2003 XKR Coupe
Discussion
I’ve agreed to buy a 2003 XKR from a work colleague, who’s had it 10 years, but has now upgraded to a newer one.
It’s far from perfect, but the price reflects that. It’s got full history, recent MOT (2 advisories), recent service, as well as SS exhaust and full brake overhaul in recent years. He’s kept it garaged for the last 8 years, and I’ll garage it most of the time also.
I’ve got a load of minor cosmetic things to sort out, eventually.
The car is 350 miles from me, and has done less than that in the last year!
Insurance surprisingly cheap, insured in parallel to my other cars, with no no-claims, on a classic policy with limited mileage.
Planning to fly up, then drive it back on Monday... what could possibly go wrong?
Photo upload from tablet being rubbish, so just one for now.
It’s far from perfect, but the price reflects that. It’s got full history, recent MOT (2 advisories), recent service, as well as SS exhaust and full brake overhaul in recent years. He’s kept it garaged for the last 8 years, and I’ll garage it most of the time also.
I’ve got a load of minor cosmetic things to sort out, eventually.
The car is 350 miles from me, and has done less than that in the last year!
Insurance surprisingly cheap, insured in parallel to my other cars, with no no-claims, on a classic policy with limited mileage.
Planning to fly up, then drive it back on Monday... what could possibly go wrong?
Photo upload from tablet being rubbish, so just one for now.
aland75 said:
All set for collection on Monday I think. Flight booked, insurance in place, will sort tax online once owner change is done.
It’s the 4.2 V8 supercharged with 58k miles on it.
Hopefully no nasty surprises on the way home!
Lovely - hopefully the only nasty surprise will be the fuel cost v the flight cost! Best of luck!It’s the 4.2 V8 supercharged with 58k miles on it.
Hopefully no nasty surprises on the way home!
That is a beautiful car! I've got both an X100 'vert XKR (2002) and an X150 50L coupe. The X100 is certainly the sexier looking car although the solid ride, handling, and power of the 5L X150 is unbelievable in comparison. By 2003, with the 4.2L engine you no longer have the plastic tensioner worries, so you should have many years of wonderful motoring in front of you. Enjoy her, she's stunning. ![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/CbTGZnDM.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/9mDyWmJi" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/9mDyWmJi.jpg)
It's home!
I had hoped to get some photos along the way, but I was trying to get somewhere before they closed on the way home, so after fuelling in Moffat, drove non-stop to Turweston (near Silverstone), then home.
Managed 30.5mpg over 380 miles (according to trip computer). Was generally sitting at 70mph with cruise control on.
Issues so far:
- Airbag light on. PO says that means system is activated, however manual says that means a system fault, will need further investigation.
- Headlights poor. They have some condensation in them, which may be a factor. Appear to be HID lamps, which the PO says haven't been replaced in his 10 year ownership - do they get weak with age?
Other that that seems good so far. Great noise, mad acceleration (once the gearbox finds the right gear). I've not tried 'Sports' mode yet. Rear end gets twitchy under acceleration if surface is wet etc, hardly unexpected.
Currently in a dry garage, will pull it out at weekend and clean it, and start investigating issues.
I had hoped to get some photos along the way, but I was trying to get somewhere before they closed on the way home, so after fuelling in Moffat, drove non-stop to Turweston (near Silverstone), then home.
Managed 30.5mpg over 380 miles (according to trip computer). Was generally sitting at 70mph with cruise control on.
Issues so far:
- Airbag light on. PO says that means system is activated, however manual says that means a system fault, will need further investigation.
- Headlights poor. They have some condensation in them, which may be a factor. Appear to be HID lamps, which the PO says haven't been replaced in his 10 year ownership - do they get weak with age?
Other that that seems good so far. Great noise, mad acceleration (once the gearbox finds the right gear). I've not tried 'Sports' mode yet. Rear end gets twitchy under acceleration if surface is wet etc, hardly unexpected.
Currently in a dry garage, will pull it out at weekend and clean it, and start investigating issues.
aland75,
Congratulations on bringing your beautiful XKR home, and 30mpg is remarkable (in your ability to restrain yourself)! Condensation in the headlights is a known issue with these cars, and some owners have drilled additional holes in the backing to allow air to circulate and dry the condensation. I have been known to take a hair dryer and heat the glass a bit to clear it out. If you go onto jaguarforums.com and do a search, you'll find plenty of information regarding this. As for the Airbag sensor, I have had this problem off and on for years. Originally, fidgeting with the wires and connectors under the seat cleared it up, but recently, when my car underwent a mini-restoration, the light came on permanently and no efforts to fix it were successful. Since I really didn't want to replace the whole system, we just pulled the light bulb from behind the warning light so that I didn't have to look at it every time I started the car. Your car is beautiful. Enjoy!
