This might sound weird but I'm curious how in demand the entire london tan interior from a 2012 XJ Supersport would be? Anybody on this forum have an interest? this has leather everywhere, including headliner and is supposedly softer than standard leather (it is extremely soft but i haven't felt standard leather). And what do ya'll think that's worth?

Why am I asking? Cause my '12 Supersport ate its timing chains this morn and I'm trying to make decisions about fixing, parting etc. My interior is as close to perfect as can be.

 

I would be interested in the seat backs if they have the picnic (business) trays on them.

I'd also be interested in the sliding console cup holder assembly if it is in mint condition

Thanks
Gpk

 

 

If you rebuilt/repaired the engine and upgraded the entertainment screen and headlights, you'd have a car that's superior to most anything on the road today.
ps Don't forget the remote trunk closer!

 

Yeah gotta love that remote trunk mod! I have had it so long it seems factory at this point.
Sorry to hear about the engine failure. Any more details on what happened? How many miles, Oil change intervals, Just making noise or did something come apart?
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I'm always on the lookout for that Supersport leather rear console (air vent/climate surround).

 

At 12-13 years old, interior trim is not often valued very highly by salvage yards unfortunately. They're selling mechanical and "crash parts" primarily to 3rd owners who are just trying to keep them on the road a little while longer. They'd sooner sell a door off of it and leave the interior open to the weather and critters to be destroyed. But by the same treatment, after about 30-40 years, a whole interior would be worth quite a lot because by then, all of us idiots who "restore" old cars would be clamoring to get our hands on such a rare find. As you are seeing interest already, you could part it out and make quite a lot, but it could take years to market, pack and ship everything a piece at a time. And unless you have proper storage to dismantle the car and keep the vulnerable interior trim indoors, you couldn't sell doors, glass or anything like that until the interior was all sold first.

And some interior parts you may have to hold onto for decades before they'd be valued enough to be worth the trouble. I have been buying wrecked mk2 Toyota Supras and parting them out or using the parts for my own projects for decades. I've sold a lot of interior stuff, but they were already nearly 20 year old cars when I started so there was some demand. Many people would want me to remove and ship just seat covers, not the whole seat. That was hardly worth the effort. One problem I ran into though was that the most sough-after part, the upper dash pads, wouldn't survive shipping just stuffed in a cardboard box packed with peanuts. The only way they survived was if I built an oversized plywood crate and then the shipping was typically $400. People haven't been willing to pay much more than that and it gnawed on me to not make anything on the single most wanted part. I see somebody post every month for a dash pad, but I stopped responding because of that and am waiting till they're worth considerably more before I let anymore go. The cars themselves are finally getting to be worth something (at 39 to 43 years old) to where an uncracked dash pad could mean the difference between remaining a #3 condition driver valued at $10K vs becoming a #1 condition show car valued at over $40K. I have to wait till wealthy collectors are desperate enough to start dipping down into those #3 condition cars with cracked dashes for restoration candidates which I estimate should be just about the year I retire and have time to build shipping crates.

At this point, it probably makes more sense to buy an engine out of a salvage yard and preserve your whole car, interior and all. Used lightly and frequently conditioned, that interior could still look awesome and be worth even more by the time the replacement used engine blows. No seriously! I've been to a few concours events and noted that Jaguar collectors actually seem to like just a little bit of patina on the interior bits.

 

That's great insight, thank you!

I think what I'm going to do is buy a wrecked car from copart and swap the engine. Damaged XJ's are not worth much because even intact XJ's aren't worth much. Plus, because of the aluminum body, i think it's not worth while to repair them--especially if they are old.

Used engines on eBay and junkyard sites are $4-6k but I think I can get an entire wrecked car for $3k, maybe less. We will see.

 

I have a pair of London Tan front door interior panels F/S for $500.00

 

I like that idea. Initial price aside, a whole wrecked car, you could confirm the engine actually runs as opposed to buying an engine already removed. AND you can snag some spare parts if you've got some room for storage. I'd be eyeballing the switchgear, weatherstrip, headlights, taillights, and basically anything organic in nature (plastic, rubber, vinyl). Particularly any parts that seem fragile. If you are lucky enough to get one with the same wheels, keep the best one and a handful of extra lugnuts (a wrecked car doesn't need all 20).

And keep the jack out of the trunk because even with a lift in the shop, I've found dozens of uses around the shop and house for small jacks. Bedframe busted at midnight! No angry spouse or couch surfing; in 10 minutes retrieved extra spare jack from the shop, leveled it up and went back to sleep. Worked so good I forgot and was months before I got around to actually ordering a set of new casters and replacing them.

 

Yup, that leather wrapped rear air vent / climate console looks really nice and should have been made standard (since the regular one gets scratched so easily).

 

Thanks for bringing that up!
My 2014 XJR appears to have the leather wrapped rear HVAC console? Mine is black.
What models came with leather as I had heard only the Supersports had it?
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My 2013 Supersport has every single interior piece in leather including the headliners, A,B,C pillars, rear console trim and lower pillar trims. I haven't seen a used pair of leather A pillars on the market since I purchased the car last year.

 

I am too am curious if you got any warning on the timing chains in terms of noises or ECU codes before it grenaded?

 

The leather in the 2013 Supersport is semi-anoline

 

Yes, this variant of rear console was limited to Supersport.

 

Any update?

 

The leather wrapped headliner and pillars look really nice! I have not seen the leather wrapped HVAC console in the Supersport. Does anyone have a picture of them? I thought the HVAC consoles were all the same across the XJ models.

 

I managed to score a leather one on ebay not long ago. Here's a good comparison pic.


And one after I installed.

 

I recall you posting that. What search did you use on eBay? I'd love to keep my eyes out for one!