Yesterday

Jaguar S-Type R | High Mile Club

A Jaguar icon for little more than Shed money - with a quarter of a million miles in easy reach... 

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Those of us intrigued by affordable, high-mileage, interesting cars must eventually accept that the vehicles we love - whether owned or just dreamed about - will never quite be perfect. However much time and effort is invested, realistically, there will always be some niggle or gripe that keeps it from being absolutely ideal. You live with it, of course, because the cost of repair is completely nonsensical, but it never stops being a small bugbear. The paint on my 160k Compact is good enough, albeit with imperfections that really bother me. Only if I sort those out it’ll make the others look worse, and before I know it we’ll be into respray territory. For a £2k car, so no. 

Attachment is the problem. These cars have made it this far, by hook or by crook, and it feels like our duty to keep them going that bit longer. Maybe even improve them along the way. They haven’t been abandoned or given up just yet, so they deserve a fresh injection of love and TLC. After all, somebody must have spent the money at some point to get the car here - the only proper thing to do is try your best with it. Otherwise known as spending some more money.

Sometimes it’s a daft strategy, though it’s hard not to be presented with a Jaguar S-Type R, freshly MOT’d this week and said to boast a full service history, and not be tempted to continue its story a little longer. After all, the colour combo is fantastic, it seems in fine fettle, there’s at least one Michelin fitted to the 18-inch wheels and S-Types look better now than they ever have. Or we’re getting old. Oh yeah - and it’s £2,995. 

That’s right, three thousand pounds for one of the great super-saloons of the early '00s. One of the great supercharged Jags of the 21st century, in fact. Maybe it isn’t quite an M5, the Jag, but then the BMWs were never £2,995. And the mileage? 229,000, or just a bit more than 10k a year, every year, for its 22-year life.

The MOT history shows fairly consistent use over that time; it’s always about 10,000 or so between tests, rather than a mega year then next to nothing after that. Given the general condition inside and the R’s remit, we’ll assume they were mostly motorway miles. There’s a bit of crinkling in the seat bolster, and the passenger’s door looks a slightly different blue, but come on - supercharged Jaguar V8, 12 months MOT, £2,995. 

There are some bits and bobs to sort out, fiddly bits highlighted by the test like bushes, bearings and brake lines, but none of the worrying stuff you usually see like tyres down to canvas or brake pads set to expire. The S-Type has all the makings of a great modern classic project for someone with the know-how (or the budget) to bring it back to its best. It’ll never be perfect, of course, though it surely could still be a damn fine old Jag. There really is nothing else like it; no S-Type R close in mileage, no V8 XF close in cost, no contemporary anywhere near on either. For a whole host of reasons, this deserves some love. Who’s feeling courageous?

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[Turbobanana]

People forget that a huge team of talented engineers spent a fortune developing something designed to keep functioning, so high mileage really isn't the problem it's perceived to be.

As the former owner of a SAAB 900 turbo that I took to 250k, the mileage on this wouldn't bother me. I just don't like it or want it, I'm afraid.

Cheap speed for somebody though. Great shed.

[griffsomething]

Miles wouldn’t put me off, the grey interior would. That’d have to go. But £3k for a 400 bhp V8 is a bargain!

Then maybe play around with lowering it, they can look quite cool:

[British Beef]

Brilliant cars, with one of the best driving positions and comfortable seats.

I had both E39 M5 and an S-type, and from a comfort side the S-type won hands down. (although the M5 was better in every other department).

Great cars, this shows they can be reliable. just a shame the styling was so marmite else would have been a future classic.

[pbe624]

Suggest to look up the Wheeler Dealer episode on the Jaguar S type R where they do a make over of one with 200,000 miles on it. Main concern was the supercharger... .

[cerb4.5lee]

They're marmite to look at for me, but that does look like great value as mentioned though. I also remember having a bit of fun with one once when I had the E92 M3 as well.

[The Pistonsdead]

Good bang for buck V8

[martin12345]

pbe624 said:

Suggest to look up the Wheeler Dealer episode on the Jaguar S type R where they do a make over of one with 200,000 miles on it. Main concern was the supercharger... .

Supercharger wouldn't worry me. Only thing that normally goes on them is the coupler in the nose which is a few hundred quid to replace. Worst case a good 2nd hand supercharger is only £500 or so and not that fiddly to replace as it is in the V on the top of the engine

Superchargers are way more reliable that turbo's and there's only 1 of them

The 4.2l SC V8 is one of Jaguar's most reliable engines

[Stedman]

Ultraviolet too! Lovely colour

[DaveyBoyWonder]

Really warmed to these as they've aged. Not sure I'd be brave enough for a 250k mile one but relatively low mileage ones aren't expensive either...

[WPA]

martin12345 said:

Supercharger wouldn't worry me. Only thing that normally goes on them is the coupler in the nose which is a few hundred quid to replace. Worst case a good 2nd hand supercharger is only £500 or so and not that fiddly to replace as it is in the V on the top of the engine

Superchargers are way more reliable that turbo's and there's only 1 of them

The 4.2l SC V8 is one of Jaguar's most reliable engines

Don't these suffer timing chain breakages / issues

[fflump]

Looks decent-I’ve seen far worse interiors on cars with a third of that mileage

[Diderot]

I had one back in 2006. Fast and very comfortable.

[Mike1990]

Love these!

[amoeba]

The gearbox shat the bed on mine at 205k. Unfortunately the cost of repair/replacement for the ZF boxes is more than the price of the car...

Otherwise loved the car, and fairly reasonable running costs for a car with 400hp. The only real negative is slight lack of rear passenger space, and the problem of rusty sills (fixable).

[sideways man]

Big fan of these, even when they were first announced. I got close to getting one with LPG convesion,when £1k ish was the going rate, but bottled it.

The 3.0 is the fragile engine to avoid, these 4.2’s go for ever with good servicing.

[Richard-390a0]

Shed of the Week is two days early I see!

[el romeral]

That has worn its lunar mileage very well indeed - inside and out. Always had a soft spot for these, and admired its different take on the luxury four door saloon theme. Awesome V8ness for just three grand. Has had an exhaust, or at very least, a quad tailpipe upgrade, it suits the car.

[GeniusOfLove]

el romeral said:

That has worn its lunar mileage very well indeed - inside and out. Always had a soft spot for these, and admired its different take on the luxury four door saloon theme. Awesome V8ness for just three grand.

The Ford era Jaguars are really solidly made cars and they can all wear big miles well, all the billions Ford spent through the 90s and early 00s really paid off in that regard. The various leggy old Jaguars I've had have been easier to work on, far less troublesome, and a lot less crusty underneath than the various leggy contemporary MBs.

[tr7v8]

I had 2 S types, both face lift cars (54 & 56 plate) both desesals.
Fantastic loved the looks, both mine dark outside, champagne leather inside. Everyone loved them. Also very reliable, both ex demo + 1.
This is lovely, andI am sorely tempted but I need another car like a hole in the head!

[Supersam83]

Whenever I see this car I'm always reminded of Antonio Pizzonia destroying one at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with a Autocar journalist beside him.