Old Peter

Hi Steve, Will the key not work on the door locks at all? I do believe that the XK8 has a key hole underneath the boot lid. The S type certainly has. Let me know if it has. Regards Peter.

Welcome to the Club, Matt. I must admit I do not get oily hands any more, but I think that your diagnosis is on the right lines. There are many club members with the expertise to assist you. A Jaguar should not sound like a rusty lorry ---- it should roll past you in silence! Regards, Peter.

Welcome to the Club, David. It took me a bit longer to get a Jaguar, and like you I am absolutely delighted with my S Type, [my second Jaguar] after driving company cars for 30 years. Regards, Peter. Lancastrian in exile.

Hi Phil, Thanks for the information about the garage in Coleshill and will probably get my EGR valves Terracleaned there. It does appear that the machine is quite expensive to buy from Terraclean and I think the price of a service will gradually come down as there will be more competition. I have put the address of Spanners into my little black book! Regards, Peter.

Welcome to the Club, Bob. You have encapsulated in a short statement what many people like about Jaguars. I hope you enjoy the Club as much as you enjoy your car. Regards, Peter.

Hi Stan, The handbook says to run the car with ACC switched on all the time. In respect of tyre pressure the handbook refers you the information on the door pillar on the driver's side. For my 2.7 diesel the correct pressure is 31psi, remembering that the 2.7 S Type is 90 kilos heavier that the 3.0 litre petrol. Regards, Peter.

Welcome to the Club, Peter. That is a very useful piece of information for all car owners. I used to do the same [not on a spreadsheet] when I had a company car, as I had to submit a weekly mileage with details of journeys, including mileage done in private usage, even though I had a fuel card which paid for all miles done. I have noticed variations on the trip computer in respect of range when I have filled up, again always to the brim, and when I have done 100 or so miles. Regards, Peter.

Welcome to the club, Roy. I have a half cover for my S Type, which cost around £15. It does not do a great job outdoors, but would be brilliant indoors as it is quite light. I would expect to pay about £50 for one suitable for outdoor occasional use. Regards, Peter.

Hi Phil. I think I would be interested in the EGR valve cleaning service, particularly as the S Type has two of them, plus two turbochargers. I will check out what the secondary service covers. I will be ringing to book in my car before its MOT which is due in late June, and I always have my car serviced at the same time. Regards, Peter.

Hi Phil, Thanks for the feedback on Terraclean. I had heard good reports on the service, but not from someone who had a problem solved such as yourself. I will be booking mine in --- the mobile mechanic who Terraclean pointed me to has been in touch with me and I will probably have in done in the next three weeks. His quote was £114 inc vat for my 2.7 diesel which is the same as a garage in Brownhills. When it comes to the EGR valves I do know he has not got the equipment to do that, and the cost to do it manually on the s type is in excess of £300. Regards Peter.

Welcome to the Club, Gareth. You will enjoy the Jaguar experience, and there are many knowledgeable people in the Club who will assist when there is an issue that you cannot solve. Your XF is a nice looking car and the colour suits! Regards Peter.

Welcome to the Club, Michael. You will enjoy the Club and your Jaguar which looks great. There are a lot of knowledgeable people in the Club who do exchange a lot of useful information. Regards, Peter Lancastrian in exile.

Welcome to the club, George. Have you had the power steering fluid checked? I was told by a Jaguar main dealer that I had some water in my power steer fluid, by my mechanic told me that it was OK. Maybe the dealer was trying for some work at a big labour charge. However, I would be inclined to have the fluid changed, Regards, Peter.

We went to London to visit our daughter, and on the way down, crossing the river by the Blackwall Tunnell my mpg was 41.8. Coming back via the Old Kent Road and the City, my mpg was 36.2. The difference was caused by the City, which was packed. The MI was surprisingly clear and I drove at circa 75 mph. I could notice the difference in performance, and the mpg going down to London was good, considering we were on minor suburban roads for the last 10 miles. The next fill up will be Sainsburys in Tamworth, as I have a voucher for 10p a litre off. [The offer runs out on Wednesday.] Peter.

