Hi!

New member here!

 

I'm looking at one near Portsmouth tomorrow. First time S type wanna-be owner and i'm looking

here for a list of things to be aware of when viewing and test driving.

 

Cheers

Nigel

 

 

Rust on sills, front wings and bonnet.

Make sure everything works as it should, just like any other car really.

Don't be too concerned if it's got satnav as its rubbish in the early cars and is non updatable.

Make sure gearbox goes up and down smoothly with no "lurch"

Let us know what price and spec it's got for more accurate advice.

Also, ask yourself this, does it really need to be a 4.0??

The 3.0 is a bit better on fuel and still makes all the right noises!!

Thanks Andy. No, it doesn't necessarily need to be a V8, this one just happened

to suit my budget[995] and is convienient to view.

 

I was initially looking at post 02 models, but i've now realised that the earlier ones are not really as poor

as made out and a bit cheaper to tax which is a bit of a bonus..

I think the older car has an unjustified bad rep, choose carefully and you've got a classy, luxury car.

Just make sure all the electrics work, central locking, windows, sunroof if fitted and aircon blows cold and heater blows hot.

Look for uneven tyre wear which could point to suspension issues.

Good luck with the viewing.

Rear subframes can rust out too, but sounds like a lot of car for the money ;)

Follow-up;  I drove the car in question on Saturday afternoon. It is indeed a lot of metal for

the money! Things that put me off this one were paintwork on bonnet,air-con in-op, and ultimately,the huge fuel-

sucking engine. It drove well, gearbox really smooth, pulled well, very quiet at 70,......maybe i'm still

thinking about it!

 

Thanks for all your responses,

Nigel.

 

PS: has anyone heard of/seen an estate conversion on an S type?

Keep looking, there's plenty out there.

Jaguar never made an estate S type but I've seen this on the net.

Haha, just found that one as well!  [ That car design website is fascinating stuff]

 

Seems no-ones attempted it in real metal.....not impossible though.

Hi Nigel,

 

I think that there was no market for an s type estate in the USA where a large number of s types were sold. The x type estate was the option offered by Jaguar.

 

I have seen a picture of an s type stretch limo, though.

 

Regards,

 

Peter.