Hello All.

I was in Cherokee, NC a few weeks ago when I saw the most beautiful blue XK8 convertible.

I thought to myself that it would be a great car to own on a long country drive. I knew of the XKR, but I also knew that they cost more that 80K, so I thought - not in this life time. Although I could get the cash together, I didn't think it would be wise to blow a major portion of my savings on a car.

Then I thought "used" - excuse me, "pre-owned". Looking at cars.com I was shocked to see 2000 XKRs for as low as 20K. So shocked that I had to figure there was a major problem. But I own a car (94 RX7 Twin Turbo) that is considered a maintenance nightmare, so how bad can it be!

So, I started looking for a forum and found you folks.

I am surprised to see how many problems there arewith this car and I just joined so I could ask a couple of questions.

1. Are most of you so loaded that you can afford to be without the car from time-to-time and to pay these hefty repair bills? So it really doesn't matter so much to your finances?
2.Bad news travels fast.Do you have any idea if the average XK owner is experiencing as many problems as you all seem to be? Or is it just that there is a silent plurarityof owners who have no problems with the car and therefore it looks worse than it is?
3. What are your average repair billd for a XK per year?
4. Did most of you buy the cars because they are so beautiful only to realize later that they can be a mechnical challenge? Or did you already know this, but plunged ahead anyway knowing you could live with some problems?

I am not here to throw rocks. I am just hoping that there is enough good in the car that it might still be worth considering. They are hard to overlook.

Thanks.