Hi everyone, I'm a new owner of a 1999 Jaguar XK8 convertible located in San Carlos, California. I'm excited to join this forum because I know that I've purchased a hobby in addition to a car.

In high school and college, I was fortunate enough to drive an MGB-GT which planted an appreciation for British vehicles in me (both good and bad), but the cost of the MG upkeep became too much for a poor college student. Since then, I've driven "practical" vehicles (ie. Hondas/Toyotas) where I did much of my own maintenance as I tended to keep cars for 12 to 15 years. Fast forward 40 years and I tripped across a 1999 XK8 convertible in near pristine cosmetic condition and just 16.8K miles on the odometer. I couldn't resist the urge to get back into a British car.

This XK8 was purchased from an estate with very little information a few months ago as part of a collection of vintage Mercedes. The person purchasing the car collection sold the XK8 to me so he could concentrate on the Mercedes. Unfortunately, the car comes with very little history. CarFax indicates the car was lightly driven for about four years and then largely kept in storage and registered as a non-driving vehicle for about the last 10 years or so.

By and large, the car was stored very well and just needed new fluids, batteries, tires, and fuel pumps to get it into good driving order. From CarFax it also looks like the original timing chain tensioners were replaced and the water pumps were upgraded back when the car was in operation. There is still a short list of items that need some attention from the long storage of the car, but I'll try to get answers to those questions in the appropriate forums.

I look forward to learning about what it takes to keep this XK8 looking and running in like-new condition.

Mike

 

Welcome aboard Mike.

 

Welcome to Jaguar Forums Mike,

Good to have you with us.
Enjoy the forum.

If you haven't done so already you should add your car details to your signature to help others to help you.
If you need help with getting around and using the forum follow this link for some help Forum Help

 

Welcome to the Forums.

 

Welcome to the forums Mike,

Good to have you with us.

Follow this link https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xk8-xkr-x100-17/ to the XK8/XKR forum for help, advice and information. The 'HOW TO' thread at the top is a good place to start for information on regular issues. You can also use the US Western Region forum by following this link https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/us-western-38/ to find other members in your region.

Please read the guidance for new members ( https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/n...ned-up-241802/ ) which answers many of the most frequent questions about getting started.

Enjoy the forums.

Graham

 

welcome to the forum - enjoy!!

 

Hello, Mike,
Congratulations on your new Jaguar Xk8!
First thing you need to do, right after you get new tires and replace all the other "perishable" items and fluids, is take the car out and "DRIVE THE WHEELS OFF" for about a couple or three hundred miles at least, to make up for those 10 years of "neglect" (Jags Need to be DRIVEN not stored!), if for no other reason than to get to properly know the car (and for the car to know you).
You'll be glad you did; I can tell you how I know that.

Welcome to the forums from ElinorB.
(';')

 

Very good advice. Unfortunately, the first two days of owning the car we had torrential rain storms hit California. Hopefully this weekend things will be better and I can take her out to Highway 1 and do some nice touring along the coast as the car is intended for.