Edited on 2005-09-10 2:04:52

I recently purchased a 1991 XJ6 on e-bay (that was my first problem), after seeing some well taken pics of the car and getting numerous assurances from the dealer that this was a jem that had been fully inspected, I bought the car. First sign of trouble came when I arrived to pick up the vehicle 300 miles away from my home. I only saw one tailpipe sticking out the back, when I mensioned this to the dealer, the selfproclaimed Jag expert proceeded to tell me a story how this is a rare model that was made with only one exhaust pipe. Telling him that he was full of it, I bent down and sure enough, you could see where the pipe ended at the first muffler and was missing the back resonator.
Well I bought the car anyhow after forcing the kindly gentleman to drop the price.
I have had the car for less then a month and am already working at around $1500 for repairs. Now I know that Jaguars need lots of attention and care, but try telling that to my wife (actually suprisingly she has been very understanding). So far I have replaced tie rod ends, steering boots, bearings repacked, oil change and an inspection by my Jaguar shop.
My plans for this Jag are the following: keep it for good and eventually complete a full restoration (taking baby steps along the way). I used to own a beutiful mint 1985 XJ6 VP with only 26,000 ORIGINAL miles!!! However I was foolish enough to let my girlfriend (now EX-girlfriend) drive her while I was on vacation, and she decided that it would be fun to tryout the front bumpers, via a head on collision with a Toyota 4Runner... She (the ex) was unhurt, but my baby was ruined.
Here is where the dillemma occurs. There is still some work to be done on this Jag (the 91) to bring it to a decent drivable shape, am I better off dumping this one while I am still behind and trying my luck with a better example, or should I bite a towel clear the svaings and tuff it out???
While I am pondering that here are some immediate questions that come to mind:
1. After every carwhash there is water leaking onto my feet through the floor airvents, eventough I gently hand wash this car it still Leaks. Can not for the life of me figure out how to solve this. HELP someone throw me a towel.

2. Left rear door will not open from the outside, is there a way to fix this??

3. How much should I expect to pay to have the headliner reupholstered??

4. The manager of my Jaguar Service dept. said that he can no longer get most of the parts for my year vehicle, has anyone found a GOOD Jaguar parts website that deal with original or refurbished Jag parts. (for the sake of the restoration I want to only use Jag parts, no aftermarket)

5. Jaguar dealership quoted me $6500 for a new paint job (using the same gorgeous British Racing Green) does this sound right or like a ripoff?

6. My VCM is telling me that my fuses 5, 6, and 1 are failing. I have no manual for this car so have no idea where to look. I checked all the fuses that I found, but none are out, is there some sort of a hidden fuse box somewhere?

7. Any other problems that anyone knows of that I should watch out for or hints to help me out would be much appreciated.

Thank you all,

Dima T

1991 XJ6 Sov
1985 XJ6 VP

One more thing, just today somethig weird happened with my airconditioner (I still have the old R12 system). With the air on and the "face vents" set to cold, my rear air and floor vents blow cold as usual, but there is HOT HOT air blowing for the dash vents and the front window defroster. winter is coming quick, but I still would like to figure out this problem. Any ideas (this happend on the day that the car came back to me from service at Jaguar...)?

Submitted by feduck@sympatico.ca on Fri, 09/30/2005 - 11:02

You are getting good advice here I think, first of all 6500 for a paint job will exceed the value of the car by a lot!!! Not worth it!! There are a lot of aftermarket parts suppliers on the net and yes even through the dreaded E-Bay - going to a dealer for parts for a 91 will make it a painful and uneconomical experience. If if runs well, generally, why not just drive it while slowly sorting out the problems? Depending on the mileage, it may give you years of service, my 90 XJ-6 is at 230 000 Kms and without any major servicing at all. It is not going to win any concours shows but it still a great car to drive and has been for 5 yrs almost.
There are 3 main fuse boxes, L/Side (drivers) behind the foot well, R/Side passenger foot well, and beneath a cover in the armrest (center) Your VCM message should say Fuse 1, Fuse 2, or Fuse 3 to direct you to which one is related to the problem. (press the VCM button) Since you have a water leak, which I do too! Same area! You may be getting water leaking down on to the fuse box and corroding the contacts - remove some fuses in that box (drivers side) and look for a salt/crust build up or feel for dampness on top of the box. You may have a fuse so badly corroded it is reading as faulty as it is not making a connection with the box.
The water leakage is usually on the Drivers side, and can be caused by the "duckbill" drain from the windscreen area getting filled with debris over the years. YOu need to correct this if you plan on keeping the car as it will eventually cause rot to the floor under the mats and rocker panels and front quarters. Look carefully at the fron D/Side quarter just behind the front wheel and ahead of the door - I see a lot of used jags rotting in this exact area, from the inside out. ther is also a drain for the AC system - just s little hose protruding under the car that can get plugged and cause water to leak all over the carpets.

