Things to look for when purchasing an XJS Cabriolet
 

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Hello all!

I'm looking at finally joining the ranks of Jaguar owners and I found a 1995 XJS Cabriolet with the 4.0L Inline-6 and it seems to be in great condition cosmetically but I'm waiting for the dealership that has it to install new struts before its ready for a test drive. It seems to be a lot more affordable than what I'd expect it to be (~$6000) but it has 120,000 miles and I know at that point things mechanically start to go with any car. I'm not incredibly familiar with the actual nut and bolt mechanics but would love any insight you all have for red flags to look out for, or anything that would show that the car has been taken care of well over the years. I'm happy to share the link for the listing as well if that's allowed here to make it easier for everyone to see but I'm taking a look at it within the next few days and hopeful things work out with it. I can tell from the pictures it has a replacement right front wheel but the rest are original, and there are a few small tears on the backside of the rear interior seats, but I've wanted a Jag since I was a kid and I'm just trying to make sure I don't blow a few thousand on something that needs a lot of work mechanically. Thanks in advance for any advice you all have!

Lseat will have affordable, and in my opinion, good quality replacement leather upholstery for those seats.

You are missing a plastic cover over the fuel injectors....make sure dealer gets it for you, or credits the price for one.

Make sure it idles at 580rpm, in gear, warm and 700rpm in park...again warm.
Check to see if AC works.
Make sure you have at least two sets of keys for the car, including FOBs. They are expensive. Green keys don't count, they're valet keys and will not open the trunk once locked.
Top goes up and down, make sure the car is in park with the emergency brake on. (When you pull up on the brake handle, it will drop back down, that's normal)
Check to make sure high beams work.
Those are the wrong wheels for the car. Do they have center caps? Seems like they are empty and I can see the black hub cover.
I would remove that rusty, or oily cover to see if the exhaust manifolds are cracked....probably get the dealer to knock off more money.

Personally, if I knew where you lived, I would probably say you can do better.

These cars with the 6 cylinder engines are relatively easy to work on. If you can turn some wrenches yourself, you'll be fine.

I'm actually near Columbia, MD so not too far from you at all by the looks. The other 3 wheels look like this and are matching more or less in terms of wear as well. Thanks so much for the idle numbers and other things to keep an eye out for that would have been a chore to find on my own!
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BS624,

Good luck if you decide to purchase the car. Nice colour!

When you say they are fitting "new struts", is that springs or shocks? And front or rear? The XJS uses four springs and shocks on the rear. See if you can confirm what make of springs and shocks they are fitting and specifically what part numbers and where they sourced them from. There are a lot of poor quality pattern springs being sold. .

Just to clarify, that's an XJS Convertible, not a Cabriolet. The XJS Cabriolet is a very different car made from 1983 to 1987.

Cheers

Paul

Cheers Paul for the clarification!

I had the same question after they mentioned "struts" so I'm calling again tomorrow to check on the progress and see what all they've replaced. I appreciate all the help you folks have to offer.

- Ben

Agree, beautiful colour.
Did you check out this sticky:

https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aai...f-379ae5a47217

If the link doesn't work, check out the sticky on buying one at the top of the page.
Good luck!

Hi BS624

Far be it from me to go and try to put a damper on things

But I would run away from this as fast as I can!

I wouldn't even bother to go and see it, as it looks like they just want it out of the way $1,000 Tops as a Parts Car
(it doesn't even have matching Wheels!) How many Red Flags do you need!

The Biggest Mistake that you can make is to buy the first one you see and if the Fuel Pump goes, then that's $2000 in Labor, as changing that is the Job from Hell and not one you would ever want to do, where with that kind of Mileage, it could go anytime

Honestly don't even bother to go and see it or you might be Seduced in to buying something that you may later regret, as you could spend as much again getting it up to 'Snuff'

Even at $3000 I would still run away!

There are better Cars out there and you want one of those!

There is nothing more expensive than an inexpensive Jaguar. This one looks a bit rough around the edges. IMO, it has "project car" written all over it. If that's what you're wanting, great.

I don't know where you are nor how far away you're willing to shop but at any given time there are always a couple dozen or more XJS convertibles for sale in the USA. You can do much better than this car. Naturally you'll pay more....but doing so will likely save you money in the long run

Cheers
DD

At about that mileage the six cylinder tends to lose a head gasket. If it was retorqued at about 3000 miles. Then the head gasket seems to last forever ( or until the engine is overheated)
Check the transmission fluid. If bright red you’re a winner.
Finally what sort of person are you? If you want perfection. This likely will drive you nuts, but if you just want a driver and are willing to catch up on all the maintenance that people skip doing before they sell. This could be a lot of fun for you.
Especially if you are willing to learn how to do things yourself.
Realize that there is a mechanics premium on working on Jaguars. Things that need work tend to be far more expensive than an ordinary car.
Cars like this just aren’t for the checkbook writers. If you really understand cars and have a decent set of tools you won’t believe how affordable it is to own one. Otherwise? Buy the best one you can and only drive it on special occasions.

Thank you everyone for the insight. I'm honestly looking at this car as a color I love and an interior that's in great shape, I've just turned 26 and finally have enough money saved up to buy something cheap and make sure it's taken care of for a long time. I don't have a lot of experience with working on things under the hood or structural pieces on the car, but I'm happy to turn wrenches myself and learn along the way to make it a project car with the hopes it's beautiful in a few years. I just want to make sure it's not falling apart to the point it's not safe to buy if I end up buying it to a point it'll be falling apart every step of the way.

Well said! It sounds like this should be a fun experiance for you. Good luck. Come back for help and to report your experiance!