s-type jag

[ohmygodwhathaveyoudone]

The other day I saw a v reg s-type jag up for about 12k,full service history 36k on the clock.
I asked the salesman for a test drive & climbed in
what a dissapointment,the seat belt would'nt retract,the bolster on the leather seats was worn!the fascia looked like a 10yr old had put it together?as for the outside,lifted the bonnet (the chrome grill was made out of plastic! and very feeble) when I looked in the wheel arches the black plastic was like yoghurt pot grade,very cheap & nasty.
the one redeeming point was the engine,what a peach,purred away lovely for a v6 3ltr.just thought the steering was very peculiar,can't really explain why just felt as if the pwr steering was'nt working
I not slagging of s-types but this one must have been a friday night/monday morning built car!
i'll just have to keep my reg vw passat,every button has a reasuring action,all the doors shut with a solid 'thunk' not a 'twang'
its so well built you could drive it through a brick wall & carry on!
just need a bit more ooomph.
I think the s-type is one of the only car when parked in a supermarket that you can instantly recognize coz of the distictive grill lovely shape of the car.
I know they where revised dec 2001 but have not tried one of those yet.
any suggestions anyone

 

[AdamW]

S-type jag is distinguishable, unless you happen to see a Rover 75 too! Well, that is what some people have said but I can't see the similarity myself.

The 3 litre duratec V6 is basically the same engine in the ST220 Mondeo, which is a similar sized car and is very quick.

My dad used to have a Ford Cougar. When he came to replacing it the S-type was one option. He found that a lot of the stalk and switchgear was identical to his Ford, and it felt very similar to drive. Which isn't really acceptable for a car costing about £10K more. So, he bought an ST220.

That is all I know on the S-type. If it was my choice I would test-drive a revised model and a Mondeo. That way you can make sure you aren't paying Jag money for a Ford!

 

[ohmygodwhathaveyoudone]

apparently i think the new x-type is a new mondeo with cat badges on?
or was it a ford lincoln?
i'm probably talking out of my a**e but would'nt surprise me

 

[AdamW]

Well, the old Mondeo was not only an X-type, a Cougar, a couple of other things over in the states, and something else in Australia. In fact, if you look at a Ford Cougar there is only one Ford badge on the whole thing if I recall. The rest are all cat-heads. Steering wheel boss, the lot. Rumour has it that it was originally intended to be a Jag but they decided it wasn't in keeping with the Jag style. The S-type has a different floorpan (I think) but the engines are the same.


Happens everywhere now, the VW Golf is also the VW Bora, Skoda Octavia, Audi A-something and the Seat something else...

And the old Saab 9-3 was a Vauxhall Vectra.

And my Mk4 Astra was sold under the badges of Vauxhall, Opel, Holden and Chevrolet depending on where you go.

 

[securespark]

Octavia is bigger than Golf/Bora - not sure whether floorpan is stretched either way or just cabin is bigger, but it is. And the (Octavia) estate has a bigger boot than the Golf, but has slightly less legroom in rear.

 

[AdamW]

I had wondered this when I first saw the Octavia. The body appears bigger than a Golf. So, I did a bit of reading

If you go to the Skoda website they have pdf files of the dimensions of all of their cars. The VW information I had to glean elsewhere, but the fact it matched up was good enough for me

Octavia:

Length: 4507mm/4513mm (hatchback/estate)
Wheelbase: 2512mm (both)
Track: 1513mm (both)

Golf:

Length: 4188mm
Wheelbase: 2512mm
Track: 1513mm

So as you can see, the Octavia is identical other than it is a foot longer overall.

Oddly, the Superb wheelbase is 4" longer than a Passat but 3" shorter than a VW Phaeton.

 

[MG Man]

S-type jag is distinguishable, unless you happen to see a Rover 75 too! Well, that is what some people have said but I can't see the similarity myself.

75 by far the better car, esp. with KV6 - and easier to sell on when the time comes. Neighbour is a car dealer and says good 75's just fly off the forecourt now people are starting to wake up to how good they are. People still equate Jags with fuel/insurance/repair costs.

 

[AdamW]

I am not sure which I would get... I think I would prefer the Jag but the 75s seem to be about £5K cheaper than an equivalent S-type Jag (both with 2.5 V6s). If you compare it to an X-type (I don't know if this is comparing cars from the same size class or not) the prices are similar.

Of course, if I went for a 75 I would get it as an MG ZT, possibly the V8 version. Yeeeeeeeah!

As a note, my car park at work has lots of MG ZTs and Rover 75s in it (really, there are loads of them!), and only one or two new Jags. So either people prefer them or we aren't paid Jag-owners' money

According to the Rover website there is a 75 limo now, a long wheelbase 75. Interesting that they didn't make it available with the V8 and some work on silencing the exhaust... Probably because the V8 ZT is rear wheel drive and they decided the market wasn't big enough for two chassis versions on a niche car.

 

[securespark]

That's right Adam.

And if you sit in the back of a Superb (modest name for a Skoda!), you'll see all of that 100mm is rear legroom. It's vast!

I want one, but Julie's being a spoilsport. What's 20K on another car we don't need?

Ideally I shall wait until I have won the lottery (haha) and wait for the 2.0 140 TDi to be fitted in the Superb (as it itevitably will) then buy an elegance model with all the extras.

My current car is elegance with all the extras you could get in 2002, but now they offer more kit, like multi-function wheel etc.