X-Type. Bit of a bargain barge?
Discussion
JamesK said:
I have never owned one but the common consensus is that they are a cheap immitation Jaguar under-engineered to a budget.
This unfortunately is the common consensus of those ignorant masses who let someone else make their mind up for them.The X-Type has some Mondeo DNA, but you could easily say the Ford has stolen bits from Jaguar.
It is indeed a fabulous car. Drives and handles beautifully, can be serviced for <£200 (minor service at independant) and has more toys as standard than BMW could ever think of on the middle/top of the range cars.
In a nut shell, as with all Jags, it is fabulous value for money as they near sensible prices, but don't take my word for it, go out and try one for yourself.................
After having one for a few days as the xj was in for a service, i really could not see why many people buy one except for the jag badge really. Im not being a toff having an xj being a much bigger car..etc etc etc, but it really didnt feel like a quality, well thought-out project. The 3.0 V6 didn't feel like a 3.0 v6 at all. For me it was a (bad) imitation of the xj, which the other small cars in its class (C-class and 3 series for example) dont feel it. This is all my opinion of course, so yours could differ massively from mine!
I've had one for two years & I think its a great car. Previously I had an XJR & before that a XJ6 so the X had a lot to live up to.
Ok so it doesn't have the same level of quality feel as the XJ but then its half the price. It does compare well to a 3 series or Audi A4 though & it's a million miles from a Mondeo (i've driven my dads Mondeo lots of times).
In the two years my only fault has been a £70 lambda sensor. Mines a 2002 & it still looks like new - they are well made.
Actually I'm going to replace it with a 2.2d estate when I find the right car. In 20 years of motoring I've never felt compelled to buy the same car twice!!
Ok so it doesn't have the same level of quality feel as the XJ but then its half the price. It does compare well to a 3 series or Audi A4 though & it's a million miles from a Mondeo (i've driven my dads Mondeo lots of times).
In the two years my only fault has been a £70 lambda sensor. Mines a 2002 & it still looks like new - they are well made.
Actually I'm going to replace it with a 2.2d estate when I find the right car. In 20 years of motoring I've never felt compelled to buy the same car twice!!
JamesK said:
I have never owned one but the common consensus is that they are a cheap immitation Jaguar under-engineered to a budget.
I have owned 2 X's in AWD form, now this system is better than Audi's supposedly the four wheel drive specialists. So an X is under engineered, in the wet on a twisty B road it will leave an S or XJ, last time I looked the UK was covered in twisty A & B roads and it rains a lot, now the X comes into its own. Yes it's built to a budget but the S was a Lincoln under the skin far more than the X is a mondeo. Wake up smell the coffee, all companies are using common platforms, Audi TT or Skoda Fabia, Bentley GT or VW Phanteam.VW build the Bugatti Veryon and sell at £850,000 but still lose money on them because the engineering budget far exceeds the sale price. Now how many companies will survive on that principle, Jaguar certainly can't afford too. The common consensus, tells most people that you need a car ladder, A3,A4,A5,A6,A8 or A,C,E,S or 1,3,5,7 or X,XF,XJ,XK. Without that 1st rung Jaguar car, many people will take the German option and then move up the german ladder and Jaguar will never gain that customer!, brand loyalty starts with drivers in their 20's or 30's no good chasing them in their 40's to put them in a Jag XF or XJ if they spent the last 20 years driving around in German or Japanese marques.
ive just changed from a audi S6 to a 3.0 sport x-type. My opinion is - obviously NO COMPARISON on performance whatsoever but that was expected. MPG is 25+ (which im chuffed with) Build quality inside the cabin is better in the Jaguar. Its a far nicer place to be. Excellent level of toys and it feels so sturdy and hugs the road lovely. Both cars are 4WD - cant tell any difference tbh yet! My x-type is a Black sport and im constantly getting positive comments on its looks whereas NOBODY ever mentioned my 2001 S6 , which always disappointed me. The parts and servicing on the x-type are very reasonable too and also, quite importantly, no rattles or squeaks! All in all id say the x-type is a brilliant 2nd hand buy in todays market and i can see why people would stay loyal to the brand. Im already thinking about an S Type Jag as my next car and to be honest the German cars just dont have any character and their reliabilty are always greatly exaggerated from my experience. I dont think anybody would regret buying a 2nd hand x-type
I currently own a 2.2dse X Type estate. I purchased this new in September 2007, but have only done about 7000 miles to date, mainly on local B class roads. It is my second X Type, the first being a 2004 2.0d se estate. I have been very pleased with both of them. Both have been used mainly on North Yorkshire B roads , so I only averaged about 38.9 mile to the gallon with the 2 litre,and 35mpg with 2.2, but on a trip to Europe,with the smaller engined car,mainly around France on motorways,I recorded an average, according to the computer of up to 45.9 to the gallon, which did include cruising back up the Autoroute at speeds reaching an indicated 120, but more typicaly 100mph . I had only one minor fault with the first one, which was sold just after its third birthday at approx 24,000 Miles. The one service I paid for ( Jag Main Dealers )at approx 18,000 m, cost about £185 including collecting the car and returning it to my home. It would have required new front tyres in another couple of thousand miles. The only glitch was a slight fuel leak, which at high speed, caused the engine to cut out once, because it sensed a pressure drop and thought the car was in an accident! However it restarted imediately and I did not require assistance. The only critism I have from a quality point of view is that the 'binacle' arround the steering wheel is made from a rather cheap grade of plastic and is badly finnished. This has been put right on the facelifted versions. Nothing has broken off or failed on either car. I have previously owned an XJ6 , albeit a proper series 3 4.2 not an x300 or x350 , and I also still own a 1991 XJS 4.00 plus a 1967 Mk2/ 340 so I do feel I am qulified to comment about Jaguars. Most of its critics either don't own one , have never driven one, or have a mate whose bought a s/h poverty spec high mileage fleet car on E-Bay. Yes, I would agree that it is probably not as good as an S type or XJ8, but it is considerably cheaper. I have heard all the 'It's not a proper Jaguar' arguments, but remember hearing the same comments when the original XJ6 was launched in 1968! That was considerd by many not to be a proper Jag because it appeared whilst Jaguar was under the British Leyland banner. My Father was one of them , but eventualy accepted that the XJ6 was indeed a proper Jag, and eventualy bought the XJS I am running now! Do those same critics discount the original Jaguar 1.5, 2.5 & 3.5 saloons as not being proper Jags because they used modified Standard Car Company chassis and engine blocks?
My current X type diesel is a good car,but not a great one. It is definitely an improvement on the 2004 model in many suble ways. It is not the 2008 facelift version, more a 2007 and a half, hence a massive discount, but it is an SE, with, for some strange reason, all the Sovereign upgrades, with the sole exception of the piped leather trim, and most of the 2008 extras. It gives me about 35mpg on local twisty country roads , but over 40 on a longer trip. I have yet to take this on a trip longer than 100 miles, but suspect that I am loosing about 3mpg compared with the 2.0d. I have carried everything from Washing machines & Fireplaces, to double matresses in the back of both. It does not like heavy weights, but can cope with quite bulky items. It has much more usable loadspace than some of its rivals. The 2.0 performed well, but the 2.2 is much more lively, although the engine is noisier. I bought the first car to replace a Citroen Xantia Hdi Estate, and feel that I made the right initial decision. I also have a friend who switched from BMW 3 series to X type ( saloon) as a company vehicle, and has become totaly converted. He runs petrol, and after 2 X types, the dealer encouraged him to uprade to an S Type, and he is hoping for an XF soon! In short, I don't think that the Mondeo connection should stop people from buying one. It makes most consumables cheaper, so it is not an expensive car to service, especialy if one uses a specialist rather than a main dealer. The 4 wheeel drive drive train can get noisy on the petrol models , but I understand that noise aside, the system is not problematic.There was an article last year about someone who bought a very high mileage 2.5 petrol X Type which had at the time of writing the articlae clocked up nearly a quarter of a million miles, and it had very little work other than normal consumables i.e Tyres, shocks Brake Discs etc. However all the diesels are front wheel drive and therefore less complex to maintain. The 6 speed gearbox on my current car is much nicer to use than the 5 speed on the 2004 model 2.0d.I have read some critism about the gearboxes used on the petrol models, both manual and auto. I may not replace my current X Type with another, as it seems likely that Jaguar will drop the model in 2010 unless sales improve. The car ( or at least the estate car ) deserves better sales, but when so many Motoring Journalists dismiss the model as being old fashioned and continue to base their views on the early versions they drove some years ago, I suspect that the model is doomed. It will probably be better appreciated a couple of years after they stop making them, and be recommended as a great second hand buy! Take a look at it's CO2 emmisions. The diesel is quite low, so my Car Tax is still very reasonable in spite of Darling's efforts. Sadly, the estate is one group higher than the saloons.
