I am thinking about getting a Jaguar X-Type as a winter car because it has All Wheel Drive and I don't really want to drive a $600 Saturn for half the year (Minnesota!). I already get to hear that it is not a real Jaguar and I would be driving a Ford Mondeo. Just looking online, it looks like a beautiful affordable car.

If you own and drive a Jaguar X-Type, how do you like it? Is it more fun than driving a 280,000 mile Saturn? Does it have the Jaguar 'vibe'? Is it as reliable as a Saturn though? Any pitfalls or engines to avoid?

Thanks,

Andy

 

Wait.....you are driving a Saturn with 280K miles and are worried that people are going to give you grief about driving a Ford Modeo? Does anyone in Minnesota even know what a Mondeo is?

They are fun cars to drive and can be very reliable to own and are well made. If you buy one that has had regular maintenance done through the years you should be fine. If you buy one cheap that has been neglected just to say you are driving a Jaguar you will most likely be disappointed. Do your homework ahead of time on here and you will be well on your way. Your question has been asked and answered a gazillion times through the years, so I won't go into all the details. You can find all that easily enough with a brief search. In short, these cars are bargains if you buy the right one. I had mine and had it almost 7 years and it was one of the most reliable cars I have ever owned. And if something does go wrong, you will not find a more helpful and friendly forum anywhere.

 

Andreas, I see a few things that you may need to consider.

First off, in your case, you need to know the year of the vehicle and what it has for a transfer case. The X-Type had 2 styles of transfer cases in them. You had the early style which had a viscous coupling in it that always guaranteed power to 1 front wheel and 1 rear wheel at all times. This ran until roughly March 2004 (so if you are looking at a 2004 vehicle, the build date is in the driver's door jam). After March 2004, the cars came with the "improved" transfer case which got rid of the viscous coupling and while it transfer power to all 4 wheels, when one wheel looses traction, it will take 100% of the power, leaving the other 3 wheels to just sit there. So, no better than a FWD car. The exception to this is if it has a button on the center console that says "DSC" (Dynamic Stability Control). With DSC, that will restore true AWD mode as it will apply the brakes to the wheel that is spinning too fast and allow power to be restored to the other 3 wheels.

Second thing: while the X-Type is a quick vehicle compared to your Saturn, you may find it a bit lacking for a true sports car. If you drive it as a sports car, you can probably also plan on the car being expensive to own as the transfer case has had its issues over the years due to hard use. The number of issues seem to be falling with time. But, what is your luck? If you drive the car sensibly, the transfer case will outlast the car. You race light to light, plan on it being an expensive car.

The last thing that you will need to look at is the door sills (under side of the car). The common rust area for these cars is in that area and due to the nature of the rust, the repair costs can make it unaffordable to do. So, take a look there and make sure that things look solid. You live in an area that can be hard on steel.

As for repairs, most of the parts are not any more expensive than for our Saturn if you know where to look. If you can work on the Saturn, you can work on the Jaguar. I owned my X-Type for 6 years and only had to repair the common stuff (brakes, plugs, tires, shocks).

 

Is the X-Type a Jaguar?? It is 100% a Jaguar! Does it have Ford parts? Yes about 20%. Is this a good thing? Very good thing. Our motor is made right here in Cleveland. Dependable, EZ to service, parts everywhere and at a very low cost.

I would bet a good percentage of Jaguar drivers (none on here) who look at the X-Type as just another car, have no idea Ford had any thing to do with it. The non-car general public has no idea Ford had anything to do with it.

I drive one set up with a soft ride as my daily driver and a sport model with manual transmission for the weekends. Do I love'em...you bet!

Oh and you may need to put aside some money for better clothes as people will be looking at you now...and get a hair cut too.

 

Hey now Larry-Cleveland...some of us rock both Jaguars and LONG HAIR!!!! LOLOLOL

peace out,
daddylogan

 

We all lived in the 70's...hehehhehe

 

Andy: if you listen to people who do not know what they are talking about, you will hear utter nonsense . The X-type is not a Mondeo in drag. It is a Jaguar through and through - yes, it shares some parts with Ford cars just as Bentleys and Rolls share some Volkswagen and BMW parts. The engines (and both the 2.5 and 3 litre versions are excellent) share basic components with Ford engines of the period but the important parts up top were engineered, tweaked, refined by Jaguar. With regard to a comparison with your Saturn - who can say? It all depends on the service history, the previous owners' treatment (care or abuse) of the car, the environmental conditions (rust belt use?) and so on. As others have suggested, when getting any used car it is always a very good idea to change all fluids, and on the X-Type, to make sure that the transfer case cooling duct is in place under the engine ( they often go missing because they must be removed to change the engine oil; "mechanics" see no purpose in the duct and they simply discard it; it can also be torn off by road debris. Very easily replaceable. Are these cars Jaguars? YES. Are they reliable? YES (but paying attention to condition and service history).

 

Thank you for all the feedback!
I just got a haircut this morning.
Time to get an X-Type :-).

 

Diesel models have more in common with Mondeo under the bonnet.
But as for petrol models, they have very little in common with mondeo.
Most of the suspension is modified and parts like shock absorbers are not compatible. I've heard thad some rear parts from Mondeo estate will work.

Only engine block is from duratec v6, all the rest (cylinders, head, ECU, intake, manifold, exhaust etc) is Jaguar. No compatible parts. This engine is found in XJ, XF and S type too.

Only the brakes from mondeo should fit.

So far, the only mondeo part I could install were cabin air filter and brakes, so it's much easier to call Audi a Skoda, than to call X-Type a Mondeo.
I don't get why everybody insist that this is a Ford, especially since diesel engined FWD models were introduced quite a bit later than AWD.

Not to mention that Ford Mondeo mk3 was a class leader in Europe back in the day, with superb suspension, so being based on an Mondeo would be not bad thing at all.

 

Andreas, I think I qualify as an English Car Nut, growing up with and learning to drive in MGAs and Bs, Triumph Spitfires, and E-Types, and I bless the name Ford every time I get in one of my cars, because it starts, and the lights work, and the heater heats, and I can drive through a puddle without looking for the next curb to coast over to. "Glorified Mondeo" wouldn't be such a bad thing, even if it were true, but the X-Type is so much more. Classy, unmistakable Jag looks, beautiful and durable interiors, lively performance, and dependability (if you listen to them, and look after the little things) My X-Type is approaching 200,000 km, and I like it so much that I went the route of doing a very expensive replacement of the outer frame rails in the area of the A-Pillars (mine is an '03, prior to the galvanized frames and proper drain holes: I didn't do my homework when I bought it used) because I couldn't think of a similar car I wanted more. And I still can't. But I would never have contemplated buying such a complex car, never mind my (recent)XK8, or its replacement Vantage, without the security of knowing that Ford had overseen every aspect of the cars. AND, just a bit of trivia for the Mondeo Looking-Down-Their-Noses Twits, the whole DuraTec engine line, which your new car will have a variant of, was originally designed and engineered by Porsche, with top end and breathing subbed out to Cosworth, which puts it in some pretty fast company. Do your homework, and take the plunge. And stay in touch with the Forum. A better bunch you won't find on any site!

 

Thank you again! Now I am facing the challenge how to sell my significant other that I might need a Jaguar X-Type for the winter so the beautiful Jaguar XK8 I bought three weeks ago does not get rusty. Something tells me her response is going to have the word Mercedes in it. :-)

 

Oh, and as we all know, THAT word will lead you to a trouble-free, low maintenance, bargoon-type ride!

 

With Mercedes it is basically the same thing as with a Jaguar. If you get one that is too cheap to be true, you end up with a maintenance nightmare. We had two old well-maintained Mercedes ML320 that just ran and ran without problems. And one complete piece of junk Mercedes C320 4MATIC that had every problem in the world and even caught on fire. However for any severe crash a Mercedes is a very good choice.

 

And for any severe crash, a Jaguar is also a very good choice. They are built like tanks. But they are also engineered to allow a good driver to avoid (many) crashes. I know this sounds like codswallop but that is my experience.

 

I originally bought my X for winter trips to the Children's Hospital (a few hundred miles) because of the AWD.


This thing will run places in the snow that my Disco-II couldn't, and it looks and feels great besides.


Great winter car. Great summer car.

 

My 04 is my third X-Type, I plan to sell this one and looking for a perfect later MY with every options in it, and will keep it for the rest of my life; You had other Jag. when you drive a Jag. it completely difference than when you drive a Ford or Lincoln, even you buy an X-Type just for the Winter, but it's still better ride than Mondeo, You drove 280K miles Saturn probably work on the car a lots, so own an X-Type shouldn't be a problem, you have other Jags, you know the cost for the service. Every body here must love the X-Type to own more than one.

 

The Ford part is the best thing about getting a Jaguar. Also no Lucas wiring. I have had my Jag as my winter beater for 4 years. 118K miles on it now and no issues besides normal maintenance. If you are worried about prestige....and you do not want to pay money for the cost of a car with prestige, this will work. The X type is what it is. A cheap, reliable used car not made anymore and mix of Jaguar and Ford. Some put Lincoln V8 engines in them. Mondeo, Lincoln LS, Jag, same cookie cutter cars. None did very well in sales but they run and work well.

 

Ummmmmhhh.....almost 400,000 X-Types were sold...would you really say that it "didn't do very well in sales"?

 

edit: I've deleted this post as I've found sources to be incorrect

 

Not compared to what Jag and Ford wanted. It was supposed to be an entry level Jaguar built on the Mondeo world platform to compete with the BMW 3 series. The Lincoln LS was made for the US market. At the time it did not do much to dethrone the BMW 3 series. Some say this venture led to the end of the Ford/Jaguar bailout. I am not bashing on the X Type at all, I love mine....but it is what it is. Some Jaguar elite do not consider it a true Jaguar. Hell, I owned a few Porsches, my favorite was a 911. Some Porsche guys are the same way....my current one is a Porsche 914. It is called by Porsche elite as the poor mans Porsche, the VW Porsche, just like the 924 was made as a joint Porsche/Audi venture. Do I love my cheap fun to drive and work on 914!!!! Hell yea!!!!