Hello folks, my first post in 12 cylinder territory, so go easy on me! Basically I have the opportunity to purchase a 1996 xj12 for very small money 1300 euro, 1700 stg about 1000usd. Its a sapphire blue car with 110,000 miles and in excellent condition but no test or service history worth talking about (which to be fair was par for the course here in Ireland up until relatively recently) my query is, should I buy it seeing as I already have an identical 6 cylinder xj which is trouble free and impeccable. I would only really be purchasing the 12 to tick the v12 box off my list, also its cheap and i hate to see such a car languish in a used car lot waiting for the crusher. Are the extra 6 cylinders worth the effort or should I leave her be? Thanks JJ.

 

There is nothing more expensive than an inexpensive Jaguar

The XJ12 was the flagship of the fleet. On the USA models, at least, they were fully outfitted with all the top-of-the-line goodies. A real pleasure to drive; lots of power.

Like any used Jag with unknown history, though, there's the potential that it might be an unforgiving bitch. For the bargain-basement asking price I'd consider it to be a project car...and then perhaps be pleasantly surprised if it needs less work than needed.

Cheers
DD

 

Allot of car for the money. Go for it.

 

Yes for sure !

 

A personal inspection and drive will reveal much! Possibly too much! If you have required mechanical inspections there, I'm sure you will have work to do to put her into passing condition. Also I understand there is a huge road tax there. Could that be why the sale price is so low?

If your XJ6 is short wheelbase, that is incentive to get the long wheelbase XJ12. The cabin is spacious, and with the V12, it is a great way to entertain guests! You will be the designated driver. And you will be happy to.

Nothing substitutes for an in-person inspection. Consider your findings, your resources, and desire to spend time and energy on projects, at least early on.

We all like to see these cars finally get into good hands. But it's ultimately your call. Best wishes!

 

You see the reason these cars are so inexpensive here is the ridiculous road tax rates as I mentioned elsewhere before. Anything over 2999cc is almost 2000euro per year to tax alone! Therefore even the finest condition cars over 3litre are worthless after about 5years, and i mean totally worthless. so it's not the condition that dictates price. I have checked the car out and its pretty spotless in fairness the v12 is ridiculously smooth but other than being told that its a v12 I would be hard pressed to pick it apart from my x300 sovereign. Its even got the same sapphire blue paint, wheels and trim. In normal driving the difference is negligible but it is turbine smooth. I don't know if the juice is worth the squeeze in this circumstance. I am going wait a couple of weeks and offer 700euro and walk away. Wish me luck.

 

Been there. Done that.

As much as I love the V12 power, if that XJ12 isn't a long wheelbase (Not many LWB made there), IMO it is difficult to justify ownership. Especially to anyone who doesn't understand the lure. It is simply too much like your other very nice Jag! Even the wheels are the same?!

In my case, there are quite a few differences between the 6 and 12, although they are both red. I owned the 6 first, and the upgrades with the 12 were many. Nowadays, my son is using the six and I use the twelve almost exclusively. I feel privileged! It worked out well for me, although for years I didn't drive the 12 very much. I didn't need to, since I had another nice red Jag! It was difficult to justify buying the 12, to everyone. But I am sooo glad that I did!!

So if you have the bug, you might have to do it anyways. Luck!

 

I've owned a couple Jaguar six's, supercharged and not. Still have a bunch of V-12's and a super charged V-8. The V-12 is hands down the best motor for highway or just cruising around town. Not the fastest but certainly the smoothest. The supercharged six's are almost as quick but are working a whole lot harder to do so. What can I say about the 4.2 supercharged... phenomenal.

 

Another possibility might be to ultimately replace the six with the twelve? I do not want to discourage your opportunity to get behind that V12. It is great.

 

I really don't understand their logic behind that law.... So you're telling me that you could potentially drive a 2.9L car with 1,000hp, and not be taxed to death, but somehow a stock 3L or larger engine is "evil," and must be taxed accordingly?

 

OK, so local to me on Craigslist a fellow is selling a '95 XJ12 (SWB US-spec) for $1000. Just wants to unload it: 1995 Jaguar XJ12

87k miles with a few issues (AC, tranny slip, engine "rattle"), but otherwise a solid car.

