I traded my loved and cherished 2003 S-Type today for a domestic turbo charged american pocket rocket. I needed something that was dependable and didn't require maintenance equal to teh cost of a replacement car every month. Only four months ago I found the sexy 4.2 S-Type lanquishing on a "note-lot" in a small Texas town. Visions of England, E-Types, wool pants and the typical British humor danced in my head after departing the tidy sum of $4,000 for a fully loaded 4.2, black on black. She looked to be in pretty good condition and I was assured she needed only some TLC and devotion to bring her back to her original condition. (car salesmen tend to be a little over zealous in their recommendations for a car with one of the poorest reliability records in recent histsory. I didn't care, and I scoffed at The 133,000 miles on the clock and proceeded to drink the kool-aid and poo poo my friends and neighbors with their stories of financial and mechanical horrors to come.
However, in a little over 90 days and $8,000 later reality must be faced.....You just can't resurrect something that doesn't want to be resurrected. You can't just start maintaining something that had been denied maintenance all it's life. I won't bore you with my observations of the poor engineering, questionable electronics and the inherent design flaws by Jaguar. Read the postings on this forum...and have another glass of Kool-aid.

To continue, Monday an oil leak was discovered (actually 3 oil leaks).....$4,000 to fix. This would have brought my total investment to about $12,000 for a car that I sold a few hours ago for $2,000. It would seem that the only good Jaguar is a dead Jaguar. I have to agree, this was my 5th Brittish sports car and all were electrical, mechanical and financial nightmares. I just kept drinking the Kool-aid and believing that "no one can build a car this bad and stay in business....." In the end it was a very expensive lesson in perception, hope, emotion, and wanting something so bad that you will believe anything.
I wish everyone the best of luck with their own level of reality and fantasy as I read the same failures, complaints and frustrations of owners in this and other forums day after day. We really, really want them to be the cars of our dreams. When sold my Jag it had a non-functioning park assist module ($240 to fix), no heat (it's 39 degrees outside) ruptured heater core ($1500 to fix), AC Compressor oil leak ($900), Oil line in front of engine ($240), Rear Main and seal in front case as well as water pump housing, slipping and noisy transmission, you get the picture, altogether, about $8,000.
To add iunsult to injury my local Jaguar dealer told me on one occassion that "you know these cars are only trouble free for the first couple of years then It's best to sell them" Pretty much sums up the problem with Jaguar.....to bad, I really liked the car (when it was running).

 

A Jaguar is not for everyone. I hope you are happier with your new ride.

 

Wow... Good luck

 

Wow,that is a sad post.
They are a bit like dating a super model I guess (not that I ever have or will) Looks great,high maintenance.

I can see a member posting what a great buy they got as previous owner threw all those dollars at it and I got for a bargain price.

Cut your loses and run. Better luck with the new car.

 

No vehicle ages well without proper care throughout its lifespan and the inherent design flaws being addressed as quickly as possible (our S-Types have more than their fair share of them, no question about it)....

 

Wow, that was a well-written story of abject misery. I assume you had little or no knowledge of Jags, because buying a 12-year-old Jag with 133K from a used-car lot is never a good bet for low-cost motoring.

Much of the $15K that I spent in the first 2 years of 2005 STR ownership was preventive maintenance, replacing things that this forum advised would soon go wrong (DCCV, thermostat & housing, coolant hoses, tranny service, belts, lug nuts, water pump, etc). Now, total maintenance in year 3 (2014) was under $1000. And I have a good-as-new 400 HP Jag!

 

I hope your American pocket rocket is comparatively trouble-free.

Buying a used Jaguar from a used car lot anywhere is a bit like going to Vegas. As a fellow '03 S-Type owner, if I could do-over that purchase, I'd have asked to take Green Kitty to a sage local ASE mechanic for a go-over. If the dealership said "no" (even if I offered a deposit), I'd have run away, fast.

In my case, I knew enough about suspension, oil leaks, transmission performance and some about electrical to avoid a death trap.*** But in the year since my purchase this car has been death by a thousand paper cuts.

It is simply true that no amount of maintenance you do on a 10 year old + vehicle can make up for a lack of maintenance by a previous owner -- once that damage is done, what you should expect to pay for wear-and-tear repairs on such an aged kitty, that amount of $$$ is greatly magnified by all the additional damage, built up carbon, clogged fuel injectors, coffee grind-like crap in the fuel filter, unknown red-colored tranny fluid leaking from the cracked transmission oil pan... etc., etc., etc... And that's not even touching the cheap plastic on those early model (pre-2005 in my book) S-Types...

