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Hi Guys, new XK owner here. Picked up this 2000 XKR last week. I currently have an X356 XJ and have had a few X308 XJRs in the past so a lot of this car is already familiar to me (drivetrain-wise anyway). It has 85k miles and while it was garaged it was a bit neglected and has not been driven much in the past 15+ years. In fact it did around 60k of the 86k miles in its first few years and has mostly sat since. I was told the timing set was done a few years back, but going to pull a valve cover anyway to make sure. Unless I have documented proof that it was done I feel its always better to be safe than sorry.
I've always liked the looks of the XK Coupe and wasn't really looking for another car, but somehow couldn't resist. I actually went to look at it a couple weeks back and initially passed on it, but ended up going back a week later and buying it for a decent price. The tires are Pirellis from 2003! so they will be getting replaced before it does any serious driving. I did drive it home around 40 miles and for 20+ year old tires it drove pretty well. As I said earlier, it was garaged so the paint is not faded, but it needs some love. I'll give it a full paint correction and also some paintless dent repair as it has a few minor dings on the doors/fenders. Wheels are going to powdercoating next week and I have a brand new set of Continentals for it. Also needs a passenger side headlight which is already on the way. Other than the cosmetics and some minor maintenance (oil, fluids, filters, and checking on the timing) it should be ready to go for a nice Summer cruiser.
I’ve had my daily driver 2002 XKR coupe for about 6 years and am racking up the mileage as fast as possible. So far it’s at 188,000 .
Drive your car as much as you can and I’m sure you’ll have it sorted out in no time.
Z
That's fantastic to see one at that mileage, these are meant to be driven. That color is fantastic also, don't think I've seen a coupe in the US in that color. I do plan on driving it a good bit. I have a 100 mile round trip commute and this will be driven 2-3 days a week in the summer months.
If you don't mind me asking what (if any) major issues have you had getting up to that mileage? I know the engines are strong once the timing situation is sorted and have always had good luck with the Mercedes 5-speed gearbox.
That's fantastic to see one at that mileage, these are meant to be driven. That color is fantastic also, don't think I've seen a coupe in the US in that color. I do plan on driving it a good bit. I have a 100 mile round trip commute and this will be driven 2-3 days a week in the summer months.
If you don't mind me asking what (if any) major issues have you had getting up to that mileage? I know the engines are strong once the timing situation is sorted and have always had good luck with the Mercedes 5-speed gearbox.
I was just barely smart enough to look for a car with all the known issue addressed already. I found this 2002 XKR about 450 miles away that had just had the chain tensioners replaced as well as the coolant pump. The mileage was 116,000 miles and the sales price ended up being $7,900.
when I drove up to look at it (in the dead of winter with 10” of snow and ice on the ground, I had the owner drive me around a bit. After a few minutes a terrible screeching sound came feom
the engine compartment. To me it just sounded like a belt noise or a fan so I wasn’t scared off. A restart of the engine and the sound disappeared.
the sale was completed and I drove to WalMart and purchased three 40 lb. sand bags and put them in the trunk as the streets and roads were completely iced over and I had 450 miles to drive the beast home. Which was accomplished without incident.
the noise turned out to be a CPU fan that was dying. They cost about $100.
since then the only repairs have been a heater control pump. That’s all in the past 70,000+ miles. Only money spent was for consumables such as battery, tires, oil, filters, and lots of gasoline.
I’ve been on numerous cross country trips driving 500-700 miles a day.
Z
PS: the more you drive the car the less trouble you will have. Letting them sit unused starts all kind of troubles.
PPS get a battery tender and keep it hooked whenever the car will sit overnight or longer. You will avoid many gremlins that way
Love those Double Fives. What a great looking car...you too zray.
your story sounds somewhat similar to my story except none of the upgrades had been done. Car was driven in Fl for the first twelve years then sat in Rochester, NY another twelve and added 45 miles per Title docs. I got it w/less than 49k on it....original tires too!
I've put a few thousand miles on it so far, but it has rained every day, torrentially a few times, for almost a week...but that hasn't stopped me.
Interesting, you recommend hooking it up every night even if driven daily?
absolutely.
the wiring and circuits in these cars are double past the expected lifespan .
increased resistance is everywhere. You need a good battery tender to deal with that. The charging system will not maintain a battery at 100%, a good battery tender will.
I’m using a NOCO Genius 5 now, but have used the Delran Battery Tender + in the past . Both are good products, with the NOCO more sophisticated. Many here use the CTEK line and love them.
Agreed, I use tenders on everything. Even my riding lawn mower sits on a tender and it still has the original battery from 2013! I have a few cars that sit a lot and its nice to not have to replace batteries every few years due to them constantly being drained/brought back to life. I think the battery in my 87 GN is nearly 20 years old at this point, still fires right up after being hooked up to a tender at all times.
So after driving the car daily all week and probably 13 out of the last 16 I hooked up my Ctek tender and it went straight to bulk. And this was within ten minutes of getting home after a thirty minute drive...with a circa 2023 battery. Bulk level is needed until charge hits 80%.....so my battery was "down" at least 20%....after a roughly 100 mile day. Went to absorb about an hour and a half later. Fascinating.
So after driving the car daily all week and probably 13 out of the last 16 I hooked up my Ctek tender and it went straight to bulk. And this was within ten minutes of getting home after a thirty minute drive...with a circa 2023 battery. Bulk level is needed until charge hits 80%.....so my battery was "down" at least 20%....after a roughly 100 mile day. Went to absorb about an hour and a half later. Fascinating.
Had some time to correct the paint over this past weekend. It was in a pretty sad state, but came out very nice. There are a few dings that need sorted using paintless dent, I'll get to that soon. Took the wheels off yesterday and sent them to be refinished along with new tires. While they're away I removed the front shocks to swap the top mounts & lower bushings (car was sitting a bit low up front) and will also replace the rear lower bushings - seems every Jag I've ever owned needs the lower shock bushings replaced.
Hope to have it back on the road within a week or so, can't wait to put some miles on it. Drove so well with 20+ year old tires and worn out shock mounts/bushings, can't wait to feel what it rides like when its done.
Thanks Quadcammer. How's your XJR holding up? I have a slight feeling I'll be in a similar situation as you when you first got your car. I was told the timing system was updated, but have no proof and I doubt it...I accounted for that in what I paid for it, but will be interesting to see once I pull a valve cover. Not the end of the world if they're original, just glad I kept my timing tools.
Thanks Quadcammer. How's your XJR holding up? I have a slight feeling I'll be in a similar situation as you when you first got your car. I was told the timing system was updated, but have no proof and I doubt it...I accounted for that in what I paid for it, but will be interesting to see once I pull a valve cover. Not the end of the world if they're original, just glad I kept my timing tools.
xjr has been good. 100% reliable for the past 6 months or so and just driving it. Hopefully yours have been done, but if its just uppers the zip tie method is a breeze.
now you got me looking at XKRs and a beautiful one is on ebay near me.....
xjr has been good. 100% reliable for the past 6 months or so and just driving it. Hopefully yours have been done, but if its just uppers the zip tie method is a breeze.
now you got me looking at XKRs and a beautiful one is on ebay near me.....
Glad to hear the car has been good! I typically unbolt the sprocket and use the timing tools I have, never did the zip tie method but that works as well.
I wasn't looking for another car but this one was for sale locally and got a decent price so figured why not. To be honest I like it a lot when compared to my previous x308 XJRs, different kind of car. I saw that one come up for sale recently and it looks pretty nice, good year for the XKR as well. With all of the work I'm doing to this car I probably should have just thought about it more and bought a nicer car to start but it's fine, car will be nice when its done. It was a pretty impulsive purchase on my part, after driving it I guess I just had to have it.
Finally have the XKR back on the road after some much needed repairs and it is driving absolutely fantastic. I definitely understand the idea of a 'Grand Touring Car' now, it just eats up the miles effortlessly.
I ended up replacing the front upper shock mounts, front & rear lower shock bushings, front & rear sway bar links, rear diff fluid, fuel filter, air filter, and a few other things I've probably forgotten. Also did a few other little jobs such as adjusting the shifter cable, greasing the rear half shafts, polishing the dash wood & chrome gauge bezels, re-dying the driver side leather seat, brand new tires and powder coated wheels. Also replaced the passenger side headlight with a nice used unit. Only job left is to have my paintless dent guy remove what's left of the door/fender dings and it will be a very nice driver.
05-15-2024, 10:24 AM
New XK Owner
