is this 2003 XJR worth buying?
 

Hello. I found a local guy selling a 108,000 mile clean title 2003 XJR for $1,800. He told me the car overheated and now it needs a new head gasket(s). I don't have a problem buying the car and rebuilding the engine or even getting a replacement, but is $1,800 worth paying or should I offer him something lower? I been looking around at 2003 models and I find them going any where from $5,000-$8,000. I will be doing majority of the labor work.

No

If that car was in Canada, I'd buy it sight unseen. Still even in the States, if it was really clean you could get it going for about 1500-2000 dollars to replace all the tensioners guides and chains and headgaskets PROVIDED it wasn't so badly overheated that the valve seats dropped or badly warped the heads.
That's how I got my XJR so cheaply (relatively speaking).


EDIT: that car in good running condition would go for $12,000-15,000 Canadian, 11-14k USD. in my area.

I assume you cannot test drive the car, so there could be other things needing attention. This is therefore a risk that needs pricing. Is this risk in the price of $1800 ? Try adding up what you might have to spend getting a replacement used engine, and fitting it. If it adds up to a lot more than you'd pay for a working car, walk away. On the other hand, if you're a dab hand at mechanical work, and have a nice large garage, and hoist and tools, then it could be an interesting project. $1800 sounds like the scrap value anyway, so nothing much to lose if you have to part it out. At 108k miles it should still be in pretty good condition. Overheating is likely to have caused more damage than just a head gasket, but you might be lucky.

You need to give this car a really good inspection to see what it looks like and see if there are any service records etc. Why it overheated in the first place could indicate a sloppy and careless owner , on the other hand it could have just been bad luck.

The engine starts, but it's shaking like it has a misfire. No unusual noises though. I bought it for $1500 and it will be towed to my house tomorrow. I am 2nd owner and pretty excited to repair it. I have plenty of goodies to fix this car in my garage although most of my experience is from big Diesel engines. I found a used long block engine with 71k miles for $2000. I maybe able to bargain the price and I will change the tensioners and timing guides prior to putting back in the car. The problem can be something simple, but the owner said the "shaking" occurred after it overheated. I won't know exactly what's wrong with it until I hook up a scan tool and perform further diagnosing. I am fairly new to this jaguar scene and only have experience with our 1995 XJ6 and 1997 XJ6R.

Good luck with your project. $1500 = £940. Here in the UK, you'd get more than this just selling the parts on eBay !

It'd be nice if you could keep us informed on how you get on with the car.

Actually, if it's a 2003, is it the steel or aluminium car ? I suspect you have the X308 car not the X350 (which is aluminium), hence the low price.

Not quite sure, but how would I find out? With the vin # or just by looking at the frame? I will try to keep this thread updated with the work I do. The owner purchased a brand new XJ and I think he just wanted to get rid of it asap to make space.

VINs start with G00442, at least that is quoted on the air spring units. If you don't know the styles here is my aluminium car. A key difference is you can look in the trunk water channel and you'll see lines of rivet heads, because the aluminium cars are riveted and glued together like an airframe. Under
the hood you'll also see the suspension towers are big aluminium castings riveted to the body.

Sounds like you purchased a great project car. Let us all know how you progress and what you find. If its a late 2003 production car it would be aluminum and clearly worth the investment on parts alone.

RyeJag

A magnet can also be used, gently placed around the body to check for aluminum or steel.

What kind of brakes do these model jaguars use? They have nice calipers. Anyone have a link on information about this particular xjr model I can read up on?

Thank you. I am still waiting for the car to be towed to my
house. The owner is out of town for the holidays and didn't have the title on him when I purchased it.

the X350 aluminum body car has Brembo brakes front and rear and electronic parking brake caliper in the rear in addition, a very nice touch. These are great brakes.

RyeJag

No, not all, only the XJRs, I think. Mine are pretty standard, non-Brembo, and thank goodness for me because Brembo stuff is very expensive. All cars have the electric hand-brake, of course. This can be expensive to fix if it goes wrong.

Does this car also have the CATS suspension or is that specifically on the XJR-100 models? I have yet a lot to learn about this vehicle. I will post some pictures tomorrow afternoon.

it needs work & some love!

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...ine=1388281762

I don't know what my car has for brake pads, and I thought my C5 Corvette had good brakes, but the ones on my Super V8 would stop a train.

It looks pretty, and with a picture, I can tell you that is an X308, with a steel body, and no CATS suspension. No electric park brake.
If you take a picture of the brakes, we can tell you what you have. It's a great car, although I am biased, of course!

I scanned for codes and the car has 11 codes for cylinder 1-8 misfire & multiple misfires. The car starts & runs, but very rough.. almost on 4 cylinders. I took the coil plugs off & spark plugs and found a puddle of oil on the coils and spark plugs. I think it has CATS suspension? There is a plug on the front shock. These are the best pics I can provide at the moment. I went ahead and ordered 2 valve cover gaskets, spark plug rubber o-ring gaskets, new thermostat, and 8x spark plugs. I'm not sure if they sell individual coil plug boots, but I may remove the old ones and clean them well before re-installing.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...ine=1388275243

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...ine=1388275243

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...ine=1388275243

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...ine=1388275243

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...ine=1388275243

FRONT
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...ine=1388275243

REAR
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...ine=1388275243

Here is a video of how much oil can be heard on top of the spark plug...this same issue occurred on the 1997 XJR and It's obvious lack of maintenance.

View My Video

You stole that car. Brembo's/wheels alone are worth more than you paid.

Coil packs are a problem with these cars as well, you may have gotten very lucky if that's the case.

Enjoy :) I would have bought it and dropped a 4.2 in it if it was me :)