Hello everyone. I'm brand new to these forums and I just wanted to ask for some advice.

So I came across a 2001 S-type V6 3.0l for an amazing deal.
The owner is a trusted mechanic we've bought a vehicle off of him before it has been a dream (2011 chevy equinox) which he rebuilt the engine and absolutely no problems with it other than regular wear and tear.
Now he's selling his personal Jaguar for an amazing price and I've loved Jags since I was a kid.
It has 170km and he's done alot of work on it. He needed to replace the head gasket so while he had the motor out he replaced the water pump, fuel pump, ac compressor, timing chain, ignition coils and valve seals plus the body is in absolutely mint condition.

I'm just a little concerned on what the reliability is on these S-types. I've read a few reviews on them and I've found that the transmission can go on these cars.

Thank you for your advice! Also this car will be used as a semi-daily driver and a cruiser.

 

Personally, I would (and did) go with 2002.5 (or 2003 in North America) or later model. The transmission was upgraded to the 6-speed ZF unit, the engine management was upgraded to Denso and the less than attractive, Darth Vader style dash was redesigned to look more like the rest of the Jaguar line. No offense to those who own pre-facelift S-types is intended...

 

Define "reliability". I have over 340,000 miles on my '02 V6. It my daily driver for a 52 mile roundtrip to work:



Reliability? This car has been phenomenal. I don't do anything special as far as maintenance, just the occasional oil change, etc. I've owned the car about 12 years, and have had nothing out of the ordinary for repairs. I've replaced the water pump, alternator, transmission solenoid pack, Dual Climate Control Valve (DCCV, part of the HVAC system, a VERY common failure) and radiator cooling fan. None of these repairs seem out of line for the age and mileage. I think you'd run into stuff like this with any vehicle driven under similar conditions. About the only "biggie" was a recurring fault code for the throttle body, but a used unit for $75 on eBay took care of that.

Re: The transmission. The early models have a Ford 5R55N, a family in which several bazillion were produced. This is not some exotic unit. Any competent transmission shop can easily take care of any problems you may encounter.

Will you be working on the car yourself or paying to have it done? With any 20 year old car, expect some ongoing issues to surface. Most forum members tend to do the work themselves. Things could get spendy if hiring a mechanic.

 

I would like to know why the head gasket(s) needed to be replaced. Was the engine overheated?

 

Thank you very much for your response. I am decently mechanically inclined, so I do intend to do work to it if it's easy enough for me to do. I'm just not sure how complicated the inner workings are on a car like this. I'm moving up from a 2004 chevy cavalier and other than replacing the fuel pump I fixed everything else that's gone wrong with it like wheel bearings and the radiator for example, so it's quite the jump from that vehicle into a Jaguar haha.I
I've just read a lot of things online saying that these cars are just endless money pits so I'm just worried about that.

 

Thank you very much for your reply.

I didn't ask about that but the mechanic said he bought the car like that and fixed everything on it and drove it for about 10 years just on the weekends. The past 4 years he's barely driven it because he has like 7 other vehicles and his rule is if it doesn't drive it at least twice a year he sells it and he also has all the maintenance records and work he's done to it documented.

 

Then buy a Toyota Corolla or something else equally boring. Problem solved!

Jaguars of this era are no more complicated than other cars from that time frame. The S-Type was heavily influenced by Ford's ownership at the time, so that works out well for us financially. There are many, many Ford parts underneath that beautiful Jaguar skin. Some parts from the dealer are just Ford parts with a new number stamped with very expensive ink (made from unicorn tears) and packaged in a gold-plated, diamond-encrusted box.

There's a common misconception that only the dealership has the know-how to work on these cars. That is only for some very specific tasks, such as replacing keys and programming some computer modules. If you can find an independent Jaguar specialist, they can tackle pretty much anything. But stuff like transmission, suspension, brakes, or engine work? Nearly any competent shop should be fine.

Independent shops with aftermarket parts have a huge price advantage over the dealer, too. Say your car needs new ball joints, for example. At the dealer, the only official option is to replace the entire suspension arm ($$$). The aftermarket offers replacement ball joints at a huge cost savings.

In my over-inflated opinion, the only money pit aspect you will encounter is how some European manufacturers sell spare parts. Recently, I needed a new radiator cooling fan motor. If I had been driving a Toyota, I could probably have found a new motor for about $40. Unfortunately, Jaguar only sells the replacement motor as part of the whole radiator shroud assembly, at roughly $750, so I repaired what I had. I ran into a similar issue with an Audi a few years ago, too. Issues like that are few and far between, but just be aware of it. I've never encountered this with US or Japanese vehicles. It seems to be a European thing, so they can say they are meeting the law as far as making spare parts available, but while gently nudging you to consider trading in on a new car instead.

 

+1 on what Karl says above.

The 3.0 Jaguar AJ engine is quite robust, but the early cars had a few items that need to be corrected to have them be very dependable. If the person you purchased the vehicle from has replaced the breather hose under the inlet manifold, replaced the cam cover and spark plug boss seals and changed the differential fluid, there's not too much else that can cause the engine to have an issue.

The Dual Climate Control Valve (DCCV) can cause issues with the operation of the HVAC system, but even that is relatively easy to replace.

Use the correct coolant and other fluids and enjoy driving the card!