Left rear door will not open- is the lock sticking? Or more commonly, the handle from the outside snaps, (will be loose to the touch) on it's moorings. These can be expensive to replace for some bizarre reason, although E-Bay can be a good place to source them. Why not just reach around and open the door from the front - or walk around to the other side?

If you have the square shaped front lights, try not to break them - they are insanely expensive!!

Rear diffs often leak fluid from the seals (bottom)giving you a lovely burnt smell after a long drive and a requirement to monitor the fluid regularly.

Rear ouptut shaft bearings can go, usually with high mileage, you wil hear a grating/grinding that is consistent with speed. If you jack up the car and push the rear axles in and out straight towards the Diff -anythingmore than slight movement is an indication that they are on the way out. This is not a monstrous job actually as the design is quite clever.

You will no doubt get ghost messages on your VCM at times, it will tell you that you have a bulb burnt out, when you don't, etc. Big deal, Idon;t need a computer to tell me when I have a burnt out headlight and frankly this was a litte bit of unnecessary whiz-bang overengineering. Speaking of, mine constantly puts the car in limp-home mode (3'rd gear) as it feels hthere is a problem with the trans when there is not. This requires shutting the car off and on to get it to clear. Annoying and unnecessary again. These glitches are pretty common to XJ40's and they often come and go mysteriously.

Respectfully, why would you want to spend a great deal of money making this 91 a show car? They are solid fine automobiles - the 4.0 6 is a rock solid engine for example, but the cost of reconstructing a 91 to perfection will be prohibitive. These cars are plentiful and cheap and not particularly collectable or anything.

Any decent reupholsetering shop that specializes in car care should be able to do your headliner for a couple of hundred or so, but if the liner is good, just sagging, try a can of 3M spray on adhesive first and a little elbow grease. Owning a 40 means learning to do many things yourself.

B.F.

Submitted by dougdwyer@adel… on Sat, 09/10/2005 - 08:38

I can't answer all of your questions but I wanted to comment anyway.

If the car is in basically good shape and runs well, and the intial price was realistic, I wouldn't be too concerned about ironing out a few minor mechanical problems. It a rare case indeed when a used Jag doesn't need attention in at least a few areas. My gut feeling is that the mechanical problems you've mentioned won't be too expensive to sort out but if the car needs cosmetics....well....that obviously changes things entirely. The quote of $6500 for a respray sounds high to me, unless a few body repairs are needed and included in the price. I'm think a good repaint alone would be more in the $3000-$4000 range

However, you don't want to "pour good money after bad", either. Think about it for a few days and do some more browsing around.

I don't know what you paid for the car and you don't have to say....but it sounds like you'll need to spend a few thousand dollars on it to make it a Jag to be really proud of. Add this to your purchase price and I think you'll find that carefully shopping for a truly well cared for example that needs very little work would be a cheaper way to go.

Doug Dwyer
Longview Washington USA
1987 XJ6 Ser III
1988 XJS V12 Coupe

Submitted by jam@ispwest.com on Sat, 09/10/2005 - 08:34

Dima, your problem was not so much buying the car through eBay but buying the car without inspecting it first. It never fails. You broke the Golden Rule: "Never Buy Any Car Sight Unseen". What I would advise is to minimize your losses and sell the car as-is, then buy one in better shape, not from a dealer, but from the owner. But if you are decided on exorcising the 1991 Sovereign, then the first step is to get a Service Manual in CD form, which you can get from any Jaguar dealer for around $25. There are many independent parts sources, whether they are "good", that is a subjective opinion since everyone has a different experience with any given store.
Any store is as good as the prices they charge for any given part, their shipping and handling charges, and the support/knowledge the salesperson has about your specific model/year. Also, you need to locate a service shop (other than the dealer) to service your car, someone you feel is fair.
So shop around. For example: for less than $6,500. you can buy a newer Jaguar that doesn't need a paint job. Yes man, you are getting ripped off! I'm going to recommend a site that sells PARTS for BOTH of your cars; They are not the lowest-priced but they are knowledgeable and they've been around for a while, certainly not a fly-by-night business. Their name is JagBits. http://www.jagbits.com they also have an online Technical library where you can read about many specific problems and how to fix them. Good luck.