Jaguar XF SV8 - Supercharged V8 - Brave Pill
Discussion
Back at the start of July 2020 as a long term lurker on the £1k to £5k barge thread someone pointed out a slightly above thread Jaguar XF SV8. It didn't seem to find much traction or love, but I expressed that I quite fancied it. A PM to a connected threadist gave reassuring details of the only real identified issue for these engines to have.
With a holiday coming up and not looking to mess the vendor about, I parked any plans to purchase it. Then some how last week I was reminded of the SV8 by this Pistonheads article Jaguar XF SV8 - The Brave Pill
With multi cylinder v8s and v12s going the way of the dodo, and a future big birthday coming up in a year, will a Supercharged V8 even be an option, it certainly wasn't an option when clicking up 20k miles a year.
With a bit of man maths involving: no commuting, reduced 280 mile visits to FIL and new car depreciation easily being the equal of a SV8 maintenance fund; an offer was made sight unseen, as is the way of the £1k to £5k barge thread.
To be continued (saving this before I lose it)
With a holiday coming up and not looking to mess the vendor about, I parked any plans to purchase it. Then some how last week I was reminded of the SV8 by this Pistonheads article Jaguar XF SV8 - The Brave Pill
With multi cylinder v8s and v12s going the way of the dodo, and a future big birthday coming up in a year, will a Supercharged V8 even be an option, it certainly wasn't an option when clicking up 20k miles a year.
With a bit of man maths involving: no commuting, reduced 280 mile visits to FIL and new car depreciation easily being the equal of a SV8 maintenance fund; an offer was made sight unseen, as is the way of the £1k to £5k barge thread.
To be continued (saving this before I lose it)
Having started this on the £1k to £5k Smoker Barge thread, I thought I'd lift it entirely with a few additions where appropriate:
Having lurked on the barge thread for many, many years I took a trip to collect a Jaguar XF SV8 ( sight unseen in the spirit of so many fellow threadists) from Harpenden.
Oh my goodness this car is comically fast, the owner give me a comprehensive 90 odd minute introduction into this Supercharged V8. The traction control was in heavy action on the rainy test drive. What a thoroughly nice chap and given the setup of his business I'm happy enough it has seen plenty of maintenance during its tenure with him. A genuine Jaguar enthusiast, with an XKR and plenty more, gave me good vibes. I've got a fair amount of service history, but none of the early history or handbook, which is a bit of a let down, but not the end of the world.
So here is the all important petrol station shot:
With a quick fillup to the brim:
While I know trip computers are a bit inaccurate I was reading 30.8 mpg average for a good while, each squeeze of the throttle reduced the average mpg by about 1 mpg, so, so throughly addictive.
27mpg on a cruise where a car is wearing 20" bin lids for wheels and is so comfortable is plenty good enough for me.
A couple of trips today to a plumbers merchants and to collect a chinese takeaway at 15mpg suggest I should stop looking at the mpg and accept it for what it is. I also had a low battery warning, which wasn't very reassuring, although it isn't that surprising given the lack of mileage in the last few months. It looks like charging it without disconnecting it, is discouraged and the nature of smart charging alternators may not see it get much input as it is driven. If I can find a 9v battery I'll get the multi-meter out to check the battery. I'm researching a solar powered trickle charger as I can't be doing with trying to fix parasitic loses having the battery in the boot might be a real positive.
My only difficulty now is going to collect the old car as I really wanted to take the XF there and then. If I give my wife a go in the XF going down I'm hoping she will drive the banger back home, although I suspect she will want to take her Alfa GT for a run and make me drive the banger home.
Having lurked on the barge thread for many, many years I took a trip to collect a Jaguar XF SV8 ( sight unseen in the spirit of so many fellow threadists) from Harpenden.
Oh my goodness this car is comically fast, the owner give me a comprehensive 90 odd minute introduction into this Supercharged V8. The traction control was in heavy action on the rainy test drive. What a thoroughly nice chap and given the setup of his business I'm happy enough it has seen plenty of maintenance during its tenure with him. A genuine Jaguar enthusiast, with an XKR and plenty more, gave me good vibes. I've got a fair amount of service history, but none of the early history or handbook, which is a bit of a let down, but not the end of the world.
So here is the all important petrol station shot:
With a quick fillup to the brim:
While I know trip computers are a bit inaccurate I was reading 30.8 mpg average for a good while, each squeeze of the throttle reduced the average mpg by about 1 mpg, so, so throughly addictive.
27mpg on a cruise where a car is wearing 20" bin lids for wheels and is so comfortable is plenty good enough for me.
A couple of trips today to a plumbers merchants and to collect a chinese takeaway at 15mpg suggest I should stop looking at the mpg and accept it for what it is. I also had a low battery warning, which wasn't very reassuring, although it isn't that surprising given the lack of mileage in the last few months. It looks like charging it without disconnecting it, is discouraged and the nature of smart charging alternators may not see it get much input as it is driven. If I can find a 9v battery I'll get the multi-meter out to check the battery. I'm researching a solar powered trickle charger as I can't be doing with trying to fix parasitic loses having the battery in the boot might be a real positive.
