Im looking to replace my Volvo S80 with a similar type saloon.Generally speaking i was happy with my Volvo S80 apart from a few problems here and there. i think its time to replace it while i can still salvage a lil bit of value.
I'm looking for advice as to which ca i should get next. I was setting my eyes on the high mileage Jaguar x-types which are on Auto trader, or Mercedes C clas or E class. My budget is a max of 8 grand..Any ideas.I really dont mind high mileages as long as the car in good condition because im not buying to keep it for life..a few years and i will pass it on and move to another. Are those Jags on Auto trader going for 5grand to 8grand any good?? Some of them are barely less than 5 years old.
My volvo was a high maleage car i bought it with 125k miles and im selling it now at 148K and it was a good car and it didnt cost me a lot.
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ohh its me again..which one is better the X-type or the S-type..as u can see i dont know much about jaguars..cheers
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The S-type is a much better car than the X-type. I drove one yesterday: very refined and very much in the best Jaguar tradition. In spite of the overall size of the car, it's quite snug inside, especially in the cockpit. I don't think the X-type's reputation for being a posh Mondeo is far off the mark, and you would get more for your money with an equivalent Mondeo, which is an excellent car.
As an owner of MB W124 and W126 (pre-1996) models, I regret to say that I would not touch a W210 E-class (1996-2002) because of corrosion problems, nor a W211 E-class (2002-2006) because of reliability problems. I've never liked the C-class, having driven two and failed to get comfortable in either of them. That said, you may be able to find a W210 that has either had its corrosion problems well and truly fixed or is one that never had them in the first place (they do exist), but you should check it out with painstaking thoroughness, using expert bodyshop advice if you can. There's plenty on the Web about where the corrosion points are.
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If you are looking for an S Type, try and get a post 2000 model. You can tell which one these are by the wood fascia. A single piece of wood on the fascia means its pre 2000. Two pieces of wood means post 2000. Lots of improvements on post 2000 cars.
Dont know if they fall within your budget though.....
X Types are good motors. Yes they are based on Mondeo, but that is no bad thing! Go for the 2.5 or 3.0 litre. 2.0 V6 is not the best.
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A quick check via the Auto Trader link confirms that there are plenty of post-2000 S-types around for under the budget figure.
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are there any knwon problems with jags coz i dont wanna buy something that i will have to spend a fortune in repair bills.I had a volvo s80 which i bought for a reasonable price, but it was very expensive to repair..at one time i had to pay 80quid for a tail light cover.That was unpleasant.
Also besides the Jag are there other luxury saloons out there that are worth looking at.
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By the way is it true that it is illegal to drive a jaguar with the leaping cat ornament on the bonet(some call it car mascot) in the UK..for safety reasons? How come the Merc one is not banned?
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Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I've always assumed that 'grandfather rights' apply here; i.e. if the car was manufactured with a mascot it can continue to carry it, but probably if you retro fitted a protruding mascot to a later car and it injured a pedestrian you could be sucessfully prosecuted and sued.
Visit a classic car rally for many other examples of non-compliance with current legislation.
BTW the current mercedes have very flimsy fold-up/break-off stars
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One mans junk is another mans treasure
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The Car-by-Car breakdown will tell you what's good and what's bad about Jags or anything else.
It is illegal to retrofit the leaping cat -- my bro-in-law asked the dealer. And the MB star is not so much flimsy in itself, but it does move easily if you push it.
As a postscript to my earlier post, I was pleased to find little difference in the quality of the drive between my W124 MB and the S-type, although the former is 16 years old.
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Its to do with road safety. The Mercedes mascot is very thin. has no sharp egdes and is desgined to flatten on impact, Rolls Royces spirits dissappear into the grill on impact, but the design of the original leaper was such that it would tear into someone like a knife on impact and thus from the 1968 XJ6 Jag never designed a leaper on any of their cars.
This is not the end of the story though. The American market always wanted leapers on their Jags and dealers used to retro fit them onto all their XJ6s and XJ-S's. Thus for Jag America, from the 1995 X300 (new shape XJ6-XJ8) and for all subsequent cars onwards, the "safety" leaper was designed. This is a spring loaded leaper on a teardrop shaped base that breaks off on impact.
This was never sold in the UK, though is readily available from Ebay and such. I don't know for sure but would assume this is legal in the US since it is a manufactured part (my opinion), but as it was never formally sold in the UK i don't think it is legal to use in the UK.
For fitment on the XJ6/8's you have to drill the bonnet at a specific point. On the early s types from 1999 i think you can remove the bonnet "growler" and replace this with the leaper as it covers the hole for a leaper to be fitted. Later S types with the "growler" in the grill need the bonnet drilled. X types need a drilled bonnet.
On a personal note on the X300 i considered having a leaper put on, but two things stopped me.
1) The safety implications; it must be terrible to hit someone, but the penetrating injurys or deep lacerations caused by the "leaper" could lead to a survivable accident being fatal.
2) The cars were never designed with it in mind, they were added as an afterthought, so why put them on.
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