I'm looking at a 1988 jaguar xj6 to trade my 1983 mercedes with transmission and rust issues for the jag has 185k miles and a well worn interior but seems to be fine from the pictures (im going up there this weekend. The mercedes has 138k miles and has rust do you think this is a fair trade ir should i ask for a little money on top of the jag. I'll include pictures in next post

Forgot to mention mercedes is a rare grey market car but due to that it has no history and jag is a VDP

 

I know this one is a shreenshot it wouldnt upload so i sent it to my other phone and screen shot it

 

What do you know about the mechanical condition of the XJ6? I might be concerned about it if the owner let the interior get into that condition. It may be a VDP, but it would cost a small fortune to bring it back to nice condition - new seat covers, headliner, console lid, etc, or start looking for a donor XJ6 with a better interior. I think 88-90 models would be a direct swap.

I'd say the Mercedes is certainly worth more depending on how bad the rust is. The gray market models with the euro bumpers can be attractive to buyers - I have a gray market W123 coupe. The XJ40/XJ6 models are not rare. If you want one, I'd consider getting the most you can by selling the Mercedes and then shop around for an XJ6.

 

Its strange evrryone who has a xj jaguar has currently has or recently sold a w123 mercedes. Ive been trying to sell the 240d for a while unfortunately the rust is quite bad being that it was formerly a Chicago car apperantly the xj40 has had work done recently including tires, oil , and spark plugs. And local pick n pulls seem to have a few xj40s and x300s if its not something i want i'll pass on it

 

If you're set on the Jag and it seems ok ('cept the interior) keep in mind that the front seat squabs (bases) just lift out after undoing two phillips head screws in the front - so easy enough to remove from a pick-and-pull donor if you can find some serviceable ones

Larry

 

Hi: IElectrics were a big issue back in '88 as the xj40 was an entirely new, more complicated vehicle. You'll want to determine what doesn't work as "bid down" leverage. If you buy the Jag and it has a Barley carpet, I have a pretty good set of carpets that I'm selling cheap. car-part.com and ebay are two good sources as well as your local salvage yards. Good luck. Ren

 

Ended up not getting it, it was a good car but it was on its way out and with 185k miles its probably outlasted most other 88s in milige

 

There's a pretty nice 94 VDP on ebay right now, low miles, not much money ...located in Florida ..

ps the 88 I parted out once had over 300,000 miles so not so unusual

Larry