First of all I would just like to express my thanks to the fine people who post on this forum. Becoming an owner of a vehicle manufactured by a company you're not familiar with can be a little daunting. However, with the wealth of information contained on this board, it's been a breeze working out the few bugs one expects when buying a used car. I bought my XJ8 to replace my old Buick Park Avenue Ultra, which, for the past 13 years has been my "work" car. It lasted 250 thousand miles and it was hard for me to let her go. I really never considered buying a Jaguar. I don't know why. I looked at the S-Class Benz, 7 series BMW's and Lexus LS430's before turning my attention to the Jag (thanks to an old Top Gear episode--thank you James May!!). Anyway, it's been a month but it really didn't take that long to fall in love with this car. Build quality, materials, engineering, styling, performance, economy, you name it, in every way this is a fantastically wounderful automobile. I'm already planning for the next one!! Ok, I've gone on long enough with this, I'm really just saying hello. I will post a few messages later concerning the few minor issues with my XJ8 (common ones according to the board) which were all straightened out without a mechanic. Hopefully, the posts will help others who have the same problems..

MIke

 

Welcome to the forum Mike,

Good to have you with us.
Nice to hear from a happy owner.

You should add your car details to your signature to help others to help you.

 

glad you like your new XJ, I'm still eyeing that series as well as a 2nd car. Enjoy yourself here, lots of good guys (and a few token females too!)

 

Hey Mike, welcome. The '04 is a great-looking machine, my fave. I had been driving a SAAB since 1986, and never even remotely considered buying a Jaguar until seeing a stunningly attractive '97 XJ6L for sale in Davis in 2009. The Cat had 120,000 miles on it, but was clean as a whistle. We test drove it but couldn't agree on the terms with the seller. I came away hooked on the '97 model. After a year and a half of searching Craig's list and eBay, my taste had shifted to the '04 style BigCat and no turning back. We found our XJ in Ft. Worth at a dealer, and began the process of fixing it up. It's now dialed in and delights every time we take it out. I find myself running from here to OKC much of the way in 4th, pushing the R's up and listening to that remarkable power plant as we outpull other cages. It feels very powerful and the trans is solid. I take it very near redline and the motor seems to like it. Doesn't burn a drop of Valvoline MaxLife, and has remained trouble-free since we did some work on it post-acquisition. In my opinion it's a musclecar. <(a reminder to myself) I have a bad habit of asking questions on here that could have been answered had I read the manual.