How about a bit of positive here. Lots of real downer stuff going on. Lots of griping about issues. Well, I say, Lets talk about how much we love our cars. Why we got them. You know happy stuff.
Mine as been great since I got it. Love the way it drives. Love the look. But then I'm kinda into the retro thing with cars. Really like the fact that I can drive a rear drive car to work each day. So, tell us what you love about your S.

 

Jeff,

You're right - they're lovely cars. Jon89 did say so.

But they need to work. (Same for BMW, BM and all the others - they all fail.)

As you know, it's the nature of user forums that people post their problems and hope for help. That can mean a car sounds particularly bad when it may just mean people care or that it's a popular car.

As long as an owner is still here and raising issues, they've not given up. That's better than if they gave up.

The S-Type handles well and the performance is plenty good enough.

It may be a bit too refined and quiet. It's a Jaguar so no surprise, then.

The STR is probably best spelt FUN.

 

All i know is, when i sit in the seat and hit the gas, its pure nirvana for me. i have my Mazda 6 and honestly, its just not fun to drive for me anymore. Dealing with the little issues is no big deal to me. I knew going into it, that driving a European Supercar, would have issues. Yes in all aspects it is a supercar. The pure pleasure i get out of pressing the gas is enough to deal with little issues.

That said, ive wanted one of these since i first saw it and drove one in 04. It took sometime, but after looking hard enough i found the exact one i wanted. And i dont regret it one bit.

 

I just drove 180 miles round trip down to the US border to pick up my H&R Sport Suspension Springs (lower F1.4 R1.3). Now I live in Canada's wine country and the drive was spectacular made all the better driving my STR.

I have owned a lot of high performance rides dating all the way back to the sixties. Muscle to Sports to Exotics. My only complaint with this car is the lack of Limited Slip Diff. I have already upgraded the brakes to ceramic. I will stuff the springs in this week and get an alignment and I'm done with mods.

I drive very defensively and pick my spots to act like a juvenile carefully. Having said that I enjoyed the drive today, enjoyed the tunes and stuffed a BMW after toying with him. I stopped at this roadside place that has the greatest, fresh ice cream scooped into waffle cones. While I'm eating/slurping my cone outside the joint, in the sun, a nice young man we'll call skippie (read - would steal my radar detector thru the open sunroof if I wasn't sitting there) decided to engage me in a conversation about the STR so I played dumb and let him tell me all about it.

Anyway, I thanked him for his knowledge or more accurately lack thereof and climbed into the Jag and down the road I went. Enjoying the lakes, mountains and vineyards. Who comes pounding along but skippie in his Honda scraping the ground and making an awful drone out of what looked like a big soup can sticking out the back. I know, cause I let him pass me. I was, after all, enjoying my ice cream.

I'll cut to the chase - literally - I ate skippie alive after toying with him mercilessly. The last I saw of skippie was in the rear view mirror with his front seat passenger laughing his *** off at him.

I find the STR a refined brute which makes it about perfect...

 

I still like our S-Type very much. My wife, however, must regain her trust in it if that is possible. I sincerely hope that she can because I would like for us to be able to keep it....

 

I love my newly acquired S-Type and can't believe I almost settled for something else. The S-Type is my ultimate car. I was telling a friend this morning that there isn't another car on the market that moves me like this one. There isn't a car out there that I can aspire to because the S-Type is that car. I have arrived. Twenty years from now I'll still be driving it like Inspector Morse in his old Mark II. Yup. That's where I'm at now.

 

Americain,

The Series 1 E-Type is gorgeous!

I'd rather be on the road in an S-Type, though.

You've got both - congrats!!

Tried an STR?

 

No I haven't but I'm sure I'd love it. The deal I got for my S-Type was so unbelievable that I couldn't pass it up. One of these days I may get the chance to try the STR and I'm sure I'll be impressed.

 

My first Jaguar. 2002 S type. First time I drove or sat in a Jaguar. And that was only the last week of March of this year. I was in love instantly. Had to have it. The first one I drove had a problem and I didn´t buy it. I was up all night searching the internet for another one and there was the one in my avatar just a few miles away at the Ford dealer. I was there the next morning to buy it.
I use it little and enjoy it immensely. I am now a Jaguar fanatic. I bought a 1993 XJ40 for a work car. The day after buying it an ad appeared for one that was cheaper, nearly perfect interior, only 80K miles and less money. I bought it. Just had it painted and put on a leaping cat hood ornament. I´m picking it up in half an hour and saw it yesterday. Looks like a new car and it´s a 1992 XJ40.
Later today I´m going to look at a series III XJ6. I´ve been trying to find a nice one to add to the collection.
All this because they S type is so beautiful inside and out that I don´t want to put any wear on it. But I use it every Sunday. When I get in, smell that white British leather, feel the wood steering wheel and get that smooth perfect motion when hitting the gas I´m in heaven.
I´ve owned at least sixty different cars in my life and none have compared to my Jaguar S type.

