Hi everyone,

I spend most of my time on the XJS forum as, at the moment,that is the only Jag I have.

Am considering replacing my old Volvo and wondering about an Stype as a regular short commute and weekend cruiser. Don’t know anything about them so thought Iwould start with your good selves.

The V8 seems a little impractical as an every day runner andI don’t do high mileage so the V6 petrol variants (as opposed to diesel) seemattractive. Anything to choose between the 2.5 and 3 litre?

I appreciate that automatic vs manual is a personal choicebut are there any pitfalls with either? Thought I read somewhere about DMFproblems – is this widespread? Also not many manuals around - is there a reason for this?

Are there any model specific problems to look out for?

Are there any years to avoid – thought I read somewhere thatit was better to go post 2003 – is this correct?

Thanks for reading and if there is a buyer’s guide somewhereon the forum that I have missed please let me know.

Best wishes,

LeeP

 

The Jaguar S-type is a very good Mid-Size Luxury Sedan...2003 or newer yes...Common issues with the Jaguar S-type and these are from my personal experience... Coolant Tank Leaks...Electronic Parking Brake Failure...Suspension Noises...These were the issues I had with my 2004 Model...also the Lincoln LS share some parts, really easy to find parts, also any competent mechanic can work on the Vehicle does not need to be a Jaguar Mechanic or Dealer...

 

Not sure what a DMF is.

The 2003+ models are far superior in many ways. Fuel consumption on the 6 cyl and 8 cyl. is very similar so I'd opt for the 8cyl. version.

There's no 8 cyl cars with manual transmission and very few on the 6 cyl. version. I have no idea why there's any at all. It's a luxury car.

 

I think you mean (DPF) diesel partical filter , only on diesels .

As for a buyers guide there is one in s type stickys here's a link

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...-guides-41364/

Although there is much to watch out for the s type is a great car with oodles of style . And comfort . So choose well good luck .

also +1 on buying post 03 . As stated above .

 

Thanks guys and especially to Datsports for the very useful link.

By "DMF" I meant Duel Mass Flywheel but maybe these are only fitted to diesels?

Cheers,

LeeP

 

Sorry the DPF is diesel only . were as the DMF is manual trans only .

 

I've seen posts that the manual has a painfully heavy clutch. Also, its EPB works differently (doesn't auto-release or some such). The manual is differently-geared so at higher speeds does lower mpg (though if you care why buy a luxury car?).

It seems odd that a manual would even be an option but life's full of surprises.

 

Pre-facelift, the 3.0 V6 manual was a much nicer and efficient car to drive than ones with the Ford auto and would virtually match a 4.0 V8 auto but with a little more effort from the driver. The clutch is not too bad either. The Ford auto often exhibited rather short lifespans too. With the ZF auto though, the manual became a bit pointless unless you really wanted to drive a manual. However, the early ZF box was also a bit troublesome and needs the later software and an oil change every 60k miles or so.

They are generally fairly robust cars if not abused. Need to watch for clonky suspension and faulty electrical components (windows, locks, etc). The rest is normal stuff which would apply to any used car.

Alignment is also important. It it is not right, the car will feel a lot less planted and rather unrefined.

 

I have the 2.5 SE V6 petrol automatic on a 2002 plate, but its the MK1 facelift model which has the improved dashboard and 6 speed ZF gearbox amongst other things.

On the MK2 S type they changed the whole body shape and I think it doesn't look as good as the MK1 in particular the front and rear bumpers.
I am not sure in what year they changed the body shape but the differences are easily visible.

Fuel consumption averages 29.5 mpg on mixed use: town, A roads and longer runs. I use sport mode on the box fairly often when I need the car to respond in a more lively manner. In general use there is no need for sport mode. However using the cooling side of the climate control does sap power noticeably on acceleration and it hikes the fuel consumption fast.

If you use the cooling on climate control and use sports mode on the gearbox and boot it a lot, the fuel consumptoin is dire !!!! As you would expect.

The car for us is all about comfort and not so much emphasis on speed so the 2.5 V6 is enough and it does go quite well. In sport mode it flies !
The superb VVT V6 howls nicely as it slides through the gearbox on hard acceleration. This is certainly no old donkey of an engine, its modern and refined. In general it is very quiet inside the car and you have to be more aware of the speedometer because the car is deceptive in how much speed it carries. 70mph on a duel carraigeway feels like 40mph. You can easily carry more speed than you should.

But overall the car is so refined and with presence on the road, I just don't want to nail it, its a cruiser, a GT. Does long distances with relative comfort.

