With all your previous ebay shenanigans I'm amazed you've gone near the place.
Good luck!
God I want the s type I miss my xj so much,,, she will kill me four cars already and no more room... F&&k it I'm watching it
That Jag is super tempting.. If they did a wagon...
Your S-Type is a bargain barge if ever I saw one, and remarkably sound by the looks of your add.
I love this thread , used to have a jag s type same year and colour on 18 inch chrome wheels and regret parting with it
So tempted by the Jag as its so close to me.
Pistonpoppers lovely Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaag!
Don't miss out on this bargain... Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze!
What surprised me is the lack of grief and aggro that you have experienced mechanically. OK, so the Omega Alternator 'let go' and you had a bit of tyre trouble on the Golf, but those things can happen on any car and let's face it, some of the cars you have had are past their first flush of youth, just goes to show what is out there.
So then, my month of motoring in the Jaguar S-type... What was it like? Good, it was very very good, i am still questioning my sanity in selling it! In my month of owning it i took the odometer from 83491 miles to 84580 miles, which means, if my fat fingers have punched the numbers into my Texas Instruments TI-30 correctly i have covered 1089 miles! Covering those miles cost me £195.00 in petroleum spirit, which equates to 223.26 litres if you're reading this from mainland Europe, or in proper measurements 49.11 UK Gallons! This means that i was averaging a fairly respectable 22.17 mpg!! Not bad for a big old comfy wafty Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaag!
Under the bonnet the Jaguar AJ30-V6 engine, which is actually really the Ford Duratec V6, also known as the Mondeo V6 is an aluminum DOHC V6 with a 60° bank angle which was originally introduced in 1993 in the Ford Mondeo. The primary engineering input came from Porsche, who were developing a similar V6 before selling the engineering to Ford, and Cosworth, who helped with cylinder head manufacturing. However the Jaguar version of the engine was developed slightly further than the engine that the Mundano uses, and has variable valve timing, much like the Mazda version.
But with 240 horsey power it never felt like it needed more power, and would happily throw the big cat at the horizon faster than anything i've ever owned before. Having said that it was also very docile, refinned and silky smooth, as it quietly burbled about town, and effortlessly wafted along the motorway. When i bought this car i had in mind going to see my friend in Germany at Christmas, and to be honest i quite liked the idea of wafting effortlessly along the autobahns, as i really believed that in this car it would soak up the miles with ease. Infact as i never got to see my friend at Christmas, i plan to see him sometime in the next six months or so, and this is why i've considered keeping it, just for the ease, and comfort of driving it along the autobahn for nearly 800 miles. I can honestly say that i believe that the AJ30-V6 engine or if you prefer the Ford Duratec V6 provides more than enough power for this car, and coupled to the automatic transmission it makes for a very calming, and relaxed drive. Unless of course you've turned off the traction control, and turned on the sport mode, then the cat's really out of the bag, and it turns from being a big wafty cruiser, into something that actually feels much smaller, and sportier, dare i even say more nimble? On a mildly moist, twisty road i think that this could become quite a handful for the inexperienced driver, as with the traction control off it does indeed want you to do your best impression of a drift king if you're pressing the loud pedal too ferociously! Not that i'd ever do that you understand, i'm a gentleman!!
Outside the retro styled bodywork was very pleasing on the eye, much like the Jaguar X-type which was also styled by Geoff Lawson in 1995 and also produced at Jaguar's Castle Bromwich facility in Birmingham, England. I have to admit that i do like how this looks, and i liked how the X-type looked as well, but for me the S-type looks far better, i can only hope that if Geoff Lawson is looking down at me from above he has forgiven me for not liking his X-type, because frankly his S-type is superb, Geoff... I salute you, with this beautiful car, you've nailed it!
The funny thing is that i'm not a fan of saloon type cars at all, i always think that they look a bit... Unfinished, to me it looks like the designers have always just chucked a box on the back for luggage and stuff, more as an after thought than anything else, for me one of the worst examples of this lack of imagination has to be the Ford Sierra Sapphire, if you look at the profile of the Sierra Hatch or even the estate, it's not a bad looking car, but look at the profile of the Sapphire, WTF!! That back end does not belong on that (or any other) car! This is pretty much how i feel about all saloon cars, but it has to be said that the S-type does not suffer from this. The S-type is quite a good looking car from all angles, and i'm not sure that there would be a lot you could do to it to improve it's looks... Maybe make a two-door coupé? Might be nice!