My only difficulty now is going to collect the old car as I really wanted to take the XF there and then. If I give my wife a go in the XF going down I'm hoping she will drive the banger back home, although I suspect she will want to take her Alfa GT for a run and make me drive the banger home.
Well nearly 800 miles from purchase and I'm really enjoying to the comfort of the XF SV8 and the ability to actually overtake safely. I really think I've got a good car, the only real worry I have is the lack of a recent gearbox service, even though it is working fine. So to allay my fears and to work on the principle of prevention being better than cure, I have been over to C.F.S. Motors in Corley, near Coventry, to have a chat about a gearbox service on the ZF 6HP26 gearbox.
I went over to get the lay of the land and there are nothing but Jaguars in for servicing which is a good sign. After a chinwag on my purchase, they went on to ask really relevant questions on whether the car has been chipped or not, or had gearbox altered in anyway, discussed the cost of the service, that addition of the latest software updates would happen and the use of many litres of gearbox oil, including wasting some getting the 5 litres of oil changed within the gearbox itself, the change of filter etc. I have arranged to drop the car over next week for the Gearbox service. I've read up extensively on the gearbox service and the fact they want it dropped over to them the night before to get the gearbox temperature below 40C before working on it, seems to bode well and confirm that the garage recommendation from a good friend is worth heeding.
It might just be paranoia on my part, but there might be slight rumble of a wheel bearing; that might just be the 20" wheels and because the car is so quiet, but I've asked them to give the car a once over for anything that might need attention, as I this is a long termer for me.
The only other issue that I can see to keep on top of is maintaining a good battery, as this seems to be the main cause of any electrical gremlins, I've a mind to get a CTEK battery conditioner wired in, but I'll discuss battery charging with those in the know.
The average long term fuel consumption on the trip computer is 20.2 mpg, school and college runs are the culprit or that's what I tell myself anyway :-)
I went over to get the lay of the land and there are nothing but Jaguars in for servicing which is a good sign. After a chinwag on my purchase, they went on to ask really relevant questions on whether the car has been chipped or not, or had gearbox altered in anyway, discussed the cost of the service, that addition of the latest software updates would happen and the use of many litres of gearbox oil, including wasting some getting the 5 litres of oil changed within the gearbox itself, the change of filter etc. I have arranged to drop the car over next week for the Gearbox service. I've read up extensively on the gearbox service and the fact they want it dropped over to them the night before to get the gearbox temperature below 40C before working on it, seems to bode well and confirm that the garage recommendation from a good friend is worth heeding.
It might just be paranoia on my part, but there might be slight rumble of a wheel bearing; that might just be the 20" wheels and because the car is so quiet, but I've asked them to give the car a once over for anything that might need attention, as I this is a long termer for me.
The only other issue that I can see to keep on top of is maintaining a good battery, as this seems to be the main cause of any electrical gremlins, I've a mind to get a CTEK battery conditioner wired in, but I'll discuss battery charging with those in the know.
The average long term fuel consumption on the trip computer is 20.2 mpg, school and college runs are the culprit or that's what I tell myself anyway :-)
There was mention of £300, a new pan filter on gearbox and lots of litres of expensive ATF of the correct grade and ensuring fluid within the transmission also gets changed, by effectively wasting the new AFT.
Being fairly local, not needing a lift or a courtesy car to waft around in, being a likely new long term customer, access to the correct ATF at a good price and being flexible with my timescales probably has some bearing on that price, I'd have thought. I'd be worried if it was much cheaper. I have seen mention of it being up to £500 on other Jaguar forums, which at that price would have been a heavy hit, but something I'd want to do to maintain reliability.
Being fairly local, not needing a lift or a courtesy car to waft around in, being a likely new long term customer, access to the correct ATF at a good price and being flexible with my timescales probably has some bearing on that price, I'd have thought. I'd be worried if it was much cheaper. I have seen mention of it being up to £500 on other Jaguar forums, which at that price would have been a heavy hit, but something I'd want to do to maintain reliability.
r44flyer said:
If the gearbox feels fine it's unlikely it needs a fluid change. If it feels lazy between changes or kicks from low speed when slowing and then going back on the power then it needs one. A good preventative measure but it's unlikely to cause any harm waiting for it to feel like it needs doing, if you don't want to spend the money just now. 300 is cheap, 500 is the going rate for a proper job. At 300 I would want to know precisely what fluid is being used. There are lots of alternatives, official Lifeguard 6 is eyewateringly expensive but there are cheaper ones of identical spec that will do, but others that very specifically will not!
These guys only work on Jaguar's and knew exactly what I wanted, given their setup in the middle of nowhere I'm happy to use them, but I'll jen up on the ATF for this and ask them.On a different note, after a days annual leave to take advantage of the weather, I took a 7ft wardrobe to the tip using the very useful fold down back seats and this evening did a bit of a T-Cut and Polish.
