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Fancy a JAAAAAAG - advice please


Will370z

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A friend of mine at work is very keen to get hold of an old Jag XK8. His budget is around £3k and there do seem to be cars around at that price range.

 

I know a number of people on here have owned these cars, is there a list of things to watch out for / risks? If so it would be good to know to help him out.

 

Anyone know of any such Jags around at the moment that fit the bill?

 

He is tempted to go look at this one at present.

 

 

http://www.ebay.co.u...ZAAAOSwYmZXDiYJ

 

Any advice you guys could pass on would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Will

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At that price I would be concerned about a number of things:

 

- engine - Early models - engine liners (they were changed after a certain engine number - info easily available). All models - have tensioners been replaced (can be subject to catastrophic failures of old "plastic tensioners", also check for guide wear and early type water pumps - loss of coolant must be investigated

- rust - there would be the obvious but particularly in front sub frame rear mounting points and rear suspension mountings - also check the rear of the inside of rear wings - check in boot on inside corners - also around floor pan

- worn suspension - everything - they are heavy cars - but particularly shock bushes - rear shocks themselves - check for "skipping" when hitting bumps or cornering

- steering rack - check for wayward feeling

- gearboxes which were supposed to have been filled for life often start to develop issues when they hit 80k and over - this can often be solved by getting a specialist to power flush and replace filter - check codes etc - e.g. Dartford Transmissions

- be particularly wary of an EML which is anything to do with Network CAN controller or similar - this can be a particularly difficult fix (symptoms are loss of gauges, gearbox locked)

- a bit like 350Z they don't like anything but a perfect battery. A less than perfect one can throw up all sorts of "phantom" issues which, upon replacement, can just go away

 

There are some good buyers guides (books) and loads of information on the XKEC forum.

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I'll see if I can get Mr Biscuit to tear himself away from the twins and give some input. I'm no expert on the old ones myself.

 

Very good idea. He would be able to add a lot of additional info in view of his experience. I haven't had to do too much to mine but then I paid a lot more than £3k for it. I'm not that brave!

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Great cars, massive money pit if you plan to own long term. At that price I would be buying and running till something expensive happens and then scrap it. Neil covered all the major issues. Nikasil linings shouldn't be an issue now. If it was going to go pop it would have. Gear box and tensioners are your biggest running gear issues. Factor in £900 to do the tensioners minimum and £400 to do the gearbox from memory. Rust will be your biggest enemy and its not the rust you can see that's the biggest worry. Have a chat with tony over at paragon design uk. He knows the worst tust spots as he rebuilds them but at the age and mileage they are starting to rust through in places like the footwells, subframe etc. All can be repaired but it depends on how deep your pockets are and how much you want to spend.

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Great cars, massive money pit if you plan to own long term. At that price I would be buying and running till something expensive happens and then scrap it. Neil covered all the major issues. Nikasil linings shouldn't be an issue now. If it was going to go pop it would have. Gear box and tensioners are your biggest running gear issues. Factor in £900 to do the tensioners minimum and £400 to do the gearbox from memory. Rust will be your biggest enemy and its not the rust you can see that's the biggest worry. Have a chat with tony over at paragon design uk. He knows the worst tust spots as he rebuilds them but at the age and mileage they are starting to rust through in places like the footwells, subframe etc. All can be repaired but it depends on how deep your pockets are and how much you want to spend.

 

Yes £400 for gearbox service including filter/sump, power flush, correct Castrol oil etc

Edited by NeilMH
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