Inside i must admit my first impressions were that i didn't like the light coloured plastic wood. But during my month of enjoying the Jag my opinion of this has changed, i will still say that i would prefer a darker plastic wood, or perhaps even a plastic aluminium. But the more i look at the light plastic wood, the more i like it, and it suits the feel of the car very nicely. Somehow even though it is no doubt made from the same materials as the X-type interior was, it looks, and feels better, it feels of a higher quality!
The more i looked at the dash, the more i liked how it was all laid out.
I liked the big handy drawer in the dashboard, and i put a few bits and bobs in there. The little drawer i figured was a cup holder or something, and as i have a strict no food or drink in the car rule, i never opened it. However when i was polishing the interior in order to take photos of it to put on ebay i must've pushed on that little drawer a little too hard, and it sprang open... To my surprise it wasn't a cup holder at all, it was a little drawer, and i sure was glad it opened...
Yup... That was a nice surprise
The seats, heated, powered, and remembered where you like to put them. They felt very comfortable, however being made from dead cow they were a little chilly on the cold winter mornings, but they soon warmed up. I never felt uncomfortable in them, no matter if i drove the pistonpoppets to skool, or to Swansea, i reckon you could drive around in this car all day in comfort!
In the back, according to the Pistonpoppets it was the same story, very comfortable, and with plenty of space! Although it has to be said, that like the dashboards light plastic wood, i would've preferred black dead cow rather than grey dead cow, but beggars can't be choosers i guess!
So then, would i have another one? Yes i would, infact i've been semi-browsing for one, i quite fancy one in Green, with a dark interior, and as they're really quite cheap at the moment, now seems like a good time to pick one up! I can only see them appreciating in value, probably in the not to distant future too as more and more people realise just how good these cars are! What i really can't work out is why the X-type, which is nowhere near as good as the S-type sells for more second hand? The X-type was far cheaper to buy when they were new, but the second hand prices of the X-type are far higher than the prices of the S-type. And the S-type is so much more of a car in every way. It's so much more Jaguar-ish, it's more refined, it's just... It's just superb! In comparison the X-type is the S-types country backwards cousin! I honestly don't get why it sells for more than the S-type! However for those of us who have had the chance to experience a S-type we really do get a bargain of a car for the money these days, and i have felt well and truly rewarded every time i have driven it!
Lastly, when i had the X-type, the thing the pee'd me off more than anything was this:-
It strikes me that the thing i disliked about my time with it the most was not actually anything to do with the car it's self, but more about every armchair motoring experts view of it (and the amount of them who felt they needed to tell me their views!), y'know the one, It's just an old Mondeo mate innit? Well, ok let's get this out of the way here and now. The Jaguar X-type is based on a modified Ford CD132 floorpan as used on the Mondeo, and the multi link rear suspension is also from the Mondeo estate. Also the engine in mine was based on the Ford Duratorq ZSD unit as used in the Mondeo and Transit, and of course some of the switch gear is straight out of the Ford parts bin. But as i said before, whats wrong with that, i don't believe for a second that Jaguar was trying to make a silk purse from a sow's ear. It was just trying to build their car cheaper, and from an economical standpoint raiding the parent companys parts bin makes good sense, and anyway less than 20% of the X-type is shared with the Mondeo. I could understand their arguments if there were no difference between the X-type and the Mondeo, but the fact is they look different, sound different, have completely different dynamics and a totally different ambience. A bit like the Audi A4 and VW Passat, which are also based on a common floorpan, but nobody comments about that do they? I think that Jermey Clarkson once summed up the X-type quite well when he said, "Underneath the X-type is actually a Ford Mondeo, but don't let that put you off. Genetically you are 98% Identical to a Halibut, but it's the two percent that makes the difference. And it's the same story in here, look at all this wood, and leather, and equipment, it feels very Jaguarish." Well done Jezza, you nailed it!
Which is just as well, because i would've told them, no mate, it's a Jaguar!