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So the carpets in mine (beige) were pretty trashed. I'm the 2nd owner, and have owned it since 2001: black exterior, beige inside. Ordered replacements from CarID.com on the internet. I had the choice of front only or front and back, so since I was replacing with black and not the original beige I ordered front and back. It never dawned on me, until I looked at the round half moon shapes CarID sent, that it's possible the rear never had its own carpets since no one was really ever intended to sit there. Since I'm not the original owner, I can't account for what might have been--or why if this car didn't have rear carpets in the first place, CarID markets and sells them as a set of four.
Are you describing carpets, or floor mats? The entire inside floor is covered with carpet, not a bad job to do if you intend to replace it all, comes as one piece with shapes cut appropriately. If you have a new set of floor mats, then you can put them where they belong: I have had 3 XK8's, not the original owner on any of them; one had mats in the rear, the other two didn't. You're right, nobody ever sits in the rears, except a smaller child, and it won't get much use.
Jerry,
Have you (or anyone else) seen a source for the moulded carpet/pads (not the floor mats)? I've had to replace one of mine, but used was the only source I could find and I would have much preferred new to the extensive steam cleaning that did not improve the condition of the old backing.
Talk to Tommy at Auto Interiors & Tops in Raleigh, (919) 821-4425. Been dealing with them since the early 1980s. If he cannot get it, his long-time craftsmen can make it....
Yes, I mean floor mats. If one of yours had them, then they probably all came with them. Which means there should be a pattern for them that CarID could have/should have. What they sent (round!) won't work. Thanks, Jerry.
Jaguar only supplied a pair of FRONT mats (one shown as item 7). The XK8 never had REAR mats from the factory. Although listed as an accessory, most original buyers seem to have either selected them or the dealer has fitted them as a sweetener.
Graham, thanks. Weird, then, that CarID would make and sell front and rear mats for a car that never had rear mats. (Let alone a mat that's totally wrong shaped. I paid $40 extra for those--not happy!) I'd like to have rear mats just to make the front and back match now that I've put in black mats. [sigh]