Feeling better!! Just picked it up and my amazing mechanic took pity on me too and today's bill cut in half. Only 240.00.
I'm trying not to regret as I wanted a 2007 or up. But the cheapest I could find was over 26000.00 and not great!!
Once Arden kit goes on I'll never look back.

 

philhef - with all you've done and once the arden is on - it will be like a new car - should be smooth sailing for a while

 

I've spent about $2000 over 18 months & 10,000kM, more than half of that was cosmetic stuff that I chose to do but did not really need it, Arden exhaust and clear lens set, Mina s/s instrument ring and gear selector bezel. Wind deflector, pressure reducer for the top and best of all White XKRs remote top mod. The rest of the cash was on oil canges, coolant flush a couple of ignition coils, spark plugs, belts and tensioners...regular wear and tear items on any vehicle. All repairs done my myself, to be honest I don't begrudge a single penny of it for all the pleasure this car has given me and all the people that walk around it with dropped jaws! Best car, EVER!

 

No need to feel bad at all. Paid $18k for my 2003 R and have done about $5k in maintenance that the previous owner neglected, including a fuel pump (ouch!).

Had maybe $1k in little upgrades until I bought the twin screw. After that, it doesn't much matter any more, I've already demonstrated I have a total lack of sense.

Don't sweat the older car, the X100 looks better than the newer ones.

 

I have had my XK8 for 3 months, when I bought it I had list of things that needed doing and so far have done :-

Replaced Secondary Tensioners
Replaced Cam cover gaskets ( oil leak )
Thermostat housing and thermostat
Water pump and major cooling hoses
Coolant overflow tank in wing replaced
New Spark Plugs and cleaned ignition coils
Replaced Oil and filter, air filter, fuel filter.
Repairs to Cruise Control ( vacuum solenoids/hoses )
New Electric Aeriel
Replaced all missing Jaguar and XK8 badges
Wheel referb
New rear springs, and shock bushes etc.
Removed gearbox lockout solenoid
Repaired broken interior plastic bits on sun visors, centre console bin etc.
Replaced active suspension control unit
Replaced missing headlight washer mirrored trim
Replaced drivers door seal
Repaired sub-woofer
Replaced missing keys and alarm fobs
Eventually found a replacement spare space-saver tyre
Removed and cleaned brake switch
New 'I-deck' Ipod dock
New Serpentine belt and idler pully
Replaced missing plastic trims from scuttle area
Replaced missing drain hoses from scuttle area

Labor costs ZERO ( all DIY ) cost of all parts around $2000.

 

From your lips to whatever God's that may be listening's ears!!

 

WOW! Wish I had the time and facility to do more myself! Your labor savings alone in the 1000's!!!!!!

 

God this scared me when I added it up.

Statutory Costs £2,780.29
Upgrades/ Modifications £1,332.90
Local Jag Garage maintenace/ Repair £2,280.00 (Includes New/ Rebuilt Gearbox £900 fitted)
Other Maint/ Repair £789.53 (ie Tyres and Parts)
Main Dealer £12,048.18 (Includes £10,995 purchase Cost in Oct 2009)
Bodywork £1,590.00
Fuel £5,575.86
Total 26,396.76

Milage Covered since Oct 2009 purchase 16,761.00

Bit I would not change it for the world.

 

Smoggy
If you figured it by the mile without your initial purchase price it's approx. $1.31 with it it's approx. $2.43 I think I converted the lbs to dollars correctly. Maybe if we are all paying this kind of price we should be driving something more exotic.

 

Purchased my 1997 XK8 convertible on E-Bay in Oct 2012 based on clean Carfax, very clear photos and price comparisons. Was looking for black with tan interior. Big gamble but $7900 was decent price for 96,000-mile car with good paint and unblemished upholstery.

Asked about and was assured that tensioners had been upgraded.
Car arrived and looked like the photos. Sounded nice in the garage. A few switches were broken and I replaced them myself. Not unexpected.

Took three months to get title. While running the car in the garage during that time, it developed what I believed to be a tensioner “clack”. Had the car towed to Patrick at the Gas Menagerie in Troy, NY and he confirmed the issue and addressed it.

On our first trip (a 400-mile roundtrip to Boston in April), the car developed an oil drizzle at the rear main seal. (Unusual for these cars, I think.) Had that addressed with a new rear main seal, new front tranny seal and tranny service (which I have read on this forum to be advisable at 100K miles).

This past week the weather turned warm and I noticed the air conditioner is not cool (code 24). Will need to have that checked out and repaired.

So in the first 500+/- miles of use, repairs have been $3400 for tensioners, belts, hoses + $250 towing; $800 for rear main seal and tranny seals and about $400 in switches and parts – about $5000 total.

Upgrades have been limited to a new Robbins tan top (because we prefer black and tan to all black) for $400 – yet to be installed. (The black top is still good.)

