Odometer
- 15,518
I am delighted to introduce the latest member of the Team CJ
fleet, a beautiful Sapphire Blue 1995 Jaguar 4.0 XJS that has been in the same hands
since 1997. I have been looking for a low mileage XJS
convertible for a while, and the Sapphire Blue paintwork on
this particular car jumped off my computer screen when I
spotted it on eBay a couple of weeks ago. The first owner
put about 12,200 miles on the car before the second owner
purchased it in August 1997. It was then kept at a vacation
home in South Carolina for the next 23 years, during which
time a mere 3,200 miles were added to the odometer. In fact,
the car has barely been used in the last 14 years, evidenced
by service records that show a service 600 miles ago in
2006!
Although the overall cosmetic condition of the car obviously
reflects the extremely low mileage, as received she was in desperate
need of a major service. Despite assurances from the
seller that the AC worked and "cooled like a champ", it
clearly had not worked for many years, which was a little
disappointing.
I asked my guys to repair the AC, replace all fluids, all
belts and all coolant hoses, replace the tires and do a full
30,000 factory service. While the car was in the Team CJ
workshop, I had Charlie Molina of the PDR Shop take care of
a few dings, and two of the road wheels had suffered some
road rash, so I had Wheels America collect and restore them.
I hate dings and I hate curbed wheels!
The AC compressor was leaking from just about every seal,
and the Schrader valve on the low side also had a major
leak. Interestingly, the system was covered in dye, meaning
we were not the first people to discover the leaks. In any
event, with the service complete and the AC repaired, and
new shoes installed at all four corners, I headed out for my
first drive about $3,000 poorer than I was supposed to be.
Happily, I soon forgot all about the unexpected expenses
because the car drove superbly on my test drive, and the AC
system cools like a champ.
