Potential new S-Type owner

[Bobby_1970]

Hi All

I am considering buying a 2.7 Diesel S-Type. 

I realise that this is a fairly old car. But i have an itch and i think need to scratch it, and the S-Type seems reasonably priced.

Should i be massively worried about reliabiliy, rust etc? Or are they, in the main, pretty good?

I have had slightly older cars previously eg MX5s etc and an older Octavia vRS, i have no problem doing some jobs myself but i wouldn't tackle anything complex like a cam belt change.

I am looking to spenf around £4-5k and am pretty sure i want the Oil burner as i do a 60 mile round trip to work each day.

Any advice would be hugely welcome, help me scratch this itch, please. lol

[Wrinkly]

Rob

I feel your best bet to acquire a non bias view of the S-Type is to plough your way through the section of this Forum that is dedicated to the S-Type models.

Best Wishes and Regards, John

[JOE-DOT-COM]

Hi

Mainley with S-types its corrosion, first sills, hidden by plastic covers can completely rot away, dont matter what year, also check rear sub frame, rusty rear arches usually means there not a lot of the sill left

diesel ideally service history, lots of regular Oil changes are best, leaky injector can contaminate engine Oil and cause the common snapped crank.

check brakes, servo are a really common fail on the diesel, can be expensive to source a good one

check gearbox is smooth and it drives nice, lots of bushes on the s-type and gets expensive if they all need doing, check ac, make sure both sides get hot and both sides get ice cold. check electric park brake just keep applying and driving.

early diesels did not have dpf's and had a lot less problems.

cheers

Joe

[Bobby_1970]

Thanks for the heads up. 

I've read through some of the S Type sub forum, it is a little daunting lol. 

Seems as though rust is a big potential issue with these. I doubt I can remove the plastic sill covers when viewing one tho tbh. 

But from what I've seen, it seems to be around the jacking points where they can start to go seriously bad. And if it's up to the start of the wheel arch, then the sills are probably already past a point of repair. 

If I could get a reasonable one, I would stick a couple of thousand pound aside for any unforseen issues. I was hoping this would be a decent contingency? Ideally I want as late a one as I can get. Which means it's likely going to have a DPF. I would consider a petrol but for a commute along the M4 everyday, it's probably not a realistic option as I dread to think what the mpg would be. 

Something like this, is what I think I'm after:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202205135658405?atmobcid=soc3

Hopefully from some sort of dealer, there may be some sort of warranty for a few months even. At least if there's anything catastrophic theres a bit more comeback with a dealer I always feel. I realise you pay a bit more tho. 

[Wrinkly]

Rob

Be careful of warranties/guarantees as they often are not very comprehensive and quite regularly do not cover ALL possible problems. Also very often they have a £`s limit on any claims. Often there are very many exceptions listed that will not be covered. Having said that, it could be said that anything that is thrown into the deal without charge, could well be better than nothing at all.

Good luck, Best Wishes and Regards, John