Congratulations on bringing your beautiful XKR home, and 30mpg is remarkable (in your ability to restrain yourself)! Condensation in the headlights is a known issue with these cars, and some owners have drilled additional holes in the backing to allow air to circulate and dry the condensation. I have been known to take a hair dryer and heat the glass a bit to clear it out. If you go onto jaguarforums.com and do a search, you'll find plenty of information regarding this. As for the Airbag sensor, I have had this problem off and on for years. Originally, fidgeting with the wires and connectors under the seat cleared it up, but recently, when my car underwent a mini-restoration, the light came on permanently and no efforts to fix it were successful. Since I really didn't want to replace the whole system, we just pulled the light bulb from behind the warning light so that I didn't have to look at it every time I started the car. Your car is beautiful. Enjoy!
tberg said:
aland75,
Congratulations on bringing your beautiful XKR home, and 30mpg is remarkable (in your ability to restrain yourself)! Condensation in the headlights is a known issue with these cars, and some owners have drilled additional holes in the backing to allow air to circulate and dry the condensation. I have been known to take a hair dryer and heat the glass a bit to clear it out. If you go onto jaguarforums.com and do a search, you'll find plenty of information regarding this. As for the Airbag sensor, I have had this problem off and on for years. Originally, fidgeting with the wires and connectors under the seat cleared it up, but recently, when my car underwent a mini-restoration, the light came on permanently and no efforts to fix it were successful. Since I really didn't want to replace the whole system, we just pulled the light bulb from behind the warning light so that I didn't have to look at it every time I started the car. Your car is beautiful. Enjoy!
Thanks for the detailed reply!Congratulations on bringing your beautiful XKR home, and 30mpg is remarkable (in your ability to restrain yourself)! Condensation in the headlights is a known issue with these cars, and some owners have drilled additional holes in the backing to allow air to circulate and dry the condensation. I have been known to take a hair dryer and heat the glass a bit to clear it out. If you go onto jaguarforums.com and do a search, you'll find plenty of information regarding this. As for the Airbag sensor, I have had this problem off and on for years. Originally, fidgeting with the wires and connectors under the seat cleared it up, but recently, when my car underwent a mini-restoration, the light came on permanently and no efforts to fix it were successful. Since I really didn't want to replace the whole system, we just pulled the light bulb from behind the warning light so that I didn't have to look at it every time I started the car. Your car is beautiful. Enjoy!
I've read up on both faults today.
Seems silica gel packets in the back of the lights should dry them out, and holes to aid ventilation should help. I understand the cause is likely to be the seal between the headlight front/rear halves - i'll see if I can get away without dismantling them and re-sealing until spring, so have ordered some silica packets for now, and will investigate drilling holes at the weekend. Also ordered a new pair of (genuine Osram) bulbs, to see if they help vs the existing ones.
For the airbag, I have a 2-2 flashing code on the light, which means drivers seat wiring is most likely I understand, so will investigate that at the weekend also.
I have loads of experience with Volvos (daily driver is a V70R
) however it's about 19 years since I ran a Jag so lots to learn. I'm hoping that by keeping it in a dry garage and generally using it only on dry days should help preserve it. Unfortunately no power there, but i'll add a solar panel to the roof to keep the battery topped up.Car has been in a garage since getting it home 5 days ago,
Pulled it out today and washed it, as it was filthy. This revealed some bubbling paint on the front of the front wings (where they meet the headlights), the end return of the sill at the front (nice dirt trap there), and another bit at the bottoms of the rear arches. The arches have a lip which mud etc gets stuck on, and remains damp, which eventually leads to rust. My old '84 XJS suffered from this - however it seems 20 years later when this was built Jaguar still hadn't learnt from it
I removed as much as I could and blasted away the water/damp with my air blow-gun. I'll need to get this lot repaired at some point.
Moved onto headlights which were full of condensation. Removed the (terrible) bulb access covers on top and left them open for hours. A combination of this and blasting info the headlights with compressed air got rid of most of the condensation.
I'd bought some new Osram D1S HID bulbs as the previous owner had said he'd never changed them, so I suspect they were original.
Access is via the front wheel arch, not enough room with the wheel in place, so had to remove it.
Changed one bulb initially, then compared light beam on wall - was noticeably brighter than the other one. Following a suggestion found on a Jag forum, I added a 100g silica gel bag to the headlight to absorb the remaining moisture.
Rinse & repeat on the other side. Test drive at dusk - headlights MUCH better than before
- so I can confirm that HIDs do degrade with age.
Car back in garage for the night. Might have time to start investigating the airbag fault tomorrow.
Pulled it out today and washed it, as it was filthy. This revealed some bubbling paint on the front of the front wings (where they meet the headlights), the end return of the sill at the front (nice dirt trap there), and another bit at the bottoms of the rear arches. The arches have a lip which mud etc gets stuck on, and remains damp, which eventually leads to rust. My old '84 XJS suffered from this - however it seems 20 years later when this was built Jaguar still hadn't learnt from it
I removed as much as I could and blasted away the water/damp with my air blow-gun. I'll need to get this lot repaired at some point.
Moved onto headlights which were full of condensation. Removed the (terrible) bulb access covers on top and left them open for hours. A combination of this and blasting info the headlights with compressed air got rid of most of the condensation.
I'd bought some new Osram D1S HID bulbs as the previous owner had said he'd never changed them, so I suspect they were original.
Access is via the front wheel arch, not enough room with the wheel in place, so had to remove it.
Changed one bulb initially, then compared light beam on wall - was noticeably brighter than the other one. Following a suggestion found on a Jag forum, I added a 100g silica gel bag to the headlight to absorb the remaining moisture.
Rinse & repeat on the other side. Test drive at dusk - headlights MUCH better than before
- so I can confirm that HIDs do degrade with age.Car back in garage for the night. Might have time to start investigating the airbag fault tomorrow.
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