Head liners fail because of heat breaking the glue down. Very common in the south not so common up north. I have also never had any headliner fail except in a hard top car. Never on a car with a moonroof.
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The s type I had spent 6 of its 8 years in Tampa FL. I guess this would explain the glue breaking down.

 

If heat is the main culprit, perhaps the sun/moonroof would be an advantage as the overall weight of the board would be reduced and I expect it is supported around the opening.

 

This is happening to me as well. There is absolutely NO excuse for a $40,000 car (new) to do this. There are cheap economy cars that still have their headliners. The older Jags didn't do this. Of course, they spent most of their time in the garage.

 

The Jaguar brand does seem to have excessive headliner breakdown problems. Heat and humidity would certainly be contributing factors....

I had to remove and recover both A-pillars in our recently-acquired 2006 XK8 convertible. They were suffering the classic breakdown of Jaguar's foam/glue components. Found matching fabric at my favorite Auto Interiors & Tops shop in downtown Raleigh, used the spray-on glue they recommended, and did it myself for less than $25. This car lived in Beverly Hills, CA then moved to Jacksonville, FL before we purchased it in early February....

Our 2005 S-Type's headliner and A-pillar material still looks great. It lived in Fort Lauderdale, FL before we purchased it in December 2008....

 

I just had local shop replace 2003 s type headliner through back door 225 including labor and material. Looks great. No sunvisor replacement though and they really need it. Could Jaguar make anything easy??>???

 

Rather than attempting to recover the sunvisors, how about picking up a nice piece of lightweight basswood, using the original sunvisors as templates, and creating a beautiful set of wooden sunvisors that can be stained and polyurethaned to match your particular car's wood trim? Doesn't have to be a perfect match since the sunvisors are up high and rarely noticed. Not sure how difficult it would be to wire them for lighted mirrors, however. But they sure would be beautiful if done properly, and they solve the foam/glue breakdown problem once and for all....

 

If the headliner is squeaking as mine was in the 2005. The problem was related to the industrial Velcro fasteners. I did not have any material sagging or separating from the backing board.

You can remove the headliner out the passenger front door. Recline the seat all the way or remove the seat. People have done both ways but I have not so this is second hand information. You will have to bend BUT do NOT kink the headliner. If the cardboard backing gets kinked it will show.

My 2005 had the headliner replaced under warranty and no glass was removed to do the work.
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[This sounds like a great idea. I am not sure the mirrors are a must anyway.



QUOTE=Jon89;475595]Rather than attempting to recover the sunvisors, how about picking up a nice piece of lightweight basswood, using the original sunvisors as templates, and creating a beautiful set of wooden sunvisors that can be stained and polyurethaned to match your particular car's wood trim? Doesn't have to be a perfect match since the sunvisors are up high and rarely noticed. Not sure how difficult it would be to wire them for lighted mirrors, however. But they sure would be beautiful if done properly, and they solve the foam/glue breakdown problem once and for all....[/QUOTE]

 

Lighted visor mirrors will probably be a "must" when it comes time to sell the car. Women must have two features regardless of whether they are driving or riding - lighted visor mirrors, and heated seats....

 

My Str is getting a little loose in the rear and I have the moon roof. I have had this happen on many cars. Not sure if the extreme heat in the south dose it or not? Either way its an excuse for me to recover the headliner, pillars and sun visors with suede anyway. All my AMGs had suede and I really miss it, gives the car a much more high end look.

 

+1 My wife certainly has to have a mirror, with light, she never had a heated seat until we got the XK8 but is starting to grow attached to them now.

 

Please post back with the cost when upgrade the headliner. The suede looks pretty nice! I am a little surprised Jaguar did not use it at least on the STR??
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I know we paid $1100 to do it in my wifes Audi Q7 of course that's a lot more headliner so I am hopping the STR will be quite a bit less.

 

My 2005 STR has lived most of it life in a garage at home and office since I purchased it in late 2008 with 7K miles. My sunroof's sun shade began to fail about 3 months ago. I'm having the entire headliner replaced with suede at an upholstery shop this week. Most reputable upholstery shops in the DC/MD region that have 10+ years of experience and warranty are currently charging $600 to $800 for a direct replacement and $650 to $1000 for suede. I did receive lower estimates for the repair but the shops were either newly established or had a poor history record regarding customer satisfaction.

I will let you all know what the final headliner looks like and if the price stays at or near the original estimate. BTW, the front passenger side head rest leather has come loose near bottom where a plastic clip holds it in place. They are repairing that as well.

Rankin Auto Upholstery
Established in 1948
Phone: (301) 948-7870
8021 Cessna Ave, Gaithersburg, MD 20879