First couple of weeks of S-Type ownership

[The Voices]

I decided that after working as a Jaguar salesman for the last 13 years that I should actually own one at some point !
 

The company provide me with a new Jaguar as my company car and change it every few months due to the mileage I travel to and from work, my weekend toy is a Subaru Impreza and my wife has an old Saab 9-5  that she likes because of the heated seats and auto gearbox.

The plan was to purchase a nice trade in S-Type from work to replace the Saab but unfortunately company politics got in the way.

My fallback was to then look for a suitable car either privately or from a used car dealer.

Initially the criteria were fairly flexible, 2002 onwards to get the 6 speed auto, 3.0 V6 preferred but consider a 2.5 or even the 4.2 V8, budget of up to £2k.

To say that the search was 'an experience' would be an understatement !

I was not expecting perfection for £2k but did expect people to be honest when I was traveling some distance to view cars.

The motor trade has a bad reputation, I thought that the 'bad old days' were gone but sadly not !

Before traveling to view cars I called to ask a few basic questions to avoid wasting anyones time, any warning lights showing ? climate control working as it should ? Oil or water leaks ? corrosion ? details of service history?

In some cases I went out of my way to mention that I was 'in the trade' so an honest description would not necessarily scare me off like a 'retail' buyer.

I covered hundreds of miles on my week off to look a various cars, here are some great examples of what I encountered:

One 159,000 mile 2002 3.0 Sport from Autotrader was using pictures taken when the last owner purchased it 2 years ago, car had been stood since the MOT expired in May, boot full of water, flat battery, engine management light on and bonnet would hardly open due to previous front end damage.

The car was priced towards the top end of the budget and was advertised with full history, I called a day in advance to ask about the car and the day I was coming over. The trader assured me that there were no
issues with the car.

When I pointed out that the car in no way met his description and showed him why the bonnet would not open he said 'sorry I had not seen the damage !'

Asked if any movement on price, bearing in mind that half of the advertised extras did not work (power fold, rear blind, 6 disc CD player missing) and the service history was 'patchy' his response was 'no that is the bottom line' !



Another one that required a 250 mile round trip had the climate control issue with hot air out of the outer vents and cold from the inners, trader had been driving the car himself and 'just closed the vents' to solve the problem (I had asked specifically about whether the car had this issue)

 

Rear bumper had been replaced and stood out like a sore thumb, just had a poor 'blow over' in the correct colour with the previous Zircon blue showing through in places. Advertised as a 'Sport Plus' which was the 2003 'run out' model with extras prior to the 2004 face-lift, guess what ? It wasn't a Sport plus so no extras !

Some of the private sellers are just as bad, went to view a 79,000 mile 2002 described as fantastic condition and priced accordingly. When I got there it had Oil and coolant leak (owner said I thought having to put
water in every couple of days was normal on an old car !)

 

Bodywork looked like it had been polished with a breeze block, not even had a quick wash and vac to help sell the car. Owner said it has been for sale
for a while, I said 'I wonder why ?'
 

 

Finally purchased a 2003 '53' 2.5 Sport from a trader who described the car honestly, he had taken the Jag in part exchange car and sold it me as 'spares or repair' to avoid any misunderstandings.


The ownership experience has been 'challenging' to say the least.

Drove the car back home (120 miles) and all fine, then started getting low coolant warnings over the next few days.

Checked the coolant sensor and looked for leaks on the hoses and header tank but no sign of anything and the invoices showed a new header tank and heater valve less than 15k miles ago.

Turned out to be a collapsed radiator which luckily only let go close to home and didn't loose all the coolant.

That required recovery to our dealership so that I could get the radiator replaced.

Jaguar price for the new radiator was approximately £330+ VAT (less a bit of employee discount) but thought that was extortionate !

Instead I sourced one from 'Fast Rads'

http://www.fastrads.co.uk/partfinder/?id=1&vrm=YH53HZX

They listed three versions but the suitable one for my car came to about £139 including VAT, optional 2 year guarantee and next day delivery, which I thought was fantastic value.

