XJS 3.6 convertible-£500

[nigel bickle]

Been offered this - twice now.Obviously- I've gotta go look....prob later this week.Guess its not legal -but what else should I be looking for? Knowleadge of these- virtually nil.

[Pete-M]

Pretty much everything. Head gaskets, electrical issues, rot, rot, rot, rot, rot, rot, rot, handbrake issues (inboard calipers, oh joy), rot, rot, rot and rot.Oh, and make sure it's got some oil pressure. Just to make life easy, the sender units sometimes go pop.

[Volksy]

As Pete says ROT, just everywhere, especially on the rear chassis legs where the rear suspension bolts on. Mechanicaly they are pretty much an XJ6, so all the problems with they came with.Rubbish electrics, which WILL drive you bonkers.Get a good one, and they are a cracking car, but at that price, I would have thought it would be a Cabriolet rather than a full convertable. (a bit like the old baur BMWs) and a very ropey one at that!

[nigel bickle]

G plate-I think he said-makes ita fullconvertible.My wifes Saab c900 T16 convertible only cost £300- needing minimalwork so they arent all clumpers.Appreciate the heads up though- looking for'specifics' really.

[Torsten2001]

Sounds lovely, buy it regardless!

[GrumpyOldMan]

I have no personal experience of them, but a gentleman off the Jag-Lovers forum has compiled an e-book on the... erm... particularities of those cars which seems quite comprehensive.

[Rocket88]

rot [almost anywhere] electrical silliness [mostly caused by crap connections] water in the footwells is a definite "walk away" job. engines/gearbox are pretty robust, rear suspension clonks can either be bushes, or the suspension not actually being mounted to anything [see rot!] If you're bothered about cosmetics, the wood veneer is fairly cheap to sort out [second hand bits] as are the leathery bits. Hood might be expensive [if needed]

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

For £500, it's going to be rubbish and a money pit. Spend the money on a holiday instead. XJS's are funky, but ultimately they are just scrap, and expensive to fix on a never ending basis.Could be worse though, it could be a V12.

[FredTransit]

What year was it?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I imagine these cars costing something like £2500 for one in 'money pit' condition. £500 is so cheap that i'd defo be checking it out. Plenty of dead XJS's about to nick bits off, snap it up I say!

[r.welfare]

If the guy selling it knows his onions then it's probably a complete basket case for 500 nicker, that said you might be lucky and if anyone has the repatriation skills...!A very posh colleague of mine bought a 3.6 manual coupe (1988 vintage) a few years back from a "specialist"; I believe the conversation went along the lines of "it's worth £5k but I'll sell it for £1,500 with a full MOT" including a nice non-dating private plate, but it acquired a number of expensive problems including a blown power steering system and the aforementioned handbrake during the course of that year's (minimal) motoring. He's now moved to Earls Court and as far as I know the Jag languishes in a far corner of his parents' huge garden to this day...

[Guest]

At the very least, you can stick it in the driveway and people will think you're a bit flash.

[nigel bickle]

Cheers guys. Tends to mirror my expectations -but at that price I've got to look -havent I? You just never know.Got to collect the Barkas first-hopefully this Friday

[Station]

500 quid for a lot of pain. One car I would avoid even if it was free. It's an attractive offer, but realistically, you'll be fixing it all the time and then you won't be able to sell it.

[MrRegieRitmo]

Are Jags even worse than Alfas then?

[trigger]

They are not good, We use to have 4-5 year old models come in with rotten wings and boots, The electrics always had problems somewhere as well. On the plus side they do drive nice.I nearly died in a XJ6 3.6 once when a garage i collected it from had forgot to remove the mole-grips from the throttle cable, When i put my foot down the throttle jammed and i couldn't stop it, (it was a Auto), I drove about 2-3 mile through a small country village standing on the brakes in a panic until smoke started filling the inside of the car.In the end i tried shifting gear from D to N but missed and ended up in reverse locking the rear axle up and snaking down the road.Yes i did shit myself that day.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Were you not tempted to just turn the key and switch the engine off?