Handling:
This car defies any logic in the way it sticks to the roads in the twisties.
I am a biker and know all about twisties, but this car really does impress me with how it drives through the bends no matter how tight they are. But don't get me wrong this is not a sports car, its long and its heavy and I could no doubt get it out of shape if I pushed it hard enough, but I suspect it would have to be pushed unreasonably hard to do so and I will not do that. This ones a keeper.

I have no issues with the suspension or damping, its sits tight and solid on the road. It has the solid quality car feel but with light stearing and handling.

A surpirisng element is how low this car is to the road. You really have to watch kerbs and speed humps. On a couple of occasions initially after having the car in March thsi year, I clipped the front spoiler and whacked metal underneath. Ouch !!!
It has nothing to do with suspension, the car is low.
The seats are also low in the car.
This is compared to my previous cars ok?
When I drop the drivers seat to its lowest for me to drive, with the window open my right arm almost goes upwards to the window cill. Feels like it anyway,
But I am cool about the lowness.
Cruising, lowness, good sound system.....

All of the control switches and levers feel solid in use, they feel quality.
The only slightly iffy bits are the dashboard air vents. Just not quite as good as they could be.... A bit "Ford ish"

Now I've had a few BMW's in the last 20 years both V8 petrol and staight 6 petrol engines all with auto gearboxes. The Jaguar is much better on the road because it it is designed by British designers and made in British factories to be driven on British roads, the BMW's aren't and it shows.
The Jaguar is by far the best for UK roads. It handles spot on, it rides spot on, it goes round bends spot on, it changes gear just as your brain thinks this needs to be in another gear, its already done it. It responds when you want it to, almost intuitive like a motorcyle.
This is my take on the Jagaur handling v its rivals.
Its a British car designed for British roads.

The electronic front seats have a wide range of positions/adjustment which is a good thing because both myself and my lady partner both drive the car. She is 5 foot tall and general tiny and I am 6 foot 2" tall and large. So its great to find a car that can seat both of us in considerable comfort.

Climate control is superb !!!!! This weekend the weather was scorching in the south where we were staying for a few days. Although the car was left for 8 hours in direct sunlight and 29 degrees heat, as soon as all 4 of us got in the car and fired the engine up, within 1 minute it was bearable and within 2 miniutes it was superbly cool. Impressive to say the least.

The automatic climate function is very useful as soon as I get in the car. I just press "Auto" on the climate control panel and leave it to do its thing with loads of sensors all around the car. Then after 5 minutes I set it manually for my own taste.

I am not overly enamoured of the quality of the black leather in mine. But it seems to be fairly robust. The seats are grippy and more of a sports style seat in the sides of the base and the back. The notecable thing is the seat bases are longer than any car I've owned, so they give great support under your thighs than any other car. Both my partner and I picked this up straight away and as you can imagine we vary a lot in leg length.
Initial observations of the cabin space in the front are it is quite spaceous. Pleny of arm and shoulder room. But the seats cocoon you snuggly in place. Its quite nice.
Slight criticism is the tight access to seat belt housing and the electric seat adjustment controls, but thats probably my hamfistedness and general physical size.

The centre console is great and plenty of places to place your mobile phone while charging or I just sit mine infront of the gear lever on the ash tray lid.
We don't smoke so the cigarete lighter point is used for a twin USB port.
Again a slight criticism is that the sport mode button to the left of the gear lever has a tiny red light to show when its on. But in bright sunlight its almost invisible and at night with the headlights on, the sport mode light is worthless... I can't see it. It badly needs a sport mode indication inside the dash by the dials.

The centre arm rest is moveable and houses a large storage "bin" and two cup holders. Inside the storage bin is another power socket with a rubber cap for any other power needs or charging you might need.
I haven't got the knack of sliding the arm rest forwards into place after moving it backwards. It feels quiet awkward but that might just be me.
The storage space is very useful for keeping things out of sight in the car like we have to nowadays.
The power socket might be used at some time in the future for an MP3 converter for the AM/FM single CD unit.

The car audio operation is fine both on the unit and with the stearing wheel buttons for volume, tuning, choice of input. Sound quality is quite good but not brilliant.
The other buttons on the stearing wheel are for the cruise control functions which I use regularly. I believe the cars computer is far better at driving economically than my size 12 feet in steel toecap biker boots.

Things to watch out for:

Service history and mileage verification.

Corrosion around the wheel arches, behind the cill plates and around the jacking points.

The automatic gearbox functions. ie: gearchanges up and down the box.

Coolant leaks anywhere around the radiator, expansion tank, radiator hoses and DCCV or generally on the floor underneath.

Cloudy and dull headlight lenses.

Make sure all the shut lines on body panels are equal and match both sides.

Noise from the back of the car especially at high speed 70/80mph and under hard acceleration aka driveshafts/wheel bearings.

