1998 JAGUAR XK8 Complaints

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 1998 JAGUAR XK8. THE CONTACT DISCOVERED NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER 98V022000 (VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL) ONLINE AND WAS NEVER NOTIFIED BY THE MANUFACTURER. THE DEALER STATED THAT THEY COULD NOT SERVICE THE VEHICLE BECAUSE THEY DID NOT HAVE TIME. HE ALSO TOOK HIS VEHICLE TO A JAGUAR DEALER IN DARIAN, CT FROM 1998-2004 FOR SERVICE AND THEY NEVER PERFORMED A REPAIR OR INFORMED HIM OF THE RECALL. THERE HAD BEEN NO FAILURE TO DATE. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 61,000.

TIMING TENSIONER DEFECT- 1998 JAGUAR XK8 WITH 50000 MILES. ENGINE FAILED TO START AFTER LOUD POPPING NOISE. NO PREVIOUS ISSUES PRIOR. CAUSE-PLASTIC TIMING TENSIONERS FAILED, CAUSING TIMING CHAIN TO BREAK AND DAMAGE PISTONS. SOLUTION NEW ENGINE. DEALER QUOTED $14,000. THIS CAR WAS REGULARLY MAINTAINED. MY MECHANIC STATED HE WAS AWARE OF A PROBLEM WITH TENSIONERS, AND JAGUAR HAD REDESIGNED THEM FOR LATER MODELS. THIS WAS A KNOWN DEFECT ON LOW MILEAGE VEHICLES! THERE WERE MANY DOCUMENTED CASES. JAGUAR REFUSED TO ACKNOWLEDGE AND OFFERED NO ASSISTANCE. *AK

I HAVE A 1998 JAGUAR XK8 CONVERTIBLE. CURRENT MILEAGE 37,334. TWICE, WHILE DRIVING AT 60 MPH, THE ENGINE JUST CUT OUT. AFTER PULLING TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND WAITING SEVERAL MINUTES I WAS ABLE TO RESTART THE ENGINE. THE FIRST TIME THIS HAPPENED, I ATTRIBUTED TO POSSIBLE A BAD TANK OF GAS ON MARCH 2006. AFTER THE SECOND TIME ON MARCH 2007. I FEARED IT HAD ANOTHER CAUSE. JUST ABOUT THAT TIME I RECEIVED FROM JAGUAR A "SERVICE ACTION" S-514 STATING THAT THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH CLOSED THROTTLE OPERATION, AND IT SOUNDED LIKE MY PROBLEM. I E-MAILED THEM SEVERAL TIMES TO ASK ABOUT AN AUTHORIZED SERVICE FACILITY TO HAVE IT REPAIRED. THEY REFERRED ME TO CUSTOMER SERVICE. A REP CALLED TO SAY I COULD ONLY HAVE IT FIXED ON THE MAINLAND! THAT OF COURSE, WOULD COST ME FEW THOUSAND DOLLARS. I ASKED IF IT COULD BE FIXED BY SOMEONE HERE LOCALLY AT MY COST. SHE SAID "WE CAN'T RECOMMEND THAT". NOT HELPFUL AT ALL. MY COMPLAINT, HOWEVER, HAS MORE TO DO WITH HOW THIS PROBLEM IS CLASSIFIED. THIS SHOULD BE A "SAFETY RECALL" NOT SIMPLY A SERVICE ACTION. BOTH INCIDENTS PUT ME AND OTHERS IN A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION. ONCE I WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO HAVE NO ONE DIRECTLY BEHIND ME. THE SECOND TIME I CAUSED SEVERAL CARS BEHIND ME TO SWERVE OFF THE ROAD OR SKID INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC. I WAS JUST LUCKY THAT NO ONE WAS SERIOUSLY INJURED OR KILLED. I CHECKED YOUR SITE FOR COMPLAINTS. THIS PROBLEM HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR YEARS!!! APPARENTLY, I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE FORCED INTO A DANGEROUS SITUATION HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THIS IS NOT CONSIDERED A SAFETY RECALL? BY BEING A "SERVICE ACTION" JAGUAR CAN JUST IGNORE ME. I BELIEVE THEY SHOULD MAKE MORE OF AN EFFORT TO FIX MY CAR OR HELP IN FINDING SOMEONE WHO WILL...AT THEIR COST. CAN THEY DO THIS LEGALLY? *AK

JAGUAR XK8. VEHICLE WITH 54K MILES ALWAYS DEALER SERVICES. TIMING CHAIN BROKE WHILE DRIVING, WAS ABLE TO GET CAR OUT OF TRAFFIC WITHOUT INCIDENT. CONTACTED JAGUAR AND THEY DID NOT EVEN ACKNOWLEDGE THERE WAS A PROBLEM. JAGUAR HAS KNOWN THE PLASTIC TIMING CHAIN GUIDES TO BE DEFECTIVE. THE HAVE HAD TWO DESIGN REVISIONS AND NOW PUT A METAL GUIDE IN THE CARS SINCE 2002. JAGUAR DOES NOT ADVISE OWNERS OR DEALERS TO REPLACE THE GUIDES WHICH EVEN WITHOUT THEIR ASSISTANCE I WOULD HAVE HAD DONE AT $800. THE DEFECTIVE GUIDE CAUSES THE CHAIN TO BREAK AND VALVE DAMAGE, A $7K REPAIR. THE DEALER AND INDEPENDENT REPAIR SHOPS TELL ME THEY ARE REPAIRING THESE ALL THE TIME IN LOW MILEAGE ENGINES 45-70K AND THE INTERNET IS LITTERED WITH THE SAME. HARD TO BELIEVE JAGUAR HAS NOT BEEN FORCED IN TO A RECALL OR SOME TYPE OF VOLUNTARY REPAIR PROGRAM. BOTTOM LINE - ENGINE PART WITH KNOWN, DOCUMENTED DEFECT, THAT CAUSES CATASTROPHIC ENGINE FAILURE, WITH NO ACTION BY THE MANUFACTURER. *JB

WINDSHIELD WIPERS SUDDENLY STOPPED WORKING IN THE MIDDLE OF RAIN STORM CAUSING ME TO LOSE VISIBILITY. NO WARNING - THE WIPERS JUST STOP AS THE NUT HOLDING THE WIPER ARM HAS BECOME LOOSENED/STRIPPED. TWO PREVIOUS TIMES THIS HAS BEEN REPAIRED. THIS IS A DESIGN DEFECT. *NM

MY 1998 XK8 JAGUAR TIMING CHAIN BROKE AND RUINED THE ENGINE REQUIRING A NEW ONE FOR $11,000 WITH ONLY 49,000 MILES ON IT. I HAD TAKEN IT TO THE DEALER FOR SERVICE THE ENTIRE TIME. THIS IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM OCCURING WITHIN THE JAGUAR LINE. JAGUAR REFUSES TO HELP AND TRIES TO KEEP IT UNDER WRAP UNTIL THE WARRANTY EXPIRES. IT IS A WELL KNOWN DESIGN FLAW THAT HAS COST TONS OF PEOPLE THOUSANDS. MY CAR ALSO STALLED WITHOUT WARNING ON THE HIGHWAY AND THIS TOO IS A COMMON PROBLEM. BOTH OF THESE COULD HAVE CAUSED ME SERIOUS INJURY.*AK

THE VEHICLE STALLED INADVERTENTLY AT HIGH SPEEDS AND AT LOWER SPEEDS. THE CONSUMER TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER, WHO STATED THEY WERE AWARE TO THE PROBLEM. THEY REPLACED THE THROTTLE BODY SYSTEM. THE CONSUMER LEFT THE DEALER AND 5 MINUTES LATER THE VEHICLE STALLED AGAIN. *AK IN ADDITION TO THE STALLING PROBLEM, THE VEHICLE REQUIRED REPLACEMENT OF THE RIGHT WHEEL ROTOR AND CALIPER ON TWO OCCASIONS. *SC

CONSUME RECEIVED RECALL 99V138000 FOR THE THROTTLE BODY. CONSUMER TOOK THE VEHICLE TO DEALER, AND THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN FOR A TEST AFTER INSTALLATION OF THE THROTTLE BODY, AND THE THERMOSTAT WENT OUT. VEHICLE WAS DESTROYED, AND THE CONSUMER WAS CHARGED FOR THE NEW PARTS. DEALER WAS INSTRUCTED TO REPLACE THE VEHICLE PRIOR TO MAKING REPAIRS TO THE THROTTLE BODY. *AK

I PURCHASED A USED 1998 JAGUAR XK8 WITH 40000 MILES IN NOV 2004. IT IMMEDIATELY STARTED STALLING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. I TOOK IT TO A LOCAL DEALER IN LITTLE ROCK ARKANSAS, AND THAY TOLD ME THAT THEY COULD FIND NOTHING WRONG WITH THE CAR BUT CHARGED ME $1,600.00 FOR SERVICE THAT WAS NOT NECESSARY. WITHIN WEEKS IT AGAIN BEGAN DYING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS AND WOULD NOT RE-START WITHOUT PULLING OFF THE ROAD, WHICH IS AT TIMES IMPOSSIBLE DUE TO I-30 BEING UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND HAVING NO SHOULDER OR EXITS, ONLY 6-FOOT CONCRETE BARRIERS ON EITHER SIDE OF THE TWO LANE HIGHWAY. I WAS AT THE MERCY OF EVERY DRIVER BEHIND ME. THIS IS A LIFE THREATENING SITUATION THAT JAGUAR DENIES HAVING ANY KNOWLEGE OF. I HAVE RECENTLY FOUND HUNDREDS OF COMPLAINTS ON THIS ISSUE WITH JAG OWNERS WHO HAVE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM. FORD HAS ISSUED A FIELD ACTION THAT ADMITS THAT THE THROTTLE-BODY IS DEFECTIVE, BUT THEY'RE NOT FIXING THE CARS IN THE U.S., ONLY IN OTHER COUNTRIES. PLEASE DO SOMETHING BEFORE SOMEONE IS KILLED.*AK

WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 60 MPH ON THE HIGHWAY, THE VEHICLE STALLED WITHOUT ANY WARNING. DEALER REPLACED THE THROTTLE BOX, AND THE OXYGEN SENSORS, BUT THE STALLING CONTINUED. *AK *TT *JB