Jaguar X-Type 3.0 Petrol - any good, what to look out for?
Discussion
I'm seriously considering a Jaguar X-Type 3.0 as a bit of a stopgap car, should I sell my MX5. It seems an awful lot of car for around £2k - leather, toys, 231bhp, 4wd, will have generally been previously owned by people who look after things (one owner FJSH seems quite common), Ford underpinnings should make it reliable and cheap to work on.
I'm looking at 2003 cars with around 80k on the clock.
What am I missing? Are there issues I should be checking for? Auto or Manual? Is there a better spec, there doesn't seem to be much of a difference between SE, Sport and Sport Premium?
MPG is not too much of an issue as we have a diesel for family duties - I'm assuming low 20's.
All thoughts welcome, cheers.
I'm looking at 2003 cars with around 80k on the clock.
What am I missing? Are there issues I should be checking for? Auto or Manual? Is there a better spec, there doesn't seem to be much of a difference between SE, Sport and Sport Premium?
MPG is not too much of an issue as we have a diesel for family duties - I'm assuming low 20's.
All thoughts welcome, cheers.
From what I've heard from couple of people who've had them, they weren't that happy with the build quality. Additionally, the mpg isn't great due to the awd. I considered one a couple of years back but decided it against it for the reasons above.
I would personally spend another grand and get yourself an e46 330i or 330ci Sport. In sport spec they still look good and come with a reasonable spec. Money will go further with a saloon or touring, but Coupe looks the best imo. I've just part-exed my 330ci and it was a lovely car.
I would personally spend another grand and get yourself an e46 330i or 330ci Sport. In sport spec they still look good and come with a reasonable spec. Money will go further with a saloon or touring, but Coupe looks the best imo. I've just part-exed my 330ci and it was a lovely car.
fatboy69 said:
Nothing wrong with my 2001 model with just 54k on the clock.
Apart from fuel consumption but who cares with a 3 litre V6 under your right foot! I think it's a very very good car. Biggest potential problem, apparently, is the transfer box.
Cheers for the comments. Are there any expensive services I need to watch out for? I understand it's a chain cam, so I've no need to worry about expensive belt changes, hopefully.Apart from fuel consumption but who cares with a 3 litre V6 under your right foot! I think it's a very very good car. Biggest potential problem, apparently, is the transfer box.
It does seem an awful lot of car for the money, admittedly it doesn't have the sportiest of images. I'm currently running a car doing low 20's mpg on Shell VPower, therefore bad mpg should not be too much of a shock. It's also on coilovers, polybushed and has uprated ARB's so I do really like the idea of something more refined that does have a turn of spead when required. It'll also be nice to not have every boy racer trying to burn me off at lights every day.
H_Kan said:
From what I've heard from couple of people who've had them, they weren't that happy with the build quality. Additionally, the mpg isn't great due to the awd. I considered one a couple of years back but decided it against it for the reasons above.
I would personally spend another grand and get yourself an e46 330i or 330ci Sport. In sport spec they still look good and come with a reasonable spec. Money will go further with a saloon or touring, but Coupe looks the best imo. I've just part-exed my 330ci and it was a lovely car.
I agree, went from looking and trying X types to actually buying an e46 3 series.I would personally spend another grand and get yourself an e46 330i or 330ci Sport. In sport spec they still look good and come with a reasonable spec. Money will go further with a saloon or touring, but Coupe looks the best imo. I've just part-exed my 330ci and it was a lovely car.
matthias73 said:
H_Kan said:
From what I've heard from couple of people who've had them, they weren't that happy with the build quality. Additionally, the mpg isn't great due to the awd. I considered one a couple of years back but decided it against it for the reasons above.
I would personally spend another grand and get yourself an e46 330i or 330ci Sport. In sport spec they still look good and come with a reasonable spec. Money will go further with a saloon or touring, but Coupe looks the best imo. I've just part-exed my 330ci and it was a lovely car.
