This is a much simplified version of a over-complicated question I tried to have answered in the X308 forum here...

Background:

Bought XJ8, blew motor on ride home, parted out (break even-ish), and now want to try my luck with an XJ6.

I found an XJ6 that looks decent. It is damage free and fully intact. It does not start for a reason that is unknown to me and the seller both. It is not local to me. I want to make a blind offer and have it towed here if accepted and I want to know that my gamble/investment will be secured by the ability to at least strip it for my money back in quick sales.

So the question I have is:

Should I, or in this situation would you, buy a non-running XJ6 that looks decent and has around 100k miles on it at a price of $600, $400, more/less?

 

FYI: I consider non-running XJ8 to be for parts only at $600 or less and really would not even be interested in buying a running one unless it was cheap and also just for parts.

 

I removed this photo due to the mass confusion it was causing. You can still see it in my gallery. That is the XJ8 I made the mistake of buying, stripped, and have recovered $400 from. $300 here on classifieds, $100 for scrap.

I have about $600 to go to break even. My condo is full of parts. See classifieds if interested.

That is my private parking space by the dumpster. It is now empty. I would like another Jaguar and am considering an XJ6.

I want to know how much I could expect to get out of an XJ6 if it ends up being complete junk and gets yard sale stripped like the last one.

 

I wouldn't buy any car sight unseen at any price, even 'free'.

 

I cannot even imagine your perspective. I am poor and my family is hungry. I would take any free car I was offered. If for no other reason, that is $100 from the friendly scrap metal man who would took the XJ8. That is a week of food and water security for my kids. All free cars welcome. I can find a use any money that one may find uncomfortably heavy in their wallet as well. When I bought the XJ8 we were excited to not have to walk to buy water or take the bus to the food bank.

Buying the XJ8 was an anchor to me trying to swim for life. It took all I had to get that car, and I still haven't gotten that back. It would be nice to consider something other than a Jaguar, but they are the cheapest cars on the market.

 

Mikey, would you honestly not accept a free Jaguar XJ6? If so, why?

I would be my honest advice to people to not accept a XJ8 at any price. As to why; please refer to every thread I ever started and also the X308 form sticky about the common problems list.

The XJ8 only yielded the money that it did for me in initial parts sales because of rampant parts failures encountered by other owners. I believe this model should be considered for parts only.

If a XJ6 is the much more reliable platform, as say 100% of people who have said anything to me about it, then my experience tells me that it has no value in parts. The estimated $600 that I know an XJ8 will easily part out for does not exist as a safety net when buying an XJ6 because theoretically the demand for parts should be drastically less than with the V8 model.

On the other hand, if they are solid cars, an intact and undamaged XJ6 should be easily fixable and I take advantage of the market conditions that have made the XJ6 that I want into a fully depreciated car.

If that first Jag I bought was a few years older, I would already have popped in a new head gasket and been much better off.

 

There was this propaganda against the Chevy Corvair for safety issues related to its rear-engine configuration with a slogan that was something like "Unsafe at Any Speed"

I came up with similar:

"The Jaguar XJ8, Unreliable at Any Age"

 

Dumpster Dive 308

 

I've seen many ads for a non-running X300 at several hundred (below $1,000) and the car was intact and not in pieces. That would be way preferable to something like that pictured.
You could gamble on what it may be, from a crank sensor to ecm or even bent cam/crank total engine failure.
Even prices for the AJ16 engine are still good, I think? If you had to go that far, but I would not be willing to touch something in that many distinct and separate pieces.

 

Hey on second thought -- go get what you can from that X300 at the dumpster and sell _US_ the parts - I see some items I may be interested in LOL !

 

That's an X308 gracing the dumpster.....

 

No no no, the pic is the XJ8 I parted out. Thats the last photo pre-scrap guy.

 

The XJ6 im looking at is complete, intact, and symptomatic of a dead battery.

