S type prospective purchaser... advice appreciated

[Dex101]

Hi Guys,

 

I am hoping you can help,  I am currently in a position to look at a new car (currently driving an 2000 Astra estate) and I am contemplating an S type.  I have been a fan of Jags since I was young (poster of XJ220 on my wall from the age of 6)  and am tempted by the reasonable price of S types.  Love the look of them and look like running costs day to day would be affordable for me.  I am a Sales Manager and do a lot of travelling but work pays the petrol so MPG isn't first thing on my mind (30 on a run would be acceptable).  

I am interested in something more comfy (looks like a comfy place to be) bit more fun performance wise and a bit smarter for turning up to meetings in etc.

I am fairly handy with spanners and best friend is a mechanic so not worried by labour costs although did see someone saying about £1200 for discs and pads... 

Any advice would be great and guessing 3.0 V6 would be best option rather than 2.5?  Would go manual as never driven an auto car,  I like changing gear and have heard of issues with the auto boxes.

Do you guys think it would fit the bill for what I am looking for and what are they actually like to drive.  My commute is 12 miles on country roads so don't want to be worried about driving a boat...

 

 

[Borg Warner]

Hi Josh

I've just bought a 55 plate S-Type V6 3.0ltr and what a cracker.  Nice and smooth, quiet, powerful enough for me and very comfortable.  In fact everything you would want and expect from a Jaguar.  Mine's an auto, think the manuals are a little rare?  Only filled it up once but that gave me 26/gal, my ZT 1.8T only averaged 28/gal over the 5 or so year I owned it.

As always advice is that you try before you buy and try as many as you can.  Advice to me was the later the better, but with history.  One of things to look for are the sills as these can be a problem area for rust, there's plenty on here though on that and other things to look out for.  But take someome with you to view.

 

It will fit the bill.  Just do it as they say.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Gary M

[Russ68]

Hi Josh / Dex?

I went through a similar thought process a couple of years ago, and after much research and looking, eventually settling on a 2001 3.0 manual Sport. The manuals are rarer, but they are out there, and my Sport is surprisingly good on the twisty bits since I put the new tyres on, harder suspension than standard but still super comfy. There around the same power difference between the 2.5 (200bhp) and 3.0 (240bhp) as between the 3.0 and 4.0 (280bhp), plus the 4.0 is c150 kg heavier, so a manual 3.0 Sport is arguably the drivers choice IMHO, backed up by the Honest John review I linked you to above.

Of all the early X200's, I prefer the look of the Sport, less chrome etc, but if going for a post 2002 car, this isn't quite the issue as the facelifted ones look more contemporary. If, like me you can tinker with them yourself, parts are cheap and plentiful and if you take the plunge, we can more specific advise about this. I bought cheap as a rolling restoration, as I have other vehicles, but if your only car, you may be better spending a bit more for a later one. Mine was running rough after being somewhat unloved by the last couple of owners, so I haggled the price and luckily she came good once serviced. Sailed through her 1st MOT and is coming together nicely now 

If you do a lot of miles, you could LPG convert, as Simon (SimJag) has done, I think he covers more miles than most of the rest of us put together! My 1st 5K averaged just under 28mpg, but this can be 20ish around town or if racing. The manual is more economical that the auto, and it's crazy how well they roll, I'm forever taking her out of gear and still find myself catching slow moving traffic.

I love mine so wish you all the best, helluva car for the money!

Cheers, Russ 

PS. I didn't get much recent history with mine, but was competent / confident enough to go on vehicle condition, and to factor in service costs of bringing everything up to date...