Jaguar X-type buyers guide
Discussion
Parkers give a pretty good review to it. Here
http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/jaguar/x-typ...
I've got a 52 S Type and think it's a fabulous car and easily better than Audi A4, BMW 3 and 5 series all of which I had on long term hire when working in France. No direct experience of the X type though.
http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/jaguar/x-typ...
I've got a 52 S Type and think it's a fabulous car and easily better than Audi A4, BMW 3 and 5 series all of which I had on long term hire when working in France. No direct experience of the X type though.
Easy things to look for:
Rust - check up under the sill covers as they can hide some real horrors. The rest of the car should be fine.
Grumbling and leaking transfer box - £1000ish to get rectified
Vibrating and rumbling prop - £300
Everything else should be fine, not a lot goes wrong with them. Usual suspects for worn bushes and steering/suspension components as with any vehicle.
Whilst not overly problematic the auto box is alleged to be hideously slow at changes and uninspiring as a drive - I went with manual.
It should run silky smooth. Ashtray lid often breaks and sun visor mirror covers can come adrift. Mine all fine though.
Rust - check up under the sill covers as they can hide some real horrors. The rest of the car should be fine.
Grumbling and leaking transfer box - £1000ish to get rectified
Vibrating and rumbling prop - £300
Everything else should be fine, not a lot goes wrong with them. Usual suspects for worn bushes and steering/suspension components as with any vehicle.
Whilst not overly problematic the auto box is alleged to be hideously slow at changes and uninspiring as a drive - I went with manual.
It should run silky smooth. Ashtray lid often breaks and sun visor mirror covers can come adrift. Mine all fine though.
n3il123 said:
Can anyone recommend a buyers guide for the x-type Jag? I'm going to look at one tomorrow and I am wondering what to look for specifically? Its a 3 litre SE auto if that makes any difference ( yes I have tried the seach but its broken as usual)
I bought one of these in February. Its a great car - apart from it needing regular trips to the petrol station although swmbo says that if i trade in my heavy right foot for a lighter one then the trips to the filling station might not be such a regular event!!!It really is a very very good car.
Transfer box is not such a big deal, was paranoid when I bought mine but the fear has receded now.
If its on way out it will whine alot. The earlier viscous ones (Pre 2004 I think) were the main problem, viscous transfer put case under too much strain which would crack and then leak. No fluid means worn out gears, big whine and new transfer box! Later open diff transfers were more robust.
They are also sealed for life and a pain to top up so unnoticed leaks can lead to dry boxes and whine too. Bristol Transmissions can sort out if worst happens.
Suspension bushes at rear also go, some are cheap and easy to replace others require new £40 arms on each side. Rattling at rear over bumps will usually be the roll bar bushes which are an easy £20 DIY job, or £120 at dealers.
DMF on petrol is £900 job, mine dropped after a year of ownership and 110,000 miles (2006 3.0 manual). Pulsing on clutch when down and juddery take off both point too this being on last legs. Mine also became very easy to stall when setting off. Was 1owner fleet car with 100,000 when bought, £36k estate car with all the options for £6.5k, don't love the styling or image but a nice place to be.
Lot of car for the money and AWD is very RWD balanced so quite fun too drive, buy the newest one you can and don't worry about mileage.
Jaguar UK forum is Ok with biggish xtype section, however the general level of conversation is not all that!
If its on way out it will whine alot. The earlier viscous ones (Pre 2004 I think) were the main problem, viscous transfer put case under too much strain which would crack and then leak. No fluid means worn out gears, big whine and new transfer box! Later open diff transfers were more robust.
They are also sealed for life and a pain to top up so unnoticed leaks can lead to dry boxes and whine too. Bristol Transmissions can sort out if worst happens.
Suspension bushes at rear also go, some are cheap and easy to replace others require new £40 arms on each side. Rattling at rear over bumps will usually be the roll bar bushes which are an easy £20 DIY job, or £120 at dealers.
DMF on petrol is £900 job, mine dropped after a year of ownership and 110,000 miles (2006 3.0 manual). Pulsing on clutch when down and juddery take off both point too this being on last legs. Mine also became very easy to stall when setting off. Was 1owner fleet car with 100,000 when bought, £36k estate car with all the options for £6.5k, don't love the styling or image but a nice place to be.
Lot of car for the money and AWD is very RWD balanced so quite fun too drive, buy the newest one you can and don't worry about mileage.
Jaguar UK forum is Ok with biggish xtype section, however the general level of conversation is not all that!
Mine is a 2002 model, and yes I didn't spot the leaking transfer box when I bought it because I didn't know to look for it. I also figured, as some had said, that the AWD rumbles anyway (it doesn't now it's fixed!!!)
It leaked, it let go within 5k miles and as above Bristol Transmissions (who supply the parts to Jaguar) supplied a new one.
Mine had something like 63k on it and now has 71k, I'm a light user but do like it. The se spec is good and it's comfy rather than sporting. Naughty pipes give it a bit more character too
It leaked, it let go within 5k miles and as above Bristol Transmissions (who supply the parts to Jaguar) supplied a new one.
Mine had something like 63k on it and now has 71k, I'm a light user but do like it. The se spec is good and it's comfy rather than sporting. Naughty pipes give it a bit more character too
hoganscrogan said:
Transfer box is not such a big deal, was paranoid when I bought mine but the fear has receded now.
+1 (including the paranoia about mine). They can all leak and if caught quickly that is no biggy, but there's only 2/3litre of fluid in them so there is a small window of opportunity to correct the leak before the whole thing is lunched.Issues with the earlier ones had nothing to do with them cracking. The problems were too much pre-loading on the bearings of some units (simply due to poor quality control at assembly) leading to noise and eventual failure. Most of these units will have failed long ago and been replaced/rebuilt. The early ones that survive are the best as they contain the viscous LSD, but a lot of them have also been ruined by leakage and replaced with the later open type.
Other issues to look for.
Pre' 05 model year examples will suffer from rear brake caliper seizure, caused by dirt and water getting past the seal on the shaft for the handbrake mechanism. Refurb'd calipers tend to go the same way very quickly (as it is a design fault and most re-furbers do not replace the seal as it is not a service part) so a better fix is to replace with re-designed calipers from the later model. A cheaper way of sourcing them is to obtain them from a '05-'07 Mondeo MkIII estate which uses the same part (saloon Mondeo ones are no use as the handbrake mechanism is different). Calipers and hangers are needed and swap over easily.
Post '05 models can suffer from rust on the bootlid caused by the redesigned chrome trim that houses the boot release button (earlier models with the button that is the green badge in the centre of the trim don't have this problem).
Rear suspension tie-bar bushes wear out and can be a complete b'start to replace as the bolts rust into the bush sleeves - forcing the bolts out can cause the chassis mounting points to stretch and get damaged.
Rear anti-roll bar bushes and ABS sensors are a weak spot but easy to fix. An ABS sensor failure can be quite alarming though as the cruise control/stability control also shuts down and the car can have a tendency to stall giving the impression of a more serious fault.
V6 models can suffer a leak in the inlet manifold-to-air filter hose which can't be seen because manifests itself as a split on the underside of the pipe. AFAIK silicone replacements are now available that cure the problem permanently. Early V6's can also dump their coolant as a result of a weak clip attaching the bottom hose to the thermostat. Should have been sorted in a recall to put a jubilee clip on there but worth checking for and doing otherwise.
Noisy power steering caused by dry seals on the rack. There is a Technical Service Bulletin about a £7 bottle of additive that can be used to cure this.
(Sold my 3.0SE three years ago and have regretted it several times since).
Edited by r11co on Monday 27th August 16:40
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