Was I right to walk away? x type

[jamesuk28]

Hi just test drove a 3.0 L xtype. After the short test drive I opened the oil filler cap, some smoke / steam was evident and small amount of white gunk was seen on the cap itself. I was always taught this meant water in the oil. Is this due to the car no being used (dealer) or was I right to say no?

Any thoughts welcome.

[Triple7]

White gunk around the oil cap tends to mean the gasket is leaking. i.e. water used to cool the engine is leaking in.

So yes, walk away. My 3.0ltr, never displayed such things. Although a bit of steam maybe present after a hard drive and the engine is very hot.

There are plenty of them out there, so bide your time and be fussy.

Good luck with your search. Any questions ask away.

G

[jamesuk28]

Thanks for your advice. Shame it was a nice looking car, but like you say plenty about. One thing I noticed Very comfortable seat.

[Triple7]

jamesuk28 said:

Thanks for your advice. Shame it was a nice looking car, but like you say plenty about. One thing I noticed Very comfortable seat.

SE or Sport model? Sport has a more snug fit.

G

[jamesuk28]

I am sure he said SE, but it did not have the rear parking sensors, I thought these were standard on SE cars. (2002)

[Jaguar steve]

Did you have a chance to look at the service history to see when the next oil change was due?

Lots of short journeys, where the engine never warms up properly allowing water to condense in the cooler parts of the engine, or a overdue oil change can give the same symptoms as the beginning of haed gasket failure.

If you look further into this coolant analysis or a leakdown test will prove if there's a problem.

You can have the reverse situation with oil contamination of the engine coolant. It's worth opening the coolant reservoir - only when cold 'tho - the world is short enough of Jaguar enthusiasts as it is - and look and smell for traces of oil.

However if you think there may be a problem with a car before you've bought it I'd agree walking away is the best advice.

There's literally hundreds of X types for sale all the time, even at the main dealers if your budget stretches, and IMO they represent good value.

[jamesuk28]

Thanks for that. I have also heard horror stories about the auto box going wrong and £4000 bills. Any thoughts on that?

[jazzybee]

not sure if this is the right thing to do....

I had planned to change my car in March - but given that I am going to be pretty busy traveling in Feb and March, I could be tempted to part with my X-Type early. Its a 3.0 Auto SE/Indianapolis with all the toys (and a Jag Cupholder I retrofitted). Let me know if you are interested. Sorry to the Mods if this is considered bad form.

[dominicf]

[quote=jamesuk28]Thanks for that. I have also heard horror stories about the auto box going wrong and £4000 bills. Any thoughts on that?

Yes, buy the manual especially if it's the Sport, I've owned 2 2.5 sport from new and the manual seems to be happy wih awd, not japanese smooth in change but does the job early auto's did have problems and if you are looking at 2001-2 model year the expense of a new autobox could be a high pecentage of what the cars worth given X type depreciation.
Another point to note early cars were customer specced so every car you look at is likely to be different, Jaguar started to spec up cars from 2003 my 1st X type by 2006 and my 2nd X type all my options on the previous car had become standard.
If you can find late 2002-3 3.0l Sport manual with a high spec (try to find one with full leather, sport normally came with half leather, I ordered mine with extra full leather option). A sport rides totally different from an SE or Soverign much les wallow in the corner.