1989 Jaguar XJS

Convertible

V12

Automatic

SAJNV4844KC165123

Clear

The first bunch of pictures show the car with the top up. The top is premium cloth and it's in great shape. It appears to be the original top, but we can't say for certain. The rear window is glass and it's heated for winter defrosting. Unlike American convertibles, the Jaguar top has a thick inner lining helping to absorb noise and hiding the the top bows and mechanism. As you can imagine, this is expensive to replace if it's in bad shape. It's perfect looking on this car, clean, no rips, no tears and looking like new. We bought this car from an Atlanta mechanical engineer who was a stickler for maintenance and record keeping. 1989 is the first year for the factory-built convertible and it's the one to have as a collectible, even more than the '96, the last year for the XJS, because nearly all of those cars had the 6-cylinder engine. The '89 has the 12-cylinder single overhead cam fuel injected engine, 326 cu. Inchs, 285 horsepower. This combination may make it the most valuable in the future. This is a really nice original car that has been taken care of. The best we can tell, the paint is all original and it has a great shine, smooth, deep and lustrous, as the pictures clearly show. No dull places, no thinning. Having original paint is important because it shows the car was cared for and it means there can't be any repaired accident damage hiding under new paint. The chrome is also in great shape and there's no sign of any rust that we've been able to find. We went all around the car with a magnet and found no sign of any Bondo or filler. All in all, this is an exceptionally nice 25-year old Jaguar. The odometer reading of just under 76,000 is documented by the thick binder of service records and receipts that come with the car. A lot of people think the XJS to have is one that has been stored away and not driven much; however, talk to any mechanic who's knowledgeable on the these cars and he'll tell you that these cars deteriorate quickly from just setting. They need to be driven. The car to have is one that has been driven regularly, serviced regularly and cared for—a car like the one offered in this auction. All of this is what attracted us to this car. We'd found an original, unmolested Jaguar convertible, an early 1989 model in the one of the best, most desired colors, British Racing Green over tan. After you look at the pictures, we think you'll agree that the car really is something special in these colors. The interior pictures show that it's is just as nice and well kept as the exterior. The leather on the seats looks great. The passenger seat could pass for new; the driver's seat shows a bit of wear along the outside edge, about what would be expected in a car of this vintage. The carpet is clean, front and back, including the driver's footwell—see the picture. The polished wood is simply spectacular, bright, high gloss and no cracking at all. The dash pad is perfect with no also no cracking. The center arm rest shows no wear. Look at the picture of the center storage area under the arm rest. Notice the two switches on the back side. That's a really practical upgrade over the stock condition. Those switches raise and lower the rear quarter windows whenever you want—a far better arrangement than the trouble-prone standard system, which only lowers those windows when you put down the top. You will notice the car still has the factory radio, many of which were built by Alpine. You see after market radios in a lot of these cars because if the battery goes dead or when you take it out to put in a new battery, the radio will no longer work until you enter the correct security code. In a lot of cases, the code has been lost, so in goes an after market radio. Well this radio works great and the security code is in the owner's manual. Above the radio is a trip computer which has a lot of functions, all of which are explained in the owner's manual. A couple of the interior pictures show the glove box door open. Look closely and you'll see a neat feature—a nice sized mirror for checking your hair or face before the big event. Although we didn't take a picture, the cigarette lighter looks like it has never been used, a non-smoker owned car. We drove the car 140 miles back from Atlanta and it ran sweet all the way. This was back in the summer, ninety degrees, but the temperature gauge stayed right in the middle where you want it all the way. This Jag does not overheat, unlike some of them. It drives smooth without vibrations at highway speed. The brakes work well, no pulling or fading. All the instruments work. The cruise control works too. The antenna goes up when you turn the radio on and down when you turn it off. The light in the truck work as do all the interior courtesy