2020-02-25 11:19:15 | pauls writes:

Car listed as sold at:
themarket.co.uk/listings/jaguar/xj-s-he/fbd0af40-2b09-4c77-a46b-617ca51ee6cd
Sold for £5,200

Auction description:
1988 JAGUAR XJ-S HE
Location: ABINGDON
Odometer Reading: 64,700
Chassis Number: SAJJNAEW3BA146891
Engine: 5343
Gearbox: AUTO
Color: SAGE GREEN
Interior: GREY LEATHER

This particular car is in a rare combination of sage green and beige leather and has had just three owners. It comes with documentation attesting to annual (and sometimes twice-yearly) servicing, the first ten years of it by Jaguar dealers, and it’s just had over £1300 of work to put it through the MOT test – which it passed with flying colours. This 1988 V12 HE has been entrusted to The Market by a dealership who received it as a trade-in on a new vehicle.

The body is very strong, all the panels seem to line up very well, all the door bottoms, bootlid and bonnet edges are much much better than usual for an old XJ-S. It is not perfect, there are some tiny imperfections at the top of the rear screen and in the bootlid gutter, but overall the car appears to be generally rust free. The base of the windscreen is another area to keep an eye on with the XJ-S, but again it all looks clear here as there have been repairs, as do the wheelarches and door bottoms. There’s what appears to be early-stage corrosion showing on the sills under the alloy kickplate on the passenger side. The only exception to the overall square looks being the offside section of the rubbery part of the rear bumper which is slightly off kilter.

Brightwork is clean and unpitted, with just a small dent on the nearside windscreen surround, and the chunky five-spoke alloys give you a feeling for how carefully the car has been driven over its 65,000 miles.
Enter the car on the passenger side and you’ll see a little carpet staining and a couple of very small marks on the door card, but all the organic cabin materials bear every hallmark of diligent owner care. The leather is still buttery, the walnut veneers still rich. The rear seats look like they’ve hardly ever been sat in and even the driver’s seat is untorn. Lift the carpets and you’ll find the tiniest spots of brown coming through the paint, but otherwise the floors appear to be totally solid.

Some of the adhesive holding the headlining in above the nearside rear window looks to have dried out, but it hardly detracts from what is in most respects an immaculate interior.
Look underneath the car and you’ll see the usual visual degradation to bolted-on components like the suspension and exhaust, but the main floor sections all seem to be extremely solid.

We have conducted our usual brief test drive and found a smooth engine, good gearbox and brakes and generally a very strong drive – we like this car.

The car comes with a bound leather wallet containing its stamped-up service record and warranty books, Owner’s Handbook and tape cassette Owner’s Guide, Jaguar Driver’s Card, extended guarantee certificate, and V5C confirming the three previous owners.