Should I Change My Car?

[Force4145]

Hi All,

I've got a 2004 S-type Sport 3.0ltr Petrol, manual, with all the extras and 50,000 on the clock. Trouble is repairs are starting to get more expensive and more regular. It's probably only worth around £1,000. A far cry on what I paid for it new :(

I'd be interested in a few opinions as to what I should do now. I would like to stick with a jag if possible, maybe a different model. I would not want to spend more that £5,000 if at all possible. Thanks.

[Mike_eng]

Or you could come over to the dark side

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201803284999557?make=JAGUAR&sort=year-desc&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&price-to=5500&advertising-location=at_cars&radius=1500&postcode=nn108jb&maximum-mileage=50000&page=1

[Russ68]

I think of the people who sold E-Types and MKII's for a few hundred as they were getting more expensive to run! Bet they regret it now! Your car should have 100,000 reliable(ish) miles in it, and spares have never been cheaper. If you can do some of your own spannering, it's a bonus, but if not, find a reliable independent who you can trust and work collaboratively with. I consider repairs in mine as an investment in the cars condition and future, and BTW, maintenance is better than repair. Now is probably the worst time to sell, at only c3-4% of original buy price, whereas the £4000 differential will cover a lot of repairs, some years worth!

IMHO, keep it, I have the slightly earlier X200 Sport 3.0 manual and it's a helluva car .

Hope this helps, Russ 

[Force4145]

Thanks to everyone for your offerings, much appreciated. The MOT comes up next week and I think I'll make a final decision when I know the result. If it passes without too much to spend, I think I'll keep it for another year. With the new tougher MOT's coming in next month, I think most people with a 10+ year old car are going to be getting very worried.

[Russ68]

Just had a look at the new MOT regs, and they mainly seem to be based on driving diesels off the road, but as you (and I), have petrol cars, shouldn't be an issue 

[Force4145]

I've got a small Oil and water leak, do you know if these are a fail on the new MOT?

[JOE-DOT-COM]

5 hours ago, Force4145 said:

I've got a small oil and water leak, do you know if these are a fail on the new MOT?

hi

sometimes at the discretion of the mot person, but it wants fixing really, coming from a biker as well its no fun when there Oil on the road

but if its not a bad leak, give it a good wipe down before you take it and they usually pass,

also with the water leak, need to get it fixed as usually they let go big style with water every where and depending on the temperature when it lets go, can damage heads and gaskets

if you know where the water leak is and your just waiting till the mot to see how it goes, use some radweld, just pour it in the expansion tank and will fix small leaks, I had to do it once while we were on holiday and the radiator sprung a small leak, cured it for a few weeks till i got the radiator replaced

if it were my car and the car body work is sound, mainly like the sills and arches, I'd keep it, there generally quite reliable, but if your thinking of selling, once its got that mot its the best time to sell, but you will struggle to find a descent one with less than 50k , new rules also are for diesels and won't effect petrol cars, you might find it will go up in value due to this.

cheers

Joe

[Russ68]

Nice post from Joe, good advice there .

Leaks are covered under the new rules, Auto Express say this:

One example of the new criteria, set out in a draft DVSA (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) MoT guide, concerns steering: a steering box leaking Oil would get a Minor fault; if the Oil is leaking so badly as to be dripping, that would constitute a Major defect, causing the car to fail its MoT.

I haven't trawled through the entire document, but I imagine other leaks could be similarly treated, but like Joe, a leak is to be sorted rather than lived with IMO. It will only likely lead to further problems, and leaving a trail of fluids over the roads and your drive is not great!

But to answer Nick's question, it would appear that if the leaks are bad enough to drip, they'll fail. But if you wipe before as Joe suggests, you may get away with it. I've stopped around the corner from the test centre before to wipe down a leaky shock absorber that would've been a fail if spotted. Only to keep me legal until I fixed it, which was shortly afterwards 

[Force4145]

Good advice from both Joe and Russ, thanks. The leaks are very minimal and the MOT is next Thursday, so I might get away with it this time. Fingers crossed :)