The Voices

You want to spend some time on the Subaru forums where I hang out ! Most of the 'posters' are unable to construct a sentence and punctuation is just something that happens to other people !

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 ?

I think that one of the navigation set up options is 'calibrate' ? This allows you to check that the navigation system has recognised the cars current location. It uses the current location as a reference point for guidance so if the cars position is incorrect on screen, the instructions given by the guidance system will also be incorrect. It is also worth checking that the route options are set to your preferences, if 'avoid major roads' is active you end up on a magical mystery tour !

Check the navigation settings in 'route preferences' Weird things happen if someone has set it to 'avoid major roads' or similar !

The leaper is a nice finishing touch but I am not sure myself ? Taking a drill to your car is quite traumatic but I used to have a customer who purchased a new XJ from me every 8-10 months but only on the understanding that I personally fitted a leaper for him (our workshop would not touch the job as we would be liable) Drilling holes in a brand new £50k Sovereign is a somewhat daunting experience as I remember !

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 !

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 !

Old thread but just out of interest the 'J' rating is not the speed rating ! It is 'J' for Jaguar, as in tyres developed specifically for use on Jaguars. Pirelli in particular developed specific tyres for Jaguar for the level of road noise and comfort required by the manufacturer. This is why dealers are often 'more expensive' for what appears to be the same Pirelli tyre you can buy elsewhere, usually the P6000 (as an example) you buy from Kwik Fit will not have the 'J' rating on the sidewall so will not have exactly the same characteristics as the OEM tyre.

The S-Type I purchased recently is fitted with a Parrot MKi9200 kit which I think is very impressive. It consists of a small colour screen attached to a the dashboard, wireless remote control and a control box hidden behind the dashboard. The control box has its own amplifier so uses the cars existing speakers for telephone calls but also bluetooth, USB or SD card playback. I found this a bit strange at first, the cars own headunit and volume control work for radio and CD (and autochanger if fitted) but when the Parrot kit is in use, the cars volume control is inactive and the Parrot remote controls its own volume. The Parrot amp is quoted at 20 watts and sound quality is adequate for music playback. The handsfree bit handles voice activated dialling and downloads your contact list, incoming calls are clearer than the factory bluetooth on my XE ! I don't know how much these cost as it was already on my car, someone told me £200-£250, so not cheap !

Sorry to arrive late for the party, I hadn't spotted the post. As far as I know any of the DVD based nav discs should be interchangeable, but I have only ever swapped X / S / XJ discs between cars. The last XF's to use a disc were the 2011 pre-facelift cars but the XK carried on with the disc based system until it was discontinued last year. Are you sure that the 'genuine' disc is not damaged / unreadable in any way ? Does your original disc work straight away when you put it back in the drive ? I can check with our parts department to see if the part numbers are the same or see if any of the technicians have any experience if it would help.

Usually gains on non-turbo charged cars are small (in comparison to what you can get out of a turbo'd engine) I would be suprised to see 20 BHP+ even with the panel filter, adding uprated exhaust and sports cat would see some gains as well but an expensive option. Would be cheaper to look at swapping the car for a 3.0, extra 40 bhp out of the box ? My guess would be that the remap would just improve 'driveability' improving throttle response and get rid of any flat spots ?

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 ?)

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.

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 !

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.

Hi Peter and thanks for the welcome ! Already have some queries for our master techs when I am back in work, seems to be losing a bit of coolant and fuel guage has a mind of its own. Service bills show that it had the header tank and climate control valve replaced within the last three years and no obvious signs of coolant leak ? Ah................ The joys of motoring !

Having worked as a salesman at a Jaguar dealer since 2002, I decided it might be time to actually own one ! Just purchased a 2003 S-Type 2.5 Sport auto in platinum silver / warm charcoal. I was selling these when they were new and always liked the S-Type. The 'R' would be my ideal choice but I have a Subaru habbit to support as well !