Alright guys here's the story so back in 2000 my grandma bought a new 4.0 S type and after a long (and rough life) the tensioners finally failed and the poor car was parked. Well I took on the car and after a long year, a lot of work, and a ton of new parts (engine, suspension, front end components and ect.) the car is back to it's former glory and after serveral trips and drives my grandma has decided she needed another one

So here is where you guys come in. My grandma found this one on ebay so we decided to go check it out.

Jaguar : S-Type - eBay (item 350477465081 end time Aug-04-11 08:11:51 PDT)

We took it for a drive. It seemed really smooth I did not notice any of the lurch that is so talked about. That car is in great shape cosmetically with a couple things I noticed. The front bumper on the drivers side has a broken clip and is sagging beneath the headlights, it had one of those plastic covering on the front part of the hood and the headlights that are very yellowed and need to be removed, they informed us that the front brakes rotors and pads were both replaced but while we were driving every stop had some loud brake noises accompanying it The 03 had the Brembos correct? If they used cheaper rotors and pads could that be an issue? I read some review that said their brake replacements were sub par which is slightly worrysome. The Navigation which does not work the only thing it displays is " Reading DVD and something else" but no amount of button pushing could make it go away and there was no disc in the trunk when I hit the eject button. Is this a big problem or is it an easy fix? And 2 of the Pirelli tires had decent sized gashes in the sidewalls of them so they would need to be replaced.

I also check the coolant tank for any leaks which there weren't. Is there anything else I should make sure to check? And what would be a fair out the door price to pick this up at for paying cash up front? The car was purchased from Manheim if anyone has access to their numbers. Overall it seemed like a very clean car and definitely worth a look just want to play it safe and get the best Jag for the money.

So experts what do you think?

Thanks
Wes

 

The brakes should be noise free. Get that guaranteed. Don't buy it until they are. If you can have a Jag dealer do a PPI. They may spot something. Have them look very carefully for coolant leaks as you're at about the right mileage and age for the hose under the SC. It's cheap $250 worth of insurance. Check the headlamps as they break internally very frequently. There is a inexpensive fix outlined on this website but replacements are $800-$1,000 each. Both of mine went out within that year.

This car looks almost like mine. Mine is a 2005, came with 1 year of extended Jag warranty, had 14K miles, came with nearly new tires and sold for $21K. It wasn't quite perfect but it was pretty darn good. It had some curb rash and front spoiler lip damage. Negotiate accordingly.

 

Worry about the nav. If it's the (known) rare error you'll struggle to get it fixed as most dealers don't seem to ever see it so don't apply the known fix!

 

Hmm, seems like a good deal until you mention the brakes and Nav not working..

 

ill sell you mine shipped to your door for that. nothing wrong with mine, i dont have nav though. But could for a price. lol

 

No expert here but what I am seeing in the ad pics, missing pass side fog/tow hook plastic cover, missing winshield cowl push/pull pin, could be the pic but the front seats look like they need a good scrubbing.....Along with the tire issues, headlamp droop, NAV and squeeling brakes, I wouldn't pay that amount.

Oh hey is that GREEN coolant I see in the reservoir?

One more thing why is the tail pipe on the passenger side pushed in? Generally caused possibly by getting rear ended!

How many key FOBs, is there a valet key?

In conclusion, the dealer is not being so honest in the ebay ad, "Exterior excellent as well as interior". Atleast you got to see and drive it.

 

Need to have the brakes checked out, might just need new pads and/or the rotors turned which isn't very expensive, but that's why you need to have it checked out...I'm putting some cheapo ceramic pads on mine, I know they'll be noisey but ceramics offer the lowest dust possible...Former owner may of had the same mindset as me...

 

yep green coolant in there. that is somewhat suspect............good eye on the exhaust rick. i didnt even see that.

something is amiss under there.

i only have 55k on mine too. (my shameless plug)

 

To be honest I'd say that was probably an advantage.

 

i think i have the double din kit for it already too.

If the OP is serious about it, i have a slew of things that were replaced already. And you saw the car and know it is pretty clean for an 03. only thing it needs is an amp for the 8 subs.

 

Jason I assume this would relate to your hypothetical situation with another STR eh...

Looks like this thing needs a little work to me. Use that to negotiate....perhaps it's been in an accident or two.

 

Wrong coolant. Should be Dex-cool not green. The navigation must have a disc or you will get nothing. Be aware that if the DVD is gone they are about $200 to replace. These are very often stolen and some dealers will keep them in the office until the car is sold to prevent this. The price is way too high. I would consider about $12K.

Use the proper ceramic brake pads NOT cheap pads. Everyone on here has had great luck with the Akebono pads. Get them and you won't be sorry!!
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hypothetically yes. like i said if the OP is serious, ill work something out for him for less than 15. i just put tires on the car, and im trying to think of what it would need (within say 6-9 months) other than maybe new front rotors. and honestly cant think of anything else now. Im willing to bet mine is in way better shape than the green one. Plus everything i have done has been documented here since i have had the car.

 

Joycesjag I noticed the green coolant too... So that could definitely be a problem if it still had orange coolant in there when they added it? Also I felt it was high for their out the door price as they did not come down from the price they had listed on autotrader. Thanks for the input guys I spent a little over a year working for a small dealer like that and I kinda got that less then honest vibe off the guy. I called my service adviser at the local dealership to see about an inspection if we decided to go any farther with the deal.

To Jason, you can color me interested. I'm shooting you a pm with my contact info now. We are not set on anything yet the only thing I do have to mention is my grandma is in love with Jag racing green. I'm meeting with her again tomorrow evening to look at some more Jag so Ill show her yours then

Oh on the Nav system if there was no disc in there would it still be displaying "DVD reading, please wait" ? Honestly I do not think the Nav is that big a deal as her Evo probably has a better Nav program...

Thanks guys keep the awesome info coming
Wes

 

Oh also I have a Carfax that was pulled for the car. No accident history and 3 owners rated at -40 from retail blue book. The car spent the first 3 and a half years as a corporate car being sold at 36k was then a lease for 1 year and 3 months and then was sold as a Jaguar certified used car at 48k in 2008. The car was sold to the auto auction on 06/2010 had emission in July 2010 but wasn't bought at auction until May of this year and then listed for sale on May 11th so it has been sitting at the dealership for a while.

Any other info I should grab about the car to share?

 

Goofy;

I actually test drove this car as well about a month to a month and a half ago and recorded the issues after the test drive, they are as listed:

Issues

• A/C does not blow cold - verify compressor is not broken
• Tires have 10-20% tread left - 4 tires need to be replaced
• Brakes are not safe - needs new front/rear rotors and pads
• Windshield has crack in it in two places - needs to be replaced
• Center console will not slide out - needs to be fixed or replaced
• Front fascia is missing area around fog light - needs to be replaced

Other Miscellaneous Issues

• All four wheels have curb rash and are scraped, overall terrible condition while also missing wheel weights
• Entire front fascia is scraped from parking on top of curbs
• Rear bumper paint peeling around both rear sensors

My overall impression of the driving experience was very good. The car handled and accelerated very well, so well in fact I was sold on buying an STR from that moment. However, there were so many issues with the car, I was very hesitant to want to buy this specific one.

What I didnt like was Jabers didn't mention any of the issues that were wrong with it, such as the horrendous brakes. Todd even said that he wanted to see if I would notice before he mentioned it to me. I really didn't like that, but they said they would fix it free of charge. They called me back a week later saying they would fix it and wanted to know if I was interested - I never called back. I could have been an honest person who didn't know about cars, and I could have been taken for a ride. Too bad I'm a car guy and noticed almost everything.

I have a friend who works at Lund Cadillac in North Scottsdale and he said run as fast as you can from this car. He basically said that dealers should fix everything before they want to sell it, it should be a non issue. He mentioned that it was not a good thing that there were so many things wrong with it and they were waiting to see if I would notice.

I find it interesting that the brakes are still bad, and you found gashes on the tires, as well as the navigation system not working. Todd put on the radio so I never got to try the navi out as I didn't know how to use it. The car was $16,000.00 when I test drove it, they immediately took $500.00 off. Overall the body is an A- for the miles and the year, the interior is nice besides the messed up center console, and the driver side seat shows a bit worn but not bad. I think the wheels really turned me off because anyone who knows how to take care of a car won't gash up all four as bad as these were. The engine looked pretty nice too, actually very nice.

I dont want to influence your decision but if the car was $12,000.00, I would buy it with the issues fixed pending an inspection from a Jag dealer (I have a name of a guy in phx if you want it). I don't like how many things are wrong with it, and there are much better examples out there. There was a black 03 that was 18.5K with 30K miles in cali two weeks ago and a gorgeous red 05 with 50K miles also in cali that had one owner that was an old man for 17K. It looks like those are sold as they should be. They're out there, and I think paying 2-4K more than what you want is the key for getting the right STR.

 

lol who wouldnt buy it with everything 100% for $12k? assuming the car needs tires and brakes i think and the car is near 100% otherwise i think $13.9k is a great price. one with similar miles just went through the dallas auction for $12.5k and that doesnt include the $500 auction fee manheim charges. of course there arent many results to compare to so its hard to say if thats a good price or not.

a lot of smart value based dealers do not put brakes, tires etc on cars just because they need them. this allows them to sell the car cheaper and some buyers like to pick out their brand of tire, brakes etc and/or do the stuff themselves and get a better price. if the brakes do make the car drive horribly though they should have done them.

also just because the wheels are curbed doesnt mean they didnt take care of the car, maybe they let some one else drive the car and they did it, (valet, husband/wife etc)

it also looks like the wheels still have the original factory finish. most mobile wheel repair people can not duplicate the factory finish and the wheels are not as shiny and do not clean up nearly as well. for the proper finish to be applied the wheels must usually have to be taken off the car, completely sanded down and re done.

i do agree with getting a PPI done at Jaguar at your expense. the dealer shouldnt mind this either. However take it with a bit of salt. They often feel it necessary to find 1 or 2 things wrong so you get your value with the inspection. also they might try and exaggerate a bit and then try to sell you one of their cars. overall its def a great idea though!

hope this helps from someone whos in the car business

 

10% tread left... run away... run very very far away. Its one thing to buy a car at a high price. Another to buy a car at a high price that will immediatly need high priced tires. were talking 800 just for cheapy's. let alone another 500+ for brakes etc etc. Personally Id keep looking.

Oh i forgot to add the nav issue. Thats either a bad disc 200 bucks. or a bad dvd drive which im not sure but im guessing 200+ on ebay.

 

rasputin, nice info added!!

AC not blowing cold, theres a "cool" $1500.00, unless you DIY it for under $200.00, I know I have seen a great write up here with pics!

Carfax and suchs accident report doesn't mean squat, when a non-reporting shop does the body work, and there are alot of shops that don't!!!!

 

1 of the 1001 uses of ducktape......

plus i think car might of been repaired. im pretty sure about your cars.. but all my wood grain is stained the same color on my doors.