Not too shabby, but it could do with a machine polish, which I wouldn't be comfortable doing myself. I could do with my brother's 34 years of experience in this field, not that he is allowed with Covid restrictions in our area.
Better picture after the polish last week, the other one was too compressed:
Just left the motor in for a gearbox service and diff oil change today to be done in the morning. Talked to my petrolhead mate (E63 estate and Corvette C6) as he was doing a bit of maintenance on his E63 during the week, and he recommended that I should change the oil in the Diff as it is unlikely to have been changed.
Apparently people don't change diff oil much, but given I want this to last a few years,prevention is better than cure to me; besides someday when I go to sell my XF SV8, they are probably going to come across this thread and like the person I bought the car from, they'll have confidence that maintenance has not been skimped on.
On a negative note, the dreaded engine management light came on this morning, so that will be investigated as well, still driving well, but not something you want to leave or ignore. The battery might be a bit depleted after not being used a lot over the lockdown, so I've asked for that to be investigated (last battery change was 4 years ago and I know these cars are super sensitive to low batteries) and I've asked for a health check on anything that might need future replacement.
Just left the motor in for a gearbox service and diff oil change today to be done in the morning. Talked to my petrolhead mate (E63 estate and Corvette C6) as he was doing a bit of maintenance on his E63 during the week, and he recommended that I should change the oil in the Diff as it is unlikely to have been changed.
Apparently people don't change diff oil much, but given I want this to last a few years,prevention is better than cure to me; besides someday when I go to sell my XF SV8, they are probably going to come across this thread and like the person I bought the car from, they'll have confidence that maintenance has not been skimped on.
On a negative note, the dreaded engine management light came on this morning, so that will be investigated as well, still driving well, but not something you want to leave or ignore. The battery might be a bit depleted after not being used a lot over the lockdown, so I've asked for that to be investigated (last battery change was 4 years ago and I know these cars are super sensitive to low batteries) and I've asked for a health check on anything that might need future replacement.
Edited by thepeoplespal on Thursday 24th September 18:35
Garage said it was the head unit not communicating with the rest of the car and nothing to worry about. Unfortunately I do worry.
Have noticed the battery voltage is down to11.9volts just before startup on my bluetooth charger gizmo, so knowing the battery is 5 odd years old according to paperwork I've invested in a new battery that's on charge as we speak.
In order to change the battery I've also invested in a iCarsoft CRV2.0 OBDii diagnostic tool, this is needed to reset the Battery Management system, which switches off any draining of the battery once it gets to 12.2v. This requires a fully charged new battery, rather than just bunging it on.
Would all have been done last week, but my normal garage I've been using for 18 odd years has been taken over by the son who took the hump and accused me of disrespecting his garage on Facebook. Apparently my wife recommending another garage to someone wanting specific criteria of getting a lift is 'dissing' these days. He was like a 5 year old not being friends with someone because they have another friend. Guess who isn't going to be using that garage again? Talk about 'cutting your nose off to spite your face', imagine saying they don't have the relevant software to reset a Jaguar's Battery Management System, Ive known the mechanic 18 years and I know he can do pretty much anything.
I've a busy few days ahead so will catch up later in the week.
Have noticed the battery voltage is down to11.9volts just before startup on my bluetooth charger gizmo, so knowing the battery is 5 odd years old according to paperwork I've invested in a new battery that's on charge as we speak.
In order to change the battery I've also invested in a iCarsoft CRV2.0 OBDii diagnostic tool, this is needed to reset the Battery Management system, which switches off any draining of the battery once it gets to 12.2v. This requires a fully charged new battery, rather than just bunging it on.
Would all have been done last week, but my normal garage I've been using for 18 odd years has been taken over by the son who took the hump and accused me of disrespecting his garage on Facebook. Apparently my wife recommending another garage to someone wanting specific criteria of getting a lift is 'dissing' these days. He was like a 5 year old not being friends with someone because they have another friend. Guess who isn't going to be using that garage again? Talk about 'cutting your nose off to spite your face', imagine saying they don't have the relevant software to reset a Jaguar's Battery Management System, Ive known the mechanic 18 years and I know he can do pretty much anything.
I've a busy few days ahead so will catch up later in the week.
Ooops - time flies. Got the battery in and reset the Battery Management System using the OBD reader.
I did however get the engine management light on again and on using the OBD reader it said that it was "lean on Bank 1", went back to "the man" and mentioned the OBD reader readings, they plugged in their "Snap On" system and there was mention of vacuum leak as the cause, sure enough they opened the engine cover and listened and diagnosed a leak. A quick cut of the rubber hose and it being reseated later, along with a reset of the codes and everything looks to be working again.
A pic of the offending rubber hose, with a pen and paper for size reference.