 

I'm with my first Jaguar so I am not and expert in the field by if it is helpful here in my take , all jokes aside . It appears to be an X308 with the V8 AJ26 series engine and the ZF5HP24 transmission . It is a whole different animal with it's design problems other then the earlier X300 . The V8 early 98 -99 manufactured AJ26 series engine did not come with steel sleeved aluminum block cylinders and this caused the dreaded " Nikasil " lose of compression no start condition . The sulfur in the fuel would corrode the aluminum wall cylinders and Jaguar would replace the engine . If it is 98 -99 there is a stamp on the engine to say it was replaced as a whole engine . The AJ27 engine as manufacture corrected that . The ZF5HP24 has a problem with Pressure Regulator housing bore scoring that causes pressure spikes that break the A - drum inside that requires complete tear-down to resolve . This seriously effected there value . If you were to part it out ensure that it has the stamp on the engine and that the transmission pressure regulator mod has been done otherwise in my opinion the value of those 2 items is zero . You may get some other items out of it and put them on Ebay . As far as going forward and fixing it up for yourself look at these 2 items first and go from there . I recommend this topic be moved over to the X308 board for they would have more specific information for you .

 

Got sidetracked by the dumpster pic . If it is a X300 ( please provide the last 6 digits of the Vin # starting with # 7xxxxx or year will differentiate the V8 from inline 6 ) then that is a whole different set of variables for it is a different AJ16 inline 6 cylinder engine with a different ZF4HP24 transmission that is from what I have read a " bullet proof " mechanically well designed setup . With 100, 000 miles it has many more miles to enjoy so that makes it a keeper in my opinion . Penelope has 110, 000 and was almost impossible to start but I only paid 1300 for her . If it is a X308 keep in mind that there is a need from the X300 owners for the superior resigned headlight and taillight assemblies of the X308 that work on the X300 so you are looking at at least 300 dollars from Ebay but you have to list it under the Ebay X300 category . If it is a X308 you might yourself start a topic on the X308 thread to get you more timely information with a copy and paste of the previous replay to get the topic going .

 

Going by the bumper, it is definitely an X308.

 

The key is you said 'buy it blindly' or as I said 'sight unseen'. A free car that needs $2K worth of repairs to become roadworthy is not free. I'd never buy a car (irrespective of price) without a full inspection to determine it's worth and appeal to me.

There's an old saying that there's no such thing as an old, cheap, reliable Jag but the same can be said of any car.

If you're on a tight budget and given that it costs twice as much to fix a Jag as a 'regular' car, no matter how reliable they are, then I'm not sure it's the right type of car for the circumstances.

 

Everyone, I think the message has gotten confused. See the following two threads for background:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ad-say-180293/

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...te-xj6-181273/


The gold XJ8 in the photo above is the XJ8 he bought recently and was in the process of rehabilitating when the engine blew. So he sold it for parts and ultimate scrap, and the photo above was the final photo before the scrap guy hauled it away.

He is asking if it is worth to buy another Jaguar, this time an XJ6, sight unseen.

That being said, I'll offer two opinions:

1) I wouldn't buy any car sight unseen for a variety of reasons. You are committing yourself to potentially a lot of work and risk by not knowing what you are getting into. Similarly I don't think anyone can predict the salvage value of the parts of the sight unseen XJ6. By the time you deal with trying to sell things off piece meal, you may find it isn't worth the effort. Usually trim items are worth the most, and if they aren't in great shape you won't get much for them if you can sell them at all. Keep in mind that wrecking yards only pay $100s for a complete car. I'd not recommend buying the non running XJ6 without checking it out and determining what is wrong, and the cost to get it running at least.

2) You mention above that "I am poor, and my family is hungry". If that is an accurate statement and not hyperbole, I'd respectfully suggest that a non-running or poorly maintained Jaguar is not the right car for you at this time. As they say, buy the best Jaguar (insert any other luxury car, thing here) your money can buy, otherwise you'll pay more getting it right later and it will bleed you dry by a thousand cuts. Jaguars are good cars, but the youngest XJ8 is 12 years old, and the X300 is around 20. Electronics, plastics, rubber and other consumables all start to wear out by this time and if they haven't been replaced already, you soon will need to, which is expensive. If you really are in a financial challenge right now, I'd honestly suggest avoid buying the cheapest example of the car of your dreams for now, instead buy something reliable and inexpensive to maintain, and then perhaps save up for a nice example of a Jaguar later when you are in a better financial position.