On a note of caution, I found lots of cheaper ones online which said they were suitable for auto or manual but did not have the necessary oil cooler connections that the automatic gearbox requires !

The part arrived as promised and one of the master technicians fitted it for me at 'mates rates', everything seems fine so far !

At the same time he cleaned and freed off the rear calipers as they were sticking on the sliding pins, new rear pads were £14 so another cheap fix.

The passenger side headlight has a problem, the aim adjuster has broken allowing the interior lenses to flop about, I have tried the 'screw through the plastic' fix but probably need to source a used headlight ASAP.

My plan will be to then purchase the uprated adjuster repair kit from eBay and use the headlight I have removed as an experiment to see if I can fix it ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2712860021...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

The addition of cruise control was a piece of cake, used the guide I found on here and purchased a steering wheel with controls already fitted for £50.

Two torx screws and a 21mm bolt later and we have cruise and audio controls working with no reprogramming needed, happy days !

Still need to sort out the minor corrosion on the drivers wing, may just try to source a good used one in the right colour (this is on a budget after all !)

The fuel gauge has a mind of its own so will need to look at that, the test mode for the gauges makes the needle do a full sweep so I need to find out if the sender units in the tank are faulty.

[Old Peter]

Hi Jon,

 

My son is currently looking for an X Type estate, and is  [at last] following my advice in looking for a good dealership rather than a private sale or a dodgy dealer.

 

We did look at a Nissan x trail, but found that the fact that it had had a fair swipe on the passenger side, and that it needed mucking out   ---  I have used those words instead of cleaning.

 

We eventually found one, that looked clean, from Evans Halshaw, and would have gone to Milton Keynes to see it on Friday, but the dealership rang up to say that it wasn't there and they would try to locate it!!

 

Roll on Monday to see if they have found it!

 

Experiences are good to share, and well worth it!

 

Good luck

 

Regards

 

Peter.

[The Voices]

Hi Peter, Evans Halshaw are part of the 'Pendragon' group who also have the Stratstone Jaguar and Land Rover dealers.

 

My dealership was 'Stratstone' until we were sold about 2 years ago.

 

All of their cars go onto their website and any enquiries are directed to the local dealer (to avoid people being put off if the advert says the car is 200 miles away)

 

They will need to find out where the car is located, it could be anywhere as they have about 200 (!) dealers in total.

 

What spec is your son looking for, I might have something !

 

 

 

On the subject of the S-type............................

 

 

 

I remain upbeat, I like to mess about with cars as long as my daily transport is not compromised.


Sourced a replacement used headlamp today from a chap based near the Trafford centre, he breaks S-Types for parts and has three shipping containers full of bits.

Sound guy with 100% feedback on eBay, £50 seemed reasonable, the lamp unit lenses were in pretty good shape and none of the adjusters were broken.


I replaced the lamp unit when I got home, another straightforward job and all is now working fine.



Ordered the repair kit on eBay (the one with stainless steel inserts) and split the old lamp unit ready for fitting, at least then I have a spare that I can swap back over or sell.

The drivers wing has some minor rust bubbles starting, spoke to the painter we use at work for 'smart' repairs and he said he could paint it but rust would probably come back in six months.

May just keep an eye out for a 'sound' used wing in the right colour, I don't fancy £280+ VAT + paint and fit for a new one !

[Old Peter]

Hi Jon,

 

Very interested if you have one.  See PM.

 

Peter.

[ChrisJ]

I decided that after working as a Jaguar salesman for the last 13 years that I should actually own one at some point !

 

The company provide me with a new Jaguar as my company car and change it every few months due to the mileage I travel to and from work, my weekend toy is a Subaru Impreza and my wife has an old Saab 9-5  that she likes because of the heated seats and auto gearbox.

The plan was to purchase a nice trade in S-Type from work to replace the Saab but unfortunately company politics got in the way.

