Hello,
I am looking to buy a 2005 x type 3.0, got a decent deal on it low moleage too i am a student. been told the maintainance is expensive and the car has transmission issues how true are these. What else do i have to look for in the car before buying it and what else do i have to know??

 

ramsey, first off, welcome to the Forums. Please stop by the New Member section and tell us a little bit about yourself. This will also give you a chance to meet those that make this place what it is. We like to get to know one another and this you will find makes this place a lot different than other car groups you will see.

As for maintenance, it can and cannot be more expensive. The question is how good are you with cars. Can you do the work yourself? If so, then it won't be any more expensive than other vehicles. You are going to rely on a mechanic to do the work for you, then when they see the kitty on the hood, the price can potentially go up.

As for problems, the tranny really isn't the issue. It is more the transfer case. You drive sensibly, you are golden. You drive it like a sports car, well, it is going to get expensive. LIght to light "racing" is hard on the car and it will let you know.

The other "issue" is the car seems to suffer from vacuum leaks. Now, before you think this is a deal buster, we know what they are and most are very easy and cheap to fix. Even a 5 year old can fix most of these issues with our help.

 

Thermo is spot on. I, too, am new to X-Type ownership, but have tried to educate myself on problems/weak spots with these cars.

The transfer case is the major weak point. Should you buy the X-Type, make sure you drain/refill the TC fluid (find the how-to sticky in the X-Type sub-forum).

Other maintenance to do when you first get the car is pretty straight-forward stuff and isn't too expensive if you do the work yourself.

Find yourself a reputable, reliable independent mechanic. One who has Jaguar experience is even better. Stay away from ***********s if you don't have a warranty.

Become a savvy parts shopper. Realize that sometimes the aftermarket can make parts that are as good, or better, than OEM. Also know that, in some cases, you can buy Ford/Lincoln parts for the vehicle (engine related gaskets) for less than Jag stamped parts.

Vacuum leaks are a common, sad reality for most modern cars. Our X-Type is no exception.

If you don't mind me asking, what's the mileage on the example you found and what kind of deal did you get?

 

the asking is 8k for a 80k miles but i am yet to negotiate, the only deal breaker is that this is my first car used to be a motorbike person before moving here have been driving cars though just never maintained one.

 

Maintenance can be pretty simple with the help of these forums (and knowledgeable members). If you don't have tools, that will be your biggest starting expense. Do you have any friends who work on cars/bikes and have tools you can borrow? Most regular maintenance doesn't require anything too special.

You should be able to negotiate that price down a bit as well.

 

Hello & welcome , great to see you here . Diagnosic readers are cheap & work well on the X type .No normal problems should cost an arm or leg . I'm on my 2nd X type , only mior probs on both . Brake pads , ABS sensor and connecting cable & an 02 sensor . The X , is just that little bit special & a joy to drive manual or automatic. You also have the added bonus of 4x4...

 

I also got my X-Type while I was a student. It was definitely a status symbol for sure!

Thank goodness I did not have too many problems, but I did get everything done at the dealership and I certainly paid way more than I had too. I'm so much happier now that I have learned to do things myself.

I will save all the "me-too"s in agreeing with what everyone else here has said, and just add a few things:

1) Is it just me or does 8k for a 2005 X-type seems too expensive?? I would advise checking Official Kelley Blue Book New Car and Used Car Prices and Values to figure out what these typically go for.

2) Knowing what I know now, I would place extra emphasis on if the seller has records indicating good maintenance. If I was buying a Subaru or something, I would barely blink an eye if they didn't have this. However, for an X-type, it matters greatly... especially at anything near the asking price of this seller.

For example, if they did nothing more than get regular oil changes and periodic servicing at the dealership, then you really can infer they A) took good care of things, and B) that there was plenty of opportunities for the dealer to jump on the chance to charge them a lot of $$$ for anything they found right.

3) For purposes of deciding if you really want to buy this, and especially for negotiating with the seller and testing the vehicle, I would thoroughly acquaint yourself with the Jaguar Technical Service Bulletins for this model:

Jaguar TSB - Information About Jaguar Technical Service Bulletins | AutoMD

Luckily, since this is a 2005, you don't have the laundry list of TSNs that us 2002-2004 owners have!!! Knowing what I know now, I would probably only ever get a 2005-2008 X-Type.

4) All this being said, as an absolute, absolute, minimum, you definitely should not buy this vehicle (especially as a student) unless you're:

A) