Hello all,

I am about to buy a 2005 S-Type Diesel, and would like to know of any specific problems/issues/inspections I should do or check before handing over the cash. I mean specific to the diesel version. I lurked for a long while here to try to find some info, but most is related to the petrol version. Much of that is useful, but I did not find much about specific Diesel info. So, help is much appreciated. The car is a 2005, 6-speed manual, Executive version, 12-way/8-way seats, SatNav with touchscreen, Premium sound, with 18-inch OEM wheels (the many-spoked style), front parking assistance. I didn`t even knew, when I went to look at it, what options to look for, but it seems it was loaded at buy time. Buying from first owner, 148000 kms, full revision book by a dealer, and it drives very well. After looking at a few other cars, I commited to buy over the phone, subject to a more detailed analysis prior to purchase, but I really only intend to shy away if something major emerges. Faults found on first visit: front tires worn on the inside, both sides the same. Some very small chips in paint. External plastic on two headlamps dulled. No strange noises, everything that I tried worked well, nothing damaged inside, not even very markedly worn. It will need cambelts changed in 10000km, but that`s it. The front tire issue seems somewaht common on V6 petrol versions, and it was referred somewhere that Jaguar changed the front steering settings on account of that. Also, someone recomended higher front tire pressure as a means to both avoid this and to exetnd the life of the tires.

So, is there anything else I should look into? Thanks.

Daniel Frois

 

Most members are from USA/Canada where the 2.7D was never sold.

You'd do better on European forums such as www.jaguarforum.co.uk

There have been occasional threads on here so Search if you want to find them.

Manuals are very rare, especially in USA/Canada so again try other forums.

There are lots of diesel-specific issues and TSBs but you won't find them here. About the most that may help is https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...4&d=1269505095

Alignment (mainly STR) http://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/sh...lignment+wheel

 

Main issue Daniel is the DPF if it has one because it could make the car unsuitable for constant urban driving (a DPF needs to regenerate during longer journeys).
A 2.7d with downturned tailpipes doesn`t have a DPF.
Edit
I forgot to add that I`ve had a 55 plate auto S type 2.7d sport for nearly 5 yrs

 

I speak as an owner of a 2006 2.7D V6 S-type used in Britain. It has 121,000mile on the clock. The engine burns no oil, the dipstick level is always the same. The torque output from this engine is neck-wrenching. Do not believe anything anyone says about diesels being slow! Only today I saw-off a competitor doing 60mph. up a fairly steep hill. He had no chance. The engine is no noisier than the XJ6 I had a few cars back. It starts instantly, hot or cold the same. The car feels a lot lighter than its (almost) two tons. There is no black smoke, no trouble from the diesel particulate filter. The cambelts, I am informed by the dealer's mechanic, are huge, and much fatter than usual. The car will 'spoil' you for anything else, so be warned! And if the hole-picker who reads my every message so carefully down to the last comma tells you there is ONE cambelt, that may well be so. It WAS a year ago when I was so informed, my memory for these things isn't perfect.
There is an "however" though: Check the autobox very carefully indeed that you don't get any clutch judder/slip partic. in gears two, and three. This where trouble happens if the car has been aggressively driven for much of its life. The ATF fluid should have been changed at the latest 80,000mile. Ignore any talk about the autobox being "sealed for life". It isn't. It is dangerous in terms of v. expensive NOT to change the fluid. The installed fluid does NOT last "for life". Look back through any repair/maintenance receipts for your car indicating a fluid change. The correct fluid is NOT the one advised by the manufacturer. A fluid meeting Dexron VI specification is better than the original. Be sure it is full-synthetic. Many contributors here will affirm.
If your test drive indicates all is ok, (being sure you get the autobox fully warmed up) then there is only the price to argue about.
My car doesn't wear the front tyres on the inside, so something must have been done about this. If toe-in/parallel, caster and camber angles are all correct for a back-wheel drive car, it should wear the tyres a little more on the outsides as usual due to the slight cornering-scrub.
My views are based on hard experience with the very car you are contemplating. This website has been most helpful to me in the past.
Leedsman.

 

Wow! Many thanks for all the replies. It is a pity that the US didn`t get the diesel version, especially as the engine was developed by Ford and Peugeot. The advice by Leedsman is especially useful, of course, as an informed owner of the same version. I^m happy to report that the car I`m looking at has less than 100.000 miles, and is a 6-speed manual. I knew auto boxes could be trouble, as in other makes. It does have downturned tailpipes, so maybe it does not have a DPF. If anyone wants to take a look at the Internet ad, it is at http://www.standvirtual.com/carros/J...Type/P1971543/

Maybe someone more knowledgeable can gather more info on the car from the pictures. If so, please let me know your thoughts. And many thanks to all, especially to Leedsman.

Daniel Frois

 

It looks very expensive

England is known as having very expensive cars. Even so that looks really bad.

 

I meant, to Leedsman and dervdave. I usually do 40-mile trips with about 30 miles of open road and highway and about 10 of city driving, of which only 5 or 6 are really city-like, with lights and traffic jams. I hope that is enough to not cause DPF problems, even if it has one (or two).

Daniel Frois

 

Hi Daniel nice looking car, I`ve the same Mercury wheels on mine (they`re a pain to clean) It doesn`t have a DPF, as I posted earlier downturned tail pipes = no DPF.
My 2.7d does (straight pipes) and has gave no trouble whatsoever apart from a faulty pressure sensor.

 

That`s very good to know for sure, dervdave. Many, many thanks. Roger on the wheel cleaning bit. That was my very first thought when I saw the pics of the car: Wow, nice wheels...they must be hell to clean up properly! These are 18-inch, with 245/40-18 tires, same as yours, I presume. Do you (or anyone else, for that matter) care to offer some advice on cleaning methods, apart from cleaning them often, so that it is easy nest time? Or perhaps on tire brand choice? As I mentioned, the front tires are worn on the inside, and thanks to the good souls on this forum and the .com forum, I know how to prevent this in the future, but I still have to buy 2 new tires, maybe 4 if I can`t find identical ones. Any thoughts?
And, BTW, I have spent now a good few tens of hours picking info from this forum, and I must say I am impressed with the human quality of the members here. I have some experience with forums on other areas (mostly not car-related), and there`s always some bad-tempered people, some flame wars, loss of netiquette, etc. Not so here: people just seem more polite and really willing to help for help`s sake, and to share experiences, which is what a forum is really for. For that, I thank you all. Even if, by some disastrous event, the buy goes sour, I have had, and expect to continue to have, a pleasant time here (as far as Internet forum time goes...), and that is not always the case in forums.

Thank you.

Daniel Frois

 

Very nice of you to say Daniel, best of luck !
oh the wheels ? clean them well and seal them (easier to clean in the future)

 

Re. your proposed purchase of diesel S-type, the stick-shift IS rare and of course will avoid the problems with ZF autoboxes, I note the car is "Executiv", I also note e24,400 is VERY pricey. I paid half that for one a year younger. I think you need some serious price negotiations there! If the deal doesn't go through, there will be another one along presently.
In England, these cars fetch about two thirds of the equivalent BMW, which currently hold their price better than any other make here. It used to be Mercedes, but then they became Chryslerized. And yes, I know Mecs. have been part of the Chrysler group for a long time, but they used to leave the Mercedes engineers alone to get on with it. You could get 20 years service life out of a proper Mercedes, hence the 190D being so popular everywhere as taxis.
Leedsman.
p.s. Thanx for the kind regard.

 

Thanks for the advice, leedsman, but, as I am sure you noticed, I live in Portugal. Cars here are more expensive than in most, if not all, European countries, largely due to horrid taxes. This car costed, new, 67000€, and I am not even sure that that included the Stanav and the Premium sound. As far as S-Type diesels go, this is one of the cheapest I found, but there aren´t many around. People prefer BMW or Mercedes. Then again, most Portuguese do not have sofisticated taste in most things...but that`s another story. You, or anyone, can do a search on the site of the ad, just click the tab that says "pesquisa" and then choose Car make from a dropdown, then model from another dropdown. If you choose Jaguar, then S-type, you will see this car is not at the expensive end of the market at all, and is roughly 10000€ less than a 530D from the same year. And no, I would not buy one: the E60 is the ugliest BMW since the 2000CS from the sixties. I would rather have an older E39, before 2003, or the 3-series with the 3 liter diesel engine. The only cheaper S-Types I found were older, pre-facelift, and petrol, which is to be expected.

So, there you go. We earn less, and pay more for our cars (and our fuel, and our tires, and...forget it). All the more reason to choose them well!

Daniel Frois

 

to jagv8:

I must say I originally did not understand your comment "It looks very expensive", so I didn`t reply. Only now, after seeing leedsman`s advice, did I realize you were actually referring to the price of the car! My apologies for being so thick. Blame it on the fact that I usually lurk in the Net in the very late hours of the day, after a whole day of vacations with two small kids and a wife that also deserves some rest. As for the reasons for the price, please see my reply to leedsman. Sad, but true. If you want a giggle, search the car ad site for some cars for which you know the value in your country. I`m sure you`ll get some surprises...and thanks for the comment, even if I saw it late.

Daniel Frois

 

That's OK.

The cars cost a lot new here, too. They lose value very fast.
Could you buy one from a near country (Spain? France?) that would be cheaper?

 

You could of course buy one in England and do a personal import/export if your laws allow that; but then of course you would be sitting on the wrong side. Handy though if you go into the taxi business!
Leedsman.

 

Yeah, well, the law here does allow for personal import,but the taxes make it so that it is not worthwhile. Unless you buy a car for parts, skipping the legalisation process...if the engine has to be replaced, it is probably less expensive to buy a whole car from the UK than to buy an engine locally. Not to mention that you get a lot of spares for the future, and maybe even an upgrade or two. For instance, I would really like a cream interior instead of black leather...but not enough to put me off the car. Maybe if someone in Europe has a cream interior for sale I will lose my head and do it. that, and maybe the sports suspension, are the only things I would change in the car. Does anyone here has experience with the Sport vs. standard suspension on a Diesel? If so, what`s the difference in handling and confort? Many roads here are less that perfect, and the added confort is my most anticipated characteristic in the Jaguar vs. my previous cars.

Daniel Frois

 

Done! Got the car yesterday, and drove around a bit, and I am very happy, with the confort, with the silence, and with how easy it is to drive despite its size. The family is also very happy with it! I put two new Bridgestone tires on, and I must say I am, so far, very glad with my choice. I do think, however, that the torque at low revs is weaker than I expected. I noticed it on the test drive, but considered it was lack of experience with the car. Now, with almost 300 kms driven on different circunstances, I believe it is just the car, not me. Probably more noticeable due to the manual gearbox, an auto would mask it somewhat. Any thoughts from diesel S-Type owners?

A very happy DF

 

I have a 2005 diesel which has just gone over 50,000 miles. I have had a few electrical gremlins, which were pretty much sorted by changing the battery. There was also a servicing issue over the transmission oil cooler. That was changed by Jaguar for free.

There have been some other bits and pieces, but the engine itself is a cracker. It is the most undiesel diesel I have come across, including Audi (a 2.5 TDi) and BMW (a 535d). I can get up to 40mpg on the motorway and 27-30mpg about town. It has not used any oil and I have had nitrogen put into the tyres and have seen minimal wear in the 10,000 miles I have had the car.

 

Pleased your happy with the car DF and your right they do have a slight lull in torque until the turbos spool up, unfortunately you tend to notice it more with the manual box.

 

I've been an owner/driver of diesel cars for about 30 years, and that effect of a slight lag in 'snap' acceleration is universal as compared to petrol engine. The reason is that not only is the diesel engine's flywheel heavier, the crank, conrods etc. are also heavier. This is to deal with the highly impulsive nature of the diesel's power stroke. The flywheel has to 'smooth out' the peaks of force. The pistons have to accellerate these heavier components before the power can be laid down onto the ground. Turbocharging compressors driven by exhaust gas historically also have a lag, somewhat mitigated by the latest variable-vane technology, or as in the case of Jag., TWO compressors. Sophisticated computer conrol of injection timing can also mitigate lag. If your engine also has variable valve timing (sorry, not on the 2.7D Jag!) even more mitigation is possible. It may possibly be worth a check via the diagnostic if both these compressors are working, any EGR valves aren't stuck etc. The easiest would be to get someone who's used to the diesel to drive it him/herself to give an opinion.
As rightly said, the autobox would tend to cover up lag due to the torque multiplication.
Leedsman.