Hello y'all and glad to begin being a part of this forum, hopefully for a while, so lets cut straight to the chase.
I've been looking into getting an XJS for Quite some time now and have finally decided to do it. There is one in my area specifically I'm looking at and I want to ask what you all think about this. It's a 1990 with 129,xxx miles on it. The body is solid and rust free, the interior is aveage i'd say. It's all there, just the normal cracks here and there. Mechanically it's not the greatest, but that's part of the reason I'd like to buy it, I love tinkering around with cars, and am plenty proficient enough to do most anything aside from machining heads. Listed are some of the issues this car has:

Both rear wheel bearings are bad....like very bad and will need to be replaced

Several vacuum lines are capped off/split which isn't uncommon

It'll need new tires on all fours

Needs a front end alignment

Needs rear main seal, oil pan gasket, and both valve cover gaskets. All leak, although the shop I took it to get inspected doesn't know if the rear main seal is leaking. It may just be all of the oil pouring down from above.

A/C blower works, but not A/C itself. Trip computer doesn't work but possibly just a fuse

Speedometer is inop.

Battery barely holds a charge, but alternator seems to hold it's own on voltage tests



Those are the main issues. All in all I drove it about 15 miles to and from the shop. The front end is in decent shape, the transmission shifted remarkably smoothly, the engine did run fairly well, albeit a little hot and sputtery, but no noise from the engine so no dropped seats! The kicker is he only wants $2,500 for the car. It has a clean title and also, as stated before, a very clean body. I'm more than willing and capable of doing all of the above work by myself, I'm mainly just poking to see if y'all think this is a fair deal. Can't wait for some input and thanks in advance!

Justin

 

Is he giving you the $2,500 or are you giving him the $2,500 ? It's a money pit, not to mention your work time. If you really want it, $1K at most.
Lawrence

 

I'd be paying him for it and I know what a money pit cars can be. If I didn't do all of my own work I'd be broke. This is being bought purely as a project and I have another car that is a daily driver

 

Sounds like you have a good idea of what you're getting into...so go for it

Virtually every XJS failure mode has been discussed and the fixes shared over the years....lots of good info out there. That's a big help.

Cheers
DD

 

Oh yeah haha I know it'll be a chore and I don't expect anything less. I estimate i can get the car in decent running condition with about $3500 in parts. I might even play on redoing the headgaskets and just do all the gaskets on the way up to make sure my grounds are covered.

I do have an odd question though.....the car is a coupe and has a vinyl top. Oddly enough it looks either factor or EXTREMELY well done. Perfectly fitted around the gas cap and everything. Did the XJS ever come with an option that fitted a vinyl top?

 

Need pics of this vinyl top. Only factory fitted vinyl top I know of is the XJ Coupe.

 

Either way, even if it isn't factory it was very well done. Probably one of the best I've ever seen and probably a good amount of $$ when it was done

 

Not factory.

This forum is a fantastic resource. It doesn't seem you are too concerned about the $2,500. Except for the vinyl work on the exterior, you can find these cars in this condition all day, so if it's the vinyl that piqued your fancy, then do it.

If you believe the interior is worth the price of admission, seeing how the exterior looks pretty good, then everything else can be fixed with your time and your money.

Again, I must stress, v12s in this condition, at similar, if not lower price points, can be found...all day long. Pick the one that speaks to you and jump on in!

 

Hey Vee, thanks for the info! I was 90% sure it wasn't factory but just making sure.

I'm going to talk him down a bit on price just to make sure I'm not digging myself a hole. The main reason I'm looking at this one is it's local so I won't have to worry about shipping or anything else to deal with. There are only a few others local but all are convertibles and I've always been more of a fan of the coupe. Added to that, the fact it is in such decent shape and mainly just needs mechanical work peaks my fancy. The vinyl top does make it unique, which is cool, but it's not necessarily a deal maker for me, although I do like it. Thanks for the input!

 

Almost forgot. Also since its local I like the fact I can personally check it out. I'm very weary about purchasing something blind, whereas when it's local I can personallu inspect it

 

This is of course my opinion but WHY on earth would someone pay a premium to put that top on there? It would be cause for me to one, completely walk away or two, talk the price waaaay down. Sorry but tops like that are notorious for hiding rust and harboring moisture and IMHO look terrible on the buttresses. When someone makes a decision to install something like that they better be ready to face the critics and not recoup the funds spent on doing it.

 

Those wheel arches are also notorious for harboring moisture and hiding rust and if you try to take them off you'll most likely be looking at scuffed paint and the surrounding paint not matching due to sun fade. Looks like he wanted to make that thing a little too "blingy" All those visual "mods" are price detractors not price additions. The one starfish wheel up front is a little weird too.

 

I must admit it is a good looking car. The concerns for me would be why the ac isn't working, ripping out the dash for a evaporator could "ruin your day" as Burnie once said. Pulling heads off a v12 for the 1st time in 25 yrs & 129k..... ABS Brakes are good ? Check the price of a master cyl. Rebuild kits or cyl's NA, at least that I know of. Anyway, Good luck
Lawrence

 

Yes but the matching wheel is in the trunk. The starfish was the spare. I do agree the top is odd and sketchy which is why I'm going to try to talk him down about that .

 

Careful, that thing would not be easy or cheap to remove and refinish the paint as they've went down the body line on the lower sides of the buttresses, you might be stuck with it unless you want the shell out more to fix it. These cars as you have probably seen don't fetch a bunch of money and any additional funds making the car "right" (eye of the beholder) might be counter productive. I'm particularly not a fan of either the top or the arches and would have to walk on it. But that's just me

 

Sorry to be a Debbie downer but I just read over the laundry list of things it needs vs the $2500 price tag, my advice is RUN don't walk away. In my area a decent driver needing little averages $3000 and they pop up from time to time with regularity. With those problems, the top, tires etc that's a $900 special all day long. The general public is scared to death of these things and people who want and know them are not paying even close to his price. 129k with oil leaks, bad bearings etc = not properly looked after. You DoNT want a V-12 with a sketchy past and a boat load of problems.

 

You see I haven't found any even relatively close or even on eBay in general that's all for that cheap that are running most people are asking 6k for a running car from what I've se but I definitely do agree it is sketchy

 

What they are asking and what they are getting (if they can even sell it) are two different things. People think "Jaguar" and automatically they think they can get $$$ for it, not so, Jaguars are one of the best bang for the $ out there in the automotive world. The public at large is afraid of them and those seeking $$ for them usually come to grips when it languishes on the market. Here's a classic example. http://miami.craigslist.org/mdc/cto/5145845159.html

He was asking $7900 for it but soon came to realize it wasn't going to move at that plus I'm sure he's been informed it isn't a "Lister" but an XJS with a Lister lower body kit on it.

 

Run away bravely. The roof is a lovely job but you will have so many problems with it; think changing wallpaper that has been glued on with tar.
JTsmks
Spot on; proper Lister kit but not Lister wheels.

 

JTsmks has given you some sage advice. Be patient and expand your search. I'm a HUGE fan of the running $3k XJS. They are out there.