Just make sure she doesn't text and drive.. I was looking for parts off a scrap jag and the guy said he bought it for his daughter and she crashed two months later due to texting lol

 

And man, an X-Type. She's lucky, I remember my first car.. Man, that honda civic could beat anyone in a race....... :P

 

My first car was a 2003 X-type........drove it hard for 40k miles.......literally abused the crap out of it.....ran like a CHAMP from the day i got it till the day i sold it.

a girl driving a manual X-type might cause headaches with the father with all the guys shes going to attract

 

My insurance actually gave me a discount for driving a manual because it does keep my phone out of my hands when I'm driving! Also, the manual transmission means that nobody else gets to drive my car and therefore nobody drives it reckless. Sure, I take corners faster than any other car sometimes, but that's because I've been doing that for two years with my car so I know what it can handle and what makes it fishtail

 

You'd be surprised how many guys don't drive manual transmissions.

Our youngest daughter wanted to use our 1994 LT1 six speed Firebird for her prom double date. I said yes, if you drive. It was pretty cool to see the guys crawl in back and the girls get in front.

 

I would actually prefer the manual - she is not enthused by the idea, mostly because Mom says no

XType is on the list of options...just haven't decided to dive in the pool yet. Subaru for me is a known quantity if not very exciting.

 

In 3+ years and 45k miles, I have only done an oil pan gasket ($800). The X-Type has been cheaper to keep on the road than any other car I've owned. And to name them...
'69 Beetle, '86 VW Golf, '96 Volvo 850, '01 Mercedes ML, '03 VW Eurovan, '04 Celica, '00 Volvo C70, and '01 Infiniti QX4.

 

How many miles were on the car when you did the oil pan gasket?

 

I am going to agree with many of the responses in that I would suggest a more reliable vehicle that does not necessitate (in my opinion) a skilled mechanic. I am on my second Mazda and have been looking for a suitable (by that I mean a combination of little damage to the body, engine compartment in good condition, good CarFax, good price, and most importantly GOOD SUPPORT/MECHANIC) Jaguar X-Type. I do use premium fuel and take my vehicle to a "Certified Jaguar Master Mechanic." I hope that everyone has an enjoyable weekend.

 

I say go for the X. Sounds like you have done quite a bit of research on here and have a pretty good idea on the common issues with the car. It DOES seem like the later models from 2004 and on seem to have less issues with them, but some of that might be that as the years went on they sold a lot less of tem. And it also seems like there seem to be less issues with the manual models, but, again, less of them were sold. They also stopped selling the manuals after 2005. You sound pretty handy and it you buy a well cared for example more than likely you can handle anything that comes up yourself. Like Expat, mine has been one of the most reliable cars I have ever owned Bought my 2005 in 2008 with 42K on it. It now has 123K and is great. Plus, there is a lot of support on here for you should something pop up. Do it! Let us know what you end up deciding.

 

Just a fun fact, but the engine in the mazda 6 is actually derived from the engine in the jaguar xtype. Everyone always thinks of these cars as true jaguars, but when you buy an xtype, you are essentially buying a car that looks like a jaguar, and drives like a jaguar, but has maintenance like a mazda. Also I would say the biggest pitfall of people who own xtypes is taking their car to a "specialty mechanic" because the car is a jaguar. There are so many reasons to buy the Jag. My girlfriend bought a subaru for exactly the same price that I bought my jag for and she has more than $2000 of work put into that car over less than a year while I have only put in $600 per year into mine.

 

And Disguay, correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't most of your expense related to when you bought the car the previous owner not taking good care of it? Had maintenance been kept up on your car chances are that when you bought it you wouldn't have had to put as much time and money in it as you had?

My point is, these cars CAN be very reliable cars if you take care of them and address issues when they come up and do preventative maintenance. If you get a check engine light and ignore it because it "seems like it is running fine" you run the risk of bigger problems down the road. After being on this forum for close to five years I am convinced of it. And that goes for any car and not just Jaguar.

Buy it, buy it, buy it!!!!!!

 

Have to totally agree, so far all my problems seem to be caused by years of poor maintenance and people just not caring in the maintenance of it. Now that I've tore it down, only have a few problems I'm still working on, but I'm also making sure I do this car right and make sure it's maintained correctly.

 

95k, but it started leaking about 88k or so.

 

A potential oil pan gasket is my biggest concern - not that its all that big of a deal but, I just don't like oil stain on the driveway!

 

Does you're daughter know much about cars?
If not you may end up buying her the cute yellow one rather than a subaru or a jag. Especially when she gives you the 'You do love me don't you daddy?' look.

 

Still thinking "Subaru"???

Read this from a local paper here in ND:

Published March 06, 2013, 09:36 AM
2 Watford City teens dead, 1 injured in Highway 85 crash
A vehicle crash on Highway 85 in McKenzie County took the life of two teenage boys Tuesday, according to a North Dakota Highway Patrol release.
Around 1 p.m. Fenton H. Matthew, 17 was driving a 2001 Subaru Forester with passengers Hank D. Allen, 17, and Austin L. McCaulley, 18, all of Watford City, westbound on Highway 85 in the passing lane when the car hit a patch of slush. The car rotated counterclockwise into the eastbound lane and was struck by a 2005 Peterbilt driven by Jerry W. Bottoms of Fairfield, Texas, on the passenger side, splitting the vehicle in half.
The Subaru came to a rest facing northeast in the westbound lane. The Peterbilt hit the ditch.
Matthew, the driver, was injured. His passengers, Allen and McCaulley, were pronounced dead at the scene. They were not wearing their seat belts. It is unknown if Matthew was using any safety restraints.
Bottoms, the Peterbilt driver, was wearing his seat belt and was not injured.
The McKenzie County Ambulance responded to the scene. Parties were taken to McKenzie County Hospital and flown to Trinity Health in Minot.


Buy your kid the Jag. Better built and the only place there isn't an airbag is in the coffee-cup holder. You'll sleep better.

 

Inadequate excuse.

 

Getting T-boned by a semi at highway speed it doesn't surprise me that a car could be split in two, whether it's a Subaru, Jaguar or anything. Plus, the two that were killed were not wearing seat belts. You could easily make a case for the car being safe that the driver that was wearing the seat belt did survive the carnage. I'm not trying to defend the safety of a Subaru, just saying that this example might not be the best. This sounds more like a good example of driving with more care for the conditions and for wearing a seat belt. I'm not sure when they develop crash tests a scenario as described is simulated.

I still say by the Jaguar. Any updates if you bought a car for your daughter and, if so, how big of a hero are you in her eyes??

 

This is a real good point. I was surprised with how many air bags the X had, I discovered more than half of them after we bought it!