My fallback was to then look for a suitable car either privately or from a used car dealer.

Initially the criteria were fairly flexible, 2002 onwards to get the 6 speed auto, 3.0 V6 preferred but consider a 2.5 or even the 4.2 V8, budget of up to £2k.

To say that the search was 'an experience' would be an understatement !

I was not expecting perfection for £2k but did expect people to be honest when I was traveling some distance to view cars.

The motor trade has a bad reputation, I thought that the 'bad old days' were gone but sadly not !

Before traveling to view cars I called to ask a few basic questions to avoid wasting anyones time, any warning lights showing ? climate control working as it should ? oil or water leaks ? corrosion ? details of service history?

In some cases I went out of my way to mention that I was 'in the trade' so an honest description would not necessarily scare me off like a 'retail' buyer.

I covered hundreds of miles on my week off to look a various cars, here are some great examples of what I encountered:

One 159,000 mile 2002 3.0 Sport from Autotrader was using pictures taken when the last owner purchased it 2 years ago, car had been stood since the MOT expired in May, boot full of water, flat battery, engine management light on and bonnet would hardly open due to previous front end damage.

The car was priced towards the top end of the budget and was advertised with full history, I called a day in advance to ask about the car and the day I was coming over. The trader assured me that there were no

issues with the car.

When I pointed out that the car in no way met his description and showed him why the bonnet would not open he said 'sorry I had not seen the damage !'

Asked if any movement on price, bearing in mind that half of the advertised extras did not work (power fold, rear blind, 6 disc CD player missing) and the service history was 'patchy' his response was 'no that is the bottom line' !

Another one that required a 250 mile round trip had the climate control issue with hot air out of the outer vents and cold from the inners, trader had been driving the car himself and 'just closed the vents' to solve the problem (I had asked specifically about whether the car had this issue)

 

Rear bumper had been replaced and stood out like a sore thumb, just had a poor 'blow over' in the correct colour with the previous Zircon blue showing through in places. Advertised as a 'Sport Plus' which was the 2003 'run out' model with extras prior to the 2004 face-lift, guess what ? It wasn't a Sport plus so no extras !

Some of the private sellers are just as bad, went to view a 79,000 mile 2002 described as fantastic condition and priced accordingly. When I got there it had oil and coolant leak (owner said I thought having to put

water in every couple of days was normal on an old car !)

 

Bodywork looked like it had been polished with a breeze block, not even had a quick wash and vac to help sell the car. Owner said it has been for sale

for a while, I said 'I wonder why ?'

 

 

Finally purchased a 2003 '53' 2.5 Sport from a trader who described the car honestly, he had taken the Jag in part exchange car and sold it me as 'spares or repair' to avoid any misunderstandings.

The ownership experience has been 'challenging' to say the least.

Drove the car back home (120 miles) and all fine, then started getting low coolant warnings over the next few days.

Checked the coolant sensor and looked for leaks on the hoses and header tank but no sign of anything and the invoices showed a new header tank and heater valve less than 15k miles ago.

Turned out to be a collapsed radiator which luckily only let go close to home and didn't loose all the coolant.

That required recovery to our dealership so that I could get the radiator replaced.

Jaguar price for the new radiator was approximately £330+ VAT (less a bit of employee discount) but thought that was extortionate !

Instead I sourced one from 'Fast Rads'

http://www.fastrads.co.uk/partfinder/?id=1&vrm=YH53HZX

They listed three versions but the suitable one for my car came to about £139 including VAT, optional 2 year guarantee and next day delivery, which I thought was fantastic value.

On a note of caution, I found lots of cheaper ones online which said they were suitable for auto or manual but did not have the necessary oil cooler connections that the automatic gearbox requires !

The part arrived as promised and one of the master technicians fitted it for me at 'mates rates', everything seems fine so far !

At the same time he cleaned and freed off the rear calipers as they were sticking on the sliding pins, new rear pads were £14 so another cheap fix.

The passenger side headlight has a problem, the aim adjuster has broken allowing the interior lenses to flop about, I have tried the 'screw through the plastic' fix but probably need to source a used headlight ASAP.

My plan will be to then purchase the uprated adjuster repair kit from Ebay and use the headlight I have removed as an experiment to see if I can fix it ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2712860021...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

The addition of cruise control was a piece of cake, used the guide I found on here and purchased a steering wheel with controls already fitted for £50.

Two torx screws and a 21mm bolt later and we have cruise and audio controls working with no reprogramming needed, happy days !

Still need to sort out the minor corrosion on the drivers wing, may just try to source a good used one in the right colour (this is on a budget after all !)

The fuel gauge has a mind of its own so will need to look at that, the test mode for the gauges makes the needle do a full sweep so I need to find out if the sender units in the tank are faulty.

Glad you got sorted and good job you had an idea of what you where looking for. I bought my S Type on a whim. Fantastic though. 71k on the clock. Good condition. EML come son now and again and rectifies itself but no big issue. MOT due tomorrow... only failure I can see is the Washer Bottle pump not working - instant fail. :(.

[Mr Lawrence]

I've been lucky with buying the two S types I've bought.

The first was found on a trip to find a range rover 4.6V8 but, having driven one, was put off by the size of it!!

The missus spotted the jag tucked away at a second hand dealer we've used before.

It had its faults but, for £325 with 9 months mot it was a deal not to miss.

Used it for 6 months then sold it for £350!!

Current jag was pretty straight forward.

Wish list was, diesel, preferably manual, sat nav, heated leather seats.

Was the 2nd we found, the first had everything but no nav, was grey and had no wood inside plus was about 200 miles away!

The one we've got is everything we wanted plus it's a nice, ultraviolet blue too.

Found in a used car dealer in Liverpool which was about 30 miles from us.

Nearly 11months of ownership and all I've had done is the cambelt and I put a leaper on the bonnet.

Mot was a joy, tester remarked how clean it was underneath!!

I was going to chop it in for an XF in a couple of years but, having looked at an XF I've decided to keep it for a good long while!

[The Voices]

Always liked the S-Type for some reason, seemed very 'Jaguar' but with (at the time) a modern slant.

 

I am absolutely loving the car so far even with the few problems I have had.

 

Parts prices are reasonable for the type of car it is, I like like having a laugh at what Jaguar want to charge for the bits and then see how much I can beat the price by !

 

No wonder so many get broken for spares as they get older, the cost of one main dealer repair writes the car off.

 

Very short sighted in my opinion as offering cheaper parts and labour prices on older models would keep the cars in the dealer network and retain the customers.

[Old Peter]

Hi Jon,

 

I wanted a Jaguar in the days I rode motorbikes.  The Owner of theGarage I used to take my motorbikes to in Sefton was restoring a Jaguar Mk 1 in Old English White in 1963.  It took me almost 50 years to own one.

 

Jaguar made only 330k s types  ----   the original style with modern technology  --- and only about 40% of them remained in the UK.

 

Main dealers of every type of car do charge quite a lot for repairs, and I was lucky in 2001 in finding a mobile mechanic to look after my 1999 Rover Sterling.  The main dealer [Colliers Jaguar] charged £325 + VAT for a full service. He charged £75.  He has serviced and repaired my cars ever since.

 

I think that the S Type is a future classic and just hope that some of the younger owners look after them as the car deserves it!

 

Regards,

 

Peter.

[brent]

You mention the trouble with the radiator, might be worthwhile as a precaution to have the transmission fluid checked for contamination. For quite some time I had been in the position of having to top up the coolant on a regular basis, it turned out it was getting from the radiator into the gearbox. Many thousands later I had a reconditioned gearbox and new radiator.

Now many people will point out that this problem affects the diesels and not the petrol models. Sadly this isn't the case, mine is the 2.5 petrol......

[The Voices]

Thanks for the heads up ref the gearbox.

 

The master tech that did the radiator and rear brakes is on a course this week but will be doing a service when he is back, I have considered gearbox Oil change (think there is a filter in the plastic gearbox sump tray as well ?)

[The Voices]

I have been off work this week and decided to fit the aftermarket heated seat kit from eBay.

 

The kit is the type with two pads per seat with 'carbon fibre' elements so the pads can be cut and two heat settings.

 

I now realise why the guys I use at work charge £400 to supply and fit these !

 

Both seats out of the car, partially remove the leather covers (cutting the 'hog rings' is a pain in the.....) and then the real fun starts !

 

The sports seats in my S-Type have metal rods that run across the foam to attach the hog rings too as well as the usual metal rods running front to back.

 

The instructions are poorly translated from the original Chinese but from scouring the internet it seems that I needed to cut out the mats to avoid contact with the metal rods running laterally.

 

This was another pain in the..... neck, as was threading the cable ties under the metal rods to reattach the seat covers.

 

I ended up removing the centre console and running new power feeds to each seat from the cigar lighter with individual heater switches on each seat.

 

As far as I can tell from the Jaguar tech manual, the existing power supply to the seats is a constant live rather than switched so could leave me with a flat battery if I managed to leave them switched on.

 

I took the opportunity to add an extra 12v socket in the armrest, my poverty spec car did not have it as a factory fit.

 

So I now have heated seats that seem to work reasonably, take longer to heat up than the factory fit on my XE but I don't expect perfection.

 

However.....

 

I now have a bad back from carrying the seats around and covered in cuts and scratches from wrestling with the seat covers and hog rings !

 

I did consider taking some pictures but my antique digital camera has decided to expire, my mobile is so old that any attempt to take pictures on it results in sepia tinted pictures of people in Victorian dress !

[Nightwing]

Hello Jon/All,

New here and also new to Jaguar/S type ownership.

I won't hijack your thread Jon and will start new one based on my experience of purchasing my car. I would be keen know more about some technical info.

Suffice to say loving the car. It's a V8 2003 in black.

Only had it just over two weeks...smiling when I'm driving.

[The Voices]

My only regrets are that I did not buy a Jaguar sooner and wishing that I held out for a 3.0 V6 (minimum) or the 4.2 V8.

 

'She who must be obeyed' is the main driver and already loves it to bits.

 

I already have itchy feet for the 'R' version but have been told that the Impreza has to go if I want the supercharger ?

 

This is a real tough call for me as it is the 5th one I have owned and also puts a huge smile on my face when I drive it.

 

All the best with your V8, had a read of your thread and sound like the seller was a graduate of the 'gestapo' charm school !

[brent]

Thanks for the heads up ref the gearbox.

 

The master tech that did the radiator and rear brakes is on a course this week but will be doing a service when he is back, I have considered gearbox oil change (think there is a filter in the plastic gearbox sump tray as well ?)

 

No worries. Yes there is a filter there, and a sleeve that should be replaced. TBH its the sort of Job you'd probably want to get done by a master tech, they can also upgrade the gearbox software in the process...

[The Voices]

I have been off work again this week as I only have until the end of December to get in as much of my annual leave as I can !

 

 

Had the gearbox Oil and sump / filter replaced today using this kit purchased from my old buddy 'Ebay'

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252072504468?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 

I checked and the Oil specification appears to meet the ZF 'Lifetime 6' guidelines.

 

The 'guide sleeve' was also replaced, new part number is C2C39599 and only costs around £10 from the dealership.

 

Easy to spot the new version as it has black 'o' rings instead of the red / orange ones.

 

 

 

 

My favourite master tech (and new best friend !) did a full service at the same time and replaced two tyres, only one was worn on the inner edge but I prefer to replace them as a pair.

 

In line with the 'budget' nature of this cars remit, I went with some budget tyres on the back wheels.

 

A pair of 'Goodride' 235/45/17 97W XL cost me £70.40 including delivery from MyTyres.

