Leo

They do produce a lot of brake dust. You can change to third party pads that produce far less: I can’t remember the name, but members will doubtless advise.

My XK has averaged less than 3000 miles a year Over its life of 13 years. All that I can say is that I have had it for five of those years, and they have been trouble free: Just a brake light bulb and an indicator bulb, at a total cost of about a tenner. I made my decision on the basis of immaculate condition, and service records.

Gorgeous, simply gorgeous!

Hi Jason, and welcome to the Club! I had exactly the same feelings as yourself when I bought my XK, and five years later I still have that same feeling every time I drive it. Mine has been totally reliable (touch wood) for those five years: Just one brake lamp bulb and one indicator bulb, at a total cost of about a tenner. Enjoy both the car and the Club!

Hi Gary, and welcome to the Club! If they have had the car a while the battery may be low, and low batteries do throw up all manner of electrical issues on our cars. Get them to charge it overnight, and see if the warning persists.

Hi Bruce, and welcome to the Club. It sounds like your XJ is well worth saving, but restoration is not something to undertake lightly. The very fact that you are not sure what to do suggests to me that you may be better to sell as a restoration project: Otherwise you are likely to spend money starting the project, and end up selling halfway through, when you won’t recoup what you have spent. I did consider building a Caterham years ago: I would have loved to have done it, but in my heart of hearts I knew that it would probably sit in the garage for a year or more unfinished.

I am not sure what would be best. Basically a light wax, such as you would use on a chest of drawers. Certainly not anything oily or sticky, because dirt sticks to that, and while it would help in the short term it could make it worse long term.

The rain is effectively a temporary lubricant. Try cleaning and lubricating the channels.

If I am right there is no reason to take it to the dealers: It is just doing what it is designed to do. What I find inexplicable is that there is no warning light to tell you when a regeneration is happening. All modern diesels have DPFs, and as far as I know none has a warning light to keep the driver informed. Using premium diesel makes for fewer regenerations, a cleaner engine and marginally better mpg: We always use premium diesel in my wife’s Citroen C4 Grand Picasso for those reasons. We still have the occasional regeneration though, and if at a standstill we get that burning smell.

For me, it would need to be in pretty much showroom condition, and absolutely everything should be in full working order. I would want to go through the service history to ensure that it doesn’t have a troubled past, and has been properly serviced. If it passes those tests, it should be OK: They are reasonably bulletproof. I have had my XK for five trouble free years. I looked at a few at the time but, until I found the one that I bought, none were in the kind of condition that I wanted. As soon as I saw mine I pretty much knew that I was going to buy it!

This sounds like a regeneration, cleaning the DPF. When this happens it heats the DPF to a very high heat, which can cause a burning smell if the car is standing or moving very slowly. I guess that any deposits on the outside of the DPF would burn off, and the smoke could blow forwards if that was the wind direction.

Paul, our present Leonberger is called Elsa. As you probably already know, the Leonbergers were originally bred from the St Bernard and the Landseer Newfoundland. Elsa’s transport is a Citroen C4 Grand Picasso, which suits her admirably: She even has her own personal air-conditioning vents and settings, intended for the third row of seats (which are of course folded down when she is in residence)!

Cheers Paul. The dog is our Leonberger, which is why I chose Leo as my forum name!

Great news Paul. We would love to see some photos. Do update your profile, since you are no longer a “No Jaguar” guy!

First thing I would do would be to replace the battery: If it has been in a field for a while the battery is very unlikely to recover.

This is normal: Just about power saving, to stop the battery discharging. There are many systems still running on standby until the doors are locked.

John, that post was seven years ago. You would need to check whether it is an annual event!

Hello Duncan, and welcome to the Club! The XKs are indeed pretty reliable. My advice would be that excellent condition is vital, and you should ensure that all electric items are fully working. I have had my XK for five years, and nothing has gone wrong: One brake light bulb and one indicator bulb have been replaced, that’s all. You do need to keep the battery fully charged if it is not your daily drive, but that is true of all Jaguars. If it is in excellent condition and has a good service history, mileage is not that important.

My advice would always be to go for a car in perfect condition. It should be gleaming, and every single electrical item should be working. If it is in perfect condition, and you have seen the appropriate service history, mileage is of little significance. I had an XF3.0D S five years ago. The only fault I had with mine was the TPMS warning light, which tended to come on in wet weather, even though the tyre pressures were fine: Not a massive problem, but very irritating at the time.

I would not want to drive it in that state! It would be safer to get it there on a transporter. At the very least drain off the excess if it is overfilled.

Once the solid red DPF Full comes on it is not supposed to regenerate itself. You are supposed to go straight to the dealership to have it cleaned and the light cleared. Have you checked your oil? If it is high this may mean diesel is getting into the oil, and you will need an immediate oil change. If you don’t do that there is a danger of the engine revving out of control, which is very dangerous. Even if the oil isn’t high I would be getting the DPF cleaned: I wouldn’t take the risk of ignoring what has happened.

Hi Tom, and welcome to the Club. The best cover is probably the Carcoon, but it all depends how much you want to spend, and where you keep the car!

Welcome to the Club Dave, from an XK owner just down the road from you! Enjoy both the car and the Club.

I had the waxoyling done a few years ago, and can’t remember how much it cost, but it wasn’t expensive.

Hi Roger, and welcome to the Club. I had mine Waxoyled to protect it.