High mileage X-Type 3.0 - Anything to worry about?
Discussion
First off, the car I have my eye on would not be our only car, nor would it be a long term buy. I'm just thinking about it as a winter hack, really, as my usual car is a 5 Series and we have a bit of a thing for going up to the Buttertubs in bad weather, when it's deserted over the Xmas period 
But also it would be nice to have something over the winter that my OH can use instead of relying on public transport on the days the weather is particularly bad, plus an estate will come in handy during Christmas tree pickup and disposal, tip runs, etc. The 4WD will help with the Dales run and visiting relatives in remote areas....
What's not to like? The car in question has done over 150k however, and I don't know a huge amount about X-Types, other than having heard that the 4WD system can break!
Opinions and experiences much appreciated.
But also it would be nice to have something over the winter that my OH can use instead of relying on public transport on the days the weather is particularly bad, plus an estate will come in handy during Christmas tree pickup and disposal, tip runs, etc. The 4WD will help with the Dales run and visiting relatives in remote areas....
What's not to like? The car in question has done over 150k however, and I don't know a huge amount about X-Types, other than having heard that the 4WD system can break!
Opinions and experiences much appreciated.
Rear upper control arms are from a Mk3 Mondeo estate and are very short lived. Look for uneven rear tyre wear. The good news is that they're cheap and unfeasibly easy to change DIY, if consumeable. In general X-Types are quite sensitive to wheel alignment. If it doesn't drive well and feel predictable and planted, new rear upper arms and a 4 wheel alignment will refresh the car.
The 3.0L engine is strong and gives little trouble, but some do use oil. Oil starvation kills them pretty much instantly - pull the dip stick once in a while.
The AWD transfer box can be an issue, but if the drivetrain is quiet and doesn't shunt when you pull away or stop don't worry about it. I reckon the Haldex system on VAGs and Volvos blows up more than the Visteon system on X-Types.
There's not a great deal to worry about beyond that. Usual used car buying rules apply.
The 3.0L engine is strong and gives little trouble, but some do use oil. Oil starvation kills them pretty much instantly - pull the dip stick once in a while.
The AWD transfer box can be an issue, but if the drivetrain is quiet and doesn't shunt when you pull away or stop don't worry about it. I reckon the Haldex system on VAGs and Volvos blows up more than the Visteon system on X-Types.
There's not a great deal to worry about beyond that. Usual used car buying rules apply.
mnkiboy said:
Don't the post 2003 cars have a much more reliable 4wd system?
Had a diesel estate in the past. Quite fancy another, but with the 3.0 V6 and preferably the 'sport premium' or 'sovereign' spec, but not many come up.
They deleted the viscous coupling in early 2004 in the transfer box, to cure some instances of the case cracking.Had a diesel estate in the past. Quite fancy another, but with the 3.0 V6 and preferably the 'sport premium' or 'sovereign' spec, but not many come up.
More usual though is one of the shaft seals leaking. The transfer box is a sealed unit which only holds 940cc of oil so if it leaks it buggers itself fairly quickly.
There are drain and fill plugs, but they're pretty useless when the transfer box is fitted to the car as there's simply no way to access the fill plug to top it up.
You can see the fill plug on the very top here. Once fitted it's completely obscured by a close fitting steel combined heat-shield and mounting bracket, and the catalytic converter for the rear bank seals the deal.
I did this to mine when I had to replace it. I can now fill it up in situ
That Audi is capable of matching and raising any trouble an X-type can give. A good friend owned a 163bhp version for a few years. He spent a fortune on rebushing the whole suspension which was shafted at 70k, then new dampers, then new coils, then the water pump failed. I lost count of other issues after that. It was also slow and drank fuel at a rate which made the X-type look like a Prius.
TwistingMyMelon said:
TBH I'd rather have a standard saloon/hatch on winter tyres, than a 4x4 saloon/hatch on normal tyres
Plus you still get limited by ground clearance
TBH I'd just get a legacy or imprezza if I wanted a car that could handle poor conditions.
I think autocar tested is theory a whole back with a skoda yeti 4x4 on normal tyres and a 2wd car on winter tyres. The latter did best in the snowPlus you still get limited by ground clearance
TBH I'd just get a legacy or imprezza if I wanted a car that could handle poor conditions.
TroubledSoul said:
What's not to like? The car in question has done over 150k however, and I don't know a huge amount about X-Types, other than having heard that the 4WD system can break!
