XK is one of the most reliable Jaguars ever. Early ones had some issues with
suspension bushing flex which caused rapid tire wwear. Most have been
upgraded via factory fix by now. Also, similar to BMW, some 4.0 AJV8s had
cylinder wear issues at relatively low mileage (under 40k) caused by fuel
quality (sulphur).

I have recently bought an XK8 1997 with 40,000 miles on it. I ran an XJS V12
convertible previous on a daily basis. 1st impressions were very favourable,
I like all the gadgetry etc and the power is nice. The power is not Jaguar
like though, anyone who has owned a V12 or old XK engined car knows what it
feels like to bury the throttle.  I had expected a good fuel economy but was
still in mid teens with this car. I have however just completed a round trip
to Newcastle ( 300 miles ) and returned a trip computer average of 30.1mpg.
I did not accelerate hard up to 90, kept it level at 80 - 90 and used engine
braking instead of last minute stuff.

For some reason the engine is a bit rough on startup but give it a minute
and it settles down. Power is very smooth although the traction control
takes some getting used to and I now drive with this off.

Interior is very glamourous and is reasonably well designed, I wish this
cars previous owner had gone for the stereo upgrade, the Alpine is not bad
but getting a bit low on features. It asked me to clean the aerial the other
day!! - this by the way is no joke, it really did

The seats are comfortable and when you find a good position keep it. I have
not studied the memory seats so don't use this. The front seat facings are a
cover that clips around at the back, this works loose very quickly.

I have replaced a wheel bearing, I have an intermittant engine failure light
( I'm sure its something simple otherwise it would be on all the time) and
the rear screen rake can be a pain sometimes but other than that they are
gorgeous.

I paid ?15,000 and when I sell it in 2 years will hopefully get ?10,000

WHAT A CAR

Nick