New to Jaguars...
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New to Jaguars...
Hello all, I am currently looking into purchasing a (basically) one owner 1989 XJ6 sedan, and am wondering what I should be looking for in the car. Basic info as I know it is as follows-
Price tag- 1500.00 USD
Mileage- 95,XXX
Problem areas- leaking p/s fluid, brake fluid, battery drain, needs new tires, Some electrical issues (from what I have researched thus far, to be expected) including interior lights intermittent, electrical system 1 warning message, front exterior door handles inop, trunk weatherstrip needs replacement.
Body- straight; paint fading, one small dimple.
Engine- very slight ticking coming from upper end, sounds like valve noise on one cylinder, no major leaks noticed.
Interior- very nice condition, both power seats work properly, sunroof works properly.
The story as I know it (from seller)- Seller's father is a contractor, got the car as partial payment for a job, would rather have liquid assets than an unneeded car. Contractor's client was original owner of the car, has extensive documentation including original build sheet window sticker. Seller's father told him to put it on Craigslist to sell, not extremely motivated seller, so he is willing to hold it for a few days for me to do some homework to find out if this car is right for me. It will be my wife's daily, and we have two children, kindergarten age. Also, I have some mechanical aptitude (recently rebuilt a ford automatic transmission in my garage) so I do prefer to work on my cars myself.
Does this seem like something I should pursue, given the above info? I am going to have it taken to a Jaguar repair shop to have it checked before handing over cash, but what are some things I should expect to have to put money into at this point in the car's life?
Any input would be greatly appreciated, like I said before, I really don't know from Jags, but the car seems like a killer deal, and I don't want to pass on it only to regret it later.
Thanks,
Ian (FNG)
Price tag- 1500.00 USD
Mileage- 95,XXX
Problem areas- leaking p/s fluid, brake fluid, battery drain, needs new tires, Some electrical issues (from what I have researched thus far, to be expected) including interior lights intermittent, electrical system 1 warning message, front exterior door handles inop, trunk weatherstrip needs replacement.
Body- straight; paint fading, one small dimple.
Engine- very slight ticking coming from upper end, sounds like valve noise on one cylinder, no major leaks noticed.
Interior- very nice condition, both power seats work properly, sunroof works properly.
The story as I know it (from seller)- Seller's father is a contractor, got the car as partial payment for a job, would rather have liquid assets than an unneeded car. Contractor's client was original owner of the car, has extensive documentation including original build sheet window sticker. Seller's father told him to put it on Craigslist to sell, not extremely motivated seller, so he is willing to hold it for a few days for me to do some homework to find out if this car is right for me. It will be my wife's daily, and we have two children, kindergarten age. Also, I have some mechanical aptitude (recently rebuilt a ford automatic transmission in my garage) so I do prefer to work on my cars myself.
Does this seem like something I should pursue, given the above info? I am going to have it taken to a Jaguar repair shop to have it checked before handing over cash, but what are some things I should expect to have to put money into at this point in the car's life?
Any input would be greatly appreciated, like I said before, I really don't know from Jags, but the car seems like a killer deal, and I don't want to pass on it only to regret it later.
Thanks,
Ian (FNG)
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 2,521
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From: Powell, Ohio U.S.A. 43065
That's a judgement call, based on how much of the work you are capable of, how much time you want to spend looking for good used parts, etc.
I phrase my answer that way because you have already identified a need list that will come to $1000 very easily. So already it isn't a killer deal.
In California, I suspect there are still a fair number of decent early 90's XJ6. Why not try looking on Autotrader or a similar site for Jaguars in your area at $2500. You might be pleasantly surprised at comparable cars you can buy for that kind of money.
I phrase my answer that way because you have already identified a need list that will come to $1000 very easily. So already it isn't a killer deal.
In California, I suspect there are still a fair number of decent early 90's XJ6. Why not try looking on Autotrader or a similar site for Jaguars in your area at $2500. You might be pleasantly surprised at comparable cars you can buy for that kind of money.
