*UPDATE*

im looking at a new XJS. this one is a white 84 with excellent looking 5 spoke wheels. $1,500 U.S. OBO

The Good:
no sunroof, white, excellent 5 spokes, V12 HE, recently replaced fuel pump. asthetically its everything im after in an XJS. 77k miles. no electrical issues outside of a broken CD player (30 channels of nothing to listen to anyways.)

The Bad: its sat outside for the last 8 years and hasnt been driven in 2 and the fuel is fouled (i was assuming it would have evaporated by now). the tires have got to be at least that old and are surely dry rotted. leaks slightly, gas smell in interior which surely means the tank is rusted.

The Ugly:
8 years of UV on the leather interior and possibly a bad headliner, although im not sure. bad stitching in leather seats. supposedly the windows leak so im assuming the worst for water damage. he says it doesnt smell musty and moldy, but it does smell like gas. tiny amount of rust on the rear quarter panels and rocker panels. flaked paint on window frame, clearcoat is a bit dull.

concerns: the fuel tank and surge tank will surely need dropped and cleaned. the battery is flat and i cant crank the engine over to see if its still getting spark. if it IS still getting spark, then its a simple matter of fuel supply to start it. thats pretty much the definative line for me. if it sparks i want it, if it doesnt, i dont.

if i can get it for under a grand, then im definately buying it.

im going up to look at it next week. ~ 150 miles away (plan on towing it back)

(again, if the interior is good, ill keep it. if its ratty, ill gut it. i can get a pair of race buckets for cheap, paint the floor, some diamond plate, etc. i would really like to do a 6.0 swap, or a 5.3 weber set up. either motor is getting quad straights, back to the rear wheels. fun for cheap?)

 

forgot to mention the blower fans dont work either.
this car is pretty much dead electronically. im suprised it runs.

 

Not using the much? You will work on the car a lot more.....do it

 

uh-oh...brain freeze.....I forgot to put AR in the first sentence after "the"

 

no, i bought the AR15 2 years ago, shot a couple hundred rounds through it, sold it, bought it back and havent shot it since.

i would have an electronically dead jag over a rifle any day.

 

That's probably a good thing as the electrical gremlins are most likely bad grounding and/or fuses.

Check for rust especially in the places that are not easily seen/accessible.

 

I'd pass. This XJS looks like a money pit. If (?) you really want an XJS buy the best you can afford. The XJS is really a super car to drive, but in my experience cars with "needs" never became what the owner wanted. The XJS is a very complex car and one that's abandoned quickly turns into a parts car. Sell your AR-15 get some cash together and buy an XJS that is in good shape and used regularly. I'm not trying to pop your balloon only trying to provide a little dose of XJS reality.

Good luck

 

My opinion of XJS reality is that, they are all money pits. Doesn't matter too much where you enter the pit, at low investment or high, your spending will continue as long as you own the car. The variables are, if you put the labor into the car yourself or pay someone else...if you shop for the best deals on parts or you pay for high priced OEM? parts for your own use or through the repair shop. There are so many examples of the difference, it's funny.
If you want a collectible car and have the free capitol to find a nice car...buy something else because the XJS is not a good investment. If you want a fun project and a low initial investment, the XJS is a good candidate. If you want an XJS to drive and show but don't want to do the repairs and maintenance the previous owner failed to do...then spend the bucks and enter the pit on the high end....but your not done. There are so many issues that are common to all of the cars from 1975 -1996 that it is a joke. The XJS was left to suffer it's whole life with a long list of issues that should have been corrected by the mfg from year to year.

Yes, I know some were...but every XJS forum has one common denominator..the list of issues and failures. Almost every day that goes by another thread is started about my car won't start, the fans don't blow, the engine is overheating idles too slow too fast won't start missing running rich running lean , the brakes don't work, the gas tank collapsed, electrical this and that..on and on. Heck..owners are so paranoid that condensation out of the tailpipe leads to another thread.

So, my take on this car is..that it needs all of the things done, that they all do when neglected. It is priced accordingly and if there is not a rust issue, it is a fair purchase for a project guy wanting to work on a budget. The engine bay looks original and not stripped or altered...that may not be a bad thing, but it is something I would rather do myself than to buy one that someone else has altered and I have to figure out what the heck they did...like mine was.

Sounds like the owner is ready to move on and take his loss for 1k and a $3-400 used gun that your done with. It is my kind of deal. I can do as I please with the car and not worry about my "investment". Mine has been a fun toy and I have very little into it. I drive it almost every day..not because I have to, but because I want to..I have three other vehicles.

