Hi, I'm a member of the forum with an 05 S Type 3.0 with just over 200,000 miles. The car is pristine interior, and good body except for oxidized clear coat on metallic silver paint. The car has been giving me fits over the last couple of years with lots of nickel and dime stuff, too many to list, but primarily lean codes that I have been unable to solve even with the vast help of this community. I'm kinda ready to quit on it. My wife loves her car and has owned 3 other Jags over the years.
I am now seriously considering the purchase of an XK8 (there are two in our area in our price range of about $10,000). They are both 2005 convertibles with under 100,000 miles on either. I would like to ask the group about the reliability of this model as a daily driver. It will be garaged, but not a hobby car. It will be her commuter car for her final year of career and anticipate logging another 20000 miles or so before she retires and then the car will see minimal miles. She has already fallen in love with either of these two convertibles.
So.....the big question.....is the XK8 a durable vehicle and what are the pitfalls or hot button items that I should be wary of as a diy caretaker?
(My paid for s type will be retained in the garage as a back up vehicle and my tinker toy)

 

My wife's 2006 XK8 Victory Edition convertible has been her daily driver since we acquired it in February 2012 at 36,000 miles. It now has 114,500 miles. In 48+ years of driving, it remains her favorite vehicle. As you already know, these Jaguars all have their well-publicized quirks and flaws here on the forum. Once resolved, they can be very rewarding vehicles as long as they are properly maintained. If you DIY, you will be fine. If you have to pay someone else, you can chew through your checkbook in short order....

Stick with the 4.2 engine / ZF 6HP26 transmission to minimize your risk. These cars are now 13+ years old and if they have not had their suspension components refurbished, you will face that chore (shocks, shock mounts, bushings, etc.). The same goes for their cooling system components (coolant outlet duct, coolant expansion reservoir, hoses, etc.). ATF drain-and-fills should have already been done between 60,000 and 80,000 miles (many of us use Ford's Mercon SP ATF with excellent results). And be sure to search the XK8/XKR forum using "convertible top green shower" as your key search words. Any XK8/XKR ragtop owner needs to be familiar with this issue because it eventually strikes most of us (we have been fortunate thus far with my wife's car but I know it is just a matter of time if we keep her car long enough)....

Be sure to spend some time reading the sticky threads at the top of the XK8/XKR forum. You will find a ton of information there to bring you up to speed relatively quickly. Good luck with your search and let us know if you indeed bite the bullet....

 

We used our XK8 last year as a daily driver for work. It was just as reliable as our XJ8’s. The XK8 has been slightly more finicky with stuff, due to different parts involved (convertible top mechanism, adjustible headrests, microswitches in the door handle), but I think in part had to do with some catchup maintenence the PO neglected. But then again our x350’s have their own quirks with the air suspension. Overall the guts of any of our Jaguars, 4.2 liter with a 6 speed ZF trans, are pretty darn bullet proof.

I agree, the later drivetrains should give you less worries than the earlier XK8’s. As with any Jaguar, seek out one that has been maintained.

We have considered selling ours for another toy, but haven’t been able to. It has been a very enjoyable car to own and gets plenty of compliments. In my opinion it is one of the most beautiful cars ever produced. I would have a difficult time replacing it with something equal without spending considerably more money.

 

If by chance this comes down to options let me comment from my experience:

1 earlier cars like mine had light colored dashboards. It reflects in the windshield in bright sun. Wish mine was flat black.

2 seat heater. Never had one before, who knew now I wouldn't be without them in a convertible.

3 CATS - I pi for it til we discussed here. Consensus was: marginal handling improvement, but very expensive replacement shocks.

4 active cruise control- yes expensive to fix, but seems that those who have it love it.

5 power mirrors - your call. Seems like a great option for those with tight parking.

6 steering wheel tilt, telescope. Test the in out up down controls on steering wheel.

7 does it have premium sound system? That might tilt the scales for me.

8 wheels style & size. It might be trivial right now, but as you grow I to these cars this might become more important to you. Chrome wheels? I didn't like it, when first bought her, but now I love the look despite the treat of eventual air leaks.

9 heated windshield, day night tint on mirrors = things to evaluate. Come to think of it, auto headlights are great.

10 headlight washers - more negatives than positives for me. I pulled the fuse on mine.

John

 

Thanks to all of you for feedback..So I went and drove one of them today. It was a very nice looking car in excellent cosmetic shape , but....i took my scan tool and read the obd to find incomplete readiness on evap, 02 and egr. No fault codes. And the passenger side window is askew in it's track or something and does not roll up properly, kind of cockeyed. Is that window alignment a difficult task? What about the incomplete egr, evap and 02? My spidey sense says walk away but asking opinions.

 

The cockeyed window is typically a loose positioning nut behind the upper right side of the door card.

DO NOT force the window (mine exploded into a billion pieces when I kept the up button down).

Root cause is Pure speculation at this point. Someone who has done it before can take the door card off in 5 minutes. Your first time it'll be 20 ish. Guess you'd only care about that if you got really serious and wanted to evaluate. Next paragraph notwithstanding ask us if you want to do a 30 minute technical evaluation on this window. Easy enough to explain how to get to this nut.

Now why would those be incomplete? Probably because they were recently cleared/reset and car hasn't been driven enough to reset(?). Kind of a red flag isn't it...

John