I'm a new Jaguar owner and just joined the forum. I'm curious if anyone has any input concerning what I've encountered.

The Jag I bought was a 2005 S-Type. It was advertised and sold as a 4.2L V8 and has the 4.2L emblem on the back. When I keyed in the VIN for my insurance it came up as a 3.0L V6. Sure enough, that's what it is. Checking the specs online is appears I have all the standard options that come with the V8. So I'm confused as to what happened. I guess the VIN# should trump everything else or I would almost suspect and engine swap.

I didn't do a Carfax but the seller said it had been in a couple fender benders. I'm thinking it may have been more that. I will say whoever did the restoration work did an excellent job. The car looks brand new.

 

Options are options. Doesn't matter engine size, generally. If you have them, great.

Engine swap 4.2 -> 3.0 is nearly impossible, and financially horrific so won't have been done.

Sticking a badge on is very cheap, however....

 

I just bit the bullet and spent the $40 for a Carfax. Seems a waste after the fact but I wanted to know. There were two reported accidents and one was in the right rear so that must be where the emblem mix up occurred.

 

My opinion is the 3.0 is perfect for these cars..I drove 3 before buying mine and can see no place on any roads I drive where I might need more speed..

 

Since the stype look the same from distance, I bought the cheapest 2.5.
Only of I was in Usa I would have got the V8.

 

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...-s-type-72948/

 

I have a 2005 S-Type 3.0. My wife has a 2006 XK8 with the 4.2. There's no question that as much as I still enjoy driving my S-Type, I would be considerably happier with a 4.2 engine under its hood....

 

>It was advertised and sold as a 4.2L V8

I would have a SERIOUS talk with the seller if I were you. What they did was fraud. Do you have the advertisement for the car, does it specifically state that it is a 4.2 car? V8 cars are worth much more that V6 cars so the amount you paid for it may have been based on false claims.

The seller did not do right by you, you should not be satisfied with the transaction.

Note: this says nothing about whether you will be satisfied with the car, there are lots of people who thoroughly enjoy the 3.0. You may end up liking it very much, but the fact remains, it isn't what you thought you bought.
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My karma just ran over your dogma
Current Hers: '13 Lexus ES350
Current Mine: '08 Jaguar S-Type 4.2 "Satin Edition" (250.06 whp / 259.67 torque)

 

It also seems the OP did not have the car inspected prior to purchase- or even open the hood. Yow!

 

It was a private seller and I did go back to the guy. He was as surprised as I was. He'd only had the car a month or so and was going off the emblem on the trunk lid and thought it performed like a V8. I honestly believe he didn't know and I didn't made too big a deal of it. If the price hadn't been such a steal I would have asked for a 8% refund. New, there's an $8K difference in price for sure and the gas mileage rating was almost identical. Fortunate, as I stated earlier, I seem to have all the options that generally come with the V8. The extra 100 hp would have been nice albeit not necessarily needed.

I have to say I love the car. Extremely comfortable. I haven't ridden my motorcycle since I got. It's in extraordinarily good condition and the Radiance Red is absolutely stunning. The biggest disappoint is gas mileage. Normal driving around I can get about 23-24 mpg IF I really baby it, which I getting tired of doing. I suspect that will drop to 18-19 if I start driving more aggressively.

Which reminds me. I already got my first speeding ticket in it. The ride is very smooth and deceptive speed-wise.

 

I think it would "only" have been an extra 60HP as the 3.0 is 240 and the 4.2 NA 300 HP.

They weigh about 2 tons with driver so MPG with a quite good but now somewhat old fashioned autobox is never going to be great.

You could check a few things
1. fuel trims (to be sure engine really is running right - check OBD monitors are all set and there are no codes, too)
2. brakes aren't binding even slightly
3. tyre pressures
etc

 

The 4.2 is said to be 1.2 sec. faster in the 1/4mi. and 1.5 sec faster 0-60mph... Both will bring you speeding tickets a plenty.

S-type 3.0 7.9 16.10

S-type 4.2 6.4 14.90

I got that here:http://www.ssmoparmuscle.com/speedcomp.htm

 

Previous owner probably never opened the hood (bonnet). Number of spark plug wires would have been a dead giveaway. Shows that even the most routine checks and maintenance were ignored.

Badges can be misleading. I love the "R" badges so much, I got the replicas off eBay. But, alas, it doesn't automatically install a supercharger on a 4.0 for me.

Enjoy the car for what it is. A Jaaaaaaaaggg!

 

You can't easily see the "spark plug wires" on some of the engines.

Especially as they don't exactly have such things any more!

Of course... there are free VIN decoders that reveal the engine size, just a few browser clicks away.

 

That's true. We both looked under the hood and there wasn't any dead giveaway being we were both unfamiliar with what we were looking at. The intake manifold should have been a clue. Keying in the VIN for insurance was the first indication.

 

It's especially hard on the S Type because it does NOT have spark plug wires. Uses a coil on plug setup and everything is buried.

Still it would be easy to tell what engine was in it but it does require you to open the hood!
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I have 2 v8s and 1 v6 and admittedly british roads are very different to usa roads but the v8's are much more economical to run v6 and diseasel are underpowered for the weight of the car so use more fuel. Having said that my v6 goes quite quickly enough for any journey

 

The V8 is claimed to be 1.2sec faster in 1/4 mile.

 

british roads are a bit different but I find my jags to be most economical at around 60/70 mph which they will all do at justabout tickover but having 2 v8s and a v6 i can assure you that the v6 and the v8 perform very differently and I find it hard to believe the seller didnt know as you only need open the hood to see the difference the v8 has 8 bulges on engine cover while the v6 only has 6 and even just checking the oil it is fairly obvious which is which

 

ianmj should be able to test that theory.

I have to say I love my jag but it would be fun to see what it felt like with a V8.

I do have one complaint. When coming to a stop, particularly an almost stop, there's some hesitation and awkwardness when taking off again, especially if you want to take off fast. I don't know, it's like it doesn't downshift to 1st until you go to accelerate again. I can't help but think the V8 would be different. I know it's a transmission thing but I assume the V8 has a different one. Plus I like low end torque kind of power, which is why I ride a V-Twin. I don't like winding a motor out. That spells wear and tear to me.

I love your tag line btw.

Oh, and I just uploaded pictures. The car is drop dead gorgeous. I thinking of proposing.