I agree, went from looking and trying X types to actually buying an e46 3 series.I would personally spend another grand and get yourself an e46 330i or 330ci Sport. In sport spec they still look good and come with a reasonable spec. Money will go further with a saloon or touring, but Coupe looks the best imo. I've just part-exed my 330ci and it was a lovely car.
carlingofblack said:
And go for manual. Autos not good.
Yep, already discounted an auto due to comments on some of the Jag forums I've been scouring. It does make sourcing a car somewhat more difficult as the majority do seem to be autos - I guess that's just down to the likely demographic of the first owners. I bought a 2.5 v6 back in Feb and after reading about the transfer box issue was s
tting myself a bit. If you do get one and your handy with the spanners I would recommend changing all the fluids.
Jaguar deem most of the transmission parts as sealed for life units which is a poor idea, IMHO.
The diff oil can't be drained so needs sucking out to replace and the gearbox oil is easy enough.
The transfer box is a different case though. You can only drain and not fill by default as the refil bung is perched on top and not accessable. If you google transfer box oil change you will see someone came up with a way of using a ball valve to do it and this is what I did and it worked very well.
Other than the awkward servicing and the poor fuel consupmtion I love it. Nothing has gone wrong with it and in my eyes they look quite upmarket for the money you have to spend.
tting myself a bit. If you do get one and your handy with the spanners I would recommend changing all the fluids. Jaguar deem most of the transmission parts as sealed for life units which is a poor idea, IMHO.
The diff oil can't be drained so needs sucking out to replace and the gearbox oil is easy enough.
The transfer box is a different case though. You can only drain and not fill by default as the refil bung is perched on top and not accessable. If you google transfer box oil change you will see someone came up with a way of using a ball valve to do it and this is what I did and it worked very well.
Other than the awkward servicing and the poor fuel consupmtion I love it. Nothing has gone wrong with it and in my eyes they look quite upmarket for the money you have to spend.
If it's leaking and you're handy with spanners it's not the end of the world either. You can pick a cheap Jag up when the owner has had a shock and been told £1200 to change it, and usually fix the leak with some fresh oil, bit of CV grease, RTV, a tie wrap, copper crush washer and a rubber toilet plumbing seal. 
JQ said:
Any BMW is likely to be a dissapointment in all honesty, so that's pretty much a non-starter - my last expensive car (before kids and the wife stopping work) was an E90 330d MSport, so if I got one I've no doubt every time I got in I'd always be comparing it to that. I'm not expecting the Jag to be a drivers car, having spent the last 3 years in trackday MX5's I'm quite happy to have a more relaxed ride - I just don't want to buy one and the face any massive bills, other than fuel obviously.
If you think an e46 will be a disappointment over the Jag you may need to do a test drive asap! They are amazing value now but nothing inspiring to drive.
Other things to look out for are sticking real callipers, sticky door locks and window regulators.
The steering has zero feel through the wheel but they do corner nice and flat with lots of grip.
I just sold a 2002 v6 manual with leather and 18' alloys for £1200 with fsh which is a lot of car for little money!
Other things to look out for are sticking real callipers, sticky door locks and window regulators.
The steering has zero feel through the wheel but they do corner nice and flat with lots of grip.
I just sold a 2002 v6 manual with leather and 18' alloys for £1200 with fsh which is a lot of car for little money!
pinseeker said:
If you think an e46 will be a disappointment over the Jag you may need to do a test drive asap!
No, it will be a disappointment in comparison to the BMW I used to have. Having driven an E46 330i I don't think they're particularly exciting either. If I wanted a driver's car I wouldn't be getting rid of my current car and I wouldn't be considering a Jag. What I want is cheap reliable luxury - I can get a Jag with full leather, 230bhp, 4wd, 80,000 miles and FSH for £1,800 - a similar spec'd BMW is double the cost, so they're actually not really that comparable anyway.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff