I recently purchased the car of my dreams - a 1998 Maderia Red, XJ8 VP. For years I had wanted a Jaguar and after a long wait it finally happened. Unfortunately my excitemant was soon diminished when I began reading the Forum postings about the serious timing belt guides and tensioner problems and the Nikosil issues. Now I am wondering if my dream was misdirected. I still believe it is one of the most beautiful cars made but I am upset about the poor engineering and the lack of proper responce to these issues by the Jaguar corporation.

Initially, I was impressed to learn that Ford was not involved with the design of the V8 but now I think Jaguar should have requested lots of assistance. I understand that this type of tensioners and cylinder liners were utilized to reduce weight but I would have thought the parts would have been more thoroughly tested before use.

Apparently nothing can be done about these issues but I had to express my disappointment with the car. There, I feel much better now.
Jim Hooper
Tucson, Arizona
1998 XJ8 VP

Submitted by SE56-39631J-J on Fri, 04/28/2006 - 17:38

gail&a.w.amanns vonore tn. 99xk8 conv. 93 xjr-s coupe don't be discouraged. the nickasil issue is with cars that have been run with high sulphur content fuel which as i understand isn't used in the usa. as far as the timing chain tensioners that probably is a problem asked the local jag chief mechanic about it on our '99xk-8. he said not to worry untill about 50k miles. by the way your local jag dealer can pull a service history on your car with the vin#

Submitted by bonnettoboot@e… on Sat, 04/08/2006 - 16:06

You needn't be to discouraged by the problems, you just need to check and make sure they have been taken care of, see the many posts on this issue in tses forums Jaguar affectionado and etc.

Submitted by rpetrey@mindsp… on Fri, 04/07/2006 - 21:32

Jim,

Last year I purchased a 1999 XJ8L for my wife, the Jag had about 62,700 miles on it. I purchased it from Hennessy Jag in Gwinnett. The XJ had 3 months of the select edition warranty left on it and the dealership offered a two-year extension to the warranty, which I purchased and have not needed. I don't know if the tensioners have been replaced or not but I love the car (when my wife lets me drive it) and would do it again. Just today, I was at the dealership looking for her next XJ and have asked the dealership to call me if they get a 2001 or 2 XK8 coupe. That will be my next car. Both have the same engine and I trust them to work fine as long as I pay attention to odd noises starting and take care of any potential problems.

By the way, my wife only has 69,600 on the Jag now after 14 months and I plan to take it in for the 70,000-mile service. She also gets between 19 and 20 miles to the gallon in local driving. We canÔÇÖt use her car for trips so I donÔÇÖt what kind of highway mileage it would get.

Enjoy your Jag, you will feel like a different person behind the wheel.

Ron Petrey
Lawrenceville, Georgia 30043
XJ8L 1999