Shed of the Week | Jaguar S-Type 4.2
Enough with the high-mile hybrids already - time for some old school V8 goodness
Not many people know this but the lead singer of REM used to own one of the Jaguars that you're looking at here.
Actually, he probably didn't, but with a name like Stipe he surely should have. It would have been a hard sell to a rockin' dude like him, though. When the new Ford-platformed X200 S-Type came out in 1999 it was immediately pigeonholed as an old man's car and a dull pastiche of what Jaguars were supposed to look like. In the minds of the old men who had been buying them up to then, at any rate.
Despite being a perfectly decent drive, the new S-Type quickly became the most unloved Jaguar since, ironically, the original S-Type of 1963 which even senior Jaguar personnel at the time had called ugly. Whether you liked the shape of the new S-Type or not, it was certainly Jaguarish. After the harsh slog through the cultural desert that we've been put through with the Type 01, maybe folk will start to look more kindly at the S as the equivalent of a refreshing glass of cool lager.
That's maybe a step too far, but this particular specimen does have plenty going for it, not least a big naturally aspirated V8 under the bonnet. Less pleasantly, like too many old Jags this one has been overbadged with a leaper and an embiggened/repositioned Jaguar motif on the front, and what looks like some sort of R badge on the back. If that last one was real it would mean an Eaton- supercharged 400hp/299lb ft engine, but as the pics, ad copy and 17-inch wheels confirm it's just the regular 4.2 AJ-V8. 'Just’ is underselling it, though. The result for the 4.2 was 300hp at 6,000rpm and 310lb ft at 4,100rpm, the extra capacity and power being achieved by lengthening the stroke, a technique enthusiastically recommended by both Shed and the postmistress.
It was enough to breeze the 1,735kg S-Type from 0-60mph in an easy 6.2sec, not that far behind the 5.3sec of the blown R, with the key bonus for Shed of it coming without the whining that he gets more than enough of in any car, irrespective of induction type. Here's what a 4.2 sounds like on straight pipes. Seems entirely appropriate for a car built in Castle Bromwich, where Spitfires were made.
Now, Shed likes a V8 as much as he dislikes lager, but he is concerned about the connection between this March '02 registered Jaguar and Mrs Shed, which is that in an ideal world both should be trailered away. The vendors don't tell us why they think that about their Jag. All they give us is the deflating phrase 'spares or repairs', which is odd when you consider its visually nice condition and long/clean MOT.
That MOT status might not be relevant if Shed's experience with the only other S-Type V8 to appear in SOTW is anything to go by. That one, a January 2000 example with the earlier 4.0 engine, popped up in spring 2023. Like today's S-Type, it had a clean MOT ticket, but after passing in November '22 at 88,000 miles it sat around for a bit before failing its next test in April '25 at 97,000 miles. From a longish list of not particularly serious faults, only the shortlist of failure points was addressed for a dirty pass. That certificate expired two months ago and it hasn't been retested since, so things are looking bleak.
As forum posters will confirm, imminent sill collapse can turn any S-Type from hero to zero in the blink of an eye, and that could well be the threat behind the warnings here. Some of that 4.0's other faults - worn suspension bushes, split dust covers - are common to the breed and have also been experienced by this 4.2, but on today's car they were put right eight years ago at 67,000 miles and every MOT since then (the last one in February) has been squeaky clean. The mechanicals on non-Nikasil coated 4.2s are very robust as long as the coolant is kept inside the coolant system. Most if not all of the problems suffered by the 4.0 (the worst ones being busted timing chain tensioners and oil starvation) were corrected on the 4.2, so that's good news. With only 15,000 miles covered between 2018 and 2026, the biggest issue for this Shed could be lack of use.
With rear-wheel drive and good poke on tap a 4.2 S-Type would be surprisingly biddable if any owner could bring themselves to drive their vehicle in such a foolhardy fashion. You'd have some fun in the process, but your grin might turn to a frown at the filling station when the 25mpg you were hoping for turned out to be 15mpg or worse. On the positive side, fuel prices do seem to be going down and, being pre-06, this S escapes the £790pa VED bill that normally comes with 274g/ km, instead parachuting relatively softly into the mystical £445pa K* bracket.
Unblown 4.2s are thin on the ground. Shed could only find one more on the UK market, a slightly younger car with no scary 'should be trailered' warnings, but also with 10,000 more miles on the clock and one thousand more pounds on its price tag. The other eight 4.2s he dug up were Rs ranging in price from £4,500 to £14,995 for a 36,000-miler with 19 service stamps. Our 4.2 starts to look interesting at £1,990, especially with a reg number that's worth a few quid. It looks a bit like nomads, which could end up describing Shed’s future lifestyle if he keeps on winding up his missus.
Had a 2002 3.0 as a commuter car when I was working on a site a fair distance from home.
Cost £4K in 2016 and did 55K in it before the autobox ate itself just under 2 years later.
Not a looker but had the most comfortable seats of any car I've owned - like sitting in an armchair.
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