Ok, so I am selling my V6 Firebird and looking for something fun, quick-ish and preferably RWD. Not too bothered about fuel economy. Suddenly a
92-onwards XJS V12 seems like a great idea. I've seen a really nice looking '92 example for £2995, going to test drive it next week hopefully. So does anyone have any constructive comments? Don't care about the image problems that it has (I think they look great). I hear servicing costs are sky high but I'm happy to do basic stuff (plugs, filters etc) myself. With my last two cars being Yanks I'm used to high maintainence costs, hopefully the Jag won't be much worse? Any advice from current/former owners would be great. I know I've seen them discussed in here before, the quote that sticks in my mind is something like "the most fun mistake you'll ever make"!
very juicy, even on a cruise make sure everything works as it's expensive to put right rear suspension bushes are a nightmare will it still have in board rear discs? make sure the air con works as this is especially costly to fix
Yore not gona get more than about 18 mgp out of that schwimmer boyee. No mistake da boyz at Jagua strapped fuell tanks to both sids of the buger IM tellin U. Mind check da boy for structurall rust, and da Jag V12 wos the most notorously complecx bit of enginnering around at the time. Not CHEEP boyee wen you've got 2 six cyls wired togetha & things go rong. Mind U, cruzzin at 95 at 22000 r.mp. WIKKKED BOYEE. Givin it NICELEE!!! Smooth boyZ.
I had an XJ12 for a while. Worse car I ever owned. Cost me a fortune and never was reliable. Steer clear of it. Even changing plugs costs a fortune because you have to buy 12 of them.
Why don't you save up until you can afford one of the reworked ones that they had on top gear a few weeks ago. Can't remember what it was called but some small company had redone all the electrics etc. Can't remember how much they cost either, sorry.
Thirty Grand. Might as well have something nice like an E-type or a Broadsport XK120 for that money. An XJS, even one that's immaculate and cost you £30k, is always going to look a bit downmarket compared to anything else you could have dropped 30k on. Assuming you didn't go mental and spec a Kia up with sat nav, leather, body kits, air con and 22" alloy wheels ;).
Err, run away from one at that price. It's impossible to get a decent XJS V12 for £3k. Despite all the whinging here, they are classics and good ones change hands for respectable money. What you want if you want one at all, is the slightly later 6.0 V12 rather than the 5.3 V12. By then they had more or less sorted out all the bugs and were producing decent cars.
The best thing though would be to forget the V12 and go for the six cylinder 4.0, the post facelift models are the best. But you'd be looking at much more than £3k to get a decent one. I've seen some stonking cars recently with reasonable miles on them, but they are going for about £6k upwards.
All for coupes, no chance of a cabriolet at that money. If someone trys to sell you a rag-top for £3k the only sound that should be heard is you running into the distance.
Is £3k really that cheap though? Looking around on Autotrader, FindIt, eBay and a few other sites, there seem to be loads around for ~£1500. The Jag dealers want around 5/6k, so I thought this one might be a good compromise. I've not viewed it yet, will do so next week, but from the pictures it looks mint outside and in, and the seller claims everything works including air con. Does the fact that it seems so structually good mean that the engine will be screwed, hence the low price? What's the best I can do in terms of mechanical testing - is it practical for me to carry out compression tests? I hear the spark plugs are tricky to remove. I'm definitely going to look at it, so any advice on what to be checking would be much appreciated.
Cheers, Dan
PS My prices all refer to early facelift V12 5.3s (i.e. early 90's). Typical mileages 80-110k.
Yes, there are huge numbers of rusting badly maintained dogs out there with unscrupulous owners.
Remember, a dealer is obliged in law to sell you a car fit for purpose. A private seller can sell you any old crap, largely without you having any right to redress unless the seller compeltely misdescribes the car
*and* you have him on tape or video or in the presenc eof independent witnesses because otherwise it just comes down to your word against his.
Lots of stuff to check. Check the steering rack for leaks, listen for rear differential whine, look for any oil at all seeping from anywhere on the engine - look at where it is parked for signs of drips. Look for rust, almost everwhere but particularly door bottoms, wings, sills and around the front and rear screens. Check the battery, they always get cooked by the engine. Look at the wood trim for poor revarnishing jobs, wide boys always give them a coat of Ronseal, usually splashing the varnish onto the door trim. Check that the service history is 100% and
100% Jaguar (at that price, it won't be). A sheaf of MoTs would also be useful since the car can be clocked (easily).
Run away if there's even a speck of rust of a single blister in the paint, if there's an oil leak it probably means the heads are warped, if there's a replacement service book, if it doesn'd have the full toolkit, original manual, lots and lots of history.
On a test drive look for shunt in the drive train and it's common for the suspension bushes to go which will cost you close to £1K to replace the lot. Symptoms are mushy feeling steering and clunky handling. Either get a Jag meachanic to give you a report (costs about £250+ expenses) or get it MoT'd yourself as a cheap alternative.
Remember, this is a V12 you're looking at. It could easily be down a couple of cylinders and you wouldn't even notice. My local independent Jaguar specialist tells the story of the man who brought in a V12 XJS complaining of it feeling a bit weak on power. Still perfectly smooth though. Turns out the previous owner had araldited the left hand cylinder head on to try and get round having it skimmed. He said to the owner - "that's a really smooth
6 cylinder engine you have there". I have an insatiable appetite for buying the wrong cars - I almost like doing it. But the most I would spend on any XJS is about 500 quid with a few months MOT, in the sure and certain knowledge that I would be chucking it away when the MOT expired. Simply not worth the grief you would be giving yourself - it would be far easier to take half of your 3 grand down to your local town centre this afternoon and give it to the first tramp you see. Same sensation of 'what the hell have I done", only quicker.
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