If you or others perceived it that way. I wanted to get a rough value of the car so I would know whether I should bother to spend money shining it up at this point to get it ready to sell. So far no one has been able to place any sort of value on the car, so I don't know if I spend a couple of hundred having it detailed that I will even be able to get my note on the car paid off.

There used to be a magazine called Old Car Price Guide that listed cars in all 5 grade categories. While this car has a pristine body and several other new parts without a viable engine it would be considered a parts car, even though I am not selling parts off it either. I haven't been able to find the magazine on newsstands and online I can only buy the guide with a one year subscription. I also have not found any other guides that list a car in this condition. So my original question of what it is worth still hasn't been answered and instead I get someone trying get me to give the car away by taking pictures of a dirty car.

At this point the car is still not for sale, as I have no idea what the value of it is. With my daughter turning 16 soon, we will need another car, so I might just have to take a loan out to fix the Jaguar, especially if it isn't worth anything with a bad engine. I still love the car and have not decided what I am going to do with it yet.

 

Tough one, Keith.
To me, a 130K mi, 12 yr old car tops out somewhere South of $10K, if otherwise perfect. It's a bit of a rarity being both S/C'd and LWB, but all that really tells you is that people weren't beating down doors to get them new...otherwise there'd be more out there. I'd say try to establish a value by searching the market for 99-01 VDP's in the 100k-150k mi range, then subtract from that the amount the "avg. Joe" would need to spend to bring yours to similar condition. That figure is what you may expect from an unencumbered buyer.

On the other hand, if you really want to unload it, my (unsolicited) advice would be to decide what your threshold of pain is, and post it in the open market as a project car. You'll be looking for the guy who has several Jag V-8's in the yard around his shop and maybe a rebuilt/good cond motor or two inside the shop who may be able to give you enough to become whole and still have a few thousand less invested than it is worth by the time he returns it to good condition.

One cautionary note...from having the Gr. Marquis parked under pollen for several years....lotsa stuff goes bad whilst not being used. Admittedly, most likely a harsher "sit outside" environment here in TX...but stiff, cracked leather, fuel pump failed, HVAC flaps sticking...other niggling items....just saying...don't expect everything that worked when you shut it off to still work next time....

 

Well, hope it works out for you either way. A VDP S/C isn't a common car (as if you didn't know that) so I hope it survives.

 

Some guy noticed that the Jaguar was just sitting and knocked on my door...he wanted to know if I wanted to sell it...I said I might, what did he have in mind and told him that the head gasket needed replacing on the engine. He said I would get it off your lawn for $500. I told him to take a hike, the wheels are worth at least $300 each and the front bumper is brand new also, just for those parts I should be able to get close to $2000. for it if I were parting it out.

 

Well, Blacbeard, parting it out is a hassle. I would say that IF the paint is good, interior is pretty spotless, and the tires are good, the going rate might be $1500 to $2000. But those are IFs. Do you represent that those things are good?

 

sell the parts on eBay one by one...I'd make my wife do it for me...I'd guess you'd make about 15-20K that way at least...

 

If you truly want to know what it's worth, auction it on Ebay. I've sold 3 cars and a $17,000 motorcycle there and got very good prices for them all. Interestingly enough, all 3 people flew in from out of state for the cars... and the bike buyer wanted it shipped. I always set a minimum... the very least that I'd accept without crying. ;-) That's what I used as a starting point. As is said in the real estate business, "the value of a house is what the market will pay for it"... and, "the MARKET value is not the price you set... it's the price the market is willing to pay."

Another good reason for Ebay is the massive audience. I was always frustrated using those local car papers or online services. Blast it out to millions on Ebay instead.

Good luck!

SirJag

 

Parting it out is fine if you live in a slum or have a shop but having a car missing doors, etc out front is not a good thing. Perhaps if there is a specialist in your area you could talk to them about having them fix the car and sell it for you with them getting a real nice cut of the deal. It never hurts to ask and the worst that could happen is they wouldn't be interested.

 

Blackbeard:
I would suggest you talk to Andrew (Jagtechohio) . When he is not in a foul mood, he has experience in swaps and so on. He might buy, sell, or do your work. Look for him in the archives.

 

The point was not that I want to part it out, but I could sell the rims and front bumper for a lot more than the $500 offered (plus $200 for the rest as scrap metal).

All the bumpers I looked at on EBay and salvage yards all had broken clips on them. I was told I didn't need them I could just use plastic ties to hold the underbody dust cover on and the fender walls together. I finally gave up and bought a new one for $1500. I am sure I could get close to half price for it after seeing what else is out there.

Thanks Spark, I will try and contact him, but I am not quite ready to work on the car yet. I also contacted B.I.P. in Atlanta about rebuilding the engine, and their quote and warranty are quite tempting, but right now I have my money tied up in something else at least until the end of the month.

 

Blackbeard:
Just for perspective- A good shadetree can do a single head on one of these in about 25 hours - And that is max time (me!). The standard labor rate hrs is about 16 hours. The parts should be about $250. Most shops use a $100 to $175 labor rate. A low mileage engien goes for bout $3,000 to $4,000 miles and probably is better than the average rebuild. So, you have some alternatives. The rest of the car doesn't get better with a new engine!

 

I would hate to see this car go to waste. I just purchased a remaned engine for 2295 plus 295 shipping. Not sure if a regular 4.0 would work for your S/C. If you are interested message me and I will give you the info on the company that I got my engine from. I just got mine in a couple weeks ago. I have been busy with work so have not made as much progress getting it back on the road. Hope to get it going soon.

 

Hi
The labor time to replace a cylinder head gasket on a XJ8 is 14.7 hours for one bank and 20.1 hours for both banks per Alldata DIY online.

The 16 hours that Ross quoted seems to be inline considering additional time it will take for supercharger, if it has to be removed.

Jim Lombardi

 

Hello Keith,

Your thread finally convinced me to register as I've only been researching
info here since purchasing a '98 XJ8-L with engine issues two weeks ago.

I am quite interested in purchasing your VDP depending on your location as
the XJ purchased for my wife was not as described.. (purchased sight unseen
after being described as "cosmetically prestine" but after getting it delivered it
was clear it had been wrecked and had leather tears, broken bumper cover,
mis-matched woodwork, etc)

Please email some photos (especially interior condition) long with your location
and we can go from there.

My hotmail email address is the same as my username here on this site..

Thank you,

Brent in FL (near Tampa)

 

Grrr.. I've just spent five minutes attempting to figure out how to edit my post above
to fix the typo but not having much luck with my cell phone.. So, please excuse the typo
and formatting..

Brent in FL
-Sent from cell phone..-

 

Sent ya an PM blackbeard I have a very low mileage motor, trans, computer, etc etc out of a totaled 01 XJR runs perfect and comes with a year warrentee if installed by a shop. The car only had 8k on it when it got hit in the rear and bent the frame so they totaled it out and I grabbed it all. Maybe we can work something out for you