Have had mine since September of 08. It now has 44k on it. Fit and finish is good so far. There are a lot of Ford sourced parts in these generations of Jaguars due to Ford's ownership. That helps in the reliability but also hurts it when it comes to the tactile feel in the car. This is only my opinion, before a bunch of fans start beating me up. I have a 6 but got the chance to have a 8 has a loaner for a few days. I saw exactly the same gas mileage in both cars on my daily commute. The 8 felt much better and had to work less to propel the car. Hope that helps...

 

The build quality on these cars is truly amazing.. The interiors hold up remarkably well and nothing is really prone to breaking or fading.. The only thing you may start to see with S-Types is when they're about 5+ years old the headliner may start to sag in some places depending on whether your car was garage kept or not.. All in all though, I've owned american, german, and japanese, but none have held up as well as the Jaguar. The Germans are probably a very close second, but I do truly believe that Jags are superior.

 

JST, my wife and I purchsed our S off that dreaded BIG online auction site. We went the no reserve way and REALLY got a very very nice looking platinum (ext.) Ivory (int.) from Florida. I flew down and drove 550 + miles home. She was a corporate fleet trade in. The auto had 44,000 and looks like in just rolled out of the showroom. Being she has a off whitish interior, I had concerns about stains,spots, dogs and children. Nothing zip zero nada! Amazingly clean again almost showroom. We would have liked the "R" being the speed freaks we are, but this one was such a steal we went with the 6 banger. On the lovely QUIET ride home, I ran her through the paces, Accelerated above 100mph and still had more pedal to go, but I was in Georgia. She has some mechcanical issues nothing to major yet. We are still $1000.00's ahead of the game.

My advise, find 1 locally, DO NOT put your full faith in a Carfax search. Find one with the extended warranty if possible. Prepare for ALOT of ohhh's and ahhh's (good ones), don't listen to the "Jaguar, you need a mechcanic in the trunk". Kick back and enjoy the ride!

Good luck in your search!
Rick

 

Eric, are you saying that you have experianced a sagging, shinking thingy too?

Couldn't resist....sorry guys!

 

Quick question about the S-Type R. What would the cost to rebuild the motor/buy a remanufactured motor or NEW from the dealer.

I came across a very clean R for cheap, but it needs a motor. I have always liked those R's so I would consider selling my X-type and fixing and driving the R.

 

JST,

I've got a 2005 S-Type 3.0 and I would have to rate the build quality both inside and outside as outstanding. It still looks like a brand new car. I would recommend a Certified Jaguar and have the dealer throw in the extended warranty for free. Most of my friends and neighbors were astounded at what I got it for. Most of their estimates were in excess of $10K more than what I actually paid.

Happy hunting,

Mike

 

I'll echo what's already been said above. Ours was an executive lease out of Fort Lauderdale with only 18,000 miles over three years. It looks showroom new as well. We've put a little more than 6,000 miles on it since we bought it a week before Christmas 2008.

My dozens of hours of S-Type research told me to stay with the 2005 to 2008 model years. Jaguar had transmission, coil, trunk leakage, and electrical glitches in the early S-Types that took until late 2003/early 2004 to get resolved.

Our 3.0 has plenty of pep and I never expected it to get more than 33 mpg on the highway when my wife drives it. What a pleasant surprise that has been. It is not a street rod - it is a fantastic highway cruiser and that is exactly how we use it.

We've been delighted with this car thus far. It's unquestionably the best bang-for-the-buck vehicle we've ever had. The steep depreciation on Jaguars scares many folks away, but that is exactly why you buy two or three model years old off well-maintained leases. You get a beautiful vehicle in like-new condition for a third or less of what it stickered for when new....

 

Among all the other herds, to me a Benz is just another face in the crowd.

 

E320's are really terrible cars.. Their engines and transmission are constantly having problems.. And I'm not just saying this because I drive a Jag.. my dad had a CLK and my brother has an 04' E320 on Asanti wheels, etc.. When you turn on the E it sounds like you just started a gas powered blender! weird metal on metal sounds coming from all over the inside of the motor, it burns a quart of oil every 900 miles, when you put it in drive the car doesn't move until you get up to 1800rpm. (Mind you, this car has had every service and gets a Mobil 1 oil change every 7k)

My dad's CLK with the V8 was slightly better, but still not what you expect a german car to be. In my opinion Audi's are actually the best quality of all automakers, then VW and BMW are close seconds.. Mercedes on the other hand has gone to sh*t in the past decade, idk why really...

 

I bought a 2005 S type 4.2 (Ebony/Charcoal) about 2 months ago. It has about 60,000 miles on it. Car looks great both exterior and interior and runs great. There were a few minor issues that I had to fix (e.g. the infamous headlight problem). Engine runs great and is impressive at highway speeds.

I am very pleased with this car, especially considering what I paid for it ($14K).

 

Correct, and I would never get an E-Class Mercedes. Those cars were plagued with problems since their 1996 introduction. I don't know for sure, but I believe that Mercedes parts are more expensive as well.