 

My Mk1 facelift dash and 6 speed gearbox.
But no satnav.

 

UK Parkers have a really useful data and facts section for the S type models.
This was a major help when I chose the model to buy.
Loads of data including road tax and insurance groups.


Jaguar S-Type Saloon specs, facts & figures, Dimensions | Parkers

From the link:

Basic equipment

The basic equipment list includes equipment that is standard across all versions of the Jaguar S-Type (99-07).

• ABS
• Alloy wheels
• Climate control
• Driver`s airbag
• Heated mirrors
• PAS
• Passenger`s airbag
• Remote locking
• Side airbags
• Space saver spare wheel
• Traction control

Equipment included on some trim levels

• 3x3 point rear seat belts
• Alarm
• Audio remote
• Body coloured bumpers
• CD
• CD Multichanger
• Cloth seat trim
• Cruise control
• DVD
• Electric driver`s seat
• Electric mirrors
• Electric passenger`s seat
• Electric sunroof
• Folding rear seats
• Front electric windows
• Front fog lights
• Headlight washers
• Heated seats
• Height adjustable drivers seat
• Isofix child seat anchor points
• Leather seat trim
• Lumbar support
• Metallic Paint
• Parking sensors
• Rear electric windows
• Sat Nav
• Sports seats
• Steering wheel rake adjustment
• Steering wheel reach adjustment

 

Your car was known as a 2002.5 model year in the UK, and 2003 elsewhere.

The second face lift was the 2005 model year.

 

Many thanks guys - I know if I take the plunge there is lots of friendly advise available. A few quick responses:


Neilr - I know what you mean with manuals. My XJS is only a straight 6, 3.6 litre but being manual will give a V12 auto a run for its money. Haven't tried a manual S type yet but I can't believe the clutch is heavier than an XJS! Fortunately you only have to dip it a few inches when on the move.


Busa - Thank you for the wealth of data. Really useful stuff. Also fantastic looking dash - looks like a new car! However, having spent 15 years inside an all-black Volvo interior I fancy something with a light coloured interior if I get a choice. Interesting that your car is in between facelifts. My XJS is the same as I guess Jaguar used up the bits they had but the good thing is it means that our cars are even rarer. Happy motoring.


In the end I think I have decided I would like to find a facelift auto as there will be more around and more second hand parts available. However,I spent 18 months looking for a facelift, auto XJS then bought a pre-facelift manual! It all comes down to right car, right place, right time.


Thanks for all the advise and enjoy your cars.


Cheers,


LeeP

 

>My XJS is only a straight 6, 3.6 litre but being manual will give a V12 auto a run for its money.

FYI, a friend of mine has an XJS 4.0 V6 standard and we "drag raced" one time after cleaning for a JCNA Slalom event that we hosted. It's a very big parking lot and we were able to race for a least 1/3 of a mile.

There was no contest, my 4.2 NA V8 S-Type took him from the start and pulled steadily away until I decided to shut it down. We tried it 3-4 times. He'd thought his car was competitive with mine (in fact, he would regularly beat me on the Slalom course), but in a straight line he was wrong.

Cubic inches do make a difference, but so does the number of cylinders...

================================================== ===========
Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car
Oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car
Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall, and
Torque is how far you take the wall with you

 

I have the Top Gear road tests from 1999 and their measurements were amazingly close for the 3.0 V6 manual and the 4.0 auto (0-100 mph in 19.8 vs. 19.4 and both topped out at 145 mph). I'm not making an opinionated claim

Power-to-weight ratio, gearing, transmission losses also play a big part in performance. There are 4 pots that are faster than either of these Jaguars. The ZF gearbox is a lot more efficient that the old Ford one though resulting in a noticable performance increase between the 4.0 and 4.2 models.

I do have a Jaguar V8 that will apparently reach 100 over 10 seconds quicker than either of the above but that would not be comparing apples with apples!

Btw, wasn't the XJS 4.0 an in-line 6?

 

>Btw, wasn't the XJS 4.0 an in-line 6?

Yup, but the fellow was commenting on the performance of his XJS so that was just for "comparison" purposes (i.e., not directly comparing the performance of a 3.0 v.s. a V8 S-Type).

One thing to note though, the S-Type V8s came optioned to a higher level than the V6s did. So the features of the car and quality of the interior may well be higher with a V8 model.
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Jaguar - it's not an automobile, it's a Motorcar
2015 JCNA National Slalom Champion Class M
Current: '08 S-Type 4.2 "Satin Edition" (250.06 whp / 259.67 torque)
Past: '05 X-Type 3.0/auto Jaguar Racing Green

 

I very good post, worthy of inclusion in the How to Sticky under, Buyers guide.

V. Nice car by the way