I am looking at a 1985 base xj6. Overall body and mechanics are very nice. It's done a lot of laps to the grocery store at 196,000 miles. It's being offered at and opening of $3000. Hmmmm. I know you don't have much to go on but based on this forum's members intimate knowledge of these cars, what's a high/low $$$ counter offer price? Thanks in advance for your opinion.

 

Here's an extraordinary example, sold for $41,000:
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1987-jaguar-xj6-19/


At the other end you have this at $1200
https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/...272291725.html



Cheer
DD

 

"Lot of laps to the grocery store..." in 196,000 miles.
Where I grew up (Montana, Big Sky Country) that wouldn't be a bad thing, as the Grocery Stores were at least 30 miles away and the engine fluids, along with transmission and diff fluids were well heated and stirred up on each trip. One could easily expect several more years of faithful service from such a car.

However, if the Grocery Store was just around the corner and the Post Office was just down the block so that the engine and drive train fluids never got hot (I don't mean the temp gauge merely reaching "N"), and the RPMs never exceeded 1500, that's a different matter entirely. I would be visualizing acid buildup in the engine eating away at all bearing surfaces and interfaces, moisture buildup in the trans and diff doing basically the same thing.

If the former is the case you could have a really nice car for not too much money. If the latter is the case you could be merely making down payment - which is a gamble we all take when buying a Used Jaguar.
(';')

 

I'm a though test drive guy. If it drives beautifully and does not smoke and has clearly been well cared for (and hopefully lots of receipts) I don't worry about how many miles it has. Rust on the other hand is a whole other situation. If the car has been repainted I just assume lots of bondo slathered on under that shinny paint.

My personal opinion is that with that many miles it would have to be an exceptional car to be worth $3000. But it is always fun to go look.

Jeff

 

Thanks to those who commented. I appreciate your thoughts.. There is no "show me the receipts" as its maintenance is undocumented. She drives/handles well. She is not a smoker. About the only issue with the mechanics is it stalls at a stand still. It will not idle. If you keep it at 1000 revs while at a red light, it does not stall and it accelerates smoothly. Maybe it's a vacuum leak. I think it is minor.

I have a very low budget and $3k for this car isn't going to happen. I'm looking at 3 cars and I hope to choose one in the next week or two. Of course pictures of the purchase will follow. I look forward to being part of this community again. Ren