[nigel bickle]

I did something similar, as a callow youth with my freshly rebuilt 4.2 MK10.Full throttle-stuck open cos I misclipped the return spring. Shit myself, switched off, coasted to a halt-rectified & droveback gingerly.Big lesson learnt.Doesnt put me off Jags though....In the last slump I was offered a 63 E type f/head-unseen, Florida import. 3k -buy without viewing. I knew ithad been 'misshandled ' off the ship-with some damage,had no interior & a new red paintjob. Didnt run.Everyone told me to avoid like the plague.Of course- I bought it. Collected with a long rope (& bent plates) from north London. Towed all around the M25 & 20miles south.Some 2 miles from home I turned the key & dropped the clutch. It soon spluttered into life, once warm ran like a dream (choke had never been connected!). It passed its MOT (1st attempt) on the steel bucket seats, we fitted a 2nd hand webasto over the damaged roof (-holed by a grab) & ran ,as is.Loads of cheap fun -subsequently sold to Scandinavia at substantive profit.My point- perhaps poorly made, is the XJS a similar potential prospect?Performance cars dont get much cheaper it can't have been all bad-it did have a damn long ''shelf life''. I get to 'view' this time, outlay is tiny. Surely breaking it I'd get most of my money back?Whatever- viewing Thursday -I'll keep you informed...

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I think for the money you cant go wrong. We all know they can be a diabolical money pit, but for £500 whats the worst that can happen? Nowt I reckon, even with a list of problems as long as your arm it will 'bay off for more than that to a breaker or someone who will buy on a whim with grandiose (but unresearched) plans to 'do it up'. You wanna avoid that nightmare situation where a car owes you so much that you are obliged to keep spending when it goes wrong, thats what happens to your average punter who spends £2500 on a mediocre one from a dealer then the auto box shits itself 2 months later without warning forcing him to write off £2000 or shell out a further £1200 just to keep it alive. But you know all that anyway, and at £500 I dont think you can lose. Get on it!

[outlaw118]

I agree with Mr Bolax; its cheap enough to break if it turns out to be a real dog, and you should be able to get your money back, and if it looks like a fixerupper, then so much the better.Win-win I reckon.

[trigger]

Were you not tempted to just turn the key and switch the engine off?

I'd only been driving 6 months at the time and fear took over from common sense at 50mph on sharp country bends!.

[Cavcraft]

I think for the money you cant go wrong. We all know they can be a diabolical money pit, but for £500 whats the worst that can happen? Nowt I reckon, even with a list of problems as long as your arm it will 'bay off for more than that to a breaker or someone who will buy on a whim with grandiose (but unresearched) plans to 'do it up'. You wanna avoid that nightmare situation where a car owes you so much that you are obliged to keep spending when it goes wrong, thats what happens to your average punter who spends £2500 on a mediocre one from a dealer then the auto box shits itself 2 months later without warning forcing him to write off £2000 or shell out a further £1200 just to keep it alive. But you know all that anyway, and at £500 I dont think you can lose. Get on it!

What he said.For that kind of money I can't see how you could EPICLY FAIL. I'd also wager if you cleaned it up and shoved it on eBay you'd see a return.Who knows, maybe that fruitcake Chelseadollshouseantiques would buy it, prepare a 27,000,000 million worded advert and try and flog it for three grand?

[Volksy]

What happemed with this? Did it turn out to be a gem or a dog?

[nigel bickle]

Coincidentally-going to see it later today.Been a bit unwell, & there's no rush -is there, not if I'm to hold the price 'down'.

[nigel bickle]

Well it wasn't rotten. The front floors had been welded-untidyily but well. A little bubbling here & there-but not enough to put me off. Boot,fllorsdry-underneath & wheelarch's solid.Actually-quite encouraging -because it hooned it down for several hours earlier-and it was dry inside.However-'said' late model convertible was a 'B' plate cabrio (claimed not to know the difference). The hood-whilst waterproof --is tadgered. The windscreen is cracked, the interior trim is a mess -seats are good though.No battery-so it didnt run-but it wouldnt anyway cos the head gasket is toast-judging by the huge amount of very thin,burnt oil & an oil filled airfilter box-cunningly disguised with a freshly topped up expansion tank.Of course-it might be completely lunched- but its just a teeny 3.6 -so a simple repair.....He went a bit 'quiet' then.We agreed to disagree on price/value- so its not for me. Happy to put any of you onto it-if you want a rustfree softtop(ish) thats going to need a heap of mechanicals....Sorry-no pics,camera chose that precise moment to announce the need for new batteries.