Going to look at a Jaguar tomorrow

[Steve]

Not to buy :frown:

One of my wife's customers, an older lady (yes, a one-lady-owner from new car) has a 1988 Jaguar XJ-S Coupe, black with biscuit leather interior, 88,500 miles from new, stored during every winter and never seen snow or salt.

I'm going to help her sell the car, so taking my camera. Pictures shall be forthcoming.

She was advised by the guy who went through the car for her (she was going to use it regularly again, but changed her mind......) that it should be worth about $12K. She is rather more realistic, and I agree with her regarding the price. She' looking at between $7,500 to $8,500. If it's as nice as it sounds I think that's a really good price!

Any opinions? For that matter, anyone interested? She'd love to have it go to an enthusiast.....

 

[aerog]

If I had a place to put it... drool!

 

[AngliaGT]

Steve,


Do like I did when I went to look at a Burgundy XJ6L -
take a level-headed mechanic with you,just in case emotion gets
the better of you.
We decided that it would be cheaper to cut a hole in the
trunk,& drop $100 bills into it!.

- Doug

 

[jessebogan]

The sad truth is that the coupes are not worth as much as the cabriolets, or the factory convertibles. Even the prices she hopes for are the higher end of what she might hope to get. However, if she has all the records, the leather is soft and beautiful, and nothing leaks, she might get the higher price, but be prepared for the sale to take a while. In my opinion, it is better to get a good car (like this presumably) to start with , rather than trying to bring a bad car up to snuff. Most people selling an XJS tend to get behind the curve on maintainence, so even a good car can cost$$$$ before you are happy with it. Still, BUY IT!!!. There is nothing like travelling down the road behind a healthy V12.

 

[tony barnhill]

Any updates or photos, Steve?

But, like Jesse, I also think its got to be perfect for $7,000.

 

[Steve]

Due to be there in twenty minutes... very local to me!

There has been no deferred maintenance on this car, anything needed was done when it needed to be done (paying for proper upkeep has never been an issue for this lady, if you get my drift). She now has three cars, she's widowed, the Jaguar has always been 'her' car..... She now has a Mercedes convertible for summer, plus her bad-weather vehicle.

Pictures and more info this afternoon.

Thanks for the opinions on price guys, I'll explain to her that $7k is likely the high end of what she should expect.

I'm broke, still no job, heck even at two grand I'd have to pass! :frown:

 

[tony barnhill]

I wouldn't! If its 2 grand, I'll be on the next plane!

 

[Steve]

Well, it's not $2K!

Nice car, not a concours winner, but very nice indeed. The mileage is 86,000, she had mis-read the odometer. Interior is excellent, the only downside was the fact that the veneer on the centre console has cracked and delaminated somewhat. Leather is clean, no cracks or splits, the stitching is still perfect and the seats show almost no wear. Carpets are clean, with no signs of rust underneath. The dash top is perfect, no cracks or fading. Wood on the dashboard is perfect.

Doors open and shut perfectly.

Engine compartment is not perfect, in that it's a little grimy, but shows no signs of any problems either now or in the past. Engine starts up right away and runs silently. I didn't drive it as the low-coolant light showed as I reversed it out, and the owner didn't have any coolant in her garage but it had good oil pressure.

Tyres are almost new, they are Firestones all round. Wheels are aftermarket American Racing aluminuim "starfish" design. They do suit the car, and don't look out of place. The originals are no longer with the car as the owner had them chromed, and a few years ago the chrome started coming off and they looked awful, so they were replaced.

The spare is still on an original wheel (unchromed). The tyre is in good shape. The trunk floor shows no sign of rust under the carpet, and the factory tools are all there still in the original bag which matches the carpet. The trunk is immaculate, and all the covers are present, clean and in perfect shape.

Bodywork is excellent. There are signs of rust bubbles each side where the rear quarter panel meets the rocker panel. That's it. No rust on the rockers, or anywhere else I was able to see. The car's solid and doesn't have any issues in that regard.

Paintwork is not perfect. It's a good ten-footer, but there had been "keying" damage to the car in the past and something fell in the garage and dinged the roof, repairs had been done but of course you know how black paint will show every imperfection..... The resprayed areas were not done to a high standard, there is some blooming and oragnge-peel in those areas. I would say that if you fixed those two small areas of rust (no more than the size of a quarter each), had a good-quality prep and paint job done on this car you could show the thing and have people drooling all over it.

The front grille, being chromed plastic, has some of the chroming coming away but ten minutes with a screwdriver and a new part would fix that. You could just buy it as a driver and use it as-is, no problem. All the electrics work, the car has Jaguar foglamps with their original covers, and I saw no evidence of accident damage or repairs anywhere.

It's a good, honest car. It has not been tarted up, and it's always had all the work done to it as needed. She can afford to get it done, and done right and has taken pains to find the best independent Jaguar specialist in the area to do the work. He is willing to talk to anyone about the car and what has been done to it to keep it in top running condition.

She will not take anything less than $7K. If I had the money then I'd probably go for it.

Pictures to follow once I can re-size them and get them posted.