BTW, no 10+ year old model Jaguar is going to be inexpensive to maintain. It doesn't mean it is backbreakingly expensive to do so, but it won't be cheap either. Either you pay someone a lot of money to do it, or you spend a lot of your own time and a bit less money to do it.

And, the XJ8 is a good car, and is very reliable if the proper things such as replacing the chain tensioner, A-drum solenoid, thermostat housing, etc are all addressed. Every car has its issues, especially as they age, but most can be overcome with investment.

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The X308 by the dumpster was mine. Contact me for parts.

To rehash:

I made the mistake of buying a XJ8 because it looked cool and was in perfect condition physically. It had every known problem that XJ8's have plus two blown head gaskets that were cleverly disguised when I drove it home and it never ran again. After full diagnosis, I parted it out and it brought $100 as shown in my album "Last Known Photographs" as scrap metal and I have received $300 already from forum members in classifieds.

Based on this experience, I know an XJ8 will easily yield hundreds of dollars if parted out. I do view the XJ8 as a beautiful looking car that is worthless to drive. I will never again own one. I now see their faulty construction fueling sale of my old parts.

I found a nice looking XJ6 for sale. Complete and damage free inside and out. Owner says it wont start, but didn't have any problems when he parked it there, and it clearly has been sitting where it is for a very long time.

He is asking more than it is worth here with scrap cars bringing nothing to $150. I am going to make him an offer that is fair, but gives me the advantage of a relatively cheap parts car if it ends up being unfixable once I have it towed back here and diagnose it.

I presume that it shares a list of things with the XJ8 that will be wrong with it, and have problems of its own. Cool. It should be easily fixable or its stripped and out the door.

I have used the word gamble previously in the thread. That's incorrect. I want to buy this XJ6 at a price where I know that stripping it and sending it off like the pictured one will quickly yield my hundreds of dollars back.

 

I was not in the market for a decades old Jaguar, but a decades old car in general, as this is all I could afford from the sale of my even more decades old car. I needed to take the step from antique to modern. With a wife and two kids now, having automatic transmission, air-bags, ABS, and seat belts are important.

With my car budget in the hundreds, everything will need to be worked on. Of the cars on the market, Jags are among the cheapest around here. I do all my own repairs and maintenance and Jaguar parts are dirt cheap for anything mainstream. I never saw where this frighteningly high maintenance expense was going to come from when form members warned me regarding the XJ8. The self destructing motor is the reason to avoid all XJ8's always. Otherwise, Jaguars seem stylish and well built.

The Jaguar XJ8 that I attempted to own was sold to me as a running car. I test drove it at a PA dealer, and it had overheated before I got home to MD. I noticed oddities in how the coolant plastics had been arranged that I now know were masking the blown head gaskets as a simple cooling system issue. I put quite a bit of work in the cooling system to find the coolant still disappeared.

By this time, a repeated no-start condition from apparent cylinder wash had occurred. If the Nikasil bores were never before a problem for this car, the overheating issues caused it. Cylinder oiling was required for every subsequent startup.

The thermostat that had been installed sideways or backwards with the o-ring rigged in there in a way that no professional would miss. This seemed to cause the thermostat to not be able to open. An obvious time bomb, that would make blown head gaskets not be evident until after sinking countless hours and a little bit more money into.

At this point, the vehicle had a immobilizing transmission fault with a suspected solenoid failure but possibly deeper issue. With this being questionable, and the motor possibly not even rebuildable, I obviously had to part it out given a high salvage offer of $150. I got screwed and was stuck.

I thought the car drove great, features were nice, the looks were super cool. As I took it apart, I though how great this would be to have this car with a conventional motor (not yet knowing of the existence of its predecessor). As soon as I realized 1995-1997 XJ6 models existed, I started researching them and decided that is the Jaguar that I actually needed. It does not seem that an XJ6 could even become repairable like a Nikasil car. Any Nikasil Jaguar is a time bomb. Do not let it get hot.

I didnt know anything about Jaguars when I bought the XJ8. I obviously should have gotten an XJ6. I had never heard of Nikasil and wish I still had not.