I've already read through some older threads on this, just curious for opinions from anyone who daily drives an x308 XJ8 currently. Last week my daily driver (2004 Impala SS) was rear-ended and I'm sure once the process is over it will be totaled and paid out by the other driver's insurance company. Pretty upset about this, my father bought it brand new and I've been driving it for tha past 5-6 years and it currently has 287,500 miles on it. Was in fantastic cosmetic and mechanical condition, but there's more damage than its worth.

I drive about 20-25k miles annually and don't want or need to spend a lot of money on a commuter. I've been driving GM cars with the Buick Supercharged V6 for as long as I can remember, but they're getting hard to find in decent shape. In my search I've come across quite a few XJ8s in good condition for little money. Would an XJ8 be a wise choice for a driver? I know the XJ8 transmission is not as robust as the 5-speed in the XJR, but more concerned about general reliability. Also aware of timing issues, can sort that on my own if its an early car.

For anyone that drives one of these daily how has it been? Do they do well when putting a lot of miles on them? I have other cars so minimal downtime would be OK, but I'm used to the rock solid reliablity of my early 2000s GM stuff and would prefer similar. I definitely don't want a car that I'd be worried about jumping in and just going anywhere.

It's probalby not the wisest decision, but for what they go for and me doing any necessary work myself I have almost convinced myself that it wont be that bad. Any opinions welcomed and appreciated.

 

I may not be the best person to respond as I've only been in the X308 pool since April and with an XJR, not an XJ8 but it has been my daily driver since picking it up and driving home from Victoria to Edmonton.

This is my fourth Jaguar, and all have been daily drivers (the previous one was a '92 Series 3 V12 that was a daily driver in Edmonton for more than 15 years) and my experience has been that they were/are all lovely cars that will treat you much like you treat them.

I have always been of the opinion that you buy two things when you buy a Jaguar - the car and its service records/history. Of the two, the second is more important. The cars are so easy to fall in love with because they look so good and drive so well, it's easy to fall in love with the first and ignore the second, particularly when you think you can do any necessary work yourself. The problem with that is that even when you can do it yourself, it can be a never ending expensive task getting back to square one. I have always paid top dollar for the service records/history and effectively had the cars thrown in for free. In the long run, the service records/history will be prove to be the better investment.

The XJR has approx. 3,000k more km than when we picked her up - and 1,150 of those were on the drive home - and she has needed nothing. She leaks no fluids and has consumed none either, other than gas. The mileage isn't great but the V8 is still a lot better than the V12. It might be the other way coming from the Impala.

If you're looking for the wisest decision, you could always lease a Camry or an Accord.

If you're looking for a ride to fall in love with, that will have you looking back every time you park, and that will start conversations with strangers, jump right in, the water's warm.

 

Thanks for the input Ken. I'll definitley be buying something that's 20 years old and have always driven old cars and cared for them myself so no stranger to maintenance, but I know Jags are a bit different. I've only owned two, an 03 XJR and my current 98 XJR and I've put a lot of work into both of them after the initial purchase, but once they're in shape they tend to stay there if kept up with. The reason I'm asking is that they are both hobby cars for me and never drove them daily. The XJRs are definitely better and I love them, but the mpg for 100 miles daily would be pretty poor. I've never had cars that were great on gas, but the Rs are rather thirsty and I think an NA 4.0 would be sufficient for daily duty. Would be nice if they had a better transmission though.

Good point on service history. Both of my Rs did not have full service history but turned out to be good cars after some initial work getting them into shape but a solid history is always better.

 

I drive my 2003 XJ8 daily. I've found her reliable, but no where like a Toyota Camry. With a 19 to 24 year old car little things go wrong frequently. Example, hard plastic coolant lines that break if you look at them for too long. The only way to reasonably afford these cars is to work on them yourself and mail order the parts. If something goes wrong usually down for a week until mail order parts arrive.

 

That's one of my concerns. If I ever had an issue with my GM stuff I can get the part same day and not have any downtime. No issue fixing it, but waiting on parts could get old.

 

given my recent experience, I'd say no. And even then, I keep some newer plain cars (cayenne S and bmw 328i) as daily cars for my wife and me. The jag would likely be fine, but as you know, if something breaks, some parts can be hard to find and silly expensive for no reason. I'd have a tough time driving a 24 year old car daily, unless its something like a honda civic or toyota corolla.

 

Sounds advice, thank you. I have no problem driving older cars, but I need to be able to fix them quickly if necessary. Leaning towards not doing this, I was just intrigued by how inexpensive they seem to be even with low mileage. I'll probably stick with another supercharged GM if I can find one. Seems they're getting scarce these days. I don't like spending a lot on my daily drivers since its 100 miles per day on the Turnpike and it's going to get torn up a bit either way. I'd rather spend money on my hobby cars and use them sparingly.

