I know someone selling a 1997 Jaguar xjr-6 for sale but the paint is baked off the hood in sections and all by the sunroof and on the trunk. My first question is this normal for a car to have problems with paint already. Did Jaguar use good paint on the x300's. My next question is do you think I should reprint the whole car or just the sections? What do you think the cost would be too?

 

When I was looking for mine, I came across a bunch with bad paint. Looks like typical problem with this car.

Mine had been re-sprayed by the previous owner. He said it was cheap and looked pretty good when he had it done and would do it again. It looked OK when I bought the car, not great, but pretty OK.... 9 months later and I have some pretty serious flaking going on. But I anticipated a paint job somewhere down the line anyway.

I'm thinking a proper paint job is going to be in the $1800-$2800 range. With 120,000 miles and being in great condition otherwise, I think it might be worth it as these cars will run well into the 200k

That said, a cheap job will look OK for a while, but if you don't take care of the underlying paint issue it will start to go bad fast. And only painting individual panels is going to cause the overall color of the car not to match well.

So, I guess the question is this:

How much is the car, how many miles, and what's the overall condition?

 

I think double that amount would be more realistic for a Jag-quality job

Cheers
DD

 

It is in really good condition and only has 69 k miles.

 

You may be right, there. I just can't see spending that kind of coin on a car worth so little. Still, think a quite serviceable paint job could be had in the price range I mentioned.

If the car is in good condition, with service records, with that mileage, might be a good deal if you can get it around $2500

 

Agree on all points.

Problem is you get a $2500 paint job and then the interior looks weak. So you spend a lot of time or money on that. Then you're so in love with the car that you get some nice wheels and new tires. And then some upgrades....and then....and then....

Next thing ya know you're wishing you had gotten the $5000 paint job.

Just my experience, mind you :-)

Cheers
DD

 

$2500 should get you a decent paint job for a driver. Just shop around, a lot of shops are only interested in doing insurance work and they charge. A shop that deals with old cars may be better because they are more accustomed to dealing with private individuals who usually don't pay the same prices as insurance companies.

Go to car shows and ask around where they had their paint done. You'd be surprised.

 

Yup, I could see that happening. Different strokes for different folks

 

I had the whole roof repainted on my 97 at a Jaguar dealer for a grand. They color matched it perfectly and the price was high since they had to remove the rear windshield. Why are these cars having these paint issues? Weak factory paint or just not sun friendly?

If you love the car and plan on keeping for a while I'd spend the coin to get the paint looking nice. Hey it's cheaper than buying a new or late model used XJ. Just my opinion.

 

I've seen a few where the upper surfaces have gone chalky. I never knew why but it seems to be the exception and not the rule. The paint on mine is as deeply glossy as the day it was born <shrug>

I wonder if there's a pattern dependant on color?

Cheers
DD

 

I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a manufacturer who hasn't offered either a secret or public warranty on paint, at least the skyward-facing horizontal surfaces, since the introduction of clear-coat technology. I had an '85 Buick Century T-Type fully repainted on GM's coin in 1992, even so it was beyond the 5 yr/100k mi "eligibility gate" for the "secret warranty." (I had a long, well-documented history of returning it to the dealer from '88-on every time more paint would blow off the hood, top, or trunk so the intro of the "secret warranty" in 88 or whenever coupled with my dealer service records between then and '92 when I cracked the secret helped)
Moving on, during the same time-frame, (I lived in Jacksonville, FL up until late '89, then relocated to Pensacola, where the Buick was repainted in 92) BMW had tremendous paint problems of the exact same nature. Typically, "zair iss no possibility zat somezing should be wrong mit zee paint!!! Ziss sing is in zee care of zee atmosphere in zee port!!!" and they subsequently stopped shipping their cars into Jacksonville, or at least threatened to - Didn't have one, didn't plan to acquire one, didn't care.

My brother also had a Ford truck product or two repainted under warranty/subsidy of Ford for the same issue. In the Buick's case, I believe they eventually traced the problem back to the omission of one particular chemical in the prime process. (We can save $3/car...that's a coupla million$ down against the $10million recall cost!) If memory serves, I believe most of all the above-mentioned incidents were most aggressive in attacking the darker colors.
Anyway...that is my recollection of paint-problems of 20+ yrs ago, and I remember Volvo and Chrysler also reporting paint problems in the era. My 95 X300 is among the darkest of the dark -Black and has held up remarkably well, though it has been largely garaged, I think. I do have a dime-sized spot on the boot that appears to be the beginnings of clear-coat failure - wouldn't polish out - and can be seen over on the Detailing thread.