lights. It also has a new battery installed. Sometimes people overlook the rubber seals. On a Jaguar, that can be a costly mistake as they pricey to replace. All the seals are in good condition on this car, not dried out or hard, but soft and pliable as they are supposed to be. The engine compartment is clean, both the engine itself and the hood area, which has a new fiberglass mat. The trunk area and interior are just as clean, nicely complementing the exterior. Rust is often found in the trunk floor of these cars, but not this one. Raise the carpet and you can see that it is solid and clean. The trunk lid is in good shape with no major bangs or scratches. The spare tire has a nice cover; remove it, and there's a nice Pirelli P-600 tire, the type of tire the car left the factory with. Could this be one of those original tires? We don't know, but we do know that the BF Goodrich TA tires on the car look new. You can see in the picture that the treat is at least 95%. The picture showing the glass manufacturer, Triplex in England, has a date code showing it was manufactured in August 1989. It's all the original glass. This Jaguar appears to be a totally original, unmolested car, just the kind collectors look for. It's the first year of the original factory convertible. The paint, the chrome, the top, the wheels and the boot cover all appear to be factory original. As you know, white hides a lot of sins, but paint as dark as this hides nothing. If you study the pictures, you can't help but be impressed with how straight this car is. We didn't clean the fuel injected 326 cubic inch (5.3 liter) SOHC 285 horsepower twelve-cylinder engine because we didn't need to. The odometer reads 75,799, and the service records verify that. The car still has the original tool kit with the Jaguar logo. All these cars came with this tool kit, but not many of them still have it. If you're a collector, you want to have the tool kit and this one is nearly complete. The inside is felt lined with a place for each item. The owner's manual also comes with the car. It's a thick book with nice color pictures and is choked full of useful information. Maybe most important of all, there's a thick binder with service records and receipts. INVESTMENT POTENTIAL After years of toiling in the doldrums of the collector car world, it looks like the XJS convertibles are ready to take off. As our expert witness, we cite Keith Martin's Summer-Fall edition of the Sports Car Market Pocket Price Guide, p. 34, in which these cars are now listed as a “four-star” collectible which means they will appreciate at a faster rate than the collector car market as a whole. Sports Car Market projects a 15% appreciation within one year. Compare that to what a bank pays you on your money. What follows is a point-by-point summary of the condition: BODY & PAINT: Straight and Original; No signs of rust of rust repair. No signs of ever being hit or body repair; must have always been garaged. Smooth, glistening, gleaming paint; no evidence that we can see that it was ever repainted. INTERIOR: Dash and Console - really nice condition as shown in the images. Dash pad & steering wheel – Factory Original; smooth, straight, no signs of fading, peeling, cracking or sun damage. Seats and Carpet – Jaguar original, nice condition, minor wear on driver's seat commensurate with age and mileage; no wear or stains visible on carpet, which is English Wilton wood carpet, not your ordinary nylon carpeting. Rear Compartment – Clean, original, nice. The storage compartment behind the seats can be locked. Headliner – Unlike American convertibles, the XJS has a full headliner hiding the top bows mechanical bits that lowers the top, making it look like a coupe when the top is up. If the headliner is crummy, expect a big bill to replace it. In this car, it's original, unsoiled and nice. Top, Boot Cover, and Glass – All appear to be factory original and nice; glass date code is August 1989. Rubber Weather Stripping – Often overlooked at the buyer's peril because it costs a lot of money to replace the weather seals in a Jaguar. In this car, it's all original, soft, flexible, no cracking, no pulling loose, no peeling. Wheels & Tires – The wheels are original Jaguar and are bright, shiny, no road rash, no big scrapes, scuffs or scratches. The Jag has four-wheel disk brakes, but they are “inboard” rather than the usual “outboard.” This cuts way down on the amount of brake dust and helps keep the wheels looking good. Details – The little detail items help make a Jaguar a Jaguar. All are really nice on this car. SUMMATION – This 1989 Jaguar Convertible is a really nice driver, but is not a show car. In other words, it's not perfect. Some minor wear can be seen in the interior as mentioned and if you get the light exactly right, you can