went to start the car last night and it died...turning over but not firing.a helpful neighbour suggested it sounded like the immobiliser needs resettiing but really i have no clue.
any one with any ideas that not gonna cost the earth would be much appreciated.
its a v reg xj8

it could be 1 of a 1000 things bud.

fuel pump
ecu
crank sensor etc etc

best bet is get an AA policy and abuse it.

have a mechanic friend coming to have a look today hopefully its not something too costly but will take your advice on using the recovery service. i pay for it so why not use it i suposse

basics: is there petrol in it? if so then it could be a spark plug? or oil? but immobiliser reset sounds complicated, expensive, and not the problem.

Check you policy first though, some insist you are 1mile away from your home address... (might have to tow it down the road).

friend had a look an thinks it may be the the throttle body,,,hopefully just needs cleaned aparently a common problem on jags

Have you started it and stopped it while the choke was still on?
the XJ8 has a nasty habit of flooding if you start em and immediately turn them off, I cud take a quick look for you. no expert just a keen jag driver

if it wont start then it should have a code stored, unlikely that tb would stop it starting.

when you say it died did it start to begin with and then cut out?

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but normally when this happens its after a long run and then you switch off when you get home go to it the next morning and it won't start

If this is the case than the chances are it will have no compression because it has nikassil liners and they have been washed clean

I think this is the explanation but either way it won't start and most people will tell you its fcuked and will need an engine rebuild. This is true but there is a cheat to fix it

Check compression first if there's no compression I'll tell you the cheat :-P

If not have you tried jump starting it?

Also check the wiring harness for signs of water leakage, one of the lads has one down our yard with the same problemo, apparently theres a common fault of the loom getting water in somewhere in the engine bay.

thanks for the suggestions....throttle body it was.
good clean out and new plugs and stuff and away we go.relieved it was nothing too serious