My just collected Jaguar S Type R
Discussion
Excuse me if I ramble but its nice to keep a record of where I'm at car wise and how I got there
Few weeks ago we found that 4 cars between the two of us was not really viable / desirable so wanted to reduce the fleet to 3. never wanting to do things the simple way decided to sell 2 of them and acquire another
The fleet as it was:
986 Boxster S - great car in lovely condition and no desire to sell just yet
Citroen C2 Design - perfect town car and for o/hs 6 mile per day commute
Alfa GTV V6 - much time and money spent, as good as I could get it
Saab 9-5 aero - bought 12 months previously as a safe, comfortable family hack
After some deliberation the decision was taken to sell the Alfa, when that was sold the Saab would be sold and then a new family holdall would be acquired
The Alfa was a real good one with lots of history, low miles for the year, the right mods and was known in Alfa circles. Two days after being advertised it was sold for £100 shy of the asking price to the first person to view - more quickly than I was anticipating
Time to sell the 9-5 - this was advertised and sold for full asking price to the first person to enquire less than 24 hours after being advertised - another quicker than expected sale
With two of the four cars gone it was now clearly time to search for a new family holdall, I had the urge to go down the Jaguar route, my dad ran several XJ6's and somehow felt that the time was right to follow in his footsteps.
Initially I was considering X308's, either a very late 3.2 or perhaps even an XJR, then I started to look at 3.0 V6 X350's but the only one I found had been sold
My o/h asked 'why not an S Type' - to be honest I'd never considered one and when I read about current / previous owners seemed to like them, particularly if it was the R version
doing some research I discovered that only 1,242 S Type R's were produced for the UK market so finding one was not going to be especially easy
Considering condition and history more important than mileage and age I started looking, discovering a wide variance in price and most for sale being private sales which was not really a concern
My search was always going to be limited by the fact I'd promised not to spend more than 5k but after a day one car leapt out at me - dealer sale down in Kent, good description, good quality photos, reasonable mileage and a nice colour combination. Only problem was the price was above my budget
Firing off an enquiry email stating the maximum I was prepared to pay I got a very quick and professional response stating that a deal was possible - a phonecall the following morning saw me placing a £500 deposit, refundable if on viewing the car was not as described.
I could not make the 4 train, 200 mile journey for just over a week but dealer was doing everything right, the car being marked as sold on their website within 20 minutes of me paying the deposit.
Fast forward to yesterday and I made the journey down to view and hopefully collect the car. days like that always get me nervous - will it live up to expectations, what are my options if it doesn't etc etc. Fortunately, I needn't have had any concerns, on arrival the car was waiting, a cup of tea offered, keys were offered and it was exactly as described.
I'd come prepared with gloves, torch etc but it was obvious this car was a good one, very well presented, all previous MOTs, lots of invoices, service history with both Jagaur and a well known and respected Jagaur specialist in Hertfordshire, recent brakes and OE spec Continental tyres and a Jaguar Enthusiast Club sticker in the windscreen confirmed that this was a well cared for car
Welcome bonus was the car was advertised with 89,000 miles, on starting her up odometer showed just over 70,000 and checking the old MOTs, this all tied up - all pointers were that a good deal was turning into a really very good deal indeed
Money was exchanged and I was now the proud owner of very nice Jaguar S Type R.
Journey home was uneventful, save for a miraculous average of just over 35mpg being recorded.
Today has seen a quick wash taking place and noting down of what needs to be done, pretty limited but includes new numberplates, updated sat nav disc and a few very minor stone chips to be sorted as well as a full machine polish, can't remember buying such a well sorted car
Nicely specced with optional sat nav, phone, TV tuner (analogue sadly) and electric sunroof on top of a very generous standard spec that includes immensely comfortable and every which way adjustable electric memory seats
I'll let the pictures do the talking
The washer nozzles are not a different colour, just a trick of the light
[url]
|http://thumbsnap.com/1Me8Nfmo[/url
Few weeks ago we found that 4 cars between the two of us was not really viable / desirable so wanted to reduce the fleet to 3. never wanting to do things the simple way decided to sell 2 of them and acquire another
The fleet as it was:
986 Boxster S - great car in lovely condition and no desire to sell just yet
Citroen C2 Design - perfect town car and for o/hs 6 mile per day commute
Alfa GTV V6 - much time and money spent, as good as I could get it
Saab 9-5 aero - bought 12 months previously as a safe, comfortable family hack
After some deliberation the decision was taken to sell the Alfa, when that was sold the Saab would be sold and then a new family holdall would be acquired
The Alfa was a real good one with lots of history, low miles for the year, the right mods and was known in Alfa circles. Two days after being advertised it was sold for £100 shy of the asking price to the first person to view - more quickly than I was anticipating
Time to sell the 9-5 - this was advertised and sold for full asking price to the first person to enquire less than 24 hours after being advertised - another quicker than expected sale
With two of the four cars gone it was now clearly time to search for a new family holdall, I had the urge to go down the Jaguar route, my dad ran several XJ6's and somehow felt that the time was right to follow in his footsteps.