I think I am dealing with the effects of the age of the vehicle (the rear main seal was as hard as a rock and didn’t handle what was probably the car’s first long trip in a year or more) and some deferred maintenance. Both Patrick in Troy and the tranny guy thought the car is in great shape overall, so I'm hopeful that the repairs will slow down.

I am not discouraged and won’t be unless continued use leads to unending repairs. At $13 K to $14 K total investment (at present), it’s still a good value.

 

RCSign
Yes its expensive per mile "so far" but its a rolling restoration, new gearbox, new chains, guides and tensioners, a new gearbox, a new water pump, upgraded thermostat housing, new oil cooler, HID headlights, aftermarket Headunit, retrofitted heated screen and I get it back tomorrow after £1000 on de rusting the rear end by adding new metal + future proofing it to avoid a repeat (Pictures to follow in a new thread this weekend showing the effect of salt on UK roads).

The idea is that this is a very long term keeper and dailey driver to help an Englishman roam the UK and europe in in his future old age - which is still a while off... and personally there is no other car I would want, even if I had any money left.....

 

Gee, when I add mine up, I feel like a chump! I bought the 06 XKR in 09 with 25K miles on it for $29K. It has needed a front ABS link cable for $25 and a set of tires, a headliner for $55 in fabric and glue and the usual oil changes and filters. I did change the transmisson fluid and filter for about $500 at 50K miles since I could not do it in my driveway. I feel like I have gotten my money's worth. It has 60K on it now and is still like new. Of all the cars I've had, I get most comments on this one, at the gas station, the carwash, etc.

 

Moral of the story is that these are not turnkey types of cars that only need oil changes and tire rotations.

Sounds like adding 5K to any purchase price is prudent when shopping for one. I spent around 3k on my XK8 the little over a year I owned it. 1k of that was tensioners, 1.2k was tires, and the rest was necessary fixes to the cooling system, hit and run dent fix, etc.

Now I have an appliance car that I don't have to do anything to but it's nowhere near as cool as an XK but my pocket book is doing much better.

 

During the 15-month period that my wife has had her 2006 XK8, I've spent less than $50 on maintenance for our 2005 S-Type and less than $30 on maintenance for my 1999 Dodge Ram pickup. Granted, I've had nearly 4.5 years to work the quirks out of our S-Type. I've owned my Ram for more than 12 years and it just doesn't break. But that 5.9 litre V8 drinks gas like Otis Campbell drinks moonshine....

Admittedly, neither our S-Type nor my Ram does anything close to the annual mileage that my wife's XK8 does....

 

I paid just shy of £18,000 for my 4.2-S XK8 back in November 2012 and it had 24,000 miles on it. The car was, and still is in "showroom condition" in all aspects.

Probably paid £2,000 -£3,000 over the top just the car looked so good I could not resist and the dealer wouldn't budge on pricing!!!

6,000miles later in terms of maintenance just the routine service but it came with a 2 year platinum RAC warranty so I hope until that expires I won't be forking out for major repairs.

I have also spent about £1,200 in upgrading the SAT NAV to a Samsung Note 2 and £120 or so for the real gauge mod.

Pavlos

 

Finally! A beautiful day in North Carolina!! First top down day and except for the pollen, it was so amazing!! All the $$$$$$$ spent melted away with every mile driven. Smooth as silk and effortless now that all this work has been done.
Now I'm itching to get the Arden kit installed (1200.00 labor but added into my list of expenses already!)
Found a set of oem wheels and tires on line but they're black finished and really don't want black on black. 1300.00 shipping included. My factory chromes are in ruff shape.
Would like to find for less to not add too much to bottom $ line!!

 

Bought my 2002 XK8 in 2006 with 24K miles for 25K. The first 3 years I had a bumper to bumper warranty. Things done with warranty was flushing the convertible hydraulic lines, trunk button, rear back up sensors, power windows, convertible lock to windshield, some electrical stuff. I average about $1500 a year for maintenance. None of it was DIY. Some years more, some less. Since owning I've probably put in $10K-14K, all for repairs and maintenance. I know...huh? The big one was a blown engine.... an expensive lesson I learned. Car runs and rides like new now though. I will keep putting money into it too!!!!!! haha. Wish I could do some DIY though.

 

Went ahead and caved in and bought the black wheels. 1300.00 including shipping. Seller wouldn't budge!
Now that they're on, I can't believe I debated the black!! Amazing!!
He goes in Monday for the arden kit install so I'm hoping that's the last$$$ for a while. Runs like new!

Once done, I'm naming him VADER!!

 

Looks awesome. I too would have been hesitant on black rims....but they turned out great. Were they your originals and you had them powder coated? or did you buy new ones? My style is like yours and I was thinking of getting them redone or buy new 19" rims.

 

They were the exact same style as my original wheels, I had even thought about having mine painted but they needed too much prep work to paint. It would have been about 225.00 per wheel due to condition and still need new tires at about 800.00 for those.
So the new wheels and tires at 1300 was actually cost effective!