X type purchase bad/good
#1
10-28-2017, 05:57 PM
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: South Carolina
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X type purchase bad/good
need to know if an xtype would be suitable for my 19 yr old granddaughter. Are they problematic. She loves my 04 XKR but scared to drive it. She says she wants a mustang but I'm old and still work for a living. I also can't fit into a mustang. I'd like to know I could keep it roadworthy for her.
#2
10-29-2017, 07:36 AM
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Buffalo Eagle, If you can fix your XKR, you can fix the X-Type. The question is what kind of driver she is. The "weakness" of the X-Type is the driveline. You drive sensibly, the car will last forever with the normal issues. You cruise the highways at 80 mph, the car will love you for it. You zoom from light to light, the kitty is going to throw a fit and have you giving it lots of attention (ie, tranny or transfer case replacements).
Most of the problems people have with X-Types is contained in the following list:
-Rear suspension will start causing noises and you need to replace 2 the upper and the lower/forward control arms. Arms are fairly cheap and it is an easy job.
-Rear e-brake levers will stick, resulting in lower MPG and a hot wheel. Fairly easy fix in that you need a new caliper or you can rebuild the caliper (I have a write up on rebuilding one).
-vacuum leaks. There are 3 points that normally cause the leaks. All are easy to fix and cheap too.
-e-fan controller: The transistors inside overheat and will result in the fans not working properly. A new controller and all is good. Pretty easy fix.
Overall, I had my X-Type for 7 years and never had a major issue with it. NOrmal maintenance on a car that got up to 188K miles. The only issue I had was it seemed like every year I was replacing one of the rear calipers due to the e-brake lever sticking. It was an easy job so not a big worry to me.
Before you buy an X-Type, 2 things to watch for. The first being whether you need/want the Nav system or not. This is one of those mods that some people like the Jaguar system, some don't and if you don't get it initially, upgrading to it later is not really possible (multiple people have tried, I think 1 completed it). The second being whether the car has DSC or not. This one is situational. The early versions of the X-Type (made in March 2004 or before, this info is written in the door frame, so, some 2004 cars are really a 2003) has a viscous coupled transfer case and therfore you always have a front wheel and a rear wheel that will spin, even if all 4 wheels loose traction. After this point, Jaguar changed transfer cases and went to an open differential style. If you don't have DSC, when a wheel looses traction, it is going to take all the power, leaving the other 3 wheels just to sit there, making the car no better than a FWD or RWD vehicle. The DSC will save you there. You can tell if the car has DSC by simply looking on the center console as there will be a button there.
If you have more questions, let me know.
Most of the problems people have with X-Types is contained in the following list:
-Rear suspension will start causing noises and you need to replace 2 the upper and the lower/forward control arms. Arms are fairly cheap and it is an easy job.
-Rear e-brake levers will stick, resulting in lower MPG and a hot wheel. Fairly easy fix in that you need a new caliper or you can rebuild the caliper (I have a write up on rebuilding one).
-vacuum leaks. There are 3 points that normally cause the leaks. All are easy to fix and cheap too.
-e-fan controller: The transistors inside overheat and will result in the fans not working properly. A new controller and all is good. Pretty easy fix.
Overall, I had my X-Type for 7 years and never had a major issue with it. NOrmal maintenance on a car that got up to 188K miles. The only issue I had was it seemed like every year I was replacing one of the rear calipers due to the e-brake lever sticking. It was an easy job so not a big worry to me.
Before you buy an X-Type, 2 things to watch for. The first being whether you need/want the Nav system or not. This is one of those mods that some people like the Jaguar system, some don't and if you don't get it initially, upgrading to it later is not really possible (multiple people have tried, I think 1 completed it). The second being whether the car has DSC or not. This one is situational. The early versions of the X-Type (made in March 2004 or before, this info is written in the door frame, so, some 2004 cars are really a 2003) has a viscous coupled transfer case and therfore you always have a front wheel and a rear wheel that will spin, even if all 4 wheels loose traction. After this point, Jaguar changed transfer cases and went to an open differential style. If you don't have DSC, when a wheel looses traction, it is going to take all the power, leaving the other 3 wheels just to sit there, making the car no better than a FWD or RWD vehicle. The DSC will save you there. You can tell if the car has DSC by simply looking on the center console as there will be a button there.
If you have more questions, let me know.