Greetings! My mother wants an AWD premium luxury car for a very small monthly payment, so I'm looking at the X-Type.

She drives few miles/year but wants the car to be reliable. On the other hand, I live nearby and could rescue her if something did go wrong.

We have an honest (but not inexpensive) mechanic whom we've dealt with for years, so the first question is whether to spring for a warranty or certified car or just put the extra money aside for future problems? If we do need a warranty, would we be better off in the aftermarket or get a Jaguar warranty? With the US economy tanking I wonder how long Tata will weather the storm and what would happen if Jaguar left the US market. Would my Jaguar warranty be worth anything then?

What problems should I be on the lookout for when I test drive?

The next question is year and mileage. Again, she does around 7k miles/year. I expect she'll love the car and want to keep it a long time. Would we be better off saving thousands and going for a 40k mile 2004 or saving repairs and headaches and getting a 20k mile 2006?

I know for certain we need heated seats, stability control, and automatic. At what point did stability control become standard? How can I tell if it's equipped? Where can I find a list of the available options for various years and is there one I need or one should avoid?

I'd appreciate any advice or links to similar threads.

Thanks in advance,

Qest

 

Buy the used X-Type from a Jaguar dealer so you get it certified with the Jaguar select warranty. Thats what I did when I bought my 2004 and I have enjoyed it ever since. Anytime I needed it in for service or routine maintence they have taken care of it without issue.

Great car and I think its a worth while purchase for your mom. GL with it..

 

qest, as for problems with the X-types, the most easily seen one is the headlights. The mechanism for self-leveling them breaks and will cause the lights to point any which way but forward. You can park the car near a wall and shine the lights on the wall. As you turn on the lights, you should see them rise and both come to a common height.

Another problem is the transfer case. They are prone to breakage. Before you buy the vehicle, have a shop do a fluid change. Ask them to record how much fluid comes out. You should expect to hear 300-400 ml. If they get above 600 ml, they are lying to you. If they say nothing, be cautious. A lot of us have changed our transfer case oil and have found nothing in there. Our cars are still running, but it does make one wonder. The transfer cases are also prone to excessive flexing, leading to cracking of the case. IT can be an expensive repair ($3000 isn't too far off). So, as long as she isn't gunning the engine all the time, you shouldn't have an issue. Of note also, in 2004, the transfer case was redesigned and some members say that the newer transfer case doesn't transfer the power around like the 02-03 cases did. So, in bad weather, the 04+ cars tend to drive more like a standard rear wheel drive car, not an AWD car.

Another common problem with these cars is a knocking sound from the rear of the car. Doesn't hurt the car, but can raise a lot of questions. Normally fixed with a new set of shocks and can be used to knock some money off of the car.

Beyond that, the problems are hit and miss. The only problems I have had with my car is having to replace both rear brake calipers (over the course of 13K miles). The one caliper the car place said was bad and I replaced it soon after getting the car (at their expense) and I recently had a caliper have the emergency brake portion of the caliper freeze. Easy fixes.

As for the aftermarket warrantees, my personal feeling is not to buy them. Companies are there to make money and if they are having to spend more money than they are getting from the warrantee, they don't remain in business too long. But, with that being said, it does make for a lot of carefree driving in not having to worry about a major expense. Do some looking around and compare different plans. You will find a lot of differences out there. If you do go with one, make sure that it specifically covers the transfer case. If you are going to have a problem with this car, odds are, it will be the transfer case. In most cases, that single repair will more than pay for the warrantee.

 

Rule of thumb is buy the lowest mile/newest year you can afford. Less time for the prior owner to fawk everything up.

Other than that, Thermo sums it up nicely as usual.

Browse around the FAQ section and you will get an idea of what many folks encounter with this car.

I wouldn't call the X a "premium" luxury car by any stretch either, but that's just me. Best of luck on your search!

 

Thanks for the replies. I think we're going to go for a 2006+ with low miles. A used 2008 would be perfect as simply avoiding the depreciation of driving it off the lot would work. Any ideas where to find something like that?

 

qest, check out http://www.texascarsdirect.com . They have a lot of vehicles to choose from and you can find a lot of jags for pretty much as cheap as you will find. May even be able to find say an XJ8 or something nicer than the X-Type for about the same price. The only trick with this place is you have to go to Texas to pick it up. But, the money that you save will more than cover the cost of a plane ticket and the gas to make it back to where you live. After that, it will be hit and miss. You can try e-bay, but again, will probably result in either a lot of trust in the person selling the car or a plane ride to the car. Same with Craigslist.

Wish you luck.

 

That looks like an awesome place to get a Jag!

 

dont buy a jag and expect small monthly payments. that is absurd.
You need to expect large costs with a jag, and if it ends up being one of the few with lower costs.. then you can feel lucky. Dont kid yourself or be fooled by low initial costs. The cars depreciate for a reason.

 

So, Thermo, forgive me for asking, the fluid for the transfer case must be replaced, checked? When?
And if it runs out of fluid that is bad I assume...right?
It is good to replace it even if it was replaced in the past anyway? I don't think that the fluid was replaced though.
Should I ask the dealer to have a look at it or what?
Thanks.

 

DO NOT BUT A JAGUAR. Research the better business burea and see all the problems and complaints and the big "F" they get. Poorly designed components that fail prematurely and labor that will cost you out the ***! Look for my thread "MAJOR drivetrain problem" and be sure to read through.

 

Do not "BUT" a Jaguar? That sounds somewhat offensive! LOL...jk

Tracus if things are meant to have fluid in them and then they do not, generally yes, that would be bad.

After your other experiences I can't believe you would ask your dealer to do anything and from the sounds of it they probably wouldn't anyway.

 

Tracus, you can not really check the fluid level. There is no way to do that without draining all the fluid out of the case and then measuring that quantity. There's no dipstick, no sightglass, etc. As for periodicity if changing out the fluid, I would say every 50K miles or so. That would be conservative and as long as you don't have a leak anywhere, should maintain enough fluid in the transfer case to give it long survivability. If you are going to have a leak, it will probably pop its head up in 2 areas: 1) on the seals going to the front half shafts and 2) on the coupling downstream of the transfer case on the rear driveshaft (there is a seal clear down at the nut for the coupling). Both are easily spotted if they are leaking as you will have fluid in the area.

If you run out of fluid, yes it is bad. Now, with that being said, I will use my car as an example. I bought my car used, even assuming that the fluid had just been changed (best case), over the course of 10,000 miles, my transfer case lost all of its fluid. I would venture to guess it lost it a lot quicker than that. But, my case still seems solid and isn't making any funny noises. All I can assume is the bearing are able to retain enough fluid in them to not lead to their failure. So, as for how many miles you can go with "no fluid" in the transfer case, I don't think there is even a ballpark guess out there. No one knows when it goes empty.

As for getting the fluid replaced, I wish you luck with that at a professional shop. There are lots of guys here that have taken their cars into a Jag dealership to have the fluid swapped out. Jag will tell you that the only way to ensure it gets done correctly is to drop the transfer case from the car and fill it that way. As you can imagine, not a cheap venture. With that being said, you can do it yourself for about $25. A few members (myself included) have come up with a way that you pull the drain plug on the transfer case and then you stick a valve in its place. Then all you do is attach a hose to the valve and push the fluid into the transfer case (I personally put a hose up through the engine bay and gravity fill that way). If you are interested in that, there are a few write ups in the forums. Takes 30-45 minutes to do.

If you have more questions, keep them coming. I will pass on what info I have.

 

i would not push the troubles i have had with this on an enemy. My first truck was a $500 beater 3 years ago and i never had any of these types of problems and i drove that thing with no mercy whatsoever and i put 80000 more miles on top of the 130000 it had when i bought it and it still ran its *** off on a daily basis when i got rid of it and i STILL see it around. I take it fairly easy on this car b/c i have a truck for the crazy days i beat on and it has less than 80000 miles and has had numerous problems costing lots of money.

The initial cost of the car isnt the shocker. it is the repairs and maintainance associated with a poorly manufactured automobile. Dont get me wrong though, minus the money and problems and downtime the car is GORGEOUS! and is a dream to drive. By the way, mine is an 04 and it is supposed to have the problems cured.

edit: i just wanted to add that out of about a year and a half, the car has been out of commission due to the transfer case for 6 of the months and counting up for thi one.

 

I am aware that the X-Type is a relatively unreliable car which is most of the reason it's so very cheap to buy used. I'm also aware that they're no longer run by Ford, but by Tata and that, while Tata tends to be a stand-up company, the reality of the current state of the car biz makes Jaguar's exit from the US market a real possibility.

The car is for my mother who drives like the proverbial little old lady. She lives close and tends not to stray far from home so it's likely that if the car did die I could go pick her up. She has AAA Plus so towing isn't an issue.

I expect I will get a warranty if they're not ludicrously expensive. Any suggestion of a warranty with an especially high rental allowance would be nice so she could drive a nice car while her Jag is in the shop.

I'm glad the X-Type is Ford-based and unreliable and that Jaguar is in trouble otherwise it would have resale values like a comparable Lexus which she couldn't afford.

While I empathize with you about your problem, Jagxtype, I have to wonder how you managed to be a member of this forum and purchase a car with well-known issues from a company that has never been known for reliability and drove it without a warranty and be so irate.

P.S. I don't think "sealed for life" is the same thing as "guaranteed forever."

 

You are taking a step that i did not qest. You are researching the car before you buy. I was 19 and naive with a massive wad of cash in my pocket and once i drove the car i bought it on the spot. I now wish i would have researched it. I am irrate because the car was broken when it was in warranty and they would do nothing about it and by the time i fought it out it was out of warranty. Now i am faced with the consequences of their stubborness and stupidity. whatever they want to say. i guess that's why i have had to have 2 vehichles while owning this troublesome yet awesome car. Rocking out the pickup for now!