Question I have is this: supposedly, only 80 of these (95 SWB XJ12) came to the US, so why have I found almost a dozen of them for sale on Craigslist and eBay? Most for under $5k.

It is tempting - flagship, end-of-era V12, etc. While this one may sell before I can go look at it, it has me interested in the XJ12.

Padre

 

Because buying one and owning one are two very different things :-)


Tempting, yes. Fabulous cars, no doubt about it.

If you have the time and money ...and desire...to fix the faults, I say 'go for it'. You'll never find more car for less money. It's just that so many of the X300 V12s are at the point in their lives where $$$ will have to be spent. The market value is so low that most people don't want to go there. Sad situation, eh?

Cheers
DD

 

I saw that listing and was tempted to go see it. I have too many other projects to take on another one though. Let us know how it turns out if you go check it out. At that price if it turned out to have too many issues you should be able to recoup your money by parting it out.

 

Most people are too ignorant to truly appreciate these cars. So what if the "market value" is only a couple thousand. Even if you put $10k worth of repairs into it you'll still be ahead by a lot of money compared to buying a new 12 cylinder luxury sedan. In the late 70's and early 80's the E Type was a cheap used car. Look at what they're worth today. This reminds of a car story I saw on the web today. Just 15 years ago this Audi was sitting shiny in a showroom with a $70k sticker. Now it's rotting away in a junk yard.

Junkyard Gem: Fully depreciated 2001 Audi A8 L 4.2 Quattro - Autoblog

 

Yeah, too bad in the 80's I didn't snap up all the hemi cuda's that were going for pennies on the dollar. Must have been my Burger Chef bank account holding me back.

 

What did you decide to do?????

 

This XJ12 car is the sorriest piece of engineering that I have ever owned, which includes BMW, Range Rover (second worst), Porsche and MBZ. Let me tell you about the problems:First, the alternator fell off on the first drive. Second, almost every time you parked it there would be big green coolant puddle under the car. as it blew off all the coolant If you took a hard left turn the power steering hose would burst and it needed the whole front steering assembly dropped to replace it. If you parked the car while hot it would take ten minutes for the A/C to overcome the heat dissipated into the car and half the time you could never get the cooling option to work. The head light switch was lubricated with some kind of grease that ate through the copper contacts. The fuel rail clips were useless so there would be gasoline leaking onto engine -- not sure how I ever managed to avoid a serious fire. When the power steering hose burst it would put oil directly onto the catalytic converter and you had a rip roaring fire under the car. However, having said all that I drove it from LA to San Jose on US 101 in 4.5 hours when the OPEC energy crisis and the truckers strike took almost everyone off the road (except the CHP). It would cruise wonderfully at 125- when it was operating..The suspension was superb but the rest of the engineering was terribly sad.. I compare it to my MBZ E320 from 1995 that my granddaughter walked away from a wreck in 2021, that had wiper blades, tires, brake shoes and disks and a couple of batteries. replaced in the 26 years and it could run at 120 mph for hours...

 

What a strange first post…..
The XJ12 is a complex beast and, like any car, can suffer from poor servicing from third, fourth etc owners who can not really afford the bills for such a car. You must just have been unlucky to have bought such a mistreated car.

In fine form these are great cars and not all as bad as yours was.

 

You get good and bad. As previously stated. A lot depends on the maintenance of previous owners. My Range Rover was virtually faultless for a year and yet you go on any forum and you've got people reporting all sorts of mega repairs. My BMW has been two years of fixing stuff including an engine rebuild to tackle valve stem oil seals, collant transfer pipes and the list goes on. But it's pretty reliable now although still getting a dynamic drive failure every now and again but that that's what you get from a 17 year old car with over 40 modules in it. I dare say my XJ12 will need some TLC once I get back to the UK but its starting ok and driving on some private road once a month and so far so good. You buy old cars, it's a labour of love. Nobody buys an old car expecting it to be reliable. Or I don't.

 

Based on mention of “OPEC energy crisis” I think XJ12trash might have had a Series I or Series II XJ12 circa 1973? The surviving XJ12s from that era are the good ones, but man they made some terrible ones! Nothing prettier though. I have a few of them .

The 1995/1996 XJ12 this forum in concerned with was a wonderful and reliable automobile.