HI Folks,

I'm a new member and looking to purchase my first Jaguar. I'm looking for a 2007-2010 XK. I have found one in Warren,MI and am looking for an independent shop to do a PPI. Anyone have a recommendation?

Thanks a lot for any advice

 

Not local to Michigan, but sending you good luck/well wishes. Love these cars and you are getting a nice model I think.

 

Thanks Speedmaster...car was sold on Wednesday...I'm keeping up my search.

I do have a question though. How reliable is the 2007-2010 XK ? Naturally the Forum is filled with issues that need to be solved. I don't mind some nuisance items i.e. window won't go down, door latch, etc. But I really don't want to be stranded; water pump failure, reduced performance notice. Are these type of issues magnified because they appear on the Forum? Or should I expect to have these situations. I acknowledge it depends on the age,mileage and prior maintenance.

Any input is appreciated.

 

Sorry to hear that.

Not sure on reliability, but my sense is twofold. First that there is enough support that you ought to be able to work through any issues that come up (just look in the DIY section at the top of the main page for that series.) Second, you can find problems if you go looking - like I did - when they may not need addressing just yet. I went down the rabbit hole of bluetooth not working (properly) and I learned two things. First, how the car operates and the various systems. Second, that I don't even use bluetooth in my car because I prefer my AirPods. While in there, I met some really cool folks (Sean W for instance, a certain eBay Jag dealer that went above and beyond and a local independent shop that scanned my system gratis!) and some knuckleheads (not to be named but I wouldn't buy a part from them if they were the last vendor.) This is to say that unless you buy a known lemon, I think you may be okay.
As an aside, I bought my Jag sight unseen and drove it 6 hours without so much as an OBDII scan of the ECU. Had I done that, I wouldn't have bought the car (it would have scared me off.)
Now, how do we find you a nice XK...?
Actually, here is a thought...doesn't eBay stand behind auto purchases made on their site? I wonder if there is a way you can leverage that guaranty to get a nice example?

 

Hi Keating1841 and welcome to the forum. You might pose your question on the X150 page as well but here are my 2 cents.

In the US, 07-09 have the 4.2 liter engine, XK is Naturally Aspirated and XKR is Super charged. The engines and transmissions are very vey reliable with the engines often described as bullet proof.
Ford sold Jaguar to Tata Motors in late 2006. The 07 is still a ford car. I don't think Tata Motors made any radical changes to anything until the facelift and 5.0 liter were added (in 2010?) so the 07-09 have the same reliability.
The 07-09 have the J-Gate gear shifter. The 5.0 liter have the dial. Someone else will have to walk you through the "facelift" changes to the body which includes an updated front end look and I thing LED rear lighting but haven't delved into it myself. In the end that's a personal preference and no impact on reliability.

The 2010 onward models are 5.0 liter direct inject engines. Personally I'm not a fan of direct inject engines as they require ongoing maintenance to clean the valves. You can google it. It's a pain and best done using the walnut blasting technique.

My wife's Cadillac is DI and I'm not looking forward to having to do it. My Cadillac recommends cleaning the valves every 50,000 miles whereas BMW recommends every 40,000 miles. I don't know what JAGUAR recommends if anything but it's the number one reason I dislike the 2010 onward models. I'm sure many on the forum will strongly disagree. This is just my opinion so grain of salt.

The 5.0 is known to have a water pump issue. I believe Jaguar is on the 7th iteration of the design. This isn't exclusive to the XK. It's a problem with all the 5.0 models and you will see this issue if you search those forums. The 4.2 does not have a water pump issue.

The most recent concern I've read about is issues with the timing chain on the 5.0. It's just starting to show up on the forums. I generally just skim those as I don't have the 5.0, so again, grain of salt.

Also the 5.0 oil weight arguments abound. I think but don't know for certain, Jaguar changed their recommendations for oil weight. The 4.2 uses 5w30 and hasn't changed.

