can go too far wrong IF you have a way to service it, meaning DIY and/or a decent independent. I haven't seen any problem with parts availability on the few that I've needed to buy. A tie rod end was under twenty bucks from Rock Auto, a Bosch O2 sensor was about 90 bucks, etc.. And there's good availability of most unique parts from a variety of non-Jaguar sources.
Drive some and see if you like them. I generally like the handling and don't agree with @nderwater's "boat" description, but they're definitely not stiffly sprung nor Miata agile.
In reply to frenchyd :
4.0l was the initial and Jaguar ran a smaller displacement V8 (3.6?) in Europe and of course Lincoln LS and Ford Thunderbird had their variants of the AJ with smaller displacements.
In reply to mfennell :
Manual swap.............. Though from what I know it's hell to get the canbus to play nice
Always thought a bmw n series i6 and a nice manual would make these tons of fun
In reply to stroker :
We are missing Sir William Lyons. Who understood style, class, and engineering.
Used to bring prototypes home, park it in his driveway, and study the lines in the twilight.
Open the hood and wanted to see quality And Style! Plus proved its handling and brakes at the 24 hours of LeMans!
In reply to frenchyd :
>> We are missing Sir William Lyons.
At least Jaguar had Design Directors like Geoff Lawson and Ian Callum and didn't have Chris Bangle!
stroker
PowerDork
8/14/23 4:13 p.m.
stroker said:
Ummmmmmm............
(NMNA)
I can't believe this ad is still up...
stroker said:
stroker said:
Ummmmmmm............
(NMNA)
I can't believe this ad is still up...
Really. The ad still being there almost tricked me into thinking this thread was current until I checked some of the post dates.
My take on the XK8 is similar to most used luxury cars: If you couldn't afford to buy one new, you probably can't afford to own a used one.
