Which XJS do I buy

Hi Thought you had disappeared tried to phone a couple of times but you where in your new shed

I'd disagree RE the V12 being terribly difficult and expensive to maintain.To some extent thats right because they have twice as many cylinders as those nice little 3.6's However if you can have a little patience and some knowledge they can bve actually rewarding to work on.Its very satisfying working on your own V12.
However jokes apart they are all wonderful cars 3.6,4.0,5.3 and 6.0 I have had all of them now.
Warning they are addictive once you have had a 3.6 the brain cells start saying wonder if the 4.0l is better and before you know it your driving a 6.0l.
If your having someone service the car for you the 6 cylinders is the way to go.
Fuel is dependent on mileage if you do about 1500 a year then it will cost about £3 per week more to run a V12.
Buy a good one and enjoy it.

that post should be used as a template very good

I often wonder how to reply to the question of "what car should I buy". I'd like to offer my opinion in the hope that it's useful to you but I get the feeling you already know the choices and so it's up to you which you choose.

V12 engine, more fuel to pay for, higher road tax, insurance, servicing costs but you get a nice sound and a bit more performance than with an I6.

Then it's about budget. If you have lots to spend you could buy a late model 6.0L. If not, you are stuck with a 3.6L or a later model 4.0L.

Marmight has written a superb guide below so armed with this information and what you find readily available on the web when you Google for "Jaguar XJS" you only have to decide who's car to buy now.

Let us know how you get on.

Ok guys, some helpful hints without going to other websites.

Decide what you want an XJS for - is it everyday use, weekend use all year round, weekend use in the summer, showing at car shows etc - you know what you want it for.

Firstly, beware of cars that have been laid up for any length of time, even in a heated garage. XJS's were built to be driven and not kept in garages for years. Their build uses lots and lots of rubber parts which perish if not used with everyday use. Electrics will fail due to poor component quality - solder joint fatigue etc, and the fuel system does not like being kept for even a short time with no liquid inside of it. All of this can lead to major expenses and even more major headaches trying to sort out the spaghetti that masquerades as an electrical system.

V12s are wonderfully smooth, incredibly thirsty, incredibly expensive should anything major in the engine bay go wrong and hard to service.
3.6's are a little rough around the edge, but have plenty of power, are fast enough in today's traffic, relatively bombproof engines, easy to maintain and plentiful and relatively cheap parts
4.0's are a lot smoother than their 3.6 counterpart and ask any Jagman, they will tell you that the AJ16 4.0ltr engine was Jaguars finest. otherwise same as 3.6
6.0ltr - fine if you own an oilfield.

So if you are only going to use the car sparingly or can afford 8 to 16 MPG, go for a V12. for all other cases a 3.6 or 4.0 is just as good.

Decide how much you can afford and buy the best you can afford. Buying cheap restorations usually mean that you end up paying more than the car will ever be worth and ebay/Autotrader are full of restoration projects that never got off the ground. Try to buy low mileage original cars WITH a full service history.

Now we have the engine sizes out of the way we come to Coupes, convertibles or cabriolets.

