S8 is a mavel on wheels. If it stays together and was maintained you'll love it. Some of those cars are the the point where they represent a value that hard to pass up. I have a D2 S8 with a six speed manaual. Amazing drive but D2 and D3's are very different. Audi's interiors during this period were world standard. Good Luck with it.

 

You got unlucky, that's all. I am on my third Jag. The first one was a 2005 XKR. What a beauty she was. I still regret selling her. The 2016 XJ V8 was incredible machinery. It is everything one can ask for from a car - looks, comfort, speed. I miss it to this day. My 2008 XKR, which I still have and have done some minor modifications to, is a head turner, a reliable, super fun and comfortable to drive and is just an easy car to live with. It has a bit over 55K on the odometer and I don't put too many miles on her, but when I do, it's pure driving pleasure. It just hits all the right boxes for a vehicle that age. Fingers crossed, nothing major to fix for years to come. Mostly what I do is service her at least twice a year, regardless of how many miles I put on her.
Hopefully the bad taste in your mouth about your experience with a Jag, won't dissuade you from ever wanting to own one again. Next time, regardless of the vehicle on your shopping list, at least test drive it before handing the check over.

 

Bad flop for you.
I, like others, had a much different experience with an out of state, non-inspected purchase. Picked up an '03 XKR triple black, with 29k miles. Shipped from NJ to Cali, before ever physically seeing it. Great car, thus far, with only upper strut mounts and just recently top lines began to leak.
Doubt, I'd ever do it again. That was my second lucky flop. Inspections, while important and desired, really only minimize the possibilities. Luck does play a factor.

 

I joined this site to get useful insight in to potential problems and solutions for my XKR. But of late the submissions are getting crazy and could apply to any car. Nothing technical or helpful about them. This one takes the cake. Guy buys a run down poorly maintained bit of complicated machinery sight unseen and with no checks. Faults the equipment when he has problems. For the record my 2004 XKR has done over 100.000 km and suffers none of the so called faults

 

I have a 2008 XKR Supercharged. Purchased from a private party with 74k miles. Nothing but a pleasure to own and drive the car. Like any Jaguar, it has its share of little things that need attention. Looks like the dealer who sold the car was less than honest and sold you a car that needs a lot of work.

 

I'm on my third XKR, 2011 XKR 175, 2013 XKR and 2014 XKR. Still loving the dream.

 

I disagree. Luck had nothing whatsoever to do with the OP's problems. He has no one to blame but himself for not getting a pre-purchase inspection, and using those results to negotiate a lower price or walk away. It's an expensive lesson learned from the School of Hard Knocks.

 

I agree with your sentiment; but because I don't lease I just basically go with "No having an Audi". I'm having a blast with my little VW Jetta TDI Sportwagen aka Golf Diesel Variant/Wagon. Much simpler to work on, much more reliable, and a neat little daily wagon despite also being a VAG car.

 

Your VW is great because of its DNA - it's made with FAHRVEGNUGEN!

You Tube

If you don't speak German, translated into English it means "hard to get parts for!"

 

the only comparable car is the e63 6 series and those are well known turds


you drove a car on rubber bands and stiff suspension, they’re not known for a good ride

 

I've bought four-no five, used cars remotely, sight unseen. Sometimes what you want simply is not available locally.

Three of them were BMW M5s (E39). The first, in Chicago, I had a PPI done at the dealer, flew up, drove it home to NC. Great car, constant issues, totalled after I t-boned a Ford.
The second was also in IL, got a PPI, had it shipped. The paint wasn't great and it didn't run "quite right" and at 10+ years old had original tires, but I drove it for a while and sold it for a profit.
The third was in VA, had a clean PPI, flew up to get it, drove it home with it missing and backfiring and it took a while to diagnose the issues with that one, discovered other issues when I sold it and the subsequent PPI found unknown paintwork. Made a small profit on that one too, I think.
Then I bought an Audi S5 out of VA, sight-unseen, had a friend check it out and he missed some cosmetic damage, flew up, drove it home. No PPI because it had only 2K miles on it, like new except for buggered-up wheels and some dents.
Last one was a BMW from a dealer in FL, CPO so I didn't bother with a PPI, although they lied to me (shocking, right?) that it didn't have any odors, and it smelled. Got rid of it after a year, couldn't get the stink out. Otherwise it was OK. Lost my butt on it on resale (7 series).

Oh, and my XK-R. So that's six. Had a PPI done, minor issues found, shipped it from MD, the car never ran quite right (not mentioned in the PPI) and I sold it. Made a small profit.

So, years ago, I bought a BMW 740i from a local guy. He had bought it new, took great care of it, and after a $1600 brake job at the dealer (in 2002 I believe it was) he got ticked-off, bought a Jaguar and sold me the BMW. The car had a never-ending succession of check engine lights, occasionally-functional electrics, and was a money pit. Because BMW.

I love BMWs. But I rarely keep them out of warranty.

True that. My point is even a great PPI won't catch everything. You're always taking a leap of faith buying a used car. Any used car.

 

I purchased a 2007 Jaguar XKR, convertible, 15,000 miles. Looks like new. A few tiny paint chip with not a good patch, but didn't see until I had magnifiing glasses on. The engine spotless. I had PPI at a Jaguar dealer for $250. resulting in replacing loose antenna, rear wheels, new rotors and brakes. It vibrated at 65 MPH but calmed down at 70, wheel balancing helped a bit. The only other thing I didn't notice on the test drive is a little air and noise from the rag top on the left rear. Not sure if that is normal. I guess I should have it looked at. The engine has a beautiful sound, not quite as nice as Maserati, but I understand with some cash, a new exhaust would get me that music. What do you think guys and gals. My family are from Italia and are musicians, composers, accordion and violin manufacturers, sound is everything.

 

Congrats on your new ride! Before you spend any $$$ on your exhaust system, bring more music to your ears by removing Fuse 19. That was just right for me, so try it - you might like it. It's easy and free. For how to do it, see my Post #12 in this old thread from 2013:
XKR Owners - Pull Fuse 19!

Is sound everything? Who better to ask than famiglia? And who can give better advice than Anthony Benedetto and Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta?

 

I avoid dealers. I buy story. I call the vendor. He is an 86 years old petrolhead who bought the Jag for his wife 12 years ago, and she uses it to go to the club and shopping... in a modest smaller town with no hills and no snow. The annual inspection records show regular driving. He changes all the fluids by the book and waxes lyrically about the repairs done - for him repairing a car is a hobby. Then the key question: why are you selling it? "We recently moved and our new home does not have a garage, so it's been parked outside for two months." We then negotiate price. He is asking $8,000. I ask, "what is your absolutely lowest price?" $5,000. On that story, I buy a one-way ticket, collect the car at the small regional airport and drive two days home. Glorious car, amazing handling especially on the two-lane roads that hug the hills. The only negative? The interior has the smell of some sort of leather conditioner. He must have used saddle soap or something. Five years later, the smell is still there. Not offensive, just different. Cost to run... oil, new battery.

Buying story requires a nose for BS. Widows cars can be good if the old man drove the car enough and has a stack of invoices. Jags tend to be owned by older people near the top of the food chain. Buy at that point and you get a good car. But if they sold to a price-picker who wanted champagne luxury on a beer budget do not buy. Price pickers do not spend money on maintenance. But old-man drivers also can mean garage queens that deteriorated due to non-driving. The ideal car shows regular use, perhaps parked during the worst of winter, and an affluent owner who signs the credit card receipt without questioning the invoice. I've been buying cars that way for 55 years now, and almost every one has been good - or I pay next to nothing, like the 1982 G-Wagon impounded by Customs on the dock that required $12,000 to get it on the road... I paid $1,200 to buy it and knew the story meant serious money. But the market value today, 24 years after I bought it is still 3X what I have into it, so no complaints.

Car dealers range from totally trustworthy to scumbags. With the internet, reading customer comments does provide an assist. Warranties means your wallet is protected, but it is annoying to park the car in their workshop instead of using it. You rarely know the story, so you have to trust the car was properly cared for. If you can find out why it was traded, you are beginning to get the story. Driven by an old lady on Sundays can be a good story, until you find it the old lady was Rosemary Smith (google it), or all the old lady did was park it outside (outdoors) her house and drive to church 1 minute down the road and the car never got warmed up.

Often times buying a used Jag from a new Jag dealer can be good because the service department sent the owner to the front while waiting, and they fancy the new car smell. The best way to work a new car dealer is to work out who the best sales person is, and then offer them a $500 under-the-table bonus when a brilliant older Jag gets traded for a new Jag. It will cost more than buying from the 86 year old petrolhead, but in Jags, the purchase price is just the entry ticket.

 

For the poster who wanted some insight into what to expect on buying an XKR, I of course am the wrong guy to answer, being the nitwit who started this thread and brought home a gorgeous looking but seriously flawed example. But between you and me, here's what I learned:
Misfire from cold: If you have this, do run a compression check and a leak-down test and check out the spark plugs.
I already had a Foxwell NT510 scanner so I just downloaded the LandRover/Jaguar software for a little extra cost.
A blown head gasket seems relatively rare (but then again so does the condition of the car I bought) It cost me $800 to get both heads refurbished and removing them wasn't that difficult once you get over how to remove the big pulley bolt at the front. (I can go into details of how to do this without the Jaguar tool) Aside from the head gasket, I discovered that most of my valves weren't sealing very well (The car still ran OK) but felt much crisper once I had them all re-seated during the head rebuild)
The supercharger bearings and coupler can fail, making it sound like marbles rattling around in there but there's rebuild kits on Ebay and I rebuilt mine with a little help from YouTube and the workshop manual.
I took out all the injectors while the S/C was out and had them all cleaned and checked, but they were all in excellent condition.
I changed all my plugs but it was only the blown gasket cylinders that were fouled.
Water pump changes are easy and the pump is cheap.
Access from the front is OK once you remove the hood which is also quick and easy.
Suspension-wise, most of my joints had split rubbers but the replacement wasn't hard.
Steering I had no problems with.
Brakes ditto.
Exhaust was also trouble free although I did put a new Oxygen sensor in on the side where the head gasket failed. Also very easy to do.
Interior: The cabin asperator made a very annoying noise and I only could get a new one from Jaguar at $70 or so.
The front leather facia all puckers up but there's some good YouTube videos on how to replace it.
My center speaker grill was broken. They're rediculously expensive from the dealer but strangely enough some colors are much cheaper. TIP: Buy the cheap color and then just spray to match your car.
Body: Mine was excellent. The rear wheel rubber spats (the outer splashguards) tend to break and might need renewing.
I had various other problems that won't be common but If the car has sat for a while your tires may have flatspots and be trash.
None of my 12v interior outlets were working but that was because of a mouse nest in the left fender and a nibbling through the wire. i.e I had a cat with a mouse.

One last comment on the Audi responses. Totally agree with the "hard to maintain" comments. However my 2007 A8 D3 has been very reliable and a superb car. The Audi S8 D3 does have it's headaches but it is better than the D2 version. The air suspension is not hard to fix. Air shock repair kits are only $90 on Ebay and have worked well for me. The S8 and short wheelbase A8 D3's are very enjoyable cars to drive and very practical with huge trunks and AWD traction.

 

replacing an oxygen sensor on a d3 s8

step 1: remove bumper

step 2:: remove engine

step 3: remove oxygen sensor

installation is reverse of removal. a d2 is like a lawnmower in comparison.

 

My second XKR, 2011, I bought sight unseen since it only had 9,000 miles on it. With no reported issues, I took the leap and bought. It was everything I thought. I had the dealer do a facetime and walk around the vehicle to inspect. I knew where the problems were from my 2009, and with the low mileage, it was a good gamble. I even got 100 points at our Jag club concours a couple years ago. She now has 26k on her. Awesome, beautiful and powerful. I can't say enough about my XKR. Love the Ventilated seats too.

 

Half of us are thinking it so I'll just say it: