Old Peter

Hi Peter, As promised I have had a look around without success. It seems that the price from Jaguar is the price you pay anywhere else. The best I could find was £195 + VAT. Sorry! Peter.

Welcome to the Club, Brian. Probably a fault on the switch. Have you tried using the flash on the light stalk when the lights are switched off? There might be other who have experienced this problem who will assist. Regards, Peter.

Hi Andy, It is well worth getting it right before you start the process of buying a new unit. It could be well worth having a look round some of the parts suppliers to see if you can get a compatible Jaguar unit. Try JagBits, Europarts, and the David Manners group. Failing those, look at ebay or gumtree. Regards, Peter.

I live in Sutton Coldfield,Chris, but I know Skelton as my sister lived there for a few years before going to live on the moors near Whitby. I used to do a lot of work in Redcar at the steelworks. Peter.

Hi Paul, I like the colour of your X type. In fact, I had one exactly the same, & although someone else has got it now without my permission, I still like that colour on an X type. Regards, Peter.

Welcome to the Club, Barry. My S type handbrake has stuck twice. Disconnecting the battery did the job both times, but I did check the fluid. I had the feeling that a previous owner was not in the habit of using it, but leaving the car in Park mode. Regards, Peter.

Welcome to the Club, Peter. I have not had experience of this problem, but I will look around and see if there is an aftermarket redesign, but it will be like locking the door after the horse has bolted. Regards, Peter. [the Old one].

Hi Graham, My neighbour has a Mazda 6 and when coming back from his house in France it always used to go into limp mode due to the DPF. He had it removed! The s type diesel more or less took over the market that the 2.5 litre petrol had, and became very popular, and personally, I do like it as it is a superb engine. But there are still quite a few late models around , and in the USA both the 3 litre and the 4.2 litre R are very popular cars. There are quite a few late models around if you do a search online. At the same time the XK8 is a very nice car, and if I was as young as you I might think about one myself. Regards, Peter.

You can never tell until you experiment, Graham. You might need to estimate door dimensions with your S type. My garage is long enough but I have never tried the Jaguars as my daughter has too much of her stuff stored there. Peter.

I don't think so, Keith. I do think that you can download various manuals, however covering the various mechanical and electrical bits you want to do. I have not done this myself as I do not get oily hands any more! Regards, Peter.

That's great, Chris.

Hi Everyone, Following requests for JOC meets in various locations, I am starting the ball rolling in the Midlands and to others who are interested. The venue I am suggesting is the Heritage Motor Museum in Gaydon, near Coventry, Warwickshire and the website for more information is heritage-motor-centre.co.uk . The date I am suggesting is Sunday 5th October 2014, and I would like those interested to let me know as soon as is possible. It is advantageous for us if there are 30 people in total who wish to attend, as I could then make a club booking. I am looking forward to hearing from interested members. Regards, Peter.

My experience was also with Kwik Fit. My employers issued us with Kwik Fit cards so all company cars had to go in there. But after I refused both on grounds of safety and price to let my company car and the cars of others in my Region to go in to Kwik Fit, they decided to recall the cards and let us use either the main dealers or suitable garages of our choice. Peter.

Hi Josh, I think it is about 6 litres. You will be able to get a gasket from Taunton Jaguar -- near enough to you but also online. Peter.

Your car looks like Indigo Blue, Keith. I think that you can get the colour from the VIN number via a Jaguar website. Peter.

Correct, John. When you have about 2 tonnes of car travelling at 70 mph the ability to stop is fairly important. I once had pads fitted to a Rover by a well known tyre/exhaust company that needed to be replaced after less that 1000 miles because they were poor quality. Peter.

Only the South East I know about , although there will be one in the Midlands in September, I think. It is not an bad idea to have several meets before the year is out -- Midlands, the North West, and the North east spring to mind. I will discuss with Trevor [the young one] and Steve several possibilities. Peter.

Hi Keith, The only rusty sills I Have ever had were on an Austin A40 in 1969. Replacing the is the best option. When I replaced them on the A40 I was working in the Steel Industry, and I measured the profile and had two made for me in the warehouse workshop. I used galvanised steel with plastic coating on the incised, took off the old ones and pop riveted them into place. I don't think that would be possible nowadays, although I still think a replacement done by a good body shop would be ideal. Regards, Peter.

Or the Midlands, too, Chris,

Don't mention speed cameras. Coming back from RAF Waddington on the A5 I was apparently caught by a speed camera. I was on a dual carriageway with a normal sped limit of 70mh. As there were Road Works [no-one actually working] I made sure that I was going at 50 mph. I saw no signs limiting speed and no camera warning signs. Yesterday I get a letter saying I was doing 50 mph in a 40 mph area. No point in arguing so I just filled in the form and sent it back. The other annoying thing was that my wife never saw any signs either.

Welcome to the Club, Stevie. Lot of friendly people here. Hope you enjoy the club as much as you enjoy your Jaguar. Regards, Peter.

Welcome to the Club, Paul. I have not experienced your problem, and I just wondering if something in the mechanism is sticking. I always start with the cheapest solution which is a good shot of WD40. Try that and see what happens. Regards, Peter.

Hi Colin, What is the mileage on your car? Jaguar say that the gearbox is sealed for the life of the car, but there are many well experienced owners who say that they have changed their gearbox oil around 75k. I think that these experiences show that gearbox oil does need a change and that 75k is a good mileage to have it done. Experience is better than handbooks. Regards, Peter.

Hi Cameron, I suggest you go on to one of the comparison sites. I got a good quote from both Tesco and SwiftCover, and I went with the latter. I would also suggest that you omit things like a courtesy car after a claim, as you would not miss the car if you are away quite a lot. Regards, Peter.

Hi Scott, There are diesel lovers and there are petrol lovers, and a lot comes down to personal choice. Before I bought my S Type I had already done quite a bit of research both as to cost of running both the 3.0 litre petrol and the 2.7 litre diesel. The advantage of the diesel is both the Road fund licence at £285 and the fuel cost. The best fuel consumption I have had on a 95 mile journey with only 22 miles on a motorway was 49.2 mpg and currently with much local running around I am getting between 32 and 36 mpg. I do use Shell Vitro generally. The 2.7 D engine has superb performance and the acceleration from 30 mph is tremendous as the twin turbo get the car moving really well. The things to watch out for on the diesel are the DPF which needs regeneration periodically, so a longer run every few weeks or so, and giving the Jaguar a bit of welly every now and this also comes easily when you are driving an S Type. The other thing I have experienced is a sticky EGR valve, which can be cured by a bit of welly also, but also a treatment with Millers EGR Valve cleaner if you are experiencing this issue. I have seen cars with well over 100k on the clock and although the belts need changing at 105k, I think that you will probably find that most cars will show when they have been changed if you get a full service history. My model is an SE but there is no difference in engines with the Sport version, and performance is the same. I hope this is helpful. Regards, Peter.