Dealing with cabs and convertibles first, look out for rust, especially under the carpets, seats and boot floor. Make sure the hood on a convertible works correctly - repairs to the motors are very expensive as is the hood itself, around £1200 for a new hood. Try to buy on with a hood cover or tonneau. On the cabriolets, make sure the three roof parts fit snuggly and there is no wear to any of the roof parts or the rubber seals. Look for water stains anywhere on the trim - roof and otherwise. Pull the carpets back from the top of the front footwells on both sides and if there is any rust - WALK AWAY!!! there are plenty of better ones out there. Make sure the headlinings are in good order as these are expensive to restore.
Coupes and everthing else. Rust, more rust and even more rust. From the front of the car look under the front bumper at the underneath and radiator mountings, parts here can be sourced quite easily and are not too expensive although fitting them can be. Front crossmember - these rust under the turrets in places that you cannot really see unless the car is on ramps. If you can get underneath with a torch, or look carefully at the front turrets check for rust holes where the springs fit inside the subframe. Quite often rust is the only thing that is holding the engine and front suspension of the car together - don't dismiss this as repairs are very expensive. budget about £1000 for a new subframe or £350 with £400 fitting costs for a second hand one. Inside the engine bay with the hood up - it should stay up on it's own by the way, replacement struts are around £35 each. With the engine off, try turning the fan blade assembly - it should be stiff to turn. Start the engine and let it run for a few minutes. Whilst watching the radiator fan, switch the engine off, the fan should continue for a bit before slowing and stopping. Any fan that stops as soon aas the engine stops has either seized or is about to seize - this could involve the fan blades snapping off at high speeds, damaging all sort of things under your bonnet. Radiator fans are not designed to run at the same speed as the engine.
Look along the inner wings for corrosion. Where the inner wing bolts on to the car frame is a hidden square tube running the length of the wing which very often rusts away without you knowing it. It's very difficult to detect without taking the wings off but any corrosion in this area should be treated with suspiscion. Any body rust within 30cms of a suspension part is an instant MOT failure. There should be plates at the front and rear of each front wheel arch. These often rot away but are cheap and easy to replace - however, check carefully for corrosion at the lower section of the A post behind the lower front door hinges - rust here can be terminal.
Doors should open and close with a nice solid clunk sound and should not drop when opened - this could simply be due to broken hinges or worse still a badly corroded and hidden A post frame - TERMINAL. Looking side on at the car, there should be equal distance between the front tyres and the wheel arches and the same for the rear. Front springs are known to weaken and droop on all XJS models. Springs are expensive to buy and replace requiring specialist tools, remember there are EIGHT springs on the XJS, two at the front and four at the back. With all good mechanics, anything to do with suspension or brakes should be replaced in PAIRS. Check for corrosion on both sills front and rear - front ones can be patched but corrosion at the rear end is usually the kiss of death for the car as it means the rust has penetrated from above and downwards. Looking under the car, check the radius arms on both sides which are located from the front of the rear subframe to their body mounting points just in front of the rear wheel arches. These arms are made from pressed steel with the consistency of tinplate and rust very badly. Check the mountings on the body as well and repairs here are costly. Check ALL the jacking points for corrosion. Check the rear buttresses for corrosion as this is a common place for rust to start working it's way from a faulty boot seal or rear windscreen seal downwards towards the radius arms and their mountings. On Facelift cars, the front windscreen was bonded and not very well in some instances which causes corrosion in the roof above the passenger windscreen area.
For the interior, the drivers seat wears very quickly on the bolster, carpets wear and the "ski slope" veneer along with all the other veneers can peel off. Replacement Ski Slopes can be bought for around £120 and their fitting is simple. Obviously check all the electrics work correctly - XJS's were known for electrical problems. Check the headlining is in good order, replacement will cost in excess of £350
Check the boot floor for corrosion by lifting the boot carpet. Check the rear valances - the bit under the rear corner bumper section for corrosion, it's not terminal here but will add to the overall cost of restoration.
The braking qualites shouldn't need to be described, needles to say, anything short of superb needs to be investigated. Problems with the rear brakes can be very expensive if your XJS has in board brakes - 1975-1983 models. The same can be said for the gearbox which as an automatic should change up and down gears without any jerking. The Kickdown should also work properly. On manuals, a heavy clutch was quite common and is normal but any slipping or grabbing means expensive repairs.

Depending how serious the problem is will affect the amount you should pay for the car, and for the serious problems walk away - there are plenty of others out there.

The above list is not exhaustive and I've probably missed a few out that I can't quite remember so feel free to add in you can think of any. Just remember that rust always travels from the INSIDE OUTWARDS and what you see may only be the tip of the iceberg.

Always buy with your head and not your heart!!!!

The XJS was in production for 21 years so it wasn't a single car, it was a whole series of them. In my opinion, the best ones to go for is a facelift coupe (post 1993 with outboard brakes) as their bodies and undergear were galvanized, although that doesn't stop all of the rust over the years. Most valuable will always be the convertible followed closely by the Cabriolet. At the end of the day, its an XJS and it will put a huge grin on your face every time you sit in it, and that's what's important

Best of all, take someone with you who at least knows where the engine should be located

Having said all of this, my choice was a 1989 3.6 signal red coupe which I would not part with for all the world.

Hope you find this useful

Martin

I'm new here too and looking to buy my first XJS. I found some useful tips here http://www.jaguarxjs.org.uk/#/owning-an-xjs/4534165049 on a website mentioned elsewhere on this forum. Definitely worth a look.

Cheers!

Well i am too new here and too searching for a good model of XJS.I think you can check it the net about which is the good model.



Jaguar Interior Parts

Hi Folks,

For years Ive wanted an XJS now I'm in a postion to buy one. Ive been trawling autotrader,ebay and various xjs sites.

I'm looking for a hardtop, but thats where I stop. I would like some advice as to which model, engine etc, etc..

So please, please, which is the best model, for a newbie to get aquainted..??

Many Thanks Wayne