 

I've had my '06 3.0 for almost a year, leased it at the very end of June, it's in my wifes name however. June was a bad month for her and it (I believe) was a gift.
Her father died the first week of June and I was diagnosed with needing a couple of stents just before that. After some things were settled, she told me that she would get me a new car. I didn't want one, I wanted to keep my '86 Olds Cutlass 442 and keep it going which would have been cheaper..she said NO!!!!!!!!!!.
I couldn't think of anything in her price range that I wanted. So I looked at used Jags and found this one at a somewhat local dealer.
She had two X-Types prior to this and I did like the S-Type. 3 days after we got back from the hospital, I was at the dealer leasing it.
The only problem was an errant gas guage needle which was fixed under factory warranty..
It's the first 4 door sedan I've ever owned, but I really enjoy driving it..

 

Since I'm on my third Jaguar, it's evident I'm partial to the marque. That said, my current Jaguar, a 2005 S-Type has been an absolute joy so far. Reasons why I bought it and why I really love car:

1. It is the most comfortable car I've ever driven or sat in. The seats are great as well as the rest of the interior design.

2. It is extremely agile and handles exceptionally well. Compared to the XJs I had, it feels to be about a half ton lighter. This does have a downside in that I tend to be quite a bit above the legal limit.

3. The car is absolutely gorgeous both inside and out. I never get tired of looking at it. The design is classical Jaguar and cannot be mistaken for any other car.

4. For the money, it is a real value. When doing comparison shopping with other brands, it seemed as though the Jaguar was some $2,000 to $3,000 cheaper.

Mike

 

Mike,

Please see joycesjag's thread entitled "Warranty almost up?" here in the S-Type forum.

I'm curious as to whether the tie-rod bushings on both of your rear wheels (just behind the rotors) have also cracked, crushed, and failed. Taking his advice, I pulled both of our rear wheels yesterday to have a look, and yep, ours look exactly like the photos that joycesjag posted in his thread.

When you get the chance, please take a look at yours and let me know. If I remember correctly, your mileage is similar to his - low 50s I think. Ours has only 26,300 miles on it and all four of the golden-brown bushings are already cracked and crushed. I'm wondering if this is inevitable for every 2005 S-Type out there....

 

Hi Jon,

Thanks for the heads up. I just checked mine and they appear to be fairly new. My guess is that either the previous owner or the dealer I bought it from replaced them.

Mike

 

Mike,

Glad to hear that yours have evidently already been replaced. Somebody was thinking ahead. Wonder if these "stabilizer link" assemblies are only good for 20,000 or 30,000 miles before the bushings are shot? Sure wish that some of the Jaguar techs would chime in here on this subject, but they seem to be missing in action for the last couple of weeks....

 

So, what's the ransom.....

 

That was...beautiful. I love that rush you get when you are up against someone who is so cocky and sure that whatever piece of scrap metal they're driving is faster and more agile than the STR....and then you see their jaws drop in your rear view mirror as you brush them off with an arrogant wave after beating a bloody hole in their pride.

I have a hard time beating people off the line though...I guess I punch it too hard at first...tires spin like a ****. Not hard to catch up and pass 'em though. Maybe that's the best part....giving them false hope and then crushing it...
Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

 

What's even funnier is when my measly V6 spanks the dude with his hat on sideways..... "There's no way that geezer in the Jag can beat my " insert Civic, Eclipse, ect.....Makes my drive to work that much more fun.....

 

Hi Jeff,

Being a geezer myself, I subscribe to the saying "Age and treachery always overcomes youth and skill". These measly 3.0s are plenty fast, especially when you J-Gate it to get the engine up in the power band. I've surprised myself more than once doing this and finding I'm doing about 80 mph in a 45 zone. Luckily, VA's finest were not around, otherwise I'd be out some major buckage.

Mike

 

Ha, got to love VA's finest (or worst), the revenue officers here have got me a couple times, nothing too bad though.

Why I love my car, lots of reasons which lots of people have mentioned, but the front end is unmistakable and one of a kind, seeing it never gets old for me.

 

Rest of the car doesnt look so bad either (new camera, loving it, had to post pics, sorry)