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S-Types in general are such good value ! I have just started my new job at Kentdale Jaguar in Kendal, but just before I left Bolton we took a 2000 4.0 SE in p/x with 62k miles, trade value was £750 ! I was sorely tempted to buy it just because it was so cheap but common sense prevailed.

You could try a local engineering company to see if they can skim the worse of the damage on a lave. You can purchase special wheel paint kits and respray yourself? Remember to remove the old tyre valve1st (you can buy nice stainless steel valves that bolt on) I doubt there be any internal corrosion unless you been using an old compressor with out a water trap, most on service station forecourts use an instant electric compressor without a tank, Mostly there just be rubber to remove where the tyre bead contacts with the rim unless run under inflated then your find dust. Any tyre fitter worth the salt would use a rim protector on alloy wheels or hand fit them. Plus if you really wanabe posh you can get a rim protector in different colours that fit between the tyre bead and wheel or purchase tyres with a moulded rim protector.

Hi Russ, I worked in the Steel industry for the whole of my working life, and worked in Sheffield at the time when Powder coating was developed, but the process was sold off as it was really too expensive to use on a large scale. It is said to be better than paint for things like alloy wheels. I believe that there are some companies in the Birmingham area who do a wheel restoration in which you send the the wheels and they refurbish them and send them back. It is a bit costly, though. I will look around and see if I can give you a website to look at. See below. Regards Peter. ALLOY WHEEL REFURBISHERS LTD --- FENTON, STOKE-ON-TRENT They use a courier service.

Well it does look nice to have a genuine Jaguar stamp in the book but at what cost? Your car is seven years old now or thereabouts, you are not adding to its value by having that stamp, possibly only its 'sellability' (if there is such a word) in the future. If I am going to look for a second hand car for sure I will be looking at the service history and expect it to be as complete as possible. I might pay a small premium for that but it won't equate to the extra that you would have paid by using a main dealer. (I'll quote you some figures shortly). If you are part exchanging your car in the future it will make absolutely no difference to the price you receive from a trader, he will only pay what the car is worth to him and will probably not even look at the service book. If he's selling it on himself, he'll certainly refer to it when he's showing it to prospective purchasers and it will be him making a profit from your main dealer services, not you! In looking at the service history, I will be wanting to see invoices, not stamps, this way I will be sure of the work that has been carried out on your car in it's lifetime. Having worked in the trade previously I have seen where stamps can be falsified in a service book, I've even seen it done with main dealer stamps that have fallen into the wrong hands. With proper, fully invoiced paperwork, from a VAT registered garage then at least you have something a bit more tangible than a stamp. Going onto the subject of main dealers versus independents. Main dealers have very, very high overheads and one way or the other they have to cover their costs. Not surprisingly, one of those ways is servicing charges. I use Hatfields in Sheffield to buy most of my servicing parts, I do my own servicing but the following applies equally if you use an independent to actually do the job for you. An oil filter bought by me through Hatfields ebay account costs £6.45, an air filter costs £7.75 (all inc VAT), I believe in using genuine Jaguar parts wherever possible and at those prices why wouldn't I? Buy the same items as part of a dealer service and you would be charged £14 & £19 plus VAT respectively, 6 litres of oil would probably set you back about £72, again plus VAT. Put together with Hatfields service costs, then you will pay a total of £199 for what is basically an oil and filter change. Added to that, you'll be sure that they will come back to you with some extras that they have found that 'require attention'- main dealers nearly always do because that is what they are instructed by management to do as part of their job. Contrast this with just down the road from me, not far from Hatfields, I have a JLR independent (Sheffield Prestige) the same service (all mechanics are JLR trained), using the same parts will cost you half that (£99 to be precise) and for a little bit less if you want to get the parts yourself from Hatfields he'll fit them for you. He's still making a tidy profit on that and they will only recommend extra work that really needs doing. Ok I won't get a courtesy car but then I don't need one. You've decided to go with a main dealer this time, ok I respect that decision but maybe before your next service ask around your area about good independents, they don't have to be Jag specialists for normal servicing but reputation is everything. When hopefully you've found one, then perhaps consider this. You mention having done 12,000 miles since acquiring the car and you are now having it serviced. I know that 10-12k is now the recommended service intervals but probably the most important item in a car's engine are the oil and filter- 6 litres of oil (well for my petrol not sure about yours) and a filter done by an independent means that the you can afford to have the oil changed every 6,000 miles. You will still have change from the main dealer price, your car will be better for it and in a few years when you possibly advertise it privately for sale, any prospective purchaser will see that you have taken real care of your car.

phil do what andrew has done and upgrade to the oslam nightbreaker bulbs you can get them at halfords and for a couple of quid they will fit them to. charlie

Hi I've had 2 x type's and the lights are shockingly poor I have upgraded both cars using the Osram Nightbreaker bulbs and they do the job at about £20 they're worth it. But changing the bulbs is a bugger of a job as the space is quite cramped for bigger hands.