seriously good value?
Discussion
really really fed up with driving a diesel. i hate my focus 1.8 'TDCI' and i'm heading back as soon as funds allow to petrol heaven. hopefully by the summer..
i'm quite tempted by the S- Type R i have seen 04 plate models going for 30K which imho is seriously good value for money with 03 going for 23K.
i am seriously tempted by one of these because it offers refinement, performance and 4 doors. i'm just under 30 so it probably doesn't suit my age but quite frankly i don't care. -any other cars with 4 doors and goes like stink?!
what i need to know is what are the servicing costs on the S-Type R? how bad is the fuel consumption around town? what about motorway fuel consumption at 70-90mph? how expensive are tyres/brakes? any nasty suprises with jag extended warrenties?
what do i need to look out for? any common faults?
cheers
i'm quite tempted by the S- Type R i have seen 04 plate models going for 30K which imho is seriously good value for money with 03 going for 23K.
i am seriously tempted by one of these because it offers refinement, performance and 4 doors. i'm just under 30 so it probably doesn't suit my age but quite frankly i don't care. -any other cars with 4 doors and goes like stink?!
what i need to know is what are the servicing costs on the S-Type R? how bad is the fuel consumption around town? what about motorway fuel consumption at 70-90mph? how expensive are tyres/brakes? any nasty suprises with jag extended warrenties?
what do i need to look out for? any common faults?
cheers
I have an S-Type R with all the toys. Make sure you get the SatNav and Voice Control and Comms Kit etc.
They go like stink, but fuel economy is not great. I average around 17 mpg. Much less if you push it.
Servicing costs are very reasonable for this type of car, and the Jaguar service network is generally excellent.
Expect to pay a lot for tyres, brake discs and pads etc.
I love mine, but you might want to check out your insurance costs as they are group 19/20 IIRC. I am a couple of years older than you with a clean licence and full no claims.
They go like stink, but fuel economy is not great. I average around 17 mpg. Much less if you push it.
Servicing costs are very reasonable for this type of car, and the Jaguar service network is generally excellent.
Expect to pay a lot for tyres, brake discs and pads etc.
I love mine, but you might want to check out your insurance costs as they are group 19/20 IIRC. I am a couple of years older than you with a clean licence and full no claims.
I think for £30,000 there are a few high performance 4 door cars available, these include:
B10 Alpina - £23,000, 40,000 Miles
BMW M5 - £27,000, 29,000 Miles
Mercedes S55 AMG Limo - £29,975, 43,000 miles
Mercedes E55 AMG - £12,995, 63,000 Miles
Audi S4 - £29,500, 15,000 Miles
Audi S8 - £22,500, 33,000 Miles
Audi A8 3.7 Quattro - £30,000, 17,000 Miles
Some very nice pieces of metal there, hope I give you something to think about as 29 is a bit young for a Jag. All prices quoted are off Autotrader tonight, there are cheaper and more expensive examples available of all. Photos are obviously library photos - my fave - the Red S8 for £22.5k on autotrader
>> Edited by teen_cerbera on Friday 3rd March 01:20
B10 Alpina - £23,000, 40,000 Miles
BMW M5 - £27,000, 29,000 Miles
Mercedes S55 AMG Limo - £29,975, 43,000 miles
Mercedes E55 AMG - £12,995, 63,000 Miles
Audi S4 - £29,500, 15,000 Miles
Audi S8 - £22,500, 33,000 Miles
Audi A8 3.7 Quattro - £30,000, 17,000 Miles
Some very nice pieces of metal there, hope I give you something to think about as 29 is a bit young for a Jag. All prices quoted are off Autotrader tonight, there are cheaper and more expensive examples available of all. Photos are obviously library photos - my fave - the Red S8 for £22.5k on autotrader
>> Edited by teen_cerbera on Friday 3rd March 01:20
. 
. 
anonymous said:
[redacted]
thanks for that, got a full clean licence (touch wood) and in past got some quotes for group 20 cars. not really too worried about that.
i won't be doing to many miles in the jag and any miles i do will be mostly motorway just so as long as i get over 20mpg on a run at 80-90mph i'm happy with that. i thought tyres/brakes/pads will be expensive simple because it is a heavy car.
i wouldn't get it without sat nav and voice control! i've seen a few on the used jag site without the sat nav, it doesn't look right!
NST
teen_cerbera said:
I think for £30,000 there are a few high performance 4 door cars available, these include:
B10 Alpina - £23,000, 40,000 Miles
BMW M5 - £27,000, 29,000 Miles
Mercedes S55 AMG Limo - £29,975, 43,000 miles
Mercedes E55 AMG - £12,995, 63,000 Miles
Audi S4 - £29,500, 15,000 Miles
Audi S8 - £22,500, 33,000 Miles
Audi A8 3.7 Quattro - £30,000, 17,000 Miles
Some very nice pieces of metal there, hope I give you something to think about as 29 is a bit young for a Jag. All prices quoted are off Autotrader tonight, there are cheaper and more expensive examples available of all. Photos are obviously library photos - my fave - the Red S8 for £22.5k on autotrader
>> Edited by teen_cerbera on Friday 3rd March 01:20
rather scared by the running costs of the M5 (the warranty alone is silly money). i have a friend who is BMW mechanic who would help problems. his advice was to get one of the last of the line M5 as it would have any issues iron out.
Audi S4 is alittle to small for my liking and A8 alittle to big! i would really like the RS6 but the running costs are too high imho.
Never been a fan of the old shape E55. the new shape is more than i really want to spend.
I test drove a M3 SMG summer last year, very nice car but ideally need something alittle bigger with more refinement. i hope to get a second car for weekends and trackdays eg caterham/elise later on.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
My mechanic friend from the top of his head list a few known problems, he did say that this cars need money spent on them to keep with in tip top condition. the 540 he thinks is a nice car in sport trim, it is slightly slower but also doesn't have anywhere the issues that the M5 suffers from. he said it all depends on how deep your pockets are :-)
I had an S-Type R for about 5 months last year, so FWIW here are my thoughts:
- Don't worry about being too young for it, I'm 33 and think it looks fantastic
- Fuel economy on mine was surprisingly OK, around 22mpg average
- Agree that it must have SatNav or you'll never sell it again, in addition to that the system is excellent
- Mine had a fair few niggles that needed sorting out, which they (mostly) were by Jaguar under warranty. The franchised dealer I bought it from were complete cowboys though (mail me offline if you want to know which one) so look out.
- Insurance is very reasonable for such a powerful car
However - and think carefully about this - I sold it in the end because of one thing only: it's an automatic. It was my first ever automatic, and I thought I'd love that, but in the end it drove me nuts. Nothing wrong with it as such, I've just found out that I don't do autos. Especially in a sporty car like the R, for me it just removed too much fun from the equation.
So, in summary, if you're after something similar, as somebody suggested above, I'd look at a Monaro. It'll be thirstier, but is a proper muscle car, had endless modding potential, and is dirt cheap to service. I wish I'd bought one instead of the Jag.
Hope this helps.
- Don't worry about being too young for it, I'm 33 and think it looks fantastic
- Fuel economy on mine was surprisingly OK, around 22mpg average
- Agree that it must have SatNav or you'll never sell it again, in addition to that the system is excellent
- Mine had a fair few niggles that needed sorting out, which they (mostly) were by Jaguar under warranty. The franchised dealer I bought it from were complete cowboys though (mail me offline if you want to know which one) so look out.
- Insurance is very reasonable for such a powerful car
However - and think carefully about this - I sold it in the end because of one thing only: it's an automatic. It was my first ever automatic, and I thought I'd love that, but in the end it drove me nuts. Nothing wrong with it as such, I've just found out that I don't do autos. Especially in a sporty car like the R, for me it just removed too much fun from the equation.
So, in summary, if you're after something similar, as somebody suggested above, I'd look at a Monaro. It'll be thirstier, but is a proper muscle car, had endless modding potential, and is dirt cheap to service. I wish I'd bought one instead of the Jag.
Hope this helps.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Really because a few months ago Total BMW did a second version of their - How to buy a BMW section. They did the E39 M5 some time ago when values were high and still rated it as one of the best. Now that the values of tumbled they did it again and basically said it was the best value high-performance BMW you can get!!!! In fact they commented that the reliability is very high and there are no known major problems - VANOS is not a problem on the M5! Its the older M3's that it was a problem. I have the magazine in front of me:
Engine
An absolute beauty and almost bullet proof, but there are a few flaws. Although pre-2000 cars use more oil than later cars, any heavy oil use or blue smoke needs investigating - but it is not all bad news. On cars produced until late 1999, defective O-ring seals in the VANOS variable cam timing unit can cause oil to be sucked into the inlet manifold, Repair is a simple replacement of these o-rings but in extreme cases, a replacement VANOS unit would have to be fitted under waranty.
Some very early M5s suffered from the piston rings not bedding in properly duing initial running in and did have a problem with excessive oil consuimption, but cars produced afer feb 2000 featured revised piston rings designed to cure the problem.
Rattling noises from the exhaust sustem are usually caused simply bu a loose support at the rear of th etransmission tunnel, the cure being to simply tighten the nuts.
If the engine intermittently switches into "merergency" mode, you will need a pair of throttle potentiometers, which are improved for cars build after aug 1999. Most discussion on BMW M power engines revolves around the VANOS system and many M5 owners also cite this as a weak point. A noisy VANOS unit when starting the engine from cold is recognised as a problem by BMW. Caused by the oil draining out of the VANOS mechanisms hgh-pressure chamber after the engines stopped, when the engine is started again, the VANOS piston can move freely against the housing until oil pressure has built up.
BMW points out that the noise has no effect on the operation or durability of the engine, but if customers insist, an electric pre-charge pump can be fitted to build up the VANOS oil pressure before the engine starts.
End quote from TOTAL BMW magazine - sorry for mistakes as I was touch typing....
I'm looking at a similar decision, but if I decide to go the luxary car route then I think it's got to be the A8. I love the Jag but agree with the image probalem as I'm 32 and just not sure I could drive around in an S-Type, the A8 is just so much more suitable and meant to be great to drive and with a decent tiptronic gearbox.
In my opinion the problem with the M5 and E55 etc is that they are all older cars for that money and you are asking for additional problems if you buy a car 3 years old rather than a year, irrespective if how reliable they are, all cars are going to need new discs at some stage and if you go for a big powerful car they are going to cost a fair bit.
The only prob with the S-Type R and A8 is that they'll both lose about £20k over the next 4 years and that is a lot of cash to dissapear!
In my opinion the problem with the M5 and E55 etc is that they are all older cars for that money and you are asking for additional problems if you buy a car 3 years old rather than a year, irrespective if how reliable they are, all cars are going to need new discs at some stage and if you go for a big powerful car they are going to cost a fair bit.
The only prob with the S-Type R and A8 is that they'll both lose about £20k over the next 4 years and that is a lot of cash to dissapear!
JRM said:
I'm looking at a similar decision, but if I decide to go the luxary car route then I think it's got to be the A8. I love the Jag but agree with the image probalem as I'm 32 and just not sure I could drive around in an S-Type, the A8 is just so much more suitable and meant to be great to drive and with a decent tiptronic gearbox.
In my opinion the problem with the M5 and E55 etc is that they are all older cars for that money and you are asking for additional problems if you buy a car 3 years old rather than a year, irrespective if how reliable they are, all cars are going to need new discs at some stage and if you go for a big powerful car they are going to cost a fair bit.
The only prob with the S-Type R and A8 is that they'll both lose about £20k over the next 4 years and that is a lot of cash to dissapear!
both these cars lose alot of money for the first 3-4 years its quite scarey!
the A8 is alittle to big for me and to me (!) both are fab cars. the automatic issue will be solved with my second car! caterham/elise/VX etc.
i completely agree that the E55 and M5 are much older cars. and imho all the E55/M5 i have seen all look 'tired'. i don't quite know why they don't wear the age well. Audi doesn't seem to suffer from the same problem imho.
o.versteer said:
I had an S-Type R for about 5 months last year, so FWIW here are my thoughts:
- Don't worry about being too young for it, I'm 33 and think it looks fantastic
- Fuel economy on mine was surprisingly OK, around 22mpg average
- Agree that it must have SatNav or you'll never sell it again, in addition to that the system is excellent
- Mine had a fair few niggles that needed sorting out, which they (mostly) were by Jaguar under warranty. The franchised dealer I bought it from were complete cowboys though (mail me offline if you want to know which one) so look out.
- Insurance is very reasonable for such a powerful car
However - and think carefully about this - I sold it in the end because of one thing only: it's an automatic. It was my first ever automatic, and I thought I'd love that, but in the end it drove me nuts. Nothing wrong with it as such, I've just found out that I don't do autos. Especially in a sporty car like the R, for me it just removed too much fun from the equation.
So, in summary, if you're after something similar, as somebody suggested above, I'd look at a Monaro. It'll be thirstier, but is a proper muscle car, had endless modding potential, and is dirt cheap to service. I wish I'd bought one instead of the Jag.
Hope this helps.
thank for the information. i like the monaro in fact it was one of the other cars on the list, but the lack of 4 drs puts me off. 22mpg sounds ok me, i won't be doing huge amount of mileage so fuel consumption isn't a issue.
Go with the S Type R.
Best of the bunch, apart from the M5, but the running costs and revised BMW warranty would put me off.
Jaguar warranty is a good one and the R's are amazingly cheep to run for a 400bhp car, say £250 for annual service.
Don't give a second thought to the 'old men drive Jags' brigade.
Just a thought, how about an XJR instead, even more special ?
Best of the bunch, apart from the M5, but the running costs and revised BMW warranty would put me off.
Jaguar warranty is a good one and the R's are amazingly cheep to run for a 400bhp car, say £250 for annual service.
Don't give a second thought to the 'old men drive Jags' brigade.
Just a thought, how about an XJR instead, even more special ?
800 said:
Go with the S Type R.
Best of the bunch, apart from the M5, but the running costs and revised BMW warranty would put me off.
Jaguar warranty is a good one and the R's are amazingly cheep to run for a 400bhp car, say £250 for annual service.
Don't give a second thought to the 'old men drive Jags' brigade.
Just a thought, how about an XJR instead, even more special ?
new shape black XJR with 20" sepang allows alu trim with black leather! yes please! maybe in a few years time
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