2003 Jaguar S-Type — 4.2L

The 2003 Jaguar S-Type occupies a troubling spike in an otherwise declining complaint arc across this generation. After the early-production turmoil of 2000 (146 complaints, 157 TSBs), complaints had steadily declined to just 35 by 2002, suggesting Jaguar was working through its teething issues — but 2003 reverses that progress sharply, with complaints jumping to 104, recalls hitting a generation-high four, and TSBs nearly doubling from 55 to 95. The top complaint areas — Vehicle Speed Control (13), Air Bags (7), Parking Brake (7), and Power Train (6) — combined with 15 crash complaints and one fire complaint, indicate a breadth of safety-related concerns rather than a single isolated defect, though the federal data does not specify root causes. Notably, 2004 saw complaints plummet to 25 despite carrying the same recall count, suggesting the 2003 model year specifically introduced or resurfaced problems that were addressed quickly the following year. The generation's overall trajectory is downward from 2005 onward, with complaints settling into single or low-double digits by 2007–2008, reinforcing that 2003 is an anomaly rather than a representative year. **Bottom line: the 2003 S-Type is a poor choice among used examples of this generation — a buyer would be better served looking at a 2004 or 2006 model, which sit at the low points of the complaint curve with comparable or fewer recalls.**