Hey thanks for having me
I have always wanted an old jag x j 12 like my grandfather had when I was a kid
Now I am a mechanic I work mostly on benz and bmw
But I have an opportunity to buy an old xj with 40k miles for 1500$
I am in the car business and other friends are saying I don't want that car but I really do
I am seeking expert advise on what could generally be wrong with this car some people say it was a bad motor
Others say its the wiring
But testimony from fellow xj lovers would be greatly appreciated


Chao

 

Hi and welcome but you are probably better off posting in the XJ6 and XJ12 Forum.

 

As Stevesaid.

Welcome. Please do an intro in the "New members area" when you can.

The 1987 XJ12 Sedan is a Series 3 in Jag talk.

Mechanicals are the same as the XJ-S for the sake of your question.

Bad engine, NO WAY.

Bad wiring, HELL YES, and that is due to age and neglect.

Troblesome, WEEEEEEEELL, some are. Bear in mind ALL Jags are female, do the maths. Seriously, the "troblesome" is due to bad/dumb/stupid/expert mechanics, that have no idea, but fudge their way thru blaming all sorts, except their own ability.

If you want it, buy it, BUT, if you do not want to get YOUR hands dirty getting it back to what it really should be, stay away. To pay someone to do it for you is going to cost, and I mean COST. Add to that all the fun you miss out on if you dont it yourself.

 

bad engine is extremely unlikely, the all forged v12 is a beast.

someone in the forum recently got one for free because of electrical woes, so go for it. Who cares what your friends want? You want the car right? So get it

 

Welcome, glad to see your following your heart. I'm on my 4th XJS and when your driving down the road they are great. I'm 6'3" and the leg room is UNBEATABLE! I work on my 87 just about everyday, not because I HAVE to because I want to. The first thing you want to do is slide up under the drivers side foot well and clean ALL the fuse connections. You will find a lot of gremlins will disappear. They tend to leak from the windshield lower corner right on the fuses. every one of mine have even after replacing the seal and reinstalling the windshield. SECOND CHECK YOUR REAR BRAKE PADS. They are a pain to replace compared to other cars but to replace the rotors... CHECK EM'. Third and most important, ASK. THE FORUM IS A GREAT PLACE TO FIND WHAT WORKS AND HOW TO DO IT. Good luck and welcome to the club.

 

I bought my first Jag in 1999. My daughter saw a 1980 xj6 on the side of the road and fell in love with it.
I told her if I could figure out how to work on I'd buy it for her.
The internet was pretty new, but I found a ton of support and parts availability.
So I bought it and LOVE it.
The amazing part about working on the Jags is that for most parts you can actually replace the part your working on w/o removing 4 or 5 other unrelated parts to get at one more bolt you need to take out.
The exception being the spark plugs on the 12.
I also own an 87 XJSC, and am looking forward to getting her back on the road.
You will find your time with you jag as a labor of love, and will love the ride.
Bobmo

 

Go for it! The engine is very strong, I believe this still uses the equally strong GM THM400 transmission, if you can fix BMW and Mercedes you can handle this one. Make sure the body is solid, watch for rust, including around the rear trailing arm mounts.

 

Ok you guys are all awesome much nicer than bmw benz owners !
Im going to look at it again in a few minutes hope I can steal it !
Talk to you all soon ! Wish me luck

 

Welcome to the board. The XJ12 shares the engine with the XJS and if you google for "Kirby palm jaguar" you will find a free PDF that goes into great detail on these cars - from reliability to maintenance to preventive measures

Cheers