I heard back from the dealer I bought the car from.
The job cost him $2,600 and he is charging me $1,000 of this.
There were other issues with the headlights. For one the left side self leveling was not working. Looks like these needed more than just the screw fix.
I will know more once I see the invoice. I feel that all things considered $1,000 for new headlight buckets installed and other work needed is a bargain.
The previous owner kept all records of service every year so the car was not neglected. He bought the car from the original owner at 1,400 miles.
This was basically his Sunday car and you can see just by looking at it that he kept it in perfect condition. I have never seen any used car no matter how old in this pristine condition. Like I said there is not a single ding, scratch etc on this car. This is probably one of the lowest mileage S Types out there.
The car is tight as new and runs perfect.
Yes the price was quite a bit above book value but IMHO it is worth it from what I have seen in the Used market. I did look at a few S Types before I bought this one. One was a 2000 with 28,000 miles. It had no NAV and was in great shape but had a lot of marks and a couple of dings. It also did not ride as tight. IT is also the older style interior and 4.0 engine. The price for this one was 8K.
As soon as I saw the 2003 I knew it was the right one for me.
It was 4K more than the 2000 however the NAV alone was a $2,200 option plus this car is three years younger, more improvements, a lot lower mileage and much cleaner. The AC and heat work fine. The dealer went over the entire car (154 point check except for checking the alignment of the headlights) and my local Jag dealer also did an involved inspection when they checked the headlights and the car passed 100% (except for the headlights).
The car does come with two key fobs, valet key and all manuals.
I use to restore old cars years ago. I did a 1962 MK2 3.8 liter, 1969 XKE, 1953 Bently R and lots of american oldies. I am 61 years old now and in poor health. My restoring days are over but I can still do small repairs when they occur. Having owned a 62 MK2 I wanted an S Type years ago but could not afford a new one.
Getting this car is the next best thing and a lot lot cheaper.
Many thanks to all of you for your very informed posts.
I have learned a lot from this forum and will continue to do so.

 

Congrats on getting it all settled. Now, according to "the rules" you must post pictures so we can all enjoy it with you!

 

Here you go.
For a twelve year old car it looks and smells brand new.
As mint as they come.

 

A few more pics.

 

It's a beauty. Good luck with it!

 

Very nice looking!

Just a comment on the new lights. I had a new headlight put in because of a deer hit. I had to do the screw fix in about a year. The screw fix worked and is still in place. So just watch it and know there is a very good chance the new ones will fail too.

I am convince that the more severely damaged lights that need the entire guts replaced could have been saved if caught early on.

I think once they start to flop around for very long more and more stuff gets broken. I have seen some lights trashed so bad they were unrepairable.
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I find it pretty sad that any automaker would have headlights this flimsy in their vehicles. I wonder if someone has filed a DOT complaint about the unreliability of the headlights?


Isn't this a safety issue that is worthy of a recall?


Seems that the only way that some of these automakers get the message is when they are forced to spend millions replacing a part that was deficient the day it was made.

 

Sounds a good idea. Jaguar would hopefully hit Hella (who made them) hard.

 

This is no more a safety issue than a headlamp burning out. We've gone recall-crazy which will only come back to bite us in the pocket book.

 

I called the Jag dealer that installed the new headlights to see if he still had the old ones. He did not. They were in new condition and I could have sold them on Ebay to recoup some funds.
I spoke with the service manager and asked him if the headlight failure is common in these S-Types. According to him it was and is not a high % problem. My headlights got replaced at 8,600 miles. These headlights failed at a lower unknown mileage. It is pretty amazing the Jag could use a bad design like this if in fact it has affected a large percent. It's also not good that it was never correct from what I have read.
Does anyone here know the failure rate for the amount of S-type units produced through the years?

 

I expect Jaguar relied on the maker (Hella) of the headlights to produce them to an adequate standard, fit for purpose. Looks like Hella failed and Jaguar gets the blame.

Kinda like the DCCV, where Bosch made a crappy valve and looks like just about everyone has had to replace it at least once.

It's a mess but similar foul-ups affect many other cars from other makers.

 

>I expect Jaguar relied on the maker (Hella) of the headlights to produce them to an adequate standard

Yes and not only S-Types. This is an endemic problem with X-Types, too. It has been discussed over on that forum for years now. All the same problems with the plastic adjustment parts.

But we should feel comparatively good since there is no corresponding screw fix for X-Type headlamps. For them the only solution is to either replace the entire lamp or to heat the unit in the oven to soften the glue and then replace the broken parts.

Interesting that Jaguar finally seems to have corrected the problem. I've asked this question over on the XF forum, where some of the cars are old enough to have begun having this problem, but no one over there seems aware of this issue.
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Jaguar - it's not an automobile, it's a Motorcar