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Thanks for the input, the other questionable thing about the car is the odometer reads 25,XXX, but the current owner says the p/o and he discussed that the car has closer to 95,XXX, he said that they were thinking that something was unplugged or reset due to lack of power at some point relatively recently. The fact that he was up front with this information was very reassuring, at least I know that he is being honest about the history of the car. I have been reading on the site a bit, trying to glean information from previous posts, and utilizing the search function to the best of it's ability, and someone said that the '89 was inferior to the '88 due to Ford ownership. I checked a few places, and the information that I could find showed that Ford made it's first bid for ownership of Jaguar in September of '89. Does anyone have anything concrete showing the actual time of ownership transfer?
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 2,521
Likes: 71
From: Powell, Ohio U.S.A. 43065
Ford purchased Jaguar in Dec. 1989, and had nothing to do with engineering XJ6 until at least '93.
The instrument packs do not loose their odometer reading. If the mileage doesn't read correctly, you have alot of questions you won't be getting answers to.
The instrument packs do not loose their odometer reading. If the mileage doesn't read correctly, you have alot of questions you won't be getting answers to.
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As far as looking for another Jag in the 2500 price range, I really don't have the up front cash for that. I do have the ability to drive another vehicle until the Jag is up to par, and the patience and wherewithal to fix things as I can, but do you think I should try and talk him down on the price a bit? The main things that would be needed to be fixed to get it to driver status would be the tires (the current tires were made in '94, I do a lot of tire work at my job, so I know how to read the DOT number) and the battery drain, and find out the reason and rate of the brake fluid loss. After that, everything else that I have seen wrong could be dealt with (albeit annoying) until they were fixed.
I also found a thread where someone else had the same prob with their odometer- https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...c+Control+Unit, so it seems to be a bit more innocuous than it at first appears.
I also found a thread where someone else had the same prob with their odometer- https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...c+Control+Unit, so it seems to be a bit more innocuous than it at first appears.
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 855
Likes: 6
From: McHenry IL
As a newer owner (2 months) of a 89 XJ6, I'll throw my 2 cents in here.
As far as the mechanicals go they are really no different to work on than anything else I'm used to dealing with. (american, German or British) the same basics apply. Some things are more of a pain to do. Mostly from limited access space or a lot of disassembly needed to get to the part in question. Not to horrible though. Parts for the most part are not to bad to find or priced unless you need blower motors
Electrical systems are more of a pain than my old Range Rover. I've never seen so much wiring used on a car lol. Basic trouble shooting principals apply here as well. A wiring diagram and the ability to follow it will be your biggest weapons on sorting out electrical gremlins. Always start your trouble shooting at the fuse box on british cars/trucks ie make sure the fuse is good before you get to deep into it.
Just remember as a daily driver for your wife and kids, this is a 20 year old car now, it can and will have problems from time to time. As long as your willing to put in the time effort money and love it should treat you well.
As far as the mechanicals go they are really no different to work on than anything else I'm used to dealing with. (american, German or British) the same basics apply. Some things are more of a pain to do. Mostly from limited access space or a lot of disassembly needed to get to the part in question. Not to horrible though. Parts for the most part are not to bad to find or priced unless you need blower motors
Electrical systems are more of a pain than my old Range Rover. I've never seen so much wiring used on a car lol. Basic trouble shooting principals apply here as well. A wiring diagram and the ability to follow it will be your biggest weapons on sorting out electrical gremlins. Always start your trouble shooting at the fuse box on british cars/trucks ie make sure the fuse is good before you get to deep into it.
Just remember as a daily driver for your wife and kids, this is a 20 year old car now, it can and will have problems from time to time. As long as your willing to put in the time effort money and love it should treat you well.
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 2,521
Likes: 71
From: Powell, Ohio U.S.A. 43065
Feel free to believe what you want, the odometer mileage is retained in the instrument pack and will not be changed umless the instrument pack is overhauled and recalibrated by a rebuilder, or replaced with another unit in its entirety.
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