I'm thinking some of these pipes might need to be replaced sometime in the future as they look to be hardening up, but it will do for now. With the vacuum working to specification, I expect it might even help improve the Mpg on cold startup a bit.
I did however get the engine management light on again and on using the OBD reader it said that it was "lean on Bank 1", went back to "the man" and mentioned the OBD reader readings, they plugged in their "Snap On" system and there was mention of vacuum leak as the cause, sure enough they opened the engine cover and listened and diagnosed a leak. A quick cut of the rubber hose and it being reseated later, along with a reset of the codes and everything looks to be working again.
A pic of the offending rubber hose, with a pen and paper for size reference.
I'm thinking some of these pipes might need to be replaced sometime in the future as they look to be hardening up, but it will do for now. With the vacuum working to specification, I expect it might even help improve the Mpg on cold startup a bit.
Edited by thepeoplespal on Tuesday 20th October 18:33
BUG4LIFE said:
Having just bought myself an S-type R, I was wondering if you've been using CFS Motors and if you rate them OP?
They are pretty close to me, so would be top of my list [I've read a lot of good things about them].
My STR has actually been looked after by Farriers in Leicester for the past 6 years so contemplating using them, as they know the car inside out [at least for the December MOT and service].
The only issue I think you'll have is that they are fairly busy, which is both good and bad. If your car is chipped it might also be an issue as they update to the latest software. They are pretty close to me, so would be top of my list [I've read a lot of good things about them].
My STR has actually been looked after by Farriers in Leicester for the past 6 years so contemplating using them, as they know the car inside out [at least for the December MOT and service].
I'd be happy using them again and with the stock of Jags sitting about if you need a part, it should at least be available.
After my vacuum leak was fixed I have done quite a few miles and the mpg has dramatically improved for very short journeys, moving from 12.5 mpg to around 18mpg and now regularly in the 20s for slightly longer short journeys
Having managed a holiday to Devon over half term I was happy enough with the 24.5 mpg fully loaded with wife, two kids & two well behaved dogs (in the car)
The SV8 was supremely comfortable, if a little tight on boot space, for going on holiday.
Having managed a holiday to Devon over half term I was happy enough with the 24.5 mpg fully loaded with wife, two kids & two well behaved dogs (in the car)
The SV8 was supremely comfortable, if a little tight on boot space, for going on holiday.
You only really get updates on these when something happens, it's usually bad or expensive so here goes.
Good news:
Almost wrote the car off on a wet rainy night before Christmas, trying to get a particular make of curry (with no milk or cream) for Mrs Pal, I was half a mm away from side of the car as I reversed near a big post that I couldn't see, I thank my lucky stars, as the damage could have been very, very expensive. I hate going near this shop when things are busy, might be worth driving further away in future.
Bad News:
Having not liked the idea of an electronic parking brake principally due to the costs involved in fixing them, I soon got used to it and I quite liked it in combination with the automatic gearbox, as the get aways can be extremely smooth when timed correctly. I also thought that lack of use was normally the issue so I've got used to using it a lot, but £326 later I can't say I like it now; as just before Christmas I activated the epb a bit sooner than I would have liked at 3mph or so, just as I was coming to a stop & it stopped more abruptly than I would have liked. I thought I'd dodged a bullet as it didn't seem to cause any issues, but later the next day, the electronic parking brake stopped working on my steep drive and I'm sure this didn't help things.
The dreaded yellow engine management light then came on and while I reset it, as I thought the car was suffering from not being driven and a longer run might fix things, the light came on again questioning the readings from the Air Flow Mass sensor. The car had been surging at idle for a while before the EML so rather than mess about I tried to book into my local garage, but as they had Mrs Pal's Alfa GT in for an MOT and there was a wait for lots of suspension parts I had to wait until after New Year to get anything fixed.
Not looking to tempt fate and breakdown or cause any potential damage to the XF by driving with the EML lit up and no EPB, I took the Alfa GT to give a bit of respite care to my disabled father in law, after his carer (my S-I-L) caught COVID, luckily she was masked up (no symptoms until day after visit - so be careful folks) and he had had his pfizer vaccination the week before. Incidentally an Alfa GT with £700 of sorted suspension really is a splendid thing to hussle along a B road, but unsurprisingly not as good as an XF on a 3 hour motorway run - 26.4mpg from a 2.0l JTS isn't particularly good, given the XF can do close to that on a run. The XF's cruise control is also so simple and easy to use, compared to an Alfa's clumsy attempt and while the Alfa's Bose stereo is good especially if you like bass, it does not hold a candle to the Bowers & Wilkins in the XF. It is so easy to get spoiled driving a barge, the only thing that spoils it are the bigger bills when things go wrong and the potential of a fault that makes it uneconomic to fix.
So cutting to the chase the bill came to £704.40 inclusive of VAT.
