Most of us have been disappointed at least once when it comes to vehicle purchases. That’s because sellers can sometimes be shady, but more often, it’s simply a matter of one person being able to live with flaws the new owner can’t (I went through this recently; details below.) In the case of this 1988 Jaguar XJS V12 coupe listed here on Facebook Marketplace, the seller is seemingly quite transparent about a car that already looks super clean. The demerits seem insignificant compared to the overall condition on display in the listing, but you’ll have to be the judge if it’s worth the $6,500 asking price.
The color helps, too, as we don’t see too many XJSs wearing Crimson Red paint, and it appears to be in excellent condition. The other detail that I get isn’t as big of a deal to some of you but that I personally love is the old-school California license plate. These typically only adorn vehicles that have both been in California for a very long time and also haven’t traded hands all that often. If I had to guess, this is a car that has seen very little turnover among owners that alone could explain its well-preserved condition. The chrome on the bumpers looks tidy and the same goes for the factory wheels.
The seller claims the interior needs “a little love” but it looks pretty decent to me. The leather shows little in the way of flaws, outside of some soiling on the armrest. The seller does disclose some functions aren’t working, such as the parking brake, the air conditioning, and the sunroof, but all of those can be sorted out by a DIYer one weekend. The sunroof could need a cable, or it could simply be stuck from not being used frequently; the same goes for a seized parking brake cable. The A/C may need an R134A conversion if this car hasn’t seen much use over the years.
We tend to overlook the fact that the V12 kicked out a respectable 260 horsepower and could reach a top speed of 150 miles per hour. These were phenomenal grand tourers when new, aside from being stuck with a sleepy shifting GM 3-speed automatic. Still, if you’re OK with the fact that the run to 60 is going to take a leisurely 8 seconds or so, you’ll be perfectly happy cruising along in a car that could be a bit of a survivor. The seller notes it just passed California’s stringent smog check and is currently registered through next year, it sounds like a fairly turnkey example to me. Does anyone else think this Jaguar is likely nicer than the description lets on? Thanks to Barn Finds reader Mitchell G. for the find.
“The seller does disclose some functions aren’t working, such as the parking brake, the air conditioning, and the sunroof, but all of those can be sorted out by a DIYer one weekend. ”
Seems a bit optimistic to me. The XJS is not known for its simplicity.
Bought one for my wife on our 15th wedding anniversary in 1988, it was titled as a 1989 and was one of the last batch produced before Ford took over. She loved the car and kept it until her passing in 2012. Was red with biscuit interior and I always get nostalgic when one comes up on these sites. It was solid and reliable probably because she did not abuse it and it only had 50K miles on it after 25 years. We had very few problems with the car- had to replace the steering rack bushings which sort of deteriorated suddenly and the car wandered all over the road and the header tank for the cooling system and a bunch of the metal pipes corroded way too soon. But she love it because it was heavy and smooth driving.
Wow!
Super Clean at 169k miles!
Kudos to the owner for maintaining it so pristine!
I’ve owned several XJS’s over the years, but never one in this unique color.
(Thankfully the owner didn’t change the hood medallion from the Growler to the Leaper)
The price being asked…is an absolute steal.
IF well maintained, an inexpensive way into the hobby. Not as inexpensive to keep running as a Mustang with a 289, but, if you can do some of the work yourself, a wonderful car to drive.
IF well maintained, an inexpensive way into the hobby. Not as inexpensive to keep running as a Mustang with a 289, but, if you can do some of the work yourself, a wonderful car to drive.
I bought a 1988 XJS-V12 from an original owner. I paid $6,300 in 1992 for the car, roughly ten cents on the dollar of the original purchase price. A beautiful car, a real show stopper, but as your readers note the word “maintenance is an imperative, you fail to take proper maintenance actions you will pay dearly. Ignition and engine management is Bosch, everything else is Lucas, the Prince of Darkness, that’s why Australians like warm beer, they all have Lucas refrigerators.
Common problems: TH-400 automatic transmission refuses to shift, (the Governor drive gear is stripped; easy fix there is an access on the passenger side of the transmission tunnel unbolt the cover pull out the Governor replace the nylon drive gear and reinsert the unit; distributor drive won’t advance, replace it; tendency to engine overheating; remove the radiator and have it flushed/ rodded out and replace both thermostats.; failure of AC, if compressor is in good shape determine if 134A conversion will work with that compressor then fix the Freon leak and recharge. The engine and accessory access is very tight/busy so be patient. The most expensive is ant AC work, but it is worth it, don’t try to do that have a professional shop do the fix. They are great cars and the V-12 is so smooth it’s power is remarkable.
The year of registration sticker on the license plate is 2010. Maybe these are old pictures, which in itself may be a problem, but , if not, even though it is currently registered, it may have been sitting for quite a while.
It does seem to be a nice car and I’m not trying to rain on a parade but because the plate was mentioned in the write up I zoomed in for a closer look and saw that and said hmmm… what’s up with that. I live in California and I see stickers out of date on the road once in a while, but usually not 15 years out of date. Not saying a car sitting around undriven for 15 years is necessarily bad, but it can be. First thing that I would check would be the age of the tires.
Just something to think about.
My boss in the 90s had one of these and it spent a lot of time just sitting in the parking lot waiting for him to call the tow truck to have it repaired again and again
My boss had one as well. Local judge told him if he was caught driving it again, he’dthrow the book at him.
So, he put a for sale sign in the window and handed me the keys. I was 26.
Didn’t take me long to rear end someone… danged cruise control…
Good times.
My son bought an ’89 on Craigslist for $2000. Turned out it had a dropped valve seat, but slowly but surely we went through everything in that car (using Kirby Palm’s XJ-S “book”) and 10 years later it’s still a pretty sweet ride. I just got the AC fixed. I recommend it for someone who wants to learn how stuff works and work on your own car. Not so much if you have to pay somebody $189/hr.
“My name is Justin Kredible, you can trust me.”
LMAO at the seller’s name.