I suspect that much of the engineering developemnt for the planned, but scrapped, X type replacement found it's way into the new Mondeo. That is one reason why a new X Type is unlikely, as the split from Ford would make a new car based on the new Mondeo much less practical. It may well be that some people cannot see beyond it'S Ford DNA, but if they insist on calling it a Ford, then it is closer to being a Ford Cosworth Ghia 4x4 version than any other Mondeo model!
My current X type diesel is a good car,but not a great one. It is definitely an improvement on the 2004 model in many suble ways. It is not the 2008 facelift version, more a 2007 and a half, hence a massive discount, but it is an SE, with, for some strange reason, all the Sovereign upgrades, with the sole exception of the piped leather trim, and most of the 2008 extras. It gives me about 35mpg on local twisty country roads , but over 40 on a longer trip. I have yet to take this on a trip longer than 100 miles, but suspect that I am loosing about 3mpg compared with the 2.0d. I have carried everything from Washing machines & Fireplaces, to double matresses in the back of both. It does not like heavy weights, but can cope with quite bulky items. It has much more usable loadspace than some of its rivals. The 2.0 performed well, but the 2.2 is much more lively, although the engine is noisier. I bought the first car to replace a Citroen Xantia Hdi Estate, and feel that I made the right initial decision. I also have a friend who switched from BMW 3 series to X type ( saloon) as a company vehicle, and has become totaly converted. He runs petrol, and after 2 X types, the dealer encouraged him to uprade to an S Type, and he is hoping for an XF soon! In short, I don't think that the Mondeo connection should stop people from buying one. It makes most consumables cheaper, so it is not an expensive car to service, especialy if one uses a specialist rather than a main dealer. The 4 wheeel drive drive train can get noisy on the petrol models , but I understand that noise aside, the system is not problematic.There was an article last year about someone who bought a very high mileage 2.5 petrol X Type which had at the time of writing the articlae clocked up nearly a quarter of a million miles, and it had very little work other than normal consumables i.e Tyres, shocks Brake Discs etc. However all the diesels are front wheel drive and therefore less complex to maintain. The 6 speed gearbox on my current car is much nicer to use than the 5 speed on the 2004 model 2.0d.I have read some critism about the gearboxes used on the petrol models, both manual and auto. I may not replace my current X Type with another, as it seems likely that Jaguar will drop the model in 2010 unless sales improve. The car ( or at least the estate car ) deserves better sales, but when so many Motoring Journalists dismiss the model as being old fashioned and continue to base their views on the early versions they drove some years ago, I suspect that the model is doomed. It will probably be better appreciated a couple of years after they stop making them, and be recommended as a great second hand buy! Take a look at it's CO2 emmisions. The diesel is quite low, so my Car Tax is still very reasonable in spite of Darling's efforts. Sadly, the estate is one group higher than the saloons.
I suspect that much of the engineering developemnt for the planned, but scrapped, X type replacement found it's way into the new Mondeo. That is one reason why a new X Type is unlikely, as the split from Ford would make a new car based on the new Mondeo much less practical. It may well be that some people cannot see beyond it'S Ford DNA, but if they insist on calling it a Ford, then it is closer to being a Ford Cosworth Ghia 4x4 version than any other Mondeo model!
Edited by INKYFATCAT on Friday 20th June 15:36
Edited by INKYFATCAT on Friday 20th June 15:40
PS. The wheelbase is shorter than the Mondeo. Jaguar management realised that if they left it the same, it's internal accomodation would have been bigger than that in the S Type, which would have upset S Type sales. They couldn't produce a cheaper car with more leg room in the back....
I wonder if they regret that decision?
And... Yes , they did rave about the handling of the origianl Mondeo, and some say that it was better than the new one!
Certainly , my X Type 2wd Estate handles quite well. The 17" wheel option does make the handling sharper, and the ride quality does not suffer much, but the additional cost of replacemnt tyres needs to be considered.
I would also observe that the quality of the X Type has continued to improve over the years. More equipment each model year! I think they listened and responded to the critisms about quality, but the motoring press have not bothered to retest these models as they are not exciting enough for them. Autocar did a brief test of a facelifted 2.2 auto last week and concluded that it was ' quite a good car ' and much improved, but a quater of a page isn't going to undo the previous bad press. I suspect that mid to late 2004 is the model year when most improvements came into effect as there was a minor facelift to all models when the estate was introduced. Autocar have also run a real world test of a 2.00dse saloon , and achieved about 46 mpg over an period of a couple of months. I think that can be found on line somewhere ( Haymarket Press? )
I wonder if they regret that decision?
And... Yes , they did rave about the handling of the origianl Mondeo, and some say that it was better than the new one!
Certainly , my X Type 2wd Estate handles quite well. The 17" wheel option does make the handling sharper, and the ride quality does not suffer much, but the additional cost of replacemnt tyres needs to be considered.
I would also observe that the quality of the X Type has continued to improve over the years. More equipment each model year! I think they listened and responded to the critisms about quality, but the motoring press have not bothered to retest these models as they are not exciting enough for them. Autocar did a brief test of a facelifted 2.2 auto last week and concluded that it was ' quite a good car ' and much improved, but a quater of a page isn't going to undo the previous bad press. I suspect that mid to late 2004 is the model year when most improvements came into effect as there was a minor facelift to all models when the estate was introduced. Autocar have also run a real world test of a 2.00dse saloon , and achieved about 46 mpg over an period of a couple of months. I think that can be found on line somewhere ( Haymarket Press? )
Edited by INKYFATCAT on Friday 20th June 15:53
Edited by INKYFATCAT on Friday 20th June 16:02
The X type is an incredible bargain buy, it is regarded as a poor car in my opinion simply because of it's Mondeo connections which is crazy when you consider the plaudits the Mondeo was receiving at the time the X type was conceived. The X type is a fine handling car using the same chassis as the Mondeo, (which Sir Jackie Stewart did some of the development driving on) and is regarded as still one of the finest in it's class. When you consider that Jaguar then went on to substantially modify the suspension and then added 4 wheel drive to the bigger engined variants you can imagine how well it handles. The 3.0 litre engine produces 231 bhp as standard, which makes it a fair bit quicker than the Mondeo st220.
With regard to it not being as good as other Jags that's entirely down to opinion. Jags generally cruise beautifully but give then some serious cornering and they really struggle. I recently had an XJ8 as a courtesy car and in a straight line it was good fun but throw in some corners and it was seriously awful and combined with a slushy automatic gearbox I really couldn't wait to give it back!
So don't expect an X type to cruise like a big Jag even though they are very comfortable but as a drivers car the big engined manual 4wd cars are truly excellent value and great fun to drive.
With regard to it not being as good as other Jags that's entirely down to opinion. Jags generally cruise beautifully but give then some serious cornering and they really struggle. I recently had an XJ8 as a courtesy car and in a straight line it was good fun but throw in some corners and it was seriously awful and combined with a slushy automatic gearbox I really couldn't wait to give it back!
So don't expect an X type to cruise like a big Jag even though they are very comfortable but as a drivers car the big engined manual 4wd cars are truly excellent value and great fun to drive.
skidrisk said:
With regard to it not being as good as other Jags that's entirely down to opinion. Jags generally cruise beautifully but give then some serious cornering and they really struggle. I recently had an XJ8 as a courtesy car and in a straight line it was good fun but throw in some corners and it was seriously awful and combined with a slushy automatic gearbox I really couldn't wait to give it back!
What sort of XJ8 was it?It certainly shouldn't struggle through the corners. I've got a X300 XJ6 Sport, before that I had a Celica GT4 and through steady state corners the Jag is a lot quicker that the GT4 was and that was a lot better than the Quattro it replaced. S bends are a bit trickier, all that mass has to go somewhere, but it's still in a totally different league to say a E-Class Merc and I find it better than the 5 series I've driven. The only time mines been a handful in corners was when the local deal who is not in Reading gave it back to me half way through replacing the suspension bushes. I can't remember what they'd gone but the bits for the next stage were going to take a few days and so they gave it back to me part done and it was all over the place. But other than that they corner very solidly.
The newer X350s are softer, but even with US spec suspension they still handle pretty tidily.
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