Seeing as the parts are only readily available on a next day basis from Jaguar, I probably didn't do too bad on the bill, as on checking eBay, parts prices are similar or more expensive. I keep telling myself it's also only a couple of lease or HP payments on a hatchback or a wee bit of depreciation on a new car :-). "The Man" checked over the car for anything that might need attention and he seems to think it is good to go for a while yet. I'm not exactly going to be going very far in the next few months during lockdown, so the cost of winter tyres can be put off to next year, if I'm living and spared and a few runs a week should keep things lubricated and working properly.
Good news:
Almost wrote the car off on a wet rainy night before Christmas, trying to get a particular make of curry (with no milk or cream) for Mrs Pal, I was half a mm away from side of the car as I reversed near a big post that I couldn't see, I thank my lucky stars, as the damage could have been very, very expensive. I hate going near this shop when things are busy, might be worth driving further away in future.
Bad News:
Having not liked the idea of an electronic parking brake principally due to the costs involved in fixing them, I soon got used to it and I quite liked it in combination with the automatic gearbox, as the get aways can be extremely smooth when timed correctly. I also thought that lack of use was normally the issue so I've got used to using it a lot, but £326 later I can't say I like it now; as just before Christmas I activated the epb a bit sooner than I would have liked at 3mph or so, just as I was coming to a stop & it stopped more abruptly than I would have liked. I thought I'd dodged a bullet as it didn't seem to cause any issues, but later the next day, the electronic parking brake stopped working on my steep drive and I'm sure this didn't help things.
The dreaded yellow engine management light then came on and while I reset it, as I thought the car was suffering from not being driven and a longer run might fix things, the light came on again questioning the readings from the Air Flow Mass sensor. The car had been surging at idle for a while before the EML so rather than mess about I tried to book into my local garage, but as they had Mrs Pal's Alfa GT in for an MOT and there was a wait for lots of suspension parts I had to wait until after New Year to get anything fixed.
Not looking to tempt fate and breakdown or cause any potential damage to the XF by driving with the EML lit up and no EPB, I took the Alfa GT to give a bit of respite care to my disabled father in law, after his carer (my S-I-L) caught COVID, luckily she was masked up (no symptoms until day after visit - so be careful folks) and he had had his pfizer vaccination the week before. Incidentally an Alfa GT with £700 of sorted suspension really is a splendid thing to hussle along a B road, but unsurprisingly not as good as an XF on a 3 hour motorway run - 26.4mpg from a 2.0l JTS isn't particularly good, given the XF can do close to that on a run. The XF's cruise control is also so simple and easy to use, compared to an Alfa's clumsy attempt and while the Alfa's Bose stereo is good especially if you like bass, it does not hold a candle to the Bowers & Wilkins in the XF. It is so easy to get spoiled driving a barge, the only thing that spoils it are the bigger bills when things go wrong and the potential of a fault that makes it uneconomic to fix.
So cutting to the chase the bill came to £704.40 inclusive of VAT.
Seeing as the parts are only readily available on a next day basis from Jaguar, I probably didn't do too bad on the bill, as on checking eBay, parts prices are similar or more expensive. I keep telling myself it's also only a couple of lease or HP payments on a hatchback or a wee bit of depreciation on a new car :-). "The Man" checked over the car for anything that might need attention and he seems to think it is good to go for a while yet. I'm not exactly going to be going very far in the next few months during lockdown, so the cost of winter tyres can be put off to next year, if I'm living and spared and a few runs a week should keep things lubricated and working properly.
(Sorry for length and content) Almost 4 weeks ago a phone call from my brother in law at 23:11 while I was walking the dogs meant that Covid restrictions had robbed me of an opportunity of appalling my dad with evidence of my car's at times sub 10mpg fuel consumption. Two or three week visits a few times a year had been curtailed with both new dogs and new cars missed, his complaints about his latest banger's 40mpg fuel consumption didn't seem to be too bad for a Volvo V40 estate. While not good for us as it was sudden and I could have done with many more years craic, it wasn't Covid, dementia or cancer and I'd prefer to go the same way myself.
With limited numbers at funerals in Norn Iron, the wife and kids couldn't go and I was in two minds about going myself, as I wasn't sure about the legalities and the risk to others & myself (completely unthinkable that I'd miss a funeral like that a year ago). An offer of a house from a cousin, a clear lateral flow test and a working XF SV8 seemed a better option to be cocooned in than a flight to Belfast.
A 1730 booking from Cairnryan and a 315 mile drive in one go the day before the funeral was exactly what I needed with 6 CDs used and DAB radio with a signal that even worked on Shap (a 1st in 40+ years I've tramped up and down it) on the drive through the hills on the M6 going north. Although progress was marred by a blue and yellow Tallivan somewhere over the M6 near Preston, nearly sure I'm due 3 points as I was cruising at an indicated 80ish mph and I just didn't think.
No matter, a quick pitstop at the last petrol station before the boat and a quick use of the power washer later and I'd made good progress at 24mpg exactly and was early enough to change my booking to 1530 boat with more than enough time.