I had one & ran it to well over 100k. I had a water pump fail, a rear caliper, one of the parking sensors and some daft sensor on the exhaust. They are very sensitive to wheel alignment etc & if it's wrong they will eat a set of tyres in less then 3k miles.Other than that, they are great cars. In the 3 years I had it, we went up to the Highlands every winter & it coped very well indeed in all sorts of weathers.
You do get the odd comment about a Mondeo, but mainly from retards. My (then) neighbour kept asking how the Mondeo was. Seemed a bit pissed off when he bought a brand new A4 & I kept asking him how his Octavia was
northwest monkey said:
TroubledSoul said:
What's not to like? The car in question has done over 150k however, and I don't know a huge amount about X-Types, other than having heard that the 4WD system can break!
I had one & ran it to well over 100k. I had a water pump fail, a rear caliper, one of the parking sensors and some daft sensor on the exhaust. They are very sensitive to wheel alignment etc & if it's wrong they will eat a set of tyres in less then 3k miles.Other than that, they are great cars. In the 3 years I had it, we went up to the Highlands every winter & it coped very well indeed in all sorts of weathers.
You do get the odd comment about a Mondeo, but mainly from retards. My (then) neighbour kept asking how the Mondeo was. Seemed a bit pissed off when he bought a brand new A4 & I kept asking him how his Octavia was
I don't really care about what people think about the car, regarding sharing some elements with a Mondeo etc. because if they had made an AWD Mondeo I would also be looking at those too!
TwistingMyMelon said:
TBH I'd rather have a standard saloon/hatch on winter tyres, than a 4x4 saloon/hatch on normal tyres
Plus you still get limited by ground clearance
TBH I'd just get a legacy or imprezza if I wanted a car that could handle poor conditions.
Also on the list. I seem to have developed a habit of buying AWD winter cars in recent years. Two years ago it was a classic Scooby Impreza WRX, last year it was the Audi A6 4.2 Quattro V8.... Plus you still get limited by ground clearance
TBH I'd just get a legacy or imprezza if I wanted a car that could handle poor conditions.
A good set of 19" winter tyres for my E60 would be about the same price as a cheap old AWD car that my Mrs could use when needed so just doesn't make sense. I managed to get around OK last winter in heavy snow in my E46 when I needed to, so it's not like I feel like an AWD car is essential, it's just fun to have a decent AWD to throw around at this time of year
williamp said:
I think autocar tested is theory a whole back with a skoda yeti 4x4 on normal tyres and a 2wd car on winter tyres. The latter did best in the snow
They did. But also admitted that if both cars had had winter tyres on, the 4x4 would have run away with it. If I had to get up a steep hill in snow, I'd take the AWD on summer tyres over FWD with winters. Perhaps that's the wrong choice, but it makes me feel better!
From what I have read on here and in Car Mechanics magazine recently, the 3.0 has a design flaw in the sump and pickup which can lead to oil starvation and the engine throwing a conrod through the side of the engine with no warning. On the plus side, it means that if your engine is fine, it is increasingly valuable as a donor car.
foz01 said:
Transfer boxes.
The. End.
Yep... bought one at the start of the year and had the transfer box replaced under warranty.....god knows how as it was one of those dodgy (not worth the paper it is printed) on insurance warranties... thinking about it I suspect the dealer pushed it through as I had had the car such a short amount of time.The. End.
Otherwise it has been very solid and there not a lot to worry about. 3.0 isn't as fast as you would expect..... I didn't want a manual but I would warn others autobox is a bit sluggish and not really satisfying to drive quickly. Fuel consumption is pretty shocking and the tank is quite small too - I've averaged 19.2mpg.
You can get a really nice one for <3k and anyone who says it is 'just a mondeo' is an idiot. For what they are they are very nice cars.
oh and IMO the bigger wheels spoil the ride, I sold the 18s on mine and put 17s on which are much better.
Edited by VolvoT5 on Friday 22 November 18:00
those same transfer boxes (pre 2004) that caused trouble are the ones to have. The later design are ridiculous, the car essentially turns into rwd in the snow but 4wd in the dry. They refuse to lock....
I got one for the winter a few years ago and was sorely disappointed when it got as stuck as a 'normal' car
Basically a very reliable car in my ownership, i literally had to replace nothing other than service items
Get an early one for little more than scrap money and enjoy
I got one for the winter a few years ago and was sorely disappointed when it got as stuck as a 'normal' car
Basically a very reliable car in my ownership, i literally had to replace nothing other than service items
Get an early one for little more than scrap money and enjoy
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