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CLUELESS

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Hi all,
I am am in need of some desperate help.I am helping my Father-inlaw find an S-type for my Mother-inlaw and I need to know a few things:

What year?
Model?
Equip?

They will be buying used and still under warranty bet I need to know what is going to be more reliable after warranty runs out.

I don't mean to be so vague but remeber I'm ......CLUELESS!!!
 
I guess what I'm getting at is what not to buy.Like for instance I am hearing that the 2000 S-type was notorious for transmission problems.

I'm not sure if that problem has been fixed on newer models but I guess that's one of the things I need to know.
 
I have a 2000 S Type Jag. I have about 34K miles on the car without any transmission problems, so far. However, the car has been less than reliable. Towed into the dealer twice because oil leaks from the valve covers fouled the spark plugs and wires rendering the vehicle unstartable. That to me seems poorly designed, that a small valve cover leak won't allow you to start the car. Towed once again to the dealer, when I backed the car out of the garage to wash the car. Apparently when started for only a short time, in this case just a couple of minutes, can lead to flooding the vehicle and it won't restart even a day later. Plugs must be pulled. What else?? Let's see. The premium radio gets terrible reception on the lower part of the am dial. Poor antenna and antenna cable routing according to the dealer. Engine temp sensor failed. Battery failed after 2 years. All of the above was covered by the warranty, now expired. But of my two British cars, the 64 Austin Healey is more reliable. After all that I still like the Jag, but probably would not buy another one.
 
Re: flooding XJ8 warning I got!

Hi all, I'm new to this forum but working on my ninth jag. Last month, I got a 2000 XJ8 and my mechanics warned me three times if there was an alphabetical letter in the last six places on the Vin no. (mine has an 'F') to NEVER turn the engine off unless operating temperature had been reached. To ignore this (they said) was to invite serious flooding problems which could permanently damage the cylinder lining ("Nikasil" I think it's called)and flooding would be the least of my problems. Thus far, I have been very careful about this.
 
The cold choke problem is true with certain BMW's too. Turn off the engine after a minute or less and problems flair up. This is not unique with Jag's. But to have to remove the plugs, even days after the problem occured seems a little extream.
 
Greetings,
I really can't comment on the reliablity of the newer S-Types as mine was made in 1967.
I have some thoughts however. (Don't MOST Jag owners!)
Any car that is blowing oil past the valve covers to the point that it is flooding the plugs has a problem with a bad set of mechanics at the dealership -- not a bad car. Gasket technology has been such that this has not been a problem since the 60s. If it is a problem now, it is NOT the car that is causing it. I have 3 Jags and NONE of them leak or drip oil.
As for the Nikasil engine. This was not just a Jaguar problem but Mercedes and BMW as well. The problems with Nikasil engines were caused by the sulfer content in fuels. This took place primarily in the US. Go to any search engine and put in the word "Nikasil" and you will get TONS of information. In 2001, the major makers got away from the Nikasil. It is my understanding, (and the only reason I know this is that a friend of mine bought a 2001 XJR), that the Nikasil engines were fine as long as the oil was changed every 3000-4000 miles. If the oil changes were left to longer periods, it was then that a problem started to occur.
If I were in the market for a new version S-Type, I would start at 2001 and stay away from the 1998-2000 models SIMPLY because you do not know what a previous owner did (or did not do) to take care of the car.

Webserve
 
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