Aye, but as Yorkshiremen say "Us do it reet in Yorkshire" I was down Sarf at the weekend and on Sunday it took an hour and a half to drive the 14 miles from Brockley to Brent Cross, and two hours to drive the 110 miles from the start of the M1 to Sutton Coldfield. I switched on the SatNav and told it to go home, and the question popped up "Castle Bromwich or Sutton Coldfield?" Regards, Peter. Exiled Lancastrian.

There appears not to be a valet mode on the S type, which seems to indicate that S type owners never allow a stranger [not even a perfect one] to touch his or her Jaguar!

Welcome to the Club, Nigel. I think lurking around has shown you how useful the Club is and how there is a fund of useful experience to be found. You have a nice looking car which you will enjoy. Regards, Peter.

Hi Josh, I am assuming that the pressures are specified by the tyre manufacturer and they appear to be the same for all the sizes suited to the S Type. My tyres are 18" and I run Pirellis on 31 psi. When you are going at speeds over 100 mph the tyres are affected by the speed, as is the roadholding and steering. I am not a tyre expert, but I do know that when a tyre is under inflated or over inflated it certainly affects road holding. I had a slow puntcture some years ago and found that the car was all over the road at about 50 mph when the pressure dropped to about 5 psi. Regards Peter.

Welcome to the Club, Mark. You will enjoy the Club as much as you enjoy your Jaguar. Regards, Peter.

Welcome to the Club, Vinnie. There are a lot of friendly and helpful people here, and you will enjoy both the experience of the Club and your Jaguar. Regards, Peter.

Hi Phil, I am in London at the moment visiting our daughter, and have just got the internet connection sorted out. Like you I am and have been for some years astounded by the prices charged by the main dealers for what I consider minor problems. I had the amber engine warning light come on six months ago, took it into Colliers in Tamworth and was charged £69 for the diagnostic service -- just 30 minutes -- which indicated that the EGR valve was a bit sticky. A mechanic I use charged me £20 for the same service when the light came on again. Apparently it costs around £300 for a new valve to be fitted. The cure for a sticky EGR valve is half an hour on the A38 giving the engine a bit of a burst. Depreciation on many of the top of the range cars can be most disconcerting. When I retired in 1999 I bought an 8 month old Rover Sterling - cost new £27,500 - for £12.500. Price halved in 8 months! Jaguars are a prime example as there are so many optional extras that will push the price up from say £33k brand new to around £60k, and depreciation appears to take no notice of the extra bits, such as interior trim choice, full electric seats, touch screen with Sat Nav, Jaguar Voice [which is a waste of money] and around £20k spent on the options may only get you about £4k on the price when you sell the car three years later. I have used a mobile mechanic for the last 13 years, who used to work for Colliers, who has done a great job for me. Unfortunately, software in a modern car is main dealer only. Let me know how the terraclean goes as mine is going in towards the end of May to ensure emissions are as low as possible for the MOT in June. On a more positive not I filled up my S Type on Friday with top of the range Diesel and got 41.8 mpg which included the M25, the Blackwall tunnel and the stop start driving through Greenwich and the area round it, and the 2.7 litre engine sounded really good and was more responsive. Regards, Peter.

Another thought, has the previous owners phone been unpaired? I had the problem when changing my 'phone. Peter.

Hi Malcolm, It just occurred to me that you might not have the owners manual. If you have P37, but otherwise dial the number and press cancel and hold it till the number is erased. Regards, Peter.

Welcome to the Club, Malcolm. Have a look in the owners manual - In car telephone book - I think you can remove the contacts manually. Regards, Peter.

Welcome to the Club, George. I think Trevor could well be right. Jaguars have a lot of electricity flowing around in them, but they are intelligent enough to shut down certain things that they do not think important when the electricity supply is reduced. Regards, Peter.