Hey guys!

I am thinking about buying my second Jaguar. It is a 2002 X-Type with 142,000 miles. It is being sold at a dealership in Oregon for $2995. Is that a good deal? Are there any specific problems I should look for if I test drive it? Should I pay for an extended warranty? Is this a reliable Jag? Thank you for your time.

 

macmlds, the car is reliable. Granted, it is not a car that is really meant to be sporty. While most of the weak transfer cases should be already off the road, the transfer case is the weak link in the drive train. So, take it for a test drive and see if you get what most have referred to as a "box of rocks in the engine bay". if you have this problem, walk away from the car.

I would take a good look at the door sills to see how they look. Another deal breaker is this are is prone to rust and if you have to repair this, you might as well buy a new car as this is part of the structural part of the car. Not cheap to fix.

Before taking it for a drive, move the e-brake lever up and down. Does it stop half way up (handle rising about 4-6 inches) or can you pull it up fairly far? If you can pull it up fairly far, then you most likely have a failed caliper and that will require replacement (ie, the e-brake lever is frozen/rusted and odds are, the pads are toast on that wheel). Then after a 5 minute drive, put your hand near each wheel. If there is a caliper issue, it will be one of the rear ones and the wheel will be really hot.

Look at the rear wheels. How new are the tires? If they are brand new, look to see how much the tires lean in at the top. The suspension arms can wear and this will cause the tires to lean in at the top and result in fast rear tire wear. I would also say to find a long sweeping turn and to go a moderate acceleration around the turn. When getting on the gas, if you feel like the rear end is going to come around on you, then this also confirms a bad suspension arm.

Much beyond that, the problems you find are going to be pretty obvious.

 

Good price is certainly subjective. I bought my 2006 w/nav almost 2 years ago for WAY less than the listed Dealer price. They started @ 11,000+, dropped to 9,000, I offered and they took $4,500 cash. I've replaced a broken tire stud (broken by not knowing to not let service station doing safety inspection for licensing use an impact gun), front "A" arms, fuel pump, fuel filter, front stabilizer bars, rear front lower arms, radiator plastic "t" hose with thermostat unit (splits at the top of the plastic t), battery, all fluids, tires (last week, got 12,000 out of brand new Tiger Paws smh), windshield sprayer nozzles. Only worn part left to do (want warm weather) are the failed and crumbled headlight adjustment components and going to grease the carrier bearing (preventative). Normal stuff for this aged a car.

 

It is impossible to get a good deal from a dealer. They are professionals to rip you off. If car is good, it is expensive, if car is cheap, it is junk.
Prices are different in different states and in different cities.

 

Meh, dealers are not as stated imo. I live in Utah, shopped for a couple of weeks, bought mine in Edison, N.J., flew there, paid them, drove 2,500 miles home in a last 5 state blinding blizzard.

It drove like a CAT!!

 

Take a good hard look at the rocker panels under the plastic rocker covers and the inner vertical part of the rockers. My 2003 was rusted so badly on both sides I traded it in for $500. I wouldn't have sold the car to anybody, I can only hope the dealer didn't either. It wasn't much more than a driveable (not far) parts car.