So, I'm going to be my typical blunt self here....

Why do you have a Jaguar in the first place? If it is to somehow show the world, "hey ladies, I have a Jaaagggg" you are just going to be endlessly frustrated. You need to be honest with yourself. Me personally, the "you have a Jaaagggg???" attention I get was a little amusing at first but has become the biggest issue I have with my car. I don't want or need that kind of attention and that isn't why I bought mine. I bought mine because I needed a sedan for kids. I wanted a rear wheel drive car as well. When these came into the short list, I decided that I would like to drive a rear drive sedan with a lovely crafted interior and a exterior design that didn't look like everything else out there. It also handles much better than many of the choices in it's price range. I now have an issue with it as well. We now have three kids, and to be honest, the S is becoming a little cramped when I need to run errands. But back to you....

You need to post up, or just list, what you really want out of a car. Like I said before, be honest with yourself. Then decide what vehicle will satisfy those needs and wants.

If you insist on having a European sedan, then you may jump from the frying pan into the fire if say you trade yours in for a BMW or Mercedes. Honestly, they are no better or worse for issues as the Jaguar. Here is where the "reputation" thing comes into play. Back in the day, when Jaguar was part of British Leyland, they were royal pains to keep running. The equivalent Merc or BMW were still simple enough that they were relatively bullet proof. Those days are long gone. All cars have become very complex computer centric beasts. The thing is, with that complexity, Merc and BMW now have there own set of issues, while Jaguar has them too, their overall quality has gotten much better over the past twenty years or so.

So, here is my advice on your dilemma. It really seems that you got scared by a dealer that we have pretty much summed up are not that "nice" of a group, to put it nicely. These cars are pretty bullet proof. That too has been said. It really seems you have a minor issue that is, simply put, pissing off the computer. That will trigger all kinds of faults. So, if you go to sell it with all those faults, your gonna get next to nothing for it. For the $$ your are going to put into it, you'll get more than that out even if you want to get rid of it afterward. But, you just may find that after it's cleaned up and running right that you fall in love with it all over again. Heck, taking Aidan home from basketball just yesterday, I jumped on it for a minute pulling out of a side street and the *** kicked out a little and she took off.... Both Aidan and I were still smiling ear to ear when we got home....What other 6cyl sedan does that????

 

Rick, George, Jag V8, Jeff , you guys are awesome! Your generosity warms my heart.
Thanks for all that you do to help the Jaguar community .
Sincerely VMV

 

Thanks!
I've learned lots on here (and seen some very funny posts!) so the least I can do is help out other folk.

 

Oops, what a soap opera, guys jump in to help and now the OP wants to throw in the towel. What the saying,,, " a fool and his money ( or Jag ) are soon parted "

 

First of all, I didn't get this car to drive ladies...that's dumb in my opinion because I don't like girls who like me because of what I have. Honestly I didn't know what I wanted as my first car, and I said to my dad "get me something cheap like a PT Cruiser" because I didn't care that much. My dad didn't want me to get something simple like that and one day says to me "Joel, I'm gonna find you a Jaguar" and it blew my mind. It never came across my head that I could possibly get a Jaguar as my first car, and my dad eventually finds the one we have and it was sold to us by someguy from Tenessee. So that's why this car was my first car. Quit calling me out as being an attention grabber for ladies. Not all my friends honestly know that I have a Jaguar to say the least unless I've brought up this issue to them.

I might get it repaired and sell it if I can for a great price, but sure starting with a Jaguar as a first car makes it hard to choose what kind of other car to get. Honestly, I'm not a fan of Mercedes and I don't want a BMW because of parts prices. I really like the leather interior of my car and the things like the seat warmers, the memory adjustable seat positions and I do like the look of the car, but I'm just tired of putting up with its problems. If somehow I could get all these problems to leave that'd be great as long as I don't pay the price of another car to repair it.

The other thing is leaving it the way it is and not getting much money out of it is the same as paying over $4,000 and selling it. I'm gonna make the same money either way unless I take it to Rick, fix it and sell it for a really great price. I'm just tryna do what's wise, and quit trash talking me like you even know what's going on

 

Don't stress about one or two comments, they happen on forums sometimes but don't really mean anything.

 

yeah, ok, but I don't like being called out like this either

 

Alright, new plan...I'm taking it to Rick to get it fixed this Friday, and after that I'll determine from there whether to sell it or not

 

If you really read my post, I wasn't calling you out... I was prompting you to really be honest as to why you want / have the car. I'm glad you don't have it to "pose" in. If you really dig deep into these forums you will see plenty that do. Then there are those like the ones offering to help that are here because we love these cars.

My advise to you is fix it to get the most out of selling it.
I say to sell it because you really seem spooked by it, despite our telling you that it is just acting up due to vacuum leak. Once spooked by a car, every little thing is going to make you jumpy and think the worse. I know, I've been there. You'll be so worried that it's going to cost you a fortune that you'll never really enjoy it. And you should be enjoying your first car...

Now to go bit off topic, just because you struck a cord with me when you said you'd "get a PT Cruiser". My wife, before she was my wife, bought a PT Cruiser that I found for her. It was a blue 2004. That was a cool little car. To be honest, she beat the poo out of it and it never broke. She hauled her kids around in it and it served her well for a few years. She now has a Grand Caravan that I'm not all that impressed with. Interesting bit of trivia. If you read my signature, I have a old Dodge 2.2 Turbo car. Those motors were real advanced for their day. When Daimler owned Chrysler they wanted to spunk up the PT Cruiser and Neon and initially had Mercedes engineers look at supercharging the 2.4. Well, they couldn't get it right (so I heard) and dug up any remaining engineers that worked on the old 2.2 Turbo motors and had them do work on the 2.4. The end result was the PT Cruiser GT and Touring Turbo along with the SRT4..The GT had 215hp in 03 and 04....and 230hp starting in 05...

To be honest.. If you like the PT, I'm sure there are plenty out there. A GT convertible like this maybe.... http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...standard=false



(BTW, same color as Jenn's old cruiser)

 

I'd fix it and drive it a month or two and mull it over. It'll be a better time to sell then, if you still want to.

 

If you peruse the S-Type section of this forum and go back a year or two, you'll notice a common theme in the advice that a number of members here give to folks who are considering an S-Type or recently acquired one and are frustrated with its issues. That theme centers around the fact that while these cars are great bang-for-the-buck sedans when purchased at least several model years old, they typically have common issues that can be very pricey to resolve if you are not a D-I-Y type or don't have friends who are. Your car exhibits several of these well-known issues and you've finally figured out that your best course of action is to take advantage of Rick's generosity. So you've made an initial wise decision....

I'll say it again - while you're with Rick, be sure to watch, listen, ask questions, and learn. If you can become a D-I-Y owner, you can learn to enjoy your car and begin to reap the benefits it can provide to you. If you expect that everything Rick repairs will magically turn your car into a trouble-free method of transportation from that point forward, you will be sadly disappointed. These cars have maintenance and repair quirks that can usually be addressed by an owner willing to listen and learn. That's exactly what these forums are for. Keep that in mind going forward. But you're going to need to establish a maintenance fund for your car, just as you should with any vehicle you select. Some cars need small ones. Some cars need more, and the S-Type is in that category. But you can save yourself thousands of dollars if you have the aptitude to source the parts and do it yourself. That's why many of us are here. You're young and inexperienced. We're older, experienced, and willing to offer assistance in most cases. Keep an open mind. If you do, your attitude towards your car may change considerably over the next few months....

If you remain convinced that you cannot or do not wish to D-I-Y after Rick gets your car back into good condition, then I advise you to sell it. Maintenance and repair costs seem to be your primary concern. If that is indeed the case, then find yourself a good deal on a Honda Accord. Great car, minimum repair costs, steady resale value. It will serve you well. Good luck in whatever direction you choose to go....

 

I'm taking this one step at a time. I'm ordering the parts right now, and am gonna take my car to Rick's place next weekend.

I wanna learn a lot about the repairs for my car. The only thing is I'm no car expert and haven't dealt with any car issues by myself. I'm used to having a friend or my dad help me.

 

A quick tip: beware not to OVER tighten things. It's all too easy to do and if you get into the habit sooner or later leads to grief (yep, done it). There's a clue in the sizes of such as bolts: small means less torque to tighten it.

 

This will all be explained as Joel gets his hands dirty with me!

 

I used to be a victim of the if tight is good tighter is better mentality. Till one day when I was 18 and snapped the aluminum water neck of an Olds quad 4 engine, when the parts stores were closed cause I didn't have it lined up against the block right, and went to town tightening up the bolts... Lesson learned!

A Torque wrench should be one of the first tools any shadetree mechanic buys. Autozone will even loan you one for free if you can't afford it....

Take care,

George

 

Rick - I'm sure, just had the thought.
George - +1 on getting a torque wrench. You guys are so lucky to have AZ. Nowhere for free OBD or free loan of tools here that I know.

 

May be a business opportunity John!


Sometimes 2 different Torque wrenches are needed. I have 2!

 

Update: I took it to Rick's place this weekend. He was really great and has worked hard on it. There's just the transmission left and a couple other issues such as the O2 sensor and needing new brakes that Rick discovered along the way. Rick took time to fix some of the other issues he noticed, such as getting a new serpentine belt. Rick could tell you more. Unfortunately the ignition coils we ordered were the wrong ones and I'm gonna have to exchange them for the right ones. I'm gonna come down next weekend, to Fort Mill again and Rick's gonna work on the transmission, the ignition coils, the O2 sensor, and the brakes and hopefully it will all be done from there.

 

Glad to hear that you've made significant progress on the vehicle with Rick's valued assistance. Good luck next weekend - hope every remaining issue gets resolved for you....

 

I don't fancy running another, but maybe someone else will!