Well...dropped off my 2000 cat at Flemington Foreign Car a week ago...with an eye towards taking care of establishing a baseline:

1. Was throwing a coil failure on #7, which put me into restricted performance.
2. Alignment was off; steering wheel cocked to the right, even though, hands off, the car tracked straight.
3. Lube, oil, filter, etc.
4. Left rear muffler was shot and needed to be replaced.
5. Flush coolant and brakes
6. Pull valve covers and see whether I had the old tensioners.

Results:

1. Coil bad on #7, code confirmed. So, since these are the original denso coils, replace them all, along with replacing plugs with new iridiums. All codes cleared. But, will check to see if my code gets to P1111..
2. 4 wheel alignment, steering wheel straight now. Needed to be tweaked, but is now thrust line aligned and tracking properly. Wheel beariings ok, upper shock bushings may need to be done, but, for now, they're useable. Will address in the near future.
3. Done, with dead dinosaurs, fresh filter, and all doors, etc. lubed. Air filter replaced.
4. Replaced.
5. Flushed with fresh fluids to spec.
6. Old tensioners discovered. Replacing all upper and lower timing chains and tensioners with current spec upgraded components. Along with water pump, new thermostat, housing, serpentine belt and tensioner bearing, valve cover gaskets, plug well o-rings, etc. Should take care of those potential issues, I think.

Getting out for around 2.8K. Not too bad, especially considering that it heads off the tensioner failure possibility. Next stop, body work to remove rust at bottom front of right rear quarter panel; splicing in good piece from parted out car from the southern US. Will think about a complete respray next year, but want to get the rot out before winter sets in.

More later. Feeling ok about this 2500 dollar XJ8

 

Sounds like you're going to have a pretty nice ride when you get all those issues addressed. I do the same when I buy a new (used) car. Spare no expense within the first couple of months. It's worth it in the long run. Cheers.

 

Pretty much what I did to mine when I bought it with 63K miles 18 months ago. All coils were good, and didn't replace the primary chains or gaskets. But over the next six months, secondaries, water pump, tst and housing, plugs, hoses, new brakes, 3 new tires to match the one virgin, alignment, balance, shocks and mount bushing all around, new sway bar bushings and links, and fuel filter and new rear axle fluid six months ago. About $2000 (but I did much of the work myself). Runs well -- since then minor niggly thinks - resolder multipurpose switch, rebalance tires, replace relays for wipers, replace one light bulb lens. Easy car to work on so far: holding my breath over A drum, throttle body, steering rack, and wheel and axle bearings, which summed would cost much more than the cat is worth (but significantly less than a new set of payments).

Having said that, the new Infiniti 70L is looking pretty sweet!