A supercharged V8 is so relaxing to drive as you can blast past two 40mph limited trucks and not be exposing yourself and others to danger for very long. You can easily keep a good average up and drive at or near the speed limit. A few more speed cameras on the A75 showed the wisdom of not going too hard.
The boat was incredibly quiet, I wasn't even asked to show any identity documents (1st time ever) or my NHS result of my negative lateral flow test.
A drive down the M2 onto the Westlink and M1 to the cousin's house via a Chinese meant a fairly big detour to my home village as it was a Monday and every outlet I past in the city on the way was closed, but with a village boasting 5 Chinese Takeaways at the last count, I was sure I would be catered for and I was. It was good to be back on familiar roads of my youth without the plethora of 50mph signs cluttering up the countryside I have in England.
With the chance to have a large farmers funeral, typical of country folk, curtailed, my dad wanted to be driven from his childhood home (where my brother lives) to his final resting place via a tractor and trailer, rather than a fancy hearse:
I thought his last wish to be the talk of the country didn't go too bad.
With limited numbers at funerals in Norn Iron, the wife and kids couldn't go and I was in two minds about going myself, as I wasn't sure about the legalities and the risk to others & myself (completely unthinkable that I'd miss a funeral like that a year ago). An offer of a house from a cousin, a clear lateral flow test and a working XF SV8 seemed a better option to be cocooned in than a flight to Belfast.
A 1730 booking from Cairnryan and a 315 mile drive in one go the day before the funeral was exactly what I needed with 6 CDs used and DAB radio with a signal that even worked on Shap (a 1st in 40+ years I've tramped up and down it) on the drive through the hills on the M6 going north. Although progress was marred by a blue and yellow Tallivan somewhere over the M6 near Preston, nearly sure I'm due 3 points as I was cruising at an indicated 80ish mph and I just didn't think.
No matter, a quick pitstop at the last petrol station before the boat and a quick use of the power washer later and I'd made good progress at 24mpg exactly and was early enough to change my booking to 1530 boat with more than enough time.
A supercharged V8 is so relaxing to drive as you can blast past two 40mph limited trucks and not be exposing yourself and others to danger for very long. You can easily keep a good average up and drive at or near the speed limit. A few more speed cameras on the A75 showed the wisdom of not going too hard.
The boat was incredibly quiet, I wasn't even asked to show any identity documents (1st time ever) or my NHS result of my negative lateral flow test.
A drive down the M2 onto the Westlink and M1 to the cousin's house via a Chinese meant a fairly big detour to my home village as it was a Monday and every outlet I past in the city on the way was closed, but with a village boasting 5 Chinese Takeaways at the last count, I was sure I would be catered for and I was. It was good to be back on familiar roads of my youth without the plethora of 50mph signs cluttering up the countryside I have in England.
With the chance to have a large farmers funeral, typical of country folk, curtailed, my dad wanted to be driven from his childhood home (where my brother lives) to his final resting place via a tractor and trailer, rather than a fancy hearse:
I thought his last wish to be the talk of the country didn't go too bad.
I expected to do about 4500 miles this year, but having dispatched a 800 mile trip in the SV8 to bury my dad, I was soon doing 320 mile round trips to help the Father in Law who went into hospital after he managed to get sepsis & collapse while going to the toilet.
A fairly traumatic hospital episode of 36 days with the sepsis sorted, a self diagnosed Stroke on what sounded like a dementia ward is a scary thing when you can't communicate and don't have family to advocate for you. Our representations were heeded and normal speech and movement returned. An interminable wait for scans had the Father in Law refusing further interventions and I was roped in to help for his discharge home.
The SV8 has been working much better with my regular trips to London with less of the low battery warnings throwing the odd EML for the sound system. A lesson to keep the battery topped up and regular use and more miles being a positive.
A fairly traumatic hospital episode of 36 days with the sepsis sorted, a self diagnosed Stroke on what sounded like a dementia ward is a scary thing when you can't communicate and don't have family to advocate for you. Our representations were heeded and normal speech and movement returned. An interminable wait for scans had the Father in Law refusing further interventions and I was roped in to help for his discharge home.
The SV8 has been working much better with my regular trips to London with less of the low battery warnings throwing the odd EML for the sound system. A lesson to keep the battery topped up and regular use and more miles being a positive.
Wow a full year without an update, I'd better update you all then.
The Boring Stuff:
Just before the annual holiday to Cornwall I dropped about £650 on 4 new Nexen Nfera tyres as the rears were badly cracking the inside sidewalls, having thought about Michelin Pilot Sport 4s they weren't available as quickly as I needed them. Cracking holiday with the SV8 performing beautifully. The MOT in August 2021 at the local garage annoyed me a bit as I went in specifying what needed sorting and they just MOT'd it 1st before fixing it which isn't the end of the world and they are good otherwise, but makes me look a bit shabby on the maintenance front, when I'm pretty fussy about fixing things.
