OK, first off, I am NOT thinking of trading in my GS400 for a Jag XK8, but I wanted to learn a little more about the car because a co-worker of mine offered if I wanted to trade my GS400 for his 1997Jaguar XK8 coupe, straight up.

His car is 1 year older than mine but has 61k miles, as opposed to my GS with 75k miles. Conditions of the cars are about the same. Paint looks as good as new on both cars, but with a few scratches from parking lot 'haters'. My GS is a Pearl white and the Jag is maroon in color. Both cars are stock except I have 20's on mine. But he told me he's been looking for a white GS4 for a while now and wanted to trade in his Jag for it because he needed a 4 door.

Now like I said, I won't do the trade, but since it was offered to me, I was just curious to see a head to head comparison of

- straight line performance (don't know much about Jags, although it looks fast)
- fun to drive factor
- reliability (I know it's a Jag, but are these models known for specific problems?)
- long term value

Although I do admit that car looks great. ..

 

1997 XK8 (4.0L V8, 290hp)

0-60: 6.3 seconds
never driven one
Well ... the XK8 hasn't had as many problems as Jaguar's other vehicles - X-type being the worst
97 XK8 currently selling for about $22,000 while your car is selling at around $20,000 (KBB)

I don't think I'd trade if I were you. A Jaguar w/ 60k miles is approaching elderly - especially if it was driven like a sports car.

M.