 

I know that some people will question the use of a 'non-branded' tyre but the reviews were good and the 'B' wet weather performance, 'C' fuel economy and 72db noise rating is better than many of the brand name tyres.

 

The correct tyre size is 235/50/17 but the previous owner had done the same as many S-Type drivers and gone for the cheaper and more widely available 235/45 profile, the speedo will read about 2mph 'optimistic' (true 58mph at indicated 60mph)

 

Only driven 35 miles home from work in torrential rain but the tyres seem fine (bearing in mind that they have not been 'run in' yet)

 

The gear box seems to be slightly smoother on the changes and not as eager to downshift, the Oil and sump swap was done as a precautionary measure, not to solve any issues.

 

Still enjoying the experience but wondered if anyone has dropped the 5.0 V8 engine into the S-Type R ?

[CBers]

I normally replace my tyres with NEXEN tyres. Very hard wearing and pretty good for a budget tyre. I've priced them up for my S-Type and they're about the same price as your Goodride tyres.

I also have 245/45/17 tyres, but that seems to be the correct ones according to the details on the right-hand A pillar.

[The Voices]

Your car will be the 2004 onwards, facelifted model so I think it is on a different tyre size ?

 

The 2002-2004 models like mine should run on 235/50/17 tyres from the factory as far as I am aware but 235/45 seems to be the common replacement option (our workshop fits this size to customers cars)

 

I did a quick search on the 245/45/17 size and it would give me a speedo reading slightly closer to the 'reference' figure on the factory size for my car which would be better.

 

The price for the Nexens in 245/45 is £64 each on mytyres, I only paid £70.40 for a pair of the 235/45 Goodrides from the same source !

 

Nexen tyres also get good reviews, I just looked for the best wet weather performance for the price and ended up with the Goodrides.

[CBers]

£70.40 for the pair?

Did you have them fitted at home? Was the service good?

[The Voices]

I was blown away by the price, seemed too good to miss.

 

The price included postage (from Germany I think ?) and took about a week.

 

I work at a Jaguar dealership so got one of our technicians to fit them when he did the service !

[The Voices]

My wife has reported back (as she is the main driver of the S-Type), she tells me that the gearbox behaviour has noticeably improved in terms of smoothness ?

 

Glad that I got it done !

[The Voices]

The honeymoon period is over !

 

My wife came in this afternoon and said 'the Jag is making a strange noise !'

 

Took it round the block and indeed, there is a strange noise.

 

 

On closer examination, the NSR brake is sticking on and has worn the outside pad down to the metal.

 

The pads were only fitted a few weeks ago and the sliding pins on the caliper were 'freed off' and cleaned / greased at the same time, the piston did not appear to be sticking.

 

The car has done less than 1,000 miles since.

 

I am glad I only got the 'pattern' brake pads for £15, I would be really annoyed if I had just fitted the genuine ones at £95 !

 

 

Typically, I have been off all week and could have sorted this out if it had occurred earlier but back to work tomorrow.

 

To make it worse, the technician that usually works on my car is now off for three weeks !

 

 

I need to investigate to see if replacement caliper, pins or just another clean and re-grease required.

 

The park brake was re-calibrated after the pad swap as far as I am aware ?

[Mr Lawrence]

Sounds like a sticking caliper.

You'd have the park brake message flash up if it wasn't recalibrated.

[The Voices]

Bought new pads and discs today, £60 including VAT which is cheap for any car, let alone a Jaguar.

 

Another one of our technicians is going to investigate the problem on Monday after work.

 

I just want to get to the bottom of the problem, if it needs a replacement caliper I can get one ordered.

 

My wife is giving me earache as she is having to 'slum it' in the Impreza and the manual gearbox is annoying her !

[Old Peter]

Good luck, Jon, and hope it gets sorted before Christmas'

 

Peter.

[The Voices]

Thanks Peter, I will get to the bottom of the problem one way or another !

 

What are you doing up and about at 4.45 AM ?

 

I got up at 7.45 today but only because I have to go to work !