Hi everyone,
The car I've been waiting months to be auctioned is finally "live". It's a 1986 XJ6 Sovereign . After personal inspection & carfax report, it appears to have had a new or reset speedometer / odometer in the early 90's ( from 80,000+ back to zero, now back up to 35,000 ). Has anyone every heard of a broken or damaged speedometer being replaced with a "new" 0 mileage one or of it being reset instead for the install of a rebuilt or new engine ? If I win, I'm going to try contacting the original owner ( if still alive / from records in glove box ) to see if he knows, but thought I would try here first. I have a feeling my competing bidders think it only has 35,000 original plus didn't go inspect the car to be able to see it's been resprayed ( NOT bare metal either ) etc, so they might go stupid high. It's still a much nicer condition car that my "Feral Kitty" which will get stored for future rebuild / restore.

Thanks for any input / wild guesses !
I'll post a new thread if I win !

Cheers,
Brian

 

Speedometers are replaced all the time. It's an especially attractive option on these cars the the swap is so simple. Takes about 2 minutes. And, while brand new speedometers were surely available at one time, good used ones have been widely available for ages and are very cheap. So, if a speedo fails (or needs changing for any other reason, honest or dishonest) it a very cheap and easy thing to do.

I see no reason or justification to replace a speedo just because the engine is replaced or rebuilt

As for the Sovereign that is coming to auction....

Is this a USA auction?

The Sovereign was not so in the USA so it probably migrated here from Europe or, more likely, Canada. The speedometer was probably "KMH" and may have been changed to a "MPH" type when the car came to the USA

Cheers
DD

 

Thanks Doug,
My mistake on calling it a Sovereign, to be accurate, guess it's just a plain USA XJ6 instead of VP. I'm pretty sure it was just a speedometer/odometer problem fixed by replacement while leaving the engine with 80k+35k. It has a odometer reset / replace warning sticker ( dates & mileage now unreadable ) in the door jamb but like I said have a feeling at least one of the bidders is a clueless "flipper" who does not realize it has 115k+ . I'l find out Monday how badly they want it !

Cheers,
Brian

 

What the odometer reads concerns me only slightly. Insurance company wanted readings. Premiums partly based on mileage!! Hefty on each of my critters... The youngest at age 25!!! 216 K miles and counting, tight, shiny and clean. sporting new WS. courtesy of son!

But, why would an engine replacement govern a speedo back to zero??? The rest of the car is not "new"??

I'd consider any 86 car with a very low odometer reading . suspect??? Explanation, OK, but, still "

Carl

 

I actually prefer a Jag that has been driven, cats need exercise ! Just wondering why the speedometer would be replaced ( to zero ) instead of repaired or replaced with a new or used unit reset to the correct mileage. Maybe to show the mileage on a new engine was the only other idea I had, since I've never seen any reported problems with the speedo's. Also judging from the old registration cards ( in car ) and carfax, the owner for the swap put another 14k on it before selling it ( plus it has the warning stick in door jamb ) so I don't THINK it was done to sucker the next owner ? Don't care either way, I want to buy the car to drive and like it's "apparent" condition ( Copart lot, and out of gas so no test drive etc ), instead of buying it as an investment ( would be better of buying lotto tickets for that ! ).

I'm only hoping I'm not bidding against someone with more money than sense, as I would like to get it at a reasonable price. It just seems much harder to find no / low rust examples in / near NC compared to CA where I keep seeing nice priced ones but the shipping or driving back would kill my budget.

Cheers,
Brian