Shed of the Week | Jaguar S-Type 3.0 V6
Six cylinders in an S-Type is not unusual; three pedals is...
Now that Autumn is here, Shed is having to clean out the gutters on his workshop. Normally he does this by standing in the bucket of his vintage Ruston-Bucyrus excavator and getting Mrs Shed to hoist him up to the right height.
Needless to say this operation hasn’t always gone well, so this year he is going old school and using his granddad’s hickory ladder for the job. That’s not ideal either as some of the rungs are rotten and he’s too mean to replace them. Instead he puts his faith in a landing zone stack of exhausted old mattresses, which are always in plentiful supply around the back of the Shed household.
What’s all this got to do with this week’s Shed? Well, not much other than the fact that it’s a manual S-Type Jag, or to be precise (according to the AI ad) a 3.0 V6 Patrol with a six-speed manual - hmm. A manual Jag is a bit like Shed’s wooden ladder. Why go down (or up) that route when other far more suitable automatic Jag alternatives are available, such as Shed’s XJS V12 3-speed auto which will run from 5mph all the way to its maximum speed of 150mph in top gear. So he says anyway.
Others say that the five-speed manual S-Type offers a different and not unpleasant sort of driving experience. The Getrag 221’s gear lever action wasn’t what you’d call snicky. Long throw and slightly ponderous would be a more accurate description, but on the plus side the box was pretty robust and the rear-drive handling was far sharper than the Arfur Daley styling might suggest. If it was poorly maintained the 240hp Duratec V6 could explode, but when it wasn’t doing that it would push the S-Type through the 0-60mph run in 6.9sec, compared to the auto’s 7.6sec. Great turning circle on these too.
Rust in the sills behind the plastic covers, in the rear arches and the subframes can and will kill an S-Type. To be fair to this example there’s been no mention of corrosion at any point in its MOT history. The rather nice non-gold/beige/light blue paint still looks deep and well cared for.
Boot floors are vulnerable to water ingress and suspension parts wear out at a higher rate on early cars, which this one is (year one in fact). To partially make up for that, pre-’02 cars had proper, non-electronic handbrakes. Coolant-related parts break and coils/plugs can play up along with windows, central locking systems and climate control blend motors. Nothing has been said about any faults with the DSC Dynamic Stability Control, which is handy as you can get talked into a big repair bill to mend that if you don’t know about the £30 wheel speed sensor fix.
Some oil leaks have been noticed by the tester – usually hardened valve cover gaskets and oil cooler seals – but not since 2013, at which point the car had racked up 53,000 miles. Now it stands at 77,000, representing an annual average of under 3,000. The only advisories on May’s test were for light cloudiness on one headlamp and slightly worn brake discs all round. A full set of replacements and pads will cost you around £145.
This car has been for sale for four months, reflecting the general hatred for S-Types, but maybe it’s time to view this Jag in a kinder light. The VED on pre-2001 cars is determined by engine size, which puts this one at £375 a year, about half what you’ll pay for a similarly pokey post-’01 car.
Then there’s the rarity. Shed did find a manual 3.0 S-Type for sale six years ago but they’re not common now. Shed could only see two others for sale in the UK, both of them more expensive than this £1990 one. Quite a few S-Type advertisers will put ‘manual’ in the description to get your attention, but when you investigate further it turns out to be a fib. This one’s in Windsor, which feels like a step up on Keighley, but of course you should never assume that wrong ‘uns don’t live in posh postcodes.
Had a job at the time which required going from Essex to Nottm 3x a week and it fitted the bill.
Did 40K miles in it over 24months before the gearbox ate itself.
Positives: Best seats I've ever had in a car - like sitting in an armchair. Also surprisingly quick for it's engine size/age.
Negatives: Everything else.
The grill especially on the S-Type looks very incongruous.
If it had been a few years later I'd have been far more tempted by the XFR. Similar underneath, great looking up top.
I really liked that combo in both my old Mondeo ST24 and Mondeo V6 Ghia X as well for example(and both my Sierra XR4x4's come to that).
That also probably explains why I still have the manual and V6 combo in my 370Z as well.
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