Hello Chaps!

I've been scoping out X Types for a month or so to purchase for my daily driver. I have narrowed the field to several cars with the help of these invaluable forums (thank you!).

I'd like to put an offer in on the main contender next week.

A 2004 X Type 3.0 AWD with low miles of 33,000. The car is a private sale in generally in excellent condition, however:

(i)
Dealer serviced car today and said the oil pan is beginning to seep, no leak yet, just seepage. They quoted $1,100 to replace it and said it would be leak free for another 5 years or so.

(ii)
The Carfax shows the Throttle Body was replaced by the dealership at 15,000 miles.

These appear to be the only major issues with the car.

Q1
My question to the forum in all it's wisdom Are the 2 problems indicated here fairly standard, not to be overly concerned about OR could these be harbingers of the dread transfer case issue or worse, down the line?

Q2
Lastly, any thoughts on what might be a fair price for this car as indicated above? I'm a bit confused Between the KBB Private sale price vs the Retail Price. I'd like to make a hardball offer as I'm not made of money but I also don't want to offend.

Thanks so much for helping me with this decision. Looking forward to being part of this dynamic community!

Boomslang,

PS Not sure If this is the right forum to post these Q's, so thanks in advance for any input offered and your patience with the noob!

 

The mileage is sure nice and I wouldn't be too worried about the throttle body because they aren't known to be a common problem other than high mileage cars and their getting dirty. The pan seepage on the other hand is a bit more of a concern but only because of the cost of repair. It shouldn't really be an indication of any other worries with the car and has no relationship to the transfer case problem (the cost of fixing the pan leak is high because they traditionally have to remove the transfer case to do it. Simple fix, just takes a lot of time).

The "good" thing is that if you had the pan gasket replaced they could drain and refill the T-case in the same job.

Is it an early or late '04 car. The transfer case design changed mid-way through. Does the car have stability control (i.e., a button switch between the shifter handle and the cup holder)?

Does it have the NAV unit (if so it would likely have pretty much every option offered)?

If it has the NAV unit, and if it didn't have the leaking pan, I'd say $6-8k.

What do the rest of you guys think? Is that too high?
================================================
Jaguar: Grace, Pace, and Space - Sir William Lyons

 

Thanks much for the insights Pab!

I do not believe it has Stability control or NAV as neither are mentioned in the ad or came up in discussions.

Options as listed in ad are:

Cruise control
Leather seats
Power mirrors
Rear window defroster
Side airbags
Sunroof
Tilt/telescope steering wheel

Does that help shed more light on further on a fair price Pab or anyone else?

They are asking 11.5 k, for excellent cod vehicle (other than issues mentioned). Not sure if we might be too far apart on price.

Thanks again forums!

 

Nada has it at 9700 clean retail so the 6-8 is out the door at least, the mileage is what is getting ya on the price but for 11 something I would not pay for it...

 

Oops!

One more Question Pab...

If it doesn't have stability control does that make it an earlier '04 or a later one?
Is the updated transfer case design, better or worse than the earlier and is it a big deal either way?

Oh and great suggestion on the TC oil flush/change!
Thanks again Pab!

 

Thanks Bracester!

Forgive my ignorance, what is Nada, is that like KBB?

So if they do not do the $1100 oil pan replacement/I do it, would an offer around +/- $7000 be fair?

If they do the oil pan replacement then i would add $1000 for a final offer around +/- $8000?

Really value your guys opinion, so thanks ever so much again!

Need a car soon, and want one of these beauties I see on the forums!

 

Nada is what dealers and credit unions typically use to determine a vehicles worth, KBB is generally lower which is good for lowballing someone

 

>If it doesn't have stability control does that make it an earlier '04 or a later one?
>Is the updated transfer case design, better or worse than the earlier and is it a big deal either way?

If it had stability control that would settle it as being a late '04 with the new T-case design. I wouldn't expect that to be listed as an option but it would be something that you would be able to notice if you saw the interior. So, I'd say that it is still uncertain. Can you look at it again?

Pre-change, "real" AWD via fluid coupling in the T-case; post-change "managed" AWD via the traction control (the traction control detects wheel slippage and applies the brake to that wheel cause torque to be routed to the stationary wheel). It works ok. Problem is some post-change cars were not equipped with traction control so that don't really have much AWD capacity.

Pre-change problem: cases were weak and cracked due to twisting resulting in lube loss and t-case failure. Post-change case is strengthened and won't crack, but lube loss can still happen due to seals drying out and relatively little lube actually being in the case... resulting in lube loss and t-case failure.

