2011 XK Convertible issues to watch out for. Am considering buying one with 83,000 miles on it. Lovely car, locally maintained. But I have no idea of what may go wrong mechanically, electrically, or ECU wise. $5,000 for a warranty purchase seems like a killer of a cost. Will the vehicle need it?

 

Some benefit, some don't. It's not a warranty so much as an insurance policy. Just read the fine print a bunch of times.

Not a lot goes bad one these for the most part. E diff and water pumps on some of the 5.0's. Read as much as you can and go into buying the car with your eyes wide open.

From a guy who bought a mangy one and enjoys working on cars, there are few demons inside the XK and they are easier to work on vs. the 90-2k year cars. Most of the components on the XK were borrowed from other make and models under Ford's corporate umbrella which honestly is a good thing.

If the car talks to you, buy it. If not, walk.

 

Speeding tickets. Definitely speeding tickets.

 

If this is JLR warranty (directly from manufacturer) then it is good purchase and good investment. These work the same way new warranty does and generally cover everything but tires and brake pads. These are designed to move CPO cars and are another way for car manufacturer to increase resale value of their cars, in turn allowing them to offer lower lease payments. Fundamentally, these designed to sell new cars.

I would advise against purchasing after market warranty. After market is insurance against failure issued by non-JLR underwriter. It comes with pages and pages of fine print and is generally designed to cheat you. Things that would break would not be fully covered. Things that are covered would only be covered for repair with used parts. Fundamentally, these designed to make profit from you.

 

Some people have electrical/electronic gremlins. Almost all of these issues can be traced to an old/weak battery. If the battery registers under 12.5 volts at rest, replace it. Then, if the car is not going to be your daily driver by a CTek battery tender and keep the car hooked up to it when not in use. The CTek and attendant cords, etc. will cost you less than $100 and take no more than 15-30 minutes to install. Other than than that and the water pump issue mentioned above watch out for speeding tickets.

 

Does 83,000 miles on a 2011 XK convertible seem like it is reaching the end of a serpentine belt, or other expensive repair parts, or is the 5.0 engine and drive train good to go much further? I see positive comments on the older engine, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of higher mileage chatter about the 2010 and newer versions until discontinued. A nice XK from 2011 on with 40,000 miles is over $10,000 more than this one with 83,000 miles, which appeals to me but I don't want to be penny wise and pound foolish....

 

Not quite sure what your question on the serpentine belt means. If you consider that expensive ($30 for the belt + 2 hours time to change), a Jaguar is probably not the car for you.

If you are not adverse to getting your hands dirty and working on cars yourself, a higher mileage car, priced accordingly, should not be an issue. For $10,000 you can replace a LOT of parts. If you are going to have someone else do all the work, probably at >$120 an hour, the cost trade off becomes a harder question.

What are you going to do with the car? If it is to be an every day driver and your only car, I would probably find something with lower mileage. If it is a second car, why not?

Keep in mind that a 2011 with 80,000 miles is going to be hard to sell. The seller will probably have to need more than a $10K cost advantage to a car with half the mileage to actually sell it. So you are in a good bargaining position.

Thats my $.02.

 

Thanks. I was looking to use an example of a laundry list of things Jag owners might face at 80,000 miles. The serpentine belt was a reflection of my ignorance on the subject, not a concern over low priced items.

The Seller is a Jag, Maserati, Volvo dealer in California, and this is small change for them, but they don't seem to move from their pricing.

I was just concerned because I haven't been able to find any posts on searches here and elsewhere of the Jag XK series post 2010 with 83,000 miles on them, so I was worried that they become a major problem. I've owned a series of Audis over the years, and they all seemed perfect until around 75,000 miles then had continuous problems.

This would not be my daily driver. I have a pick up truck for those duties, but would likely still see around 7,000 miles a year of driving.

Thanks for your help.

 

I have had six "modern" Jags and a bunch more six and 12 cylinder Jags. i have taken some of the V8 cars over 150K miles and not seen anything that says they are only good for XXX thousand miles. There are a bunch of small problems, like the suspension bushings wearing out, that will cause squeaks, clunks, rattles that you will probably see before 100K miles. It is probably ~ $3K to have someone replace all the bushings. That is not something that will leave you stranded on the side of the road.

Water pump failures, that can occur at ANY mileage, will leave you stranded on the side of the road. While more people experience the water pump failures than I would expect, most cars don;t have this problem.

Electrical gremlins - I think most cars see those at some time or another. A new battery and/or a battery tender should help here.

 

The 5 litre cars, as you have been told, can have water pump issues - and the plastic thermostat housing and the coolant hoses should possibly be replaced, but this is more in the vein of maintenance rather than repair - and, at this mileage I would have the transmission fluid and pan/filter changed. The ZF transmission is excellent but despite the claim that it is "sealed for life", there is never an explanation of whose life they are referring to.
Regarding electrics: virtually all electrical issues are traced to a battery not putting out full voltage, and not to any inherent problem in the car.

 

Thanks, everybody. Decided to pass on the 2011 with 83,000 miles, and instead am picking up my 2008 XK with 42,000 miles today. Previously a single owner vehicle. Giving up a lot of horsepower, and the hockey puck transmisson. Already ran into my first "quirk" which is the Porsche dealer advised me that my driver's side (United States) reverse light wasn't working....... a little research in these forums cleared that up for me :-)

Thanks for your help, and now to begin the adventure!

 

There is nothing wrong with your backup light, as the 4.2L models (2007-2009) have only one. The othe side is a fog light, which is common with European cars. This was changed with the 5.0L models with LED tail lights; they have two backup lights.

How much does a Jaguar dealer know about Porsches?

Enjoy your new ride!

 

Hi, Stuart. You underlined my point. When the Porsche dealer told me the back up light was out I started to research the cost of replacements, and naturally came here to do some research. Quickly learned that unless I want to change all of my wiring harness (which is far beyond my abilities) that I was going to have one back up light and one fog lamp on the alternating light. So I actually knew that in time to save my deal with the Porsche dealer, thanks to the information I learned in this forum. Thanks for ringing in.