Jaguar XK8

[stevepaa]

Anyone know a bulletin board like Pelican for Jaguar XK8 cars? We want to buy 199-2002 silver or white. thanks

[Steve F]

This is pretty close

http://www.jag-lovers.org/


Cheers,Steve

[The Gaijin]

Man - I love that car. Just a good look. And cheap too.

[stevepaa]

yes, they have a precipitous decline in value after the second year

50k mile car for 15k, MSRP was 75K

[Sunroof]

For me the XK8 represents the next step from the 911 as I near retirement, but don't you know it, all I see here in Atlanta are old geezers or silver haired grannies driving them!! I am just two steps behind them, so not to be too prejudiced here, I would gather these cars are well cared for, low mileage and serviced as necessary. The XK8 is a great buy in Atlanta and indeed it is a beautiful machine. I only know of automatic trannies for this model.

Good luck in your search

[stevepaa]

well, the last child is finishing college and we are looking for an escape car. the 964 is my daily driver, and it is too loud and bumpy for my wife, and we want to take my clubs when we escape on the weekends, and so the XK8 is the ticket.

yes, they are mostly well cared for and be sure to check on that.

[tangerine911S]

I checked out that jag-lovers.org site and it looks decent. I have looked for a jag forum for my dad who has an XKE and will be slowly restoring it starting this winter and I missed that site. Thanks. You can see his car hiding in the back in this photo.

[stevepaa]

looks like a 68 E?



http://www.conceptcarz.com/view/photo/84339,7351,0,0/1968-Jaguar-XKE-E-Type_Photo.aspx

[tangerine911S]

Originally Posted by stevepaa

looks like a 68 E?



http://www.conceptcarz.com/view/photo/84339,7351,0,0/1968-Jaguar-XKE-E-Type_Photo.aspx

'66 It has covered headlights which IMO are much nicer looking than the '68 and later XKE's

[stevepaa]

yes, indeed very nice. good luck to your dad.

[dewolf]

Make sure you buy after mid 2000. Engines built before that had major Nikasil problems.

[stevepaa]

I heard there were problems when owners let them overheat, otherwise okay.

How does one tell a mid 2000 car?

[dewolf]

Originally Posted by stevepaa

I heard there were problems when owners let them overheat, otherwise okay.

How does one tell a mid 2000 car?

Engine numbers

"It is common knowledge within Jaguar that the Nikasil area stopped in September 2000. I hereby also apologize to all the Jaguar people I questioned about this subject, as there is no doubt when they check with the Engine factory. The September 2000 change is also document the service bulletin 491v6, which has also been confirmed as correct by Jaguar.

However as a side note, it can be that during the phase-out (whenever that started), there could have been a mix of engine types. The Nikasil plating was outsourced to Mahle in Germany (well known for the Nikasil plating process, also for producing this for Porsche etc). So there could have been a mix of Nikasil plated engines and Cast iron sleeved engines during the phase-out period.

To be absolutely sure, you need to open up the block, or you can ask Jaguar directly, but you need to double check where they base there info on. Some Journalists/Dealers/Jaguar Importers do not look further than the beginning of the bulletin 491v6, so please check with them if they base there info on this one. Also my dealer and Jaguar importer in Belgium admitted they just based their info on the first part of the Bulletin, from which you could conclude that all new 5 digit vin number cars or MY2000 cars are Nikasil free. They checked with the Factory, and confirmed the September 2000 date, and that my car produced in June 2000 has Nikasil (Also been confirmed by a Jaguar engine engineer).

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by tangerine911S

I checked out that jag-lovers.org site and it looks decent. I have looked for a jag forum for my dad who has an XKE and will be slowly restoring it starting this winter and I missed that site. Thanks. You can see his car hiding in the back in this photo.

that looks like my parent's garage back in the mid-80's, except the Jag was a V-12 roadster they eventually sold, and the 911 is newer and a convertible, and the bug was silver with a black top, still have the two germans

[T77911S]

a friend had one. the cylinders are lined with ceramic. the lining started comeing off and clogged the oil pump. jag put in a new motor, under warrenty.

[stevepaa]

what year was that?

[onewhippedpuppy]

Nikasil was used to line the cylinders on the V8 Jags. Unfortunately, Nikasil reacts with Sulfur in gasoline, which would eat the lining off of the cylinder. The eventual effect is loss of compression, the only fix is engine replacement. BMW also had the same issue with the E34 540. Some states were worse than others, some gas was worse than others. For instance, if you lived in CA (mandated lower sulfur levels earlier than most states) and used Premium (lower sulfur) the engine would probably be fine. My '95 540/6 was a CA car with the original engine, no issues. When the next owner sold it at 170k, it was still going strong.

Here's a great article on the Jag Nikasil issues, it breaks them down by VIN.
http://www.jag-lovers.org/cjw/#0504x

[stevepaa]

don't most porsche 911's have nikasil lined cylinders?

[T77911S]

nice article. i was just going by what he told me about it being ceramic.
i dont know the year, maybe early 2000 or late 90's. it was a VERY nice car though.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by stevepaa

don't most porsche 911's have nikasil lined cylinders?

The older ones, yes. I've seen the question asked as to why BMW and Jaguar had issues, but Porsche didn't. Never seen an answer. Maybe Porsche owners are better about using 91 octane gas?

Personally, I think the late '90s and after Jaguar products are a screaming deal. I saw a '99 XJR with 89k on it for sale in Dallas for $5,999. Very clean car, clean title. That's E39 M5 performance for $6k! I feel claustrophobic in the interior of those cars, if I didn't I would have bought that one.