2004 Jaguar S-Type problems & reliability
25 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2004 Jaguar S-Type, alongside 3 safety recall campaigns. Last verified Aug 7, 2026. Complaints are unverified reports submitted by owners to the federal Office of Defects Investigation.
Each complaint is counted once (by NHTSA case number), even when it names several vehicles.
2 complaints report injuries (3 injured).
Federal crash records (FARS 2020–2023): 2004 Jaguar S-Type vehicles were involved in 1 fatal crash with 1 occupant death. Involvement counts are not adjusted for how many are on the road and do not imply fault or a vehicle defect.
Most reported problems
| Component | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Power Train | 7 | 28% |
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 5 | 20% |
| Vehicle Speed Control | 5 | 20% |
| Electrical System | 4 | 16% |
| Parking Brake | 4 | 16% |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic | 4 | 16% |
| Exterior Lighting | 2 | 8% |
| Steering | 2 | 8% |
| Air Bags | 1 | 4% |
| Engine | 1 | 4% |
Component groups as classified by NHTSA. A complaint can name more than one component, so shares may sum to more than 100%.
Mileage when problems occurred
Half of the failures with a reported odometer reading occurred by 46,300 miles (middle 50% between 34,422 and 72,000 miles), based on 20 complaints that included mileage.
Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“This vehicle has issues with the automatic transmission, the transmission is not responding properly to the computer and needs to be reprogrammed in this model, also the parking brakes do get mixed up and if you put the gear control in drive it goes into reverse and the parking brake default light and transmission…”
Service Brakes · filed Jul 5, 2020
“While on the expressway while coming to a stop my car switched into reverse on its own while it was in the drive.the car began to drive backwards almost causing a major crash on i64 east in virginia. This nearly resulted in me losing my life as well as passengers and other drivers. The car also has an automatic…”
Vehicle Speed Control · filed Jul 25, 2017
“Tl* the contact owned a 2004 jaguar s-type. While driving approximately 40 mph, the headlights suddenly shut off. The driver lost control of the vehicle and crashed off road. The vehicle was destroyed and towed. A police report was filed and there were no injuries. The cause of the failure was not determined. The vin…”
Exterior Lighting · filed Jan 20, 2017
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Technical service bulletins
64 manufacturer communications (TSBs, service campaigns, warranty extensions) are on file with NHTSA for the 2004 Jaguar S-Type. The 10 most recent:
Attachment.
SSM59597Attachme · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Apr 14, 2021
Attachment.
SSM59597Attachme · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Apr 14, 2021
Attachment.
SSM59597Attachme · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Apr 14, 2021
A customer may report "Hood Open" message displays on IP with hood closed.
SFCC_09AUG18_REV · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 20, 2018
18C - New face of InControl Touch Pro and 18C software improvements
SFCC_09AUG18_REV · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 20, 2018
SIM card activation issues
SFCC_09AUG18_REV · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 20, 2018
InControl Touch Pro phase 4 customer letter
SFCC_09AUG18_REV · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 20, 2018
Jaguar Land Rover Shop Foreman Conference Call
SFCC_08MAR18 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Mar 8, 2018
Presentation from Dealer Shop Foreman Conference Call
SFCC_14DEC17 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Dec 14, 2017
Issue: a customer may raise a concern of their vehicle not passing state inspection in california and there is no warning light or other suggestion of a fault.
SSM-72805 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jun 8, 2016
TSBs are repair guidance manufacturers send to dealers — they are not recalls and repairs are not automatically free. Full documents are available on NHTSA’s site.
Safety recalls
The 2004 Jaguar S-Type has 3 NHTSA recall campaigns — recall repairs are free at franchised dealers regardless of the vehicle’s age.
Check whether your specific vehicle is affected
Recall campaigns often cover only certain VIN ranges. Enter your VIN on the official NHTSA site to confirm whether your vehicle is included and whether the repair is still open.
Check VIN on NHTSA →Buying a used 2004 Jaguar S-Type?
- · Decode the seller’s VIN with our free VIN decoder to confirm the exact year, engine and trim.
- · Check for unrepaired recalls by VIN on NHTSA’s official lookup — recall repairs are free.
- · Owners most often reported problems around 46,300 miles — budget accordingly if the car is approaching that mileage.