I think things generally improved after the change since the lube can be replaced.
================================================
Jaguar: Grace, Pace, and Space - Sir William Lyons

 

Good morning,

I just recently joined this forum and purchased a X-type. From my recent experience with KBB vs. NADA is that all of the banks and credit unions where I am at refer and give credit limit etc. from NADA only. Which is showing a clean retail worth of ~$9,700 in the L.A. area as bracester mentions.

Sounds like you found a car with really low miles and it would be good to account for any and all services/repairs that would need done into this clean retail price.

I have found when looking for a vehicle for the best price is to have patience, carfax, lots of research and picture. I've flown a couple times one way to pick up vehicles for great prices and in great condition.

However, I was not so detailed in my recent Jag purchase for my wife. We purchased a 2003 X-type with ~120,000 from a gal that was moving out of town in (3) days for $4,700. Beautiful car from the outside. First day we had it I took it to work and it left me on the side of the Interstate in 'limp mode'...........before I even knew what limp mode was.

Luckily I got it home and through this great forum and wealth of knowledge of good people I am able to give my car a full tune up and tires for just the price of parts ~$1,500 and still be under what clean retail would be. Without this I would be spending $$$$ to get my pretty kitty back on the road. Now I know my car should be good for another ~100k miles with proper maintenance.

All of this should be factored in before the purchase of the car. Parts and service for this car can be very spendy.

I would suggest that if you really want this car, I would not pay anything more then ~$9k, but I would have them replace the oil pan seal and replace T/C fluid.

Then pay a small fee and take it to another Jaguar technician (second opinion) in your town to do a all points inspection on the car to 100% confirm the car is in sound condition.

I hope it all works out for you and you get what you want. You will have to let us know.

Take care,

Dave

 

Pab and Dave, thanks much for all the input, the knowledge h

Pab, my hunch is it's early 2004 as it arrived in the US end of April '04. I haven't actually seen the car in the flesh yet, but done exhaustive background, pics and ongoing conversation with the mechanics at the dealership as they are doing a big service for the present owner, so far they say everything checks out (apart from the aforementioned oil pan issue.)

Last Q's, promise!

Re the Transfer Case '04 onwards:
I test drove a nice, clean 2005 X Type yesterday with 55,000 miles. Do you think the new/improved TC in the 2005 make it a better long term bet than the '04, or would the far less miles of the '04 trump the '05 or am I way over thinking this

Re Pricing
I did multiple valuations on KBB, Edmunds, Nada, etc. I took all the suggested retail prices of the different sites and averaged them to get my final number:

Planning to offer:

$7500-7800 As Is - I.e I cover the oil pan replacement, TC fluid change
$8600-8800 repaired - I.e. they cover oil pan replacement, TC fluid change

Any last thoughts on that?

Thanks guys!

Jesse





PS and Dave, sorry to hear about the difficulty with the wife's X, glad the story had a happy ending!

 

CORRECTION

*Oops* meant to say i averaged all the PRIVATE sale prices and added a few hundred on top to arrive at my offer number.

 

It seems you are being over charged for the oil pan gasket. Maybe it's LA prices, but it's a $700-$800 job. I'd find an independent Jag guy and get it done there.
In fact your first job is to find a good independent Jag guy. Not because it'll be there every other week, but when you need something done, even just a service, avoid the Jag dealers like the plague!
Good luck with the car. It's not the fastest sedan by a mile, but it's comfortable, looks good, and a great freeway tourer.

 

Thanks Flyrr, I think they might be LA prices! The sellers Jag dealer quoted about $1,100 and they are 2 hrs outside of LA!

I have been recommended to an independent Jag guy here in Pasadena - Bob Cutler - anyone familiar w him? bTW anyone know of other LA based Jag guys they can recommend? Maybe I should start a new thread...

Bob Cutler quoted $800-$1000 for the job, but I'm not sure if he was factoring in the TC fluid change, I don't think so. Can anyone clue me in on the cost of the TC fluid change (A) as a solo job (B) done in combination with the oil pan replacement. I believe a lot of the cost is labor just getting to the oil pan and that's why it makes sense to do the TC fluid at the same time, as you guys have recommended (this is far above my mechanical comfort level

Lastly, what's the best type of synthetic fluid (assuming money is no object) and the correct amount to use? I've found a lot of discussion around these boards and others (Bojangles!) on the subject, but nothing definitive. Is there one right answer everyone agrees on?

I lied, I had more questions

Thanks always chaps! Great to be a part of this community