So this would be my first Jaguar. It has 115k miles on it and is black with black interior. I took it for a test drive today and it was great for the most part. Super responsive plenty of power and quick. All the various gadgets and electronics work just fine and the car fax shows no issues at all with regular (ish) maintenance. During the test drive i noticed that there was a small vibration at 50mph and above along with some steering wheel vibration. I remember it being more from the rear of the car rather from under my seat, as per the carrier bearing signs that I saw on here. What else could that be? The guy showed me the receipt from where he just had new tires put on and balanced. Maybe the rear tires arent properly balanced? I noticed the wheels are a bit chewed up from running up on curbs. Maybe a bent rim? This all happened around 6pm today and I am going to take it to a dealership for an inspection tomorrow just for piece of mind before purchase. Its gorgeous and I really liked driving it. Unless someone here throws up a warning or the mechanic doesnt bless off, ill most likely go through with it. Price is 5k by the way. Thanks in advance for a y suggestions or help with what that steering wheel shimy/vibration could be.

 

ssgmac11b, from what you describe, there are 2 possible issues. the more likely one is simply that he has curb checked a curb one too many times and there is a bent rim. Not an uncommon thing for this car. If you rotate the tires and the wiggle moves to the front, this confirms the bent rim. You can normally also put the tire on a wheel balancer and spin it slowly and you will see the bow in the rim if it is significant.

The other thing that it can be is that the lower/forward rear suspension arm has worn out bushings (which would have resulted in excessive tire wear, resulting in the replaced tires). You can normally tell if you have this condition by doing a simple test. Find a clover leaf entrance ramp (or other long, sweeping corner that you take at about 25 mph/40 kph) and in the middle of the turn, step on the gas (in a controlled manner) like you were going to pass someone on the corner. If the rear end feels like it is going to step out on you, then this confirms a bad lower/forward arm for the rear suspension. The car will not actually step out on you, but the first time you feel it, you are going to go "what the ........"

If the steering wheel has a shimmy in it while just driving, this is normally caused by 2 things. Bent rims and not having the alignment just so. The car seems to be fairly sensitive to the alignment and if the wheels are not exactly pointing forward, they will cause a shimmy in the wheel.

 

I recently bought an '04 3.0L AWD with 105k miles. Last weekend I replaced the rear sway bar links and lower control arms. I'd say your PPI is going to turn up those pieces as well as other suspension issues.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. I dont guess suspension components would be too bad to replace. There are a lot worse things to be wrong and it can give me wiggle room on the price.

 

When I first got my X new, with original Continental tires..I drove it for 24 hours from Sarasota, Florida to OKC, OK...There was a steering shimmy the whole way at about 55MPH+..made me crazy..First thing I checked was the tires and two of the four were out of round...I attribute that to the fact the car sat for 9 months in a garage without moving and probably flat spotted the tires..A road force balance machine found the culprits and I had them replaced and the shimmy was gone..

Not saying this is your problem, but a possible cause.

 

Check the ride height at all 4 wheels. Worn springs won't absorb the energy of an impact the way they are meant to. At that point, your wheels and other components will be getting damaged. Doesn't make much sense to repair wheels if your springs are out of spec.

 

What should the ride height be at? I have been trying to find a shop to give it a once over prior to buying. One guy I called said he absolutely does them. But when i told him what car it was he started trying to talk me out of it on the phone without even looking at the car. Starting to make me a bit nervous

 

I had a 2005 (mine was a manual though) and it was one of the most reliable cars I have ever owned. I did replace the rear springs and rear lower control arms at around 100K or so. I didn't do the work, but it isn't that complex of a job. I didn't have the fronts done before I sold the car. It has its quirks when it comes to maintenance, but really isn't any better or worse than most other cars (oil pan gasket excepted). If it generally looks like it was taken care of and drives well and you have a comfort level the person you are buying it from took care of maintenance, chances are you will have a good used car. Keep in mind you are buying an 11 year old car. Things might start wearing out, not that the car is problematic, it is just age and miles.

If anything does pop up you won't find a more helpful or friendly group than you will here.

 

I got mine in December. It was a flood car but otherwise good. Issues it had when purchased were a broken front passenger side spring, lots of rust on the underside and rockers, and very worn out bushings. All of these can be replaced (except rust) and are not much different than any other car.

If I were to purchase another I would want to drain the transfer case and differential. If a decent amount of clean looking oil comes out, buy it. If nothing comes out, look elsewhere. He probably won't give you this option, but it seems to be the biggest issue if not taken care of properly.

 

Man I have scoured online reviews on these things. Very very good reviews everywhere that I can see. Im going to go ahead and find another shop to take it to and have it looked at.

I punched the vin in to find out what type of trim level this is. Comes back as "ltd avail" cant turn up much through google on that. Anyone here shed some light on it for me? I know its a sport but thats about it as far as trim level or whatever. Thanks guys.

 

Not trying to discourage you from this car. I've owned my 2004 X-Type 3.0 AWD for about a month. It's a great little car (IMO designed to compete with BMW 3-Series and Mercedes C-Class). My V6 AWD is peppy and is easy to drive; wife likes it. However it doesn't hold a candle to the German cars; the Jag is tinny (Brits will understand this term) compared to the solid-block-hewn construction of the German ilk. My overall rating: Nicely appointed interior, average engine (thanks Ford!), cheap underpinnings and overly complicated servicing. Examples: Jaguar procedure for transfer case (TC) fluid change is to first take down the TC. Replacing the fuel pump requires dropping the fuel tank. Not doing either.

 

if your streering wheel is vibrating get all 4 wheels balanced

 

Had a mechanic look at it. It had 14 codes stored in the computer. Misfires on multiple cylinders and oil pressure. As well as the gauge cluster was throwing one. The ac compressor was leaking a lot as well as the front seal. There was also a busted boot on the drivers front axle. Called the seller up and asked him if he would budge on the proce at all. Said the lowest he would go was 5k. Mechanic said he had been cleaning the leaks up and had probably cleared the check engine light before i came to get it. Too bad. I really liked it. But im not paying that much for a load of headaches.

 

I wouldn't touch that one. I was in the market for an X-Type for roughly six months before I found a 2007, fully optioned. Yes, I missed out on a few good prospects during that time because I didn't act quickly enough; all those were hundreds of miles from DC. One potential prospect was down in North Carolina, and I arranged to have it taken to a local Jaguar dealer for a pre-purchase inspection (at my expense of course). The tech identified a number of issues that led me to pass on that car. The current one had just under 63,000 miles when I got it, in Chili Red Metallic. My only real gripe is the 18" Aruba wheels, which I find too firm riding, and the surety that the gas mileage will be lower than my old Honda Prelude. :-)