1998 Jaguar XJ8 XJ-8 from North America - Comments

I own a 1998 XJ8L I purchased off lease as a "certified" Select Edition used car in 2000 with 12,000 miles on it. It now has 91,000 miles, and I have enjoyed owning, driving, and just looking at it for the last decade. It is truly an elegant car that handles magnificently.

I have had some of the problems mentioned above, but not all, and with the exception of some electronics issues, I do not consider them abnormal.

I have replaced the pump and hoses at about 75K miles/9 yrs. old, and that should be expected on any car -- luxury or not.

I have replaced from front bearings at about 85K/10 yrs., and that does not seem abnormal either.

I had to do a complete do-over on the car's electronics at about 65K/7 yrs. -- at a cost of near $3K -- and that was both unexpected and costly.

Also, the very expensive "Z"-rated tires (front only) wear out in about 25K miles, requiring replacement more frequently than I believe is appropriate. I have not had the acceleration, tensioner (but it's about time for that), or transmission problems mentioned by several in this forum, but it makes me wonder.

Please note that I have had the scheduled 1yr/10K mile maintenance done religiously -- and this sometimes turns up problems, but none out of the ordinary. (Most recently, I had the gaskets replaced on the engine -- after 11 years.)

After about two years of maintaining this at area Jaguar dealers, I have switched to having all the maintenance & repairs done at independent repair shops. The only thing they can't handle is the electronics because they don't have the proprietary diagnostic equipment. I quickly found that the Jaguar dealers were extremely expensive, had no sense of scheduling, and were unreliable. (The computer repairs mentioned above required a do-over before I could get home from the Jaguar dealer after they said the repairs had been made.) I found one good Jaguar repair shop while I was traveling cross-county once, but the horrendous reputation of Jaguar's repair shops has been well-earned in my view.

I have been thinking about making some cosmetic repairs to the car (several thousand dollars worth of painting, replacing windshield, and some lower body front-end work -- constantly hitting the curb), but now you've got me worried that they may only be the beginning of repairs I may need to make. Part of the reason for doing this is that I don't like most of the new or late model used luxury cars and I expect auto technology will change dramatically in the next 5 years as we move to more fuel-efficient cars.

Would welcome your further thoughts on whether renewing or trading in this car that I do love would make the most sense.

I own a 1999 XJ8. I have read through a a large handful of comments here. I like the post before mine as it does seem to be realistic.

I purchased my XJ8 privately with 65000 miles on it. It was a one owner car that was very well looked after (so I thought). I quickly put 20000 miles on the car and heard a very loud squeal coming from the engine compartment. I honestly thought it was the belt and I quickly replaced it. (local autozone or advanced carries the belt)

The new belt flew off in pieces after about 100 miles of driving. (Kind of strange). Bought a new belt and it lasted a mere 300 miles.

Cam covers were leaking now onto the exhaust manifolds and smoking in an embarrassing way. Car still squealed until engine was warm even after installing new belts (4 belts now)

Replaced cam cover gaskets and found chunks of plastic stuck in the front engine timing cover. These turned out to be pieces from the cam chain tensioners. WOW!!! Bought all new parts for the timing setup and installed with the help of a friend. Fairly easy job, just need the right tools which make the job very easy. (tools are about $300.00)

Got it all back together, and the belt would jump off the pulleys. Mind you I had already replaced the tensioner and the idler pulley with the newest stuff (Metal not plastic) water pump is new (metal pump not plastic) and I have gone through some real hardships trying to figure out why the belt keeps falling off or self destructing.

Finally I found that the Crank shaft pulley had been worn out severely. The rubber in between the metal rings came UN seated. I was lucky enough to find a used one on E-bay with 22000 miles for $50.00. They cost upwards of 700.00 new, and then good luck finding one. Belt throwing problem solved.

I have a vibration in the front end of mine also and it starts shaking at about 50 MPH. Sometimes it goes away and sometimes it is unbearable. Probably bearings like mentioned above.

I guess what I am doing is agreeing with the post before mine. Any and all machinery is going to break, fail and cause you a head ache once in a while. Does it suck, Yes! that's life. Some folks who are experiencing stalling problems, I feel for you. This is a defect which the company should have taken care of with open arms.

Most of the other problems come after the warranty expires. If you have problems before the warranty expires, the dealership should handle it with the utmost professionalism, and care. They should also ensure that they have top notch mechanics who do not guess at the problem like most doctors do. They need folks who know how to trouble shoot, and people rely way to much on machines to trouble shoot for them. There is not a lot you can do about this because that is how our new mechanics are being brought up. Connect a machine to it and don't use your head. Just be stupid and don't think.

I like to do my own trouble shooting. I work on all of my own equipment. I hate with a passion to take anything I own to someone else for repairs, because they do not care about your property like you do.

Remember this. If it is mechanical it will break, period. I don't care if you own a YUGO or a Rolls Royce, it will break, and every mechanical item on this planet has its own unique set of idiosyncrasies.

Thanks.