***Not to bash a used car dealership (hey, they have 100 cars for sale and can't keep track of all the hard-to-diagnose problems of any single car on the lot), but while we're on the topic of avoiding Jaguar lemons at small used car lots... in case you're in the market for a Zircon Blue X-Type ('05-ish model) like I was last month, avoid the one for sale at Big Blue Autos in Lexington, KY (was still listed on their website around Christmas time at least) -- engine bottom covered in burned oil, tranny slips between 4th and 5th gears, all the rubber parts in the suspension need replacing very, very soon.

 

Happy Trails Amigo......... And damn I wish I were closer to Texas!

 

Better you than me...

 

Although I'm new to the Jag scene, I'm so glad I stumbled on my 2001. From what I've read here, the later models skyrocket in terms of complexity. My rod had a lot of deferred maintenance, all of which I've been able to take care of myself, at very low cost. It's got 255K kilometers, and yet so far it's running great for me as a daily driver (touch wood). The prices people want to repair these things is beyond unconscionable, IMO. Any repair for a vehcile over 2 grand is suspect to me and looking at what you've been quoted is beyond grand theft auto. Like the 6 grand I was quoted for my suspension that I did for a few hundred dollars in parts. But with one of the newer rigs, I'm not even sure I would be able to do the repairs, and there are so many more parts and systems to fail.
I laud your decision to bail, and I'm sorry that you had such a crappy experience.

 

Sorry to hear. This can be said with many higher mileage cars, not just Jag.
Sometimes you do need to pull the plug or keep doing it for the labor of love. Also, stresses the importance of buying the best example you can afford (saving money down the road).

 

And this is the key. The long term reliability of these cars compares well to that of other equivalent makes and models.

Yes, these cars need more work than a Honda Civic of the same age and this work, if done by a dealer, will be horrendously expensive but we all knew that going in, no?

Many people tend to think that as the purchase price of the car decreases, so will the cost of repairs. Nope.

 

I would like to thank all the members who voiced their observations on my
Jaguar experience. If only the independent garages and Jaguar dealers were
as compasionent and/or caring beyond the concern for the "bottom line".
Cars have always been an emotional purchase to me and it was love at first
sight with that black S-Type. But it might as well have been a stripper on
a dance pole for the pain, expense, and dissappointment is brought. I
still look at the dozens of pictures I took of her and dream of what might
have been. My new ride, a brillant red Chevy has the lines of a cartoon
character and the soul of a dead armadillo, but came with 3 years of free
maintenance and a bumper to bumper warranty. Little to love and even less
to dream about but its arrival will bring peace once again to my home and
bank account. A sincere best wishes to all!

 

I bought my Jag for looks not reliability (for that I have a Volvo, reliability not looks!). I think all S-types should come with a warning that of you dont know what OBDII is, can't tell a MAF from a DCCV, don't own at least three trolley jacks, are computer and mechachically litterate in equal measure and have the patience of Job, then perhaps this is not the car for you!

You need to set yourself extremely low expectations in the engineering and still expect dissapointed...

However, look after her, know your spanners, problem solve and repair genuine identified faults (rather than throw parts at it) even a poorly maintained, high mileage vehicle can be turned into a dream ride (relativley economically)... Although all this is not possible if you are paying a mechanic labor costs...

I would not get rid of my ride for anything and would buy another in a heartbeat!

 

You found out the key to owning a Jaguar.

You must DIY the repairs. Just too expensive to use a dealer. This forum has made owning my STR a real joy. It's amazing what a little knowledge and a few factory techs can show a guy!
.
.
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I've done lots of DIY on my STR with a single trolley jack and little patience....

I'm wondering why more than one would be needed!

 

I hate lifting one corner at a time to get it up on stands... One jack is workable, two so much better, three, well now you can lift her in one go...

And having spent two days drilling out a sheared transmission pan bolt, patience was a virtue...

 

OK. I've not found it problematic and space is at a premium so will continue with one

I use ramps, too.

 

Ah... I would have loved to buy that STR for $2,000!

 

I think this thread is more about the foolishness of the original purchaser then the failures that occur on a used car over its lifetime especially something over 133,000 miles.

However, I must give credit to the original poster for coming here in admitting his foolishness.

Next time I would suggest doing a little research before plunking down your money want to use car that's been all shined up sitting on a used car lot.

This is not about the car but about your foolishness. Enjoy