As far as the sunroof goes...I have read where others have removed it and found a junkyard donor to cut the roof out of to fill the opening. A new headliner and it's gone..well not that easy, but you get the picture.

I say buy it, fit it, chop it up, goose it up, add some parts and take some away...and shoot maybe you'll even decide that it looks good with some fender skirts! LOL

 

I beg to differ with the two gentlemen. To call an XJS, E type, XK150, XK8 or even a X350 a "money pit" is like calling Biltmore House a "money pit". The XF will probably be a "money pit" when it gets old, but not these beautiful cars. Things of beauty that make one happy don't really have a price and are not "investments". They are simply visual pleasures


To the O.P, any XJS will require, time, and owner involvement, with a well kept AJ16 requiring the least to an early unkept V12 the most.

If you are prepared to work on it or delegate the work to others as necessary and understand the scope of what needs to be done clearly, which I imagine you do seeing you have are a member here, then she sounds like a great deal.

Good luck

 

I would pass as well, but not because of the mechanical/electrical condition. My experience has been that two of the most expensive items on any restoration are paint and interior. Either of those can be difficult or even impossible to do in most home shops.

A proper paint job on a car like an XJS can easily run into $5k or more. A leather interior makeover can be over $3k. Replacement wool carpets are over $1000.

On the other hand, mechanicals and electrics can be handled by a competent DIY'r with very few special tools. There are very few jobs that cannot be performed with a good manual and the help of forums like this.

I would advise you to find the best looking car you can afford, regardless of mechanical condition. Engines, transmissions, wiring, etc. can be done in your own shop or driveway but repaint and re-trim is another matter.

 

Well for 1k he should be able to bring it to speed. It is true that a decent strip/paint/wetsand (not even talking concours here) will cost 10k plus, but the interior can be redone for much less if you are willing to use something other that Connolly hides and can settle for regular new carpet and some dye to salvage what is still good. I am redoing my interior with 100 percent new leather hides (in the original pattern of course), but they are not Conolly, I am re dying some trim and parts of the footwell carpets. total will be 1K if do everything myself about 1500 if I end delegating to others.

I guess the OP has to tell us what he is expecting/wants and what he is prepared to do. To me a 1K low mileage XJS with a good V12 in it sounds like a great deal

Re-reading the original post it sounds like the interior is OK so a simple re-dye may work for him.

 

<<<Usual caveat that I've only been doing this about 9 months and am not a super mechanic>>>

The bad you mention wouldn't worry me as if you tackle them yourself they should be pretty easy to sort. The ugly however does worry me a might. If you don't expect perfection out of it and want a fun driver/ track car it would probably be worth it. If you're like me and you're going to have to fix the water damage back to pristine then I'd pass.

 

Your pics seem to show a car in exceptional condition bodywise, far better than some "old banger" XJSs I have seen in the UK. As said by others, these are complex cars, and you can spend an awful lot of time and money fixing things. If you are a good DIYer, and have lots of tools and a decent trolley jack and car stands, and a warm garage, then go for it. If you have to have the work done by others, then perhaps this car is not for you.

One thing is for sure, you'll never drive anything like it, ever !

 

Well, to answer some questions, im not fixing the interior. My plan, if i do get this particular jag, would be to gut it completely, save for the console and the dash and some lightweight bucket seats. I would remove the sunroof regulator and glass, and opt for some darkly tinted plexiglass. then its getting some 3.56's out of an XJ6 and 2.5" straight pipes back to the rear wheels. and if im lucky, and i can find a 94+ on the east coast, i would love to do a 6.0 w/4l80e swap.

 

Well, now that we know what direction you plan to take with the car...I would definitely consider the fender skirts and for sure an exhaust flame thrower kit! LOL Seriously...sounds like you would get your money's worth in fun. Go for it.

 

LOL, a V12 with half back straights? who needs a kit?

 

Not sure about that, with our current political situation, I'd keep the rifle

 

with our current political sitiation, i would be less worried about the goverment taking my rusty jag away. lol

 

Ditto those suggesting finding a good car with known maintenance and at least a solid driver. It's 25 years old with 61k and that means its sat up and has likely been off the road for extended periods. High mileage car that's been run and serviced a much better choice.


'84 XJ-S 3.6 5 speed Test Car
'03 STR
'05 S-Type 4.2

Formerly:
Late '67 E-Type Roadster
'01 M5
'06 STI
'68 Charger R/T
'00 XJ8 VDP

 

if you're going to gut the interior, you'll probably find the wiring issues anyway. For that kind of money, it wouldn't be hard to justify putting time and money into it. If the car were pristine, it would be a shame to gut it like you intend.