Thinking I was going to average 4.5k miles a year went completely out the window, with the Father in Law dying in June 2021 and a clause in the house insurance requiring residence at least once a week, the SV8 was called into regular service.for 9 months, as myself/wife and my wife's siblings took turns to avoid any issues by staying over at least every 3 weeks. 330 mile round trips are a breeze with an excellent cruise control, bluetooth telephone & the amazing Bower and Wilkins stereo.
November 2021 or thereabouts I dropped just over £1k for a Cat with a poorly matrix (was kept for me to see) and a new header tank for the coolant, best having everything working if you want to keep something longterm.
Roll round to July 2022 got a couple of screws in the right rear wheel after the TPS indicated an issue, fixed a couple weeks when I noticed them, During the fix I noticed the rear pads were very low, but would they last to the end of our summer holiday?
Popped over to CFS Motors outside Coventry (face to face, and plenty of time to complete works best, I trust them to do a good thorough job and sometimes that takes time when fault finding).on last day of my holidays to book an MOT, Service and probable discs and pads all round and didn't make it home before the sound of metal on disc from left rear.
So a week later a full-service, an MOT done after not before all my niggles were attended to (squeaking suspension, wipers blades, vacuum hose and anything it required etc) and discs and pads all round (they were a bit weak when I got it 22k miles ago, so I expected to change them), the SV8 has a new clean MOT ticket and lives to fight another year. :-).
I love my SV8 and so does the Mrs who regularly gets less MPG than me. There is a fair few man maths justifications in my head over the 20mpg average, £600 tax PA and the odd recent £500 a month petrol bill and a bit of regular maintenance. However I'm fairly sure I'm having a whole lot more fun & comfort than I would in a £300 per month leased car at a similar cost overall.
I'm loathe to say/boast too much, just in case I get a huge bill that makes it unviable to fix. Given that it already has 177k miles, it will be a sad day, but it is worth more to me than almost anyone else. Full kudos goes to the owner of Pan Auto Services, Harpenden for looking after her before I got her.
The Boring Stuff:
Just before the annual holiday to Cornwall I dropped about £650 on 4 new Nexen Nfera tyres as the rears were badly cracking the inside sidewalls, having thought about Michelin Pilot Sport 4s they weren't available as quickly as I needed them. Cracking holiday with the SV8 performing beautifully. The MOT in August 2021 at the local garage annoyed me a bit as I went in specifying what needed sorting and they just MOT'd it 1st before fixing it which isn't the end of the world and they are good otherwise, but makes me look a bit shabby on the maintenance front, when I'm pretty fussy about fixing things.
Thinking I was going to average 4.5k miles a year went completely out the window, with the Father in Law dying in June 2021 and a clause in the house insurance requiring residence at least once a week, the SV8 was called into regular service.for 9 months, as myself/wife and my wife's siblings took turns to avoid any issues by staying over at least every 3 weeks. 330 mile round trips are a breeze with an excellent cruise control, bluetooth telephone & the amazing Bower and Wilkins stereo.
November 2021 or thereabouts I dropped just over £1k for a Cat with a poorly matrix (was kept for me to see) and a new header tank for the coolant, best having everything working if you want to keep something longterm.
Roll round to July 2022 got a couple of screws in the right rear wheel after the TPS indicated an issue, fixed a couple weeks when I noticed them, During the fix I noticed the rear pads were very low, but would they last to the end of our summer holiday?
Popped over to CFS Motors outside Coventry (face to face, and plenty of time to complete works best, I trust them to do a good thorough job and sometimes that takes time when fault finding).on last day of my holidays to book an MOT, Service and probable discs and pads all round and didn't make it home before the sound of metal on disc from left rear.
So a week later a full-service, an MOT done after not before all my niggles were attended to (squeaking suspension, wipers blades, vacuum hose and anything it required etc) and discs and pads all round (they were a bit weak when I got it 22k miles ago, so I expected to change them), the SV8 has a new clean MOT ticket and lives to fight another year. :-).
I love my SV8 and so does the Mrs who regularly gets less MPG than me. There is a fair few man maths justifications in my head over the 20mpg average, £600 tax PA and the odd recent £500 a month petrol bill and a bit of regular maintenance. However I'm fairly sure I'm having a whole lot more fun & comfort than I would in a £300 per month leased car at a similar cost overall.
I'm loathe to say/boast too much, just in case I get a huge bill that makes it unviable to fix. Given that it already has 177k miles, it will be a sad day, but it is worth more to me than almost anyone else. Full kudos goes to the owner of Pan Auto Services, Harpenden for looking after her before I got her.
Sad day today, after 3 1/2 years and 31k pleasurable miles the managed retreat on my Brave Pill Supercharged V8 XF has finally come to an end after not being able to fix a flaring of the car's revs at idle, without a lot of diagnostic time and throwing parts at it, with no guarantee that it would be fixed.
