The vendor of this S Type has sent me the pictures above. The car has just passed MOT with no advisories listed. The sub frame looks quite corroded to me, I'm told this is surface corrosion. This is the first time I've considered buying a Jaguar so I'd like to know how this car looks to the experienced eye. Is it worth considering and what can be done to protect the sub frame from further decay?

 

That seems like a lot of rust. I wonder if this particular car was in a flood, where an insurance company would have a record. The S-Type was the most widely produced Jaguar, and just from Craigslist posts, there are plenty of examples in much better condition than what was on the lift.

 

Humm...

You mention MOT that we do not have to deal with here in the states..If it were on this side of the pond..Chicago..Pure salt on the roads.

I see you have access to the bottom of the vehicle. If it is surface rust it should be easy to remove with a wire brush.

 

Not much detail on the value/price, model, condition and mileage of the car....
Some good advice above. I would wait for some more opinions from the more rust prone area forum members if they chime in.
Where I live we have little rust problems. The sill has some body rust around one of the jacking points but overall doesn't look too bad for a UK car. The rear end is not too impressive but nothing that cannot be repaired/replaced from just looking at the photos. I know in the UK and other areas with salt/snow or coastal exposure that this may be normal for a car of this age.
Nothing money cant fix here, overall this is all repairable and treatable. Remember though mechanical issues are usually cheaper to fix than body issues.

The annual roadworthy/MOT debate comes up here in Australia but to my constant surprise they always seem to knock it on the head. Surprising from this heavily taxed backward country of ours but don't worry if the government could make a profit on it they would introduce it without hesitation. They crap on about how expensive it would end up being to administer.
A roadworthy certificate/MOT is however a requirement when transferring a title as in this case.

 

In the UK we have quite a lot of rain. We also have salt on the roads in the winter to get rid of the ice and you're looking at the results of all that ...

 

craigslist cars in GA or wherever will commonly have had a much kinder climate.

If I wanted another I'd want an STR but that aside at least the car shown is in good condition for the UK bearing in mind it has to be at least 12 yrs old (last made 2007, but some sold 2008).

However, if you don't do basic DIY like fluid & brake changes any car that age could be costly.

 

The car is a mid price range 4.0 V8, one owner, under 50K miles. I think it's had little use for the last few years. Yep, the rear sub frame bothers me the most. I'm ok with the sills. The car does live near the coast but I think salt on the roads here is the main cause. The sub frame must be quite a costly item to replace when it does go as it looks like you'd need to drop out the entire rear axle assembly with it ... And at that point you'd be asking if the car is worth it and probably selling it for parts, which is not something I want to be doing in a few years time.

 

Yes, indeed. I've done various restorations in the past. These days I like to manage the costs by doing most of the servicing work myself. Anything that involves crawling around under the car and trying to undo rusty bolts I usually send to my local garage. If I could get the car jacked up I'd probably crawl under it and clean that sub frame up but it'd be a lot easier with the car on a ramp!

 

For any 4.0 be sure whether it has the revised timing chain tensioners etc!

Engine destruction sooner or later if not, which will write off the car.

 

I have to say that if you do not get an STR you will forever wish you had!
I had this with my 4.0 XJ40 Sovereign, I always wished I had waited and spent a bit more to get a Daimler version!
But it is your choice and the 4.0 will be a lot cheaper than an STR.
That said the STR's are holding their value where as the 4.0 are getting cheaper all the time!

Mellow

 

Yes, but I like the 4.0, it seems a bit more "classic" to me as does the 4.2. I haven't thought about looking for an R / Supercharged because of the prices and - when you get to 60 and live on an Island - 300 bhp is enough(?) There's a high mileage supercharged that's on the market in Southampton - quite close to me - for about £4K but it's been advertised for a while and I noticed some corrosion problems in the MOT history.

 

The car in question seems to need the undercarriage sanded and sprayed in primer. It also would need new bushes at minimum. If you just want a
“starter” Jag, and if you can get it cheap, then this might be a good deal, because as Jeremy Clarkson would say: “It’s a Jaaaaaaaaag”

 

New bushes ... they weren't picked up on the MOT so I'm supposing they are ok at the moment. I can imagine that in a car of this age the bushes have either been replaced or are going to need doing and - from what I've seen - the rubber is in a steel sleeve which gets inserted into the alloy suspension wishbone ... is that right? There must surely be some electrolysis between the steel and alloy under those circumstances unless they're put together with some sort of chromate paste to keep things under control. Anyway, add rain water and salt on the roads and you have the perfect set up for electrolysis. But, is this much of an issue in reality and should I be concerned about it ...?

 

Nowadays, much of the rotted rubber components get replaced with better material, such as polyurethane. If there is any play in the suspension, replace the component (so you’ll get a non-corroded part, with new bushes anyway).

 

UPDATE: I went to see the car this week and I've decided to buy it! They put it up on the ramp for me so I could have a good look at the underside. The subframe has now been treated and it certainly looks like it's got plenty of life left in it to me! There's a leaking aircon pipe to be replaced and then I'll be driving it away. Thank you all for your input in helping me make a decision.

 

One of my X-type Jaguars is an east coast car, and had similar signs of rust. Even though it has been a reliable car, It has been a PITA getting bolts out of the suspension to do service and part replacement. I wont purchase another one that looks similar to yours. I suppose everyone needs to experience a corroded suspension and bolts at least once.

 

Penetrating oil such as “Deep Creep” sometimes works on bolts like in the pictures; multiple treatments might be necessary. But, still a PITA.

 

Adding to this comment, Most of the suspension bolts on Jaguars have threads that protrude at least 3-4 threads beyond the nut/weld nut. On cars that have more severe corrosion, these protruding threads start corroding. Often penetrating oils don't work to well because the corroded threads become swollen. When you try to unthread the bolt, the corrosion gets pulled into the nut's threads and then the bolt threads gaul to and lock up the bolt. These days, I first inspect the protruding threads and then wire brush them, apply the penetating oil, let it soak in for a while, then wire brush again, then apply more penetrating oil. Only when the threads look clean do I try to unbolt it. Other times, I have taken my small protable bead/sand blaster and have blasted the threads before applying the penetrating oil. I believe this technique has saved me even more grief over my younger wrenching days.

On our S-types, I've had to put on penetrating oil, let it sit, unthread the bolt past the protruding threads, then the thread the bolt back in, spray on more penetrating out, blow off with air. I repeat this process until the bolt unthreads smoothly. (With the Nyloc nuts, I find that the corrosion on the threads often ruins the nylon locking area and one has to use new nuts.)

 

Forgot to ask if you closed the deal?

I was looking at your images again, and the rear sub-frame looks to have the majority of the corrosion. I suspect this is because Jaguar, in their wisdom, (along with many other manufacturers) appear to use a paint dipping process on sub frames rather than a primer and better paint. The paint that is applied on the sub-frames appears to be more cosmetic than protective. I don't think that they care that it rusts and quickly looks ugly. (Same thing with differential housings, axles, driveshafts and steel suspension parts.

 

Well yes I understand where you're coming from, but here in the UK what you're looking at isn't too bad at all for a 19 year old used car! We sometimes have salt on the roads in the winter and that's one of the the main causes of rust. Things were a lot worse back in the 1980's when I first started working on classic / old cars. Heat was almost always required to expand a nut and bolt to break the rust and get the thread moving. This kind of thing doesn't frighten a UK mechanic ... it's standard!