I'd just like to say, I'm not on here as much as I like to be, and when I do, its to lurk, and I've also found many an answer to my questions via the almighty search function, and I make limited replies to threads as me being a newbie... however I'd just thought I'd share with everyone my " Year and a Half Review" , the amount of time I've been an owner of my S Type, and all the DIY I was able to do to it, thanks to this forum:
2003 S Type, 3.0 base model, Topaz Metallic, 76,000 miles. Owned since July 2014.
9-14 Failed water pump. Replaced along with new t stat and serpentine belt.
All new hardware for undertray
10-14 New tires, and new, one piece Dorman lug nuts. One broke off, had to drill into stud and remove remainder of broken lug nut from wheel.
12-14 New battery
2-15 Car won't start, only one I didn't DIY. Brought to Indy shop, found open wiring behind front bumper, on right hand side,to start relay.
MIL codes for lean, both banks, bought an OBDCOM scan tool, checked lt & stft's (thanks JagV8), found leaking IMT orings, let car sit until springtime.
7-15 Finally got to work! Changed IMT o rings via the long route,to new green ones...also, why not, while I'm at it, do the following: new air filter, clean tb& maf, replaced intake upper and lower gaskets with green ones, cam cover gaskets, brake booster vacuum line ( special thanks to joycesjag and Jon89 on that one!), PCV line rubber elbow, new plugs and coils, coolant hose with the turret ( mine broke), and for insurance, a new expansion tank cap. Thats it for under the hood, or so I thought....
I also needed to replace brake pads and rotors, and changed out all anti sway bar links ( still have a rattle in the front, maybe sway bar bushes?) Also a new fuel filter.
So when all is complete, I start the car and I feel a misfire, then I get the MIL and P0303, P1316. After I troubleshooted that, to make this long story shorter it was s new, out of the box spark plug on cyl 3. Replaced plug, all ok now!
I still have some minor DIY items to do yet, rear window issue, climate control , etc, but 800 or so miles since the above work was done, this car is finally running like new! I truly love it, and I hope to get many more miles of daily driver duty out of it! 88k miles thus far, and counting. With some tlc along the way, we'll see how far she goes...

I must say a sincere thanks to everyone on this forum! This forum wouldn't be great if it wasn't for the people behind it. Your knowledge is amazing!
Thanks again, and Happy New Year!

Jimmy

 

Well done, Jimmy. As you now know, once the inherent flaws are addressed and rectified these S-Types can go the distance if they continue to be looked after properly. I've certainly enjoyed mine and still consider it the best rear-wheel-drive highway cruiser we've ever owned. If the Jaguar salespeople would have told me back in December 2008 that this car would consistently deliver 32 to 33 mpg on the highway, I would have called them liars (and would be eating crow just a couple of months after purchasing the car). Unfortunately, we have too many vehicles now, I need to sell one, and it will probably be my S-Type since the newly-acquired 2013 Subaru Outback AWD SUV can do all the S-Type can do and so much more (and is still under the factory warranty). So we'll see....