With some likely upcoming issues of new tyres (cracking of the inside of both back tyres), a likely catalyst replacement, a failure to proceed at Christmas with the gearbox locking in park in the middle of the street, another new battery needed, a big increase in insurance and likely bushings replacement to get it through the MOT with no guarantee that other things wouldn't crop up, I didn't feel it was worth spending any more money on, neither could I in clear conscience punt it on to some other poor sod, even if it otherwise pretty . So my "The Man" has agreed to purchase my SV8 for parts for more
managed retreat on other peoples Jaguar's and more importantly no charge to me for the parts so far and diagnostics and test driving and a couple of more weeks in the XF courtesy car.
This journey into bangerdom has not been cheap, having stuck in a few of my costs here are some of the highlights:
So what next? I've decided on a salary sacrifice lease that has fixed insurance costs for 3 years, maintenance, tyres, a three year warranty and no worries about depreciation for my 2nd new car in my life, is where I want to be. So providing the new government doesn't change taxation and electric doesn't charge much higher than it is, I should be getting my 10,000 miles a year for about 53p per mile all in, at around 2/3rds of a 16 year old banger with nearly 200k miles on the clock.
Going for a P11D of some £48k, I'd never ever buy it new, but there must be some serious volume discounts on Nissan Ariya's as my lease is at least £100 (stripping out insurance, large replacement car after 24 hours off the road, maintenance etc) a month cheaper than this exact spec other than colour £469 deal on leaseloco https://www.leaseloco.com/car-leasing/nissan/ariya... The Mrs and I are planning on a trip to Europe and this will suit the dog better than the XF or my Mrs Alfa GT. The car was really choosen for the dog carrying and looking over hedges on a road trip duties than anything else, that and the peace of mind of fixed costs that are not much more than a 5 year old SUV would cost to buy.
With some likely upcoming issues of new tyres (cracking of the inside of both back tyres), a likely catalyst replacement, a failure to proceed at Christmas with the gearbox locking in park in the middle of the street, another new battery needed, a big increase in insurance and likely bushings replacement to get it through the MOT with no guarantee that other things wouldn't crop up, I didn't feel it was worth spending any more money on, neither could I in clear conscience punt it on to some other poor sod, even if it otherwise pretty . So my "The Man" has agreed to purchase my SV8 for parts for more
managed retreat on other peoples Jaguar's and more importantly no charge to me for the parts so far and diagnostics and test driving and a couple of more weeks in the XF courtesy car.
This journey into bangerdom has not been cheap, having stuck in a few of my costs here are some of the highlights:
- Depreciation a grand total of 7.7p per mile
- Previous depreciation to the date I acquired it, was 34.8p per mile.
- Tyres cost 1.8p per mile - incredibly frugal given the performance
- Fuel cost 40p per mile - sometimes during £2 a litre for Super unleaded it was painful but worth if for the sound, £1 a litre was brilliant.
- It took around 76p per mile to run this ultimate Q car on a relative shoestring during my ownership
- That's around £6,453 per annum
So what next? I've decided on a salary sacrifice lease that has fixed insurance costs for 3 years, maintenance, tyres, a three year warranty and no worries about depreciation for my 2nd new car in my life, is where I want to be. So providing the new government doesn't change taxation and electric doesn't charge much higher than it is, I should be getting my 10,000 miles a year for about 53p per mile all in, at around 2/3rds of a 16 year old banger with nearly 200k miles on the clock.
Going for a P11D of some £48k, I'd never ever buy it new, but there must be some serious volume discounts on Nissan Ariya's as my lease is at least £100 (stripping out insurance, large replacement car after 24 hours off the road, maintenance etc) a month cheaper than this exact spec other than colour £469 deal on leaseloco https://www.leaseloco.com/car-leasing/nissan/ariya... The Mrs and I are planning on a trip to Europe and this will suit the dog better than the XF or my Mrs Alfa GT. The car was really choosen for the dog carrying and looking over hedges on a road trip duties than anything else, that and the peace of mind of fixed costs that are not much more than a 5 year old SUV would cost to buy.
gf15 said:
Fantastic car for 4 years. I’ll bet you look back fondly with your time with a serious car.
I ran an E38 BMW 740 from 70k to 210k and a BMW 650 from 38k to 202k. I should.have kept both of them. Those 2 BMW’s cost me less than half of what a company 525d would have cost me over the 14 years.
Have to say every MOT pass was a throwing the hands in the air in celebration moment :-) . I had two more of those moments than I expected given a major breakdown would make it unviable to fix.I ran an E38 BMW 740 from 70k to 210k and a BMW 650 from 38k to 202k. I should.have kept both of them. Those 2 BMW’s cost me less than half of what a company 525d would have cost me over the 14 years.
Ideally I would have bought another lower mileage SV8 and kept the old one for spares, but a saloon isn't what we need at the moment and XFR estates with room for the dog are incredibly rare and ultra expensive, as is european breakdown cover.
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