I see a Pantera in your photo,I had a 74 from 1977 to 1988 and put 90000 miles on it and about as much on tickets,Hot car!

 

$16K for the 2003? I regularly see them on Craigslist in the $13K range. I bought my 2003 for $13K over a year ago. I think the 03 you're looking at is over-priced, and if it was being sold for it's true market value would be the best deal.

 

At what mileage and why that doesn't seem to mean a lot to many of you I don't understand. At around 100,000, generally speaking, it is not uncommon in any car, let alone this one; for a transmission to be required and other fixes. A car today at 70k in 5-years will be over 100,000. A car today at 30,000 will be 65,000 in 5-years (assuming I drive 7k per year).

I just did a search of North Caroline, where you are located and this is what I see one 2003 XK8 Convertibles.

2003 JAGUAR XK8, Black - $15950 (69,019 miles)

He started at 16,500, came down to 15,950. Is the real sale price 15.9, 15.5, 15; I don't know but again we are again comparing a 70k car to a 30k mile car

Repair costs obviously vary by location but replacing a transmission, as an example, is not cheap. From what I'm told it is in the area of $3,500 for the pre-2003 and twice that cost, or $7,000 for a 2003 and later. I am not a mechanic or have any friends who are mechanics.

Thoughts? Thank you for your input.

 

Well I bought my 2002 (built May, 2002) 15 months ago with 70K on it. I've put 8k on it with no repairs, just normal maint. I paid $12,750 for the coupe. I love mine. If you like the 2002 go for it.

 

Thanks guys.

This shouldn't be so difficult but the used car world is new to me and I'm a bit in a time capsule since the last time I bought cars was 1993.

 

for some reason, in the summer, these xks fetch a little higher premium in the used market...if you can wait until fall/winter, you'll have more bargaining power and definitely more selection to choose from.

BTW, I'm on 130,000 miles on my 03, had the transmission serviced at 75,000, plan on doing it again in the next 5k or so, and it runs as good as it did when I bought it 4 years ago at 45,000 miles, gets 22 mpg average too (city/highway mixed)

Sure, i've had my share of maintenance...suspension, vacuum lines, coolant/heater hoses, power steering line, but I expected that at the century mark.

 

Always loved the look of the Pantera, and I still think it's contemporary looking today. Horrible build quality but beautiful body. It's taken me the last five years of owning it, getting it decently sorted out so that I'm not afraid to drive it more than a few miles. (Something always broke) I've actually taken several trips of two or three hour durations this year for the first time, and I get out on the track with a friend a couple of times a year where we switch cars during the weekend. (He has a 6 speed S5 Audi, absolutely the finest car I have ever driven including the Audi R8). But that "music" that comes out of that growling Pantera is simply intoxicating, no need for a radio.

 

If you do regular maintenance on the gearbox it won't have to be replaced as soon as you seem to think. The ones that fail are the ones that follow Jaguar service recommendations, that is no service needed as it's sealed for life.

If you ignore that last part and change transmission fluid, the gearbox seems to last as long as most others. At what intervals? Not sure really, other ppl here have better info on that part

I have a -98 XKR that I've had for a year now. It had done about 61000 miles when I bought it. The first thing I did was to hand it over to a good independent Jaguar service shop and had them check tensioners, water pump, do a regular service and a change of transmission fluid. That's something they do on a regular basis on these cars and it doesn't cost very much either.

When it comes to the styling, I'm one of the few (it seems) that like the original styling with less chrome trim. But I like coupés better than convertibles as well, which seems to be a not so common taste on this forum

So my ideal XKR would be an early coupé with the 4.2 engine. And I've also heard (rumours, no solid facts) that the 5-speed is a bit more solid than the 6-speed so I'd keep that one as well

Another deciding factor when buying an XK on a budget is to look at the spare part prices. The later models can have more expensive parts, brake parts for example are ridiculously cheap for my -98, while a later XKR with Brembos require way more expensive parts. I'm guessing this can be appplied to other spare parts as well. Look around

 

Thanks BeO

The Jag mechanic I took the 2002 to for inspection also said he prefers the 5-speed and suggested the same pro-active approach with changing the transmission fluid. I think he said about every 35,000 miles.

The additional expense of the parts in the later models is also a consideration I'm aware of. If the price wasn't so high on the 2002 it would be a no-brainer but going for it anyway. UP front it feels like too much but over time I think I'll feel I made the right decision, but I put a lot more stock in lower miles than most here appear to.

Cheers.

 

Just to clarify BeO's statement, when he refers to the '5-speed transmission being solid', he is referring to the Mercedes tranny that is in the pre-2003 XKRs. The 5-speed ZF that is in the 97-2002 XK8s do have a weak a-drum...lots of examples of that around these forums. The 6-speed ZF in the 2003's and up (XK8 and XKRs) are super dependable with good maintenance.

 

Ah thanx, forgot the XK8 had a different tranny my mistake!

 

I just want to post a sincere thank you for all the replies and advice on this thread.

While there are always exceptions based upon things mentioned here; (personal preference, care of auto, mileage & price) I am generally finding folks way over valuing the pre-2003 models. This is probably true due to what h20boy said; it is summer here in the USA and inventory is lower while emotions are higher. Generally speaking, I am not finding those selling the pre-2003's to understand how significant the changes were that began in 2003 or do they understand that while the tension is improved, it still is not metal and will require replacement as will the transmission. I'm not putting the pre-2003 models down at all; just saying I've been unable to find a genuinely reasonable deal yet, all things considered.

Unless the properly priced and cared for pre-2003 appears I will limit my focus on the 2003 to 2005 models for many of the reasons some here have given.

Fortunately age has granted me more patience than I once had.

Cheers

 

IMHO you are making the wise choice. I was always of the opinion that enough changes were made in 03 to consider them different cars than the first generation. Good luck!

 

I wouldn't turn down a good deal on an 01 or 02 XKR however, unless you want a little better gas mileage in the N/A version. Tensioners (if needed), water pump and that t-stat housing changed and bam...good car go fast.

Being patient will pay off...just need it to cool down a bit and let the used market swell with convertibles.

 

I bought a 2000 XK8 convertible from a dealer in the Hampton s with 49k for 12k delivered to S Dak. Since all cars prior to 2005 have plastic tensioners I figured I would have to change them anyway. I prefer the 2000 and older front seats with built in headrests. The car is in excellent shape with what appears to be new leather seats but still has original paint, I think. I have only driver the car 100 miles due to weather but I noticed it does have an aluminum water pump housing. Has this been replaced? Did they come with plastic housing? I bought primary and secondary cam chains and tensioners and plan to change them this fall. No way to tell if they have already been changed other than disassembly. Car fax shows routine service in spring and fall but nothing major. Have specialized tools and will investigate this fall. No problems so far.

 

I bought my fourth jag (my current 97 XK8) in November. Near perfect exterior, near perfect interior, 56K on the clock with all service performed at the dealer -- for $6,000. New Continental DWS. New battery. I don't know about the tensioners or other usual suspects. I drive it everyday. The car was only listed at $6,500 and there seemed to be quite a few for sale at around that price. In other words, it wasn't like I was getting an exceptional deal.


My thinking is that the cars look identical to most people and that an older -- and much cheaper -- XK8 was for me a better deal. The nikasil [sic] issue is not as meaningful and the tensioners -- even is still original -- have lasted for almost 20 years. My $0.02.


Anyway, good luck in whatever you decide to buy.

 

You guys brought up a 3 1/2 year old thread. a lot has changed in 3 1/2 years especially prices.
Dennis I wouldn't worry about your primary tensioners. It's the secondary that will go and I wouldn't drive your car until you pull the valve covers off and check them. A simple procedure pretty well documented. I would guess since the water pump housing been replaced that the tensioners were probably addressed.
Malbrad check your tensioners also. It's alot cheaper that replacing your engine.

 

Don't be discouraged at the slim selection of 03-04 cars that you see for sale right now. 2003 was the major redisign year with huge improvements over previous years. In 04 they added some more of the right flare to the body making these the pinacle years for the XK8 XKR. Styling is up, reliability is up, performance is up. It's evident that people that own them are happy with them by the ratio of cars of different years for sale. I did a search recently with Oodle maketplace and found the ratio or 01/02 cars to 03/04 cars to be 5 to 1. There is a reason.

I was searching for another car for a good six months over the winter of 2014. In April the right car finally popped up, an 04 XKR with every possible option with 14K miles. I called the owner and we talked for about an hour, drove 250 miles the next day to look at it. I never bothered to start the car, handed him full market price, and have been happy ever since with my decision to percevere and wait for the right car.

No question.. my vote is 03.

Your going to find when mid May rolls around that the selection of cars will be way up from what you see now. Most people in the north store their cars for the winter months. Who's going to come an buy an XK when it's -5 degrees with 2 feet of snow a day?

You'll have a smile on your face when it's all said and done.




In retrospect the arier years are nice cars but it would be real easy to put $15k into sorting one with high milage and low maintenance.

 

As the MY is older you may find more, it was simply due to a reduction of sales yr to yr in the us. There were half as many 03 as there were 00 imported.

 

I purchased my '99 in '02 and have fixed virtually every problem discussed on the forum over the years. Early on I thought the people having these problems were unfortunate - what I have experienced is that ALL of them happen eventually. 900 improvements, however minor, over the '02 is not to be taken lightly - you can put a lot of miles on these cars if they are maintained and not already prone to failure.