Viewing 21 posts - 1 through 21 (of 21 total)
  • Jaguar XK 4.0 – is it a REALLY stupid idea?
  • geoffj
    Full Member

    The mid life car crisis is rearing its ugly head again and I just can’t get the idea of an XK out of my system. There are some lovely examples for less than £5k. Leather, autos, and that amazing 4l v8. Tell me the downsides!

    tomhoward
    Full Member

    If you couldn’t afford to run one when it was new, you can’t afford to run it now. Especially if something goes pop.

    craigxxl
    Free Member

    Don’t be expecting a sports car as it’s more of a soft suspension fast cruiser. Plenty of electricals to go wrong and less than 20mpg can make it an expensive mid life crisis but they do look good.

    ChubbyBlokeInLycra
    Free Member

    mid-life crisismobile? here’s mine

    geoffj
    Full Member

    Don’t be expecting a sports car as it’s more of a soft suspension fast cruiser.

    That works for me. Electrics are a worry though.

    CBIL – never had a bike, but that does look lovely.

    johndoh
    Free Member

    Mid-life crisis? That Ducati is an end-of-life crisis…

    hot_fiat
    Full Member

    That amazing 4l v8 would’ve been much better if a friend of a friend hadn’t mis programmed the dyno and force-stopped the prototype engine turning its delicate flat plane crank into a twisted piece of scrap.

    mikewsmith
    Free Member
    falkirk-mark
    Full Member

    One of the guys I work with has just bought a 09 plate XKR 5,0 supercharged one, he has no kids and lives about 3 miles from work (don’t think it will ever heat up fully). 15 mpg urban if the manufacturer is to be believed.

    P20
    Full Member

    A mate had one a few years ago. He loved it, but hated the cost of servicing and fuel. He reckoned you might get 20mpg, but it was too easy to push into the lower teens

    Capt.Kronos
    Free Member

    I very, very nearly bought an XKR when I worked in IT… back in those days of disposable income and no responsibilities!

    If you can afford it, and it takes your fancy – why the hell not!

    Me… I am probably going to get a Rocket III when my midlife crisis comes along, and then pop a Stage 2 Supercharger on it just to make sure 😉

    mitsumonkey
    Free Member

    How many miles do you do a year?

    My car does 19mpg but I only do 6,500 miles a year so I’m not really fussed about it.

    If you like it and can afford it without finance, buy it.

    geoffj
    Full Member

    I’d do less than 5k per year in it – very tempted. Insurance quote tomorrow 🙂

    carlosg
    Free Member

    I’m not quite ready for the mid life crisis car yet but love the look of the XK too. They look fairly spacious inside and I saw an autotrader ad for one that had an LPG conversion that reportedly returned just over 40mpg. Another five or so of years from now I can see a time when I might start to have a more serious look at them.

    strackbaz
    Free Member

    I brought one in a few years ago as a part exchange. The guy owned it loved it, baby on the way forced the sale. He had just replaced the 4 tyres, I remember him mentioning that it cost him £1200 for Michelins. I was tempted at that time to buy it & run it for a year.

    I’d say go for it, you could run it and if it was draining your bank account, you could flog it. You wouldn’t loose that much in depreciation at that age.

    Inbred456
    Free Member

    That does look very nice. You can’t take it with you and we only get one shot. Go for it and hammer the price down or walk away and look for another one. Plenty about.

    northernmatt
    Full Member

    FIL had one, it was lovely and could go some once your put your foot down.

    Only reason he got rid is because he had an accident in his other car that was classed as at fault so his insurance went through the roof.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    When I have the space and spare cash that is the sort of car I would like to buy for occasional usage besides normal cars.

    nealglover
    Free Member

    The XKR is a much nicer drive than the XK if funds allow. My dad had one for 10 years until last year, did just under 60k miles in it and had no big bills at all, just servicing and tyres (not too bad if you shop around)

    Fantastic car to drive, not great on fuel but that’s hardly a surprise really.

    bikebouy
    Free Member

    One word..

    Pringle 😆

    JonEdwards
    Free Member

    I’ve had a thing for one for ages. The local garage had a late model X100 XKR in last summer, so I took it out for a test drive.

    I was quite underwhelmed, to be honest. The (tiny!)interior didn’t feel very special and the seats didn’t go near low enough, even for my 5’10. Rear seats are truly pointless. My beemer 320d felt much sharper on the handling front and outright acceleration didn’t seem in keeping with 400bhp/400lbft. Ok I’m comparing a normally aspirated petrol lump to a very torqey TDi, but I expected more. The thing that really ruined it for me was the very dopey autobox though. Even in sport mode, it was just SO sluggish. I dislike autos at the best of times, but this was woeful.

    Stuff to look out for:-
    Cam chain tensioners. Mk1 & Mk2 break up and lunch the engine. You MUST have the latest all metal ones.
    Waterpumps were plastic, and can break up, lunching the engine
    Autoboxes need an oil change around the 100k mark. They tend to lunch the ‘box if not done, or not done properly.
    Early ones had Nikasil issues, leading to engine swaps. If it’s lasted this long, its probably not an issue.
    Footwells rust through
    Big heavy car = worn suspension components.

    See this thread (XJR, but same drivetrain etc)

    Despite all that, I still fancy one!!

Viewing 21 posts - 1 through 21 (of 21 total)

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