Initially I was considering X308's, either a very late 3.2 or perhaps even an XJR, then I started to look at 3.0 V6 X350's but the only one I found had been sold
My o/h asked 'why not an S Type' - to be honest I'd never considered one and when I read about current / previous owners seemed to like them, particularly if it was the R version
doing some research I discovered that only 1,242 S Type R's were produced for the UK market so finding one was not going to be especially easy
Considering condition and history more important than mileage and age I started looking, discovering a wide variance in price and most for sale being private sales which was not really a concern
My search was always going to be limited by the fact I'd promised not to spend more than 5k but after a day one car leapt out at me - dealer sale down in Kent, good description, good quality photos, reasonable mileage and a nice colour combination. Only problem was the price was above my budget
Firing off an enquiry email stating the maximum I was prepared to pay I got a very quick and professional response stating that a deal was possible - a phonecall the following morning saw me placing a £500 deposit, refundable if on viewing the car was not as described.
I could not make the 4 train, 200 mile journey for just over a week but dealer was doing everything right, the car being marked as sold on their website within 20 minutes of me paying the deposit.
Fast forward to yesterday and I made the journey down to view and hopefully collect the car. days like that always get me nervous - will it live up to expectations, what are my options if it doesn't etc etc. Fortunately, I needn't have had any concerns, on arrival the car was waiting, a cup of tea offered, keys were offered and it was exactly as described.
I'd come prepared with gloves, torch etc but it was obvious this car was a good one, very well presented, all previous MOTs, lots of invoices, service history with both Jagaur and a well known and respected Jagaur specialist in Hertfordshire, recent brakes and OE spec Continental tyres and a Jaguar Enthusiast Club sticker in the windscreen confirmed that this was a well cared for car
Welcome bonus was the car was advertised with 89,000 miles, on starting her up odometer showed just over 70,000 and checking the old MOTs, this all tied up - all pointers were that a good deal was turning into a really very good deal indeed
Money was exchanged and I was now the proud owner of very nice Jaguar S Type R.
Journey home was uneventful, save for a miraculous average of just over 35mpg being recorded.
Today has seen a quick wash taking place and noting down of what needs to be done, pretty limited but includes new numberplates, updated sat nav disc and a few very minor stone chips to be sorted as well as a full machine polish, can't remember buying such a well sorted car
Nicely specced with optional sat nav, phone, TV tuner (analogue sadly) and electric sunroof on top of a very generous standard spec that includes immensely comfortable and every which way adjustable electric memory seats
I'll let the pictures do the talking
The washer nozzles are not a different colour, just a trick of the light
[url]
|http://thumbsnap.com/1Me8Nfmo[/urlEdited by Andy665 on Wednesday 26th November 09:39
Edited by Andy665 on Monday 19th October 10:44
I love that Alfa, very nice and a shame to be sold!
The Jag looks like a great buy, and is a particular strong interest of mine(always looking in the classifieds!)
My stepdad had a 2001 3.0V6 last year for a while, immensely good sound from even that so I can't even imagine what yours sounds like! Enjoy mate
The Jag looks like a great buy, and is a particular strong interest of mine(always looking in the classifieds!)
My stepdad had a 2001 3.0V6 last year for a while, immensely good sound from even that so I can't even imagine what yours sounds like! Enjoy mate
I did look at an X350 but a few things put me off:
Corrosion issues due to reaction between steel and aluminium
Size, X350 is a BIG car and to be honest too big for what I need
Relative complexity of the X350
Factor in the rarity of S Type R and it just made more sense, as my budget would not have stretched to a 3.0 V6, or at a push, a high mileage 3.5 V8 - I was very luck though to secure a good S Type R at the price I paid, it was almost suspiciously good value but everything has checked out A1
Running costs I don't think will be too bad, tyres are not going to be cheap but have just secure a set of BBS 18" split rims, they need refurbishing but £80 - could not turn them down
Corrosion issues due to reaction between steel and aluminium
Size, X350 is a BIG car and to be honest too big for what I need
Relative complexity of the X350
Factor in the rarity of S Type R and it just made more sense, as my budget would not have stretched to a 3.0 V6, or at a push, a high mileage 3.5 V8 - I was very luck though to secure a good S Type R at the price I paid, it was almost suspiciously good value but everything has checked out A1
Running costs I don't think will be too bad, tyres are not going to be cheap but have just secure a set of BBS 18" split rims, they need refurbishing but £80 - could not turn them down
Love it, and the Alfa, both lovely cars.
I was looking at these (half heartedly) before i bought my MINI (i got scared and went for a newer car with a warranty in the end). They are an awful lot of car for the money, but the fear of big potential bills put me off. Yours looks a lovely example! Enjoy.
I was looking at these (half heartedly) before i bought my MINI (i got scared and went for a newer car with a warranty in the end). They are an awful lot of car for the money, but the fear of big potential bills put me off. Yours looks a lovely example! Enjoy.
Looks very tidy! Not surprised the Saab and Alfa sold quickly too, they look like well-looked after examples in the pics.
Are the heated seats electric on the S-type? The XF ones seem to be plumbed in to the HVAC system, so you've got to wait for the car to get up to temperature before you get a warm backside - defeats the whole point of heated seats IMO!
Are the heated seats electric on the S-type? The XF ones seem to be plumbed in to the HVAC system, so you've got to wait for the car to get up to temperature before you get a warm backside - defeats the whole point of heated seats IMO!
The exhaust was just too quiet so a trip to my local Longmire agent saw the backboxes replaced with straight through pipes, turned a pussycat into something a little more evil sounding.
Apologies for lack of visual but its all about the sound
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYJJRtHs-js&fe...
Apologies for lack of visual but its all about the sound
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYJJRtHs-js&fe...
The one thing that let the car down when I bought it were the alloys, nothing seriously bad, all were true and unbuckled but some kerb rash definitely needed to be sorted
Whilst it would have been easier to pay to get them refurbed I decided to do it myself.
All products were GT Pro - did my research and quality is excellent, good quality spray nozzles meant no blockages or splatter, excellent service from the supplier too
Each wheel removed in turn and given a thorough clean and rub down, using a small file to remove protruding metal chips from the kerbed areas
Deflated tyres so that the tyre could be masked off more easily
Applied the filler, left to dry and sanded down using combination of 180, 400, 1200 and 2000 wet and dry, some small areas needed doing again to get the finish I wanted
Acid etch primer followed by standard grey primer gave me a good base to work from, rubbed down after the last coat of primer went on
Three coats of aluminium silver, then a light rub down and two layers of clear lacquer
Protected with Migliore Wheel Seal and back on the car
As each wheel was removed I gave each wheel arch a really good clean using Bilt Hamber de-greaser, dressed the arch liners and rubbed down painted areas with light surface rust, finally coating everything I could see with Bilt Hamber Dynax clear wax
Before
After
For the sake of £50 in materials and some time and effort I'm really pleased with the results - more satisfying a nd a lot cheaper than having them done by someone else
Whilst it would have been easier to pay to get them refurbed I decided to do it myself.
All products were GT Pro - did my research and quality is excellent, good quality spray nozzles meant no blockages or splatter, excellent service from the supplier too
Each wheel removed in turn and given a thorough clean and rub down, using a small file to remove protruding metal chips from the kerbed areas
Deflated tyres so that the tyre could be masked off more easily
Applied the filler, left to dry and sanded down using combination of 180, 400, 1200 and 2000 wet and dry, some small areas needed doing again to get the finish I wanted
Acid etch primer followed by standard grey primer gave me a good base to work from, rubbed down after the last coat of primer went on
Three coats of aluminium silver, then a light rub down and two layers of clear lacquer
Protected with Migliore Wheel Seal and back on the car
As each wheel was removed I gave each wheel arch a really good clean using Bilt Hamber de-greaser, dressed the arch liners and rubbed down painted areas with light surface rust, finally coating everything I could see with Bilt Hamber Dynax clear wax
Before
After
For the sake of £50 in materials and some time and effort I'm really pleased with the results - more satisfying a nd a lot cheaper than having them done by someone else
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