My car as an example:
I have an 07 XK base that I bought from a dealer in Palm Springs and I've had if for about 4 years. It will be my last car and someone will have to pay me a premium to take it from me as I love it.
Aside from changing all my fluids Coolant, brake, transmission, differential, PS fluid, and I've replaced 90% of the suspension parts this spring. The other 10% are still fine. I wasn't happy with the paint so I had a respray done on mine last year and then ceramic coated it. Prior to that I did a polish but the front bumper cover was too pitted and the previous owners polished it too much so not much paint left and the polish was short lived.
I also upgrade the OEM sound from base to OEM premium.
I retrofitted a backup camera and iPod system as well. Then I installed a Tesla style screen in the center stack and have since replaced it with a OEM size Android screen designed for the XF. These are just projects I've done and will likely reinstall the OEM screen and iPod retrofit if I ever sell her. Mine is just about to hit the 80,000 mile mark which you should understand when you go shopping for one that 80K miles is low for an 07 @ about 5700 miles per year. Also the thinking that cars at or above the 100,000 mile mark should be avoided is an outdated adage. I can see 250,000 miles on mine should I live that long:-).
New rear tires were added this spring and I'll put new ones on the front this fall.
Anyway that's my experience and investment. As you can see, not many "Jaguar specific" issues. Dash and interior plastic and suspension bushes were mine.

A painful project on the 4.2 liter SC models is the replacement of what's called the valley hose. It's a coolant hose that runs under the super charger and the SC has to be removed to replace it. It's not a matter of if. It's a matter of when.

All Jags:
The suspension bushings have about a 8-10 year life span.
The cooling system is fine but the thermostat housing is plastic and it's recommended that you replace it when you do a flush (5 years or 50,000 miles). I didn't but will the next time.
The plastic interior bits also get brittle with age. Specifically the center dash defrost vents that run along the windshield. Mine literally crumbled when I pulled them out. They are almost impossible to find replacements. A former member made metal overlays that I used to cover my broken ones and you can't tell the difference unless you're looking for it. Jaguar will only sell them if you buy the entire dash (about $7K). Yikes. So the lesson here is to be mindful when removing plastic.

The leather dash is known to bubble and pull away. I fixed mine before it got out of hand. This is also common on most models from the Ford/ Tata Motors era and not just the XK. If the problem is found early, you can fix it yourself and easiest to do with the windshield removed. It's not a guaranteed failure point but it's common on southern cars where the temps are high.

Other owners around the world drive their Jaguars year round in the snow. I don't and won't. Driving my XK in a Minnesota winter is a hard no for me but others drive them without concern.

Battery drain - a common consensus is that XK's will drain the battery quickly when not in use. A battery maintainer is recommended and the XK forum guys love cTek's. I use a different brand and while I think the battery maintainer is a good idea, I'm not married to the cTek brand personally.

Convertibles - I own a coupe so only mentioning this as an observation as well. Vert owners will say their ride is as quiet as the coupe. The only issue I've read about is the rear window coming apart from the fabric. I don't know how common it is though.

Hopefully this helps you in your search and what to look for during an inspection. Getting a full maintenance history is the best thing you can do for your self.

PM me if I can be of further service. Remember, the newest XK is 7 years old now so look for ones that are well looked after.

 

Thanks Sean....what a great resource this Forum is....

I believe I can buy an aftermarket Warranty. My Brother-in-law has one on his Land Rover

 

Whoops Speedmaster....sorry I got your name wrong

 

Thanks Sean,

Wow, guh-rate information!! I have learned quite a bit just from your post. I think I saw your post about the Apple Car play. That is way beyond my capabilities. Everything I have to do to my new car will have to be done by a mechanic. But, some guys spend their money on boats, some on airplanes.I just chalk it up to the cost of ownership/benefit of ownership.

Once again thanks for great advice

 

You're welcome. Sorry that it was long winded. I did make an error in my post. The 5.0 liter was introduced in 2010 here in the US as I noted, but the "Facelift" came in 2012. Different front end bumper cover and headlights/ side vents. All cosmetic from what I've seen. Interior might have changes too. you can google it and the forum pages that cover it will pop up.

Again, highly recommend posting more questions on the X150 page.

I'm with you, my car is my toy - but my son has a boat and is on a lake so got that going for me:-)

Hope you find your dream car. Cheers mate.