Thinking of buying my first Jag

Rob, If the '89 VDP is in overall good mechanical and cosmetic condition beyond the spongy ride, I would focus on that one. I make this claim because about 5 years ago I purchased a '90 XJ6 Sovereign on Ebay. It too had a spongy feel and I replaced the struts myself. I have limited mechanical abilities and tools but I was able to do the job for about $500 for the parts. I am not a Jag purist so I went with a premium Monroe product. I did have a muffler repair shop switch the old struts out of the springs and put in the new struts. Make sure you buy the service manuals or cd. Study the manuals, carefully remove/replace one strut at a time and you do the job yourself in 5-10 hours. You might as well replace the pads and rotors while you have them off. The car drives and handles very nicely now. It has 160,000 miles and runs very good. If you have any other questions, shoot me a line. Ren

He wants way too much money for all of those cars, I wouldn't buy any of them. Four years ago, I bought a 1992 XJ6 for $2,400.00 and it was barely worth it.

Do BOTH climate control fans work at all speed levels? These cost $400.00 each and there are two of them and they are are very difficult to replace. Are you sure the heater core isn't leaking? This is another common problem with these cars. Heater cores cost about $100.00 are if you don't replace it yourself, it will run you about $500.00 to have it done. How about the central door locking system, does it work? If it doesn't work properly, it probably never will. How about the A/C, does it work? All the cars you mentioned are not R134a systems, they are R12. Now before J.A.M. starts arguing with me again about air conditioning, you should check with your local shops regarding what they can do to fix your air conditioning. People claim that there are inexpensive replacements for R12 but most times, they convert your system to R134a, at least in my area of the country anyway. The door handles on the 1988-1990s break regularly and you can't open the door from the outside. How about the windshield wiper motor? Does is work in all modes and does it park properly? if not, you're going to have fun fixing that, if you are ever able to. How about the rear wheel bearings? Jack the car up in the rear and see if the rear wheels wiggle which is an indication that your rear wheel bearing is shot. This is a complicated repair that runs about $500.00 per side.

I would avoid 1998 -1990 XJ40s, aka XJ6s. Oh and it the rust is already starting, that's a bad sign. Surface rust generally doesn't "bubble." "Bubbling" means body rot or cancer.

If I were you, I would look at the X300 XJ6s which are the 1995 - 1997 production years in the USA. Look on autotrader.com and you'll find much better cars for a little more money than the ones you're looking at. The best thing I did with my 1992 XJ6 Soverign was get $1,000.00 for it on a trade in for a 1996 XJ6 VDP.

Chuck,

Thanks for the info. Last night I was reading the archives and did find the answer to the drain issue. You are right on with that.

I took the car for another test drive and experienced one more issue that has thrown up a red flag. The tranny feels great and shfts nice through all gears. However, if the car is in drive, and I need to put it in reverse, I have to put it in Park first, then back down to Reverse. That is a small annoyance to deal with, but I am concerned that it is an indicator of something more serious. Any info on this issue would be greatly appreciated.

The car is a burgandy 1989 with 92K. There are only very minor areas where the paint is bubbling from some surface rust. The leather is in great shape, as is the wood trim. The headliner is in tact with a minor droop in the very rear. It has been on the dealer's lot for at least a year, if not longer. He has 4 other Jaguars. 1) A 1990 XJ6 that needs rear end work. 2) A 1989 XJ6 that has a clogged fuel filter from running old gas. 3) A 1989 XJ6 Vandem Plus with 108K miles. It's in great shape, but the ride felt very spongey, like it was floating and bouncing. Probably needs suspension work. He has it priced at $4000 4) A 1991 XJ6 with only 72K. It has a bad headliner, and and appears to be more of a base model. Analog guages, no sun-roof. He wants $4000 for that one also. His lot also includes older Benz's, Land Rovers, and some Americans.

The owner is trying to retire and wants to liquidate his inventory by September. He just dropped the price of the car I am interested in from $4000 to $3000. At that price I don't think I can go wrong unless there are tranny problems. I am ready to buy, and will likely go with the 1991 base model if there are emminent tranny issues with the one I am interested in.

He has all of the Jaguars listed in the classifieds on this site. The link below will take you there. Please look at the 4/30/08 listing. It is the car to the left. The Vandem Plus is in the center. The XJ6 with 72K miles is on the right.

Any advice for me is greatly appreciated.

Gator

Gator: My 91 had the same problem with the defroster. There are four positions on the fan switch: Off, Lo, Hi, and Defrost. Plus you have the temp control on the right and the dash control in the middle. Be sure to set the temp control at 12 O'Clock (straight up) and the dash control full left. Then be sure that you have one of the humidity controls ON. I found that this usually fixes that problem. As far as the water on your feet, be sure to pull the leaf guard off (strip at base of windshield just under back edge of hood) and clean out anything that might be locking the water from getting to the drain lines on each side of the firewall.
Hope this helps.