find minor scratches, dings and chips in the paint. It's a car that has been driven moderately over the past twenty-five years, cared for, never allowed to deteriorate and serviced. That's the kind of car that makes a good collector car. VIDEOS OF THE CAR If you like what you've seem so far in the accompanying pictures and want to know more, be sure to take a look at the two embedded videos. The first video is what you would see if you walked around the car, checking it out, as you might at a collector car dealership. In the second video, we start the engine, get in a take a short test drive. Hop in and take a ride with us. WHO WE ARE: Like Wayne Carini, we look for, buy, enjoy and sell classic cars, cars that are unusual, cars that interest us. In other words, we are car nuts. We've been crazy about cars for a long time, me since I was 7 years old and my wife since we were married more than forty years ago. I'm 71 now and my wife will soon be 70. We're both retired, so we have the time to play around with all kinds of great cars, cars we could have never afforded when they were new. Looking back, if only we had kept some of the cars we used to have, especially the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT. We bought it in 1978 for $8400, enjoyed it for a couple of years and sold it for $8600. That car today is worth more than our house. Terms & Conditions There is no substitute for your own personal inspection of the car, and we encourage that. But a lot of time with eBay auctions, people live too far away to make that practical. That's why when we sell a car on eBay, we post a lot of high resolution images so bidders can get a good look at what they're bidding on. It's not as good as looking at the car itself, but it does give you a really good idea of what the car looks like. We also want you to be able to hear and see the car in action, which is why we've posted a Walk-Around video and a Test Drive video. Be sure to look at both of those at least once. We'd love to have you come out and see just how nice this car really is. Keep in mind that inspections must be completed before the auction closes, not after you win the bid. We will be happy to cooperate with any shipping arrangements you might make, but shipping is at your expense. We will also store the car in our garage for a reasonable period of time until you can make shipping arrangements. We reserve the right to end this listing at any time, should the vehicle no longer be available for sale. The following terms of sale apply: Please, if you do not intend to pay, please do not bid. If you need financing, please arrange it before you bid. All bidders with less than 5 feedback's need to email us or their bid might be canceled. The successful high bidder will submit a $500.00 NON-REFUNDABLE payment deposit with PAYPAL within 24 hours of the close of the auction to secure the vehicle. Buyer agrees to pay remaining balance due within 3 working days from the close of the auction. All financial transactions must be completed before delivery of the vehicle or transfer of title. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THESE TERMS OR THINK THEM UNFAIR IN SOME WAY, PLEASE CONTACT US. PAYMENT METHODS PayPal for the deposit; Wire bank transfer )preferred) or Certified Bank Check (Check must clear before title transfer or delivery of car. CAR SOLD AS IS - NO WARRANTY note that this sale is binding and FINAL. This vehicle is being sold AS-IS, WHERE-IS with NO warranty expressed, written or implied. Any descriptions or representations are for identification purposes only and are not to be construed as a warranty of any type. It is the responsibility of the buyer to have thoroughly inspected the vehicle and to have satisfied himself\herself as to the condition and value and to bid based upon that judgment. We try to represent it as accurately as possible to disclose any known defects associated with this vehicle. Seller assumes no responsibility for any repairs. We do not warranty anything that may or could happen after sale. Please carefully read the terms & conditions of the sale before bidding. Any inspections are to be completed before the end of sale, not afterward. Please, NO EXCEPTIONS. Winning this auction does not entitle you to come inspect the car and decide if you want to buy it, but OBLIGATES you to complete the purchase! Thanks so much for your bids, good luck. Should you need assistance in transport, we can refer you to a couple of companies we have taken really good care of cars we've bought in the past. A You-Tube video is embedded below with a walk-around inspection and a short drive so you can hear and see the car in action. Note how easily the engine starts and how smoothly it runs as well as how solid the car is as it drives along the bumpy gravel driveway.