 

Sophisticated cars certainly require an informed approach as they age. Many forum members have parts cars
where many parts are readily accessible. Others MUST have new parts and thus they shoulder the expense
and time that comes with that, although they also seem to have greater peace of mind. The Duchess is nearing
20 years of age, and with those years comes the knowledge that rubber, and plastic are nearing end of life. No
amount of maintenance will prevent that, so it goes without saying, replacements will be necessary. Will these
give the same reliability they did when newer? That is doubtful. Will we replace what is wrong when needed?
Most likely. Is it wise to have another vehicle available for the inevitable? Absolutely.

 

not really…

 

price a set of blower output to charge cooler donut seals. $100 plus...each for little rubber seals.

obviously not a NA car issue, but this isn't necessarily isolated.

 

I think a lot of parts for these cars a reasonable, but there are always a few things here and there that make you raise your eyebrows. Even with the tensioner job I just did on my 98 R; tensioners were cheap, tools were cheap, but the rubber VC gaskets for the AJ26 cars are $150. That's pretty pricey for some rubber gaskets, especially since the newer engines can use the $30 Ford gaskets. Not the end of the world, but there are definitely some specialty parts that can get expensive.

 

I also believe it makes some difference as to where you order your parts. Jaguar OEM are going to
cost more than aftermarket parts. Are they worth the difference? Maybe. In some cases, it may be
OEM is all that is available. It is good to have a knowledgeable parts man who knows the equivalent
parts for OEM which could save a ton of money.

 

I'm doing about 300 miles per week in my 2000 XJ8 and it hasn't let me down yet. Having said that, I've been doing some proactive maintenance which has meant that I've probably lost use of it for a couple of days per month. I wouldn't rely on it every day without the reassurance of a backup - in my case, my 1982 XJ6

In six months, I've not been forced to use my wife's new car on a single occasion...

 

Nice to hear, thank you. I've almost put the idea behind me, but there is a 2001 XJ8 for sale locally with only 54k miles and I may go take a look. For the money you can't get anything with that type of mileage these days, seller is asking around $5k for the car.

 

Sounds like grandma's Sunday "go to meeting" car.

 

Yea, sure does. Not crazy about the color (tan/beige) but it looks very clean. It's been garaged and has a new battery, tires, but no mention of other service. Asked about the tensioners/timing chains and they're sure they haven't been done. If I can find some time in the next day or so I may go take a look.

 

If it's that Topaz Metallic, the great thing about that color is that it doesn't show dirt easy.

 

Its funny you say that, I was thinking the same thing. While not crazy about the color it wouldn't look as bad as a darker color when dirty. Since it would mostly live outside that could be a good thing.

 

We have two red 2000 VDPs that are our daily drivers and have no issues currently. The way to keep these cars always ready is to repair anything that happens as soon as possible and be proactive to anything that might look suspect. Check engine light? Rattle or a light out? Find and fix it immediately. In my experience, once you get everything sorted out, the cars are a real pleasure to drive.
I had another 2000 Red VDP with 280K miles that a truck smashed a few years back. (the one in my signature line) Then I bought the two I currently own. They both had a number of issues but at this point, everything is working great! I'd drive either one anywhere at any time.
As for the parts situation; most of the parts are not expensive if you buy online though as mentioned earlier; there are certain parts that seem to be the more expensive than others; like some of the gaskets. I do spend time in the local junkyards whenever a car shows up and I have amassed a lot of spare parts over the years. Besides the usual hard parts, there are interior items that are good to have on hand. Also, my son has a 1999 XJ and plenty of parts too. Between us we have have/ had six XJs and plenty of experience repairing them. Now my grandson is driving the 99 XJ! I also have a 2003 XJR that I am working on and hope to get it back on the road within a month, around all my other projects and time with the kids and grandkids.

An XJR with that low of miles would be a great find at $5,000 unless there's something really wrong with it. I'd check it out myself though I don't need another Jag around here!

I would also like to thank all the guys that have assisted me on this forum over the years. The wealth of information is amazing!

 

Thank you for the detailed reply David, I appreciate it. I also second the thanks to this forum, it has been invaluable for me in keeping up with both of my x308 XJRs.

Glad to hear that you don't have any issues with using yours daily. I am a bit of a miantenance nut when it comes to my vehicles no matter the make and actually it enjoy it for the most part. Anytime I purchase a new vehicle I go through it and do anything that needs done and replace all fluids/maintenance items just to start at square one so I know everythings been done.

The car I saw locally was not an XJR, it's a base XJ8. If it were an XJR with that mileage in this condition it would already be in my garage Waiting to hear back, but if the seller is around later this evening I will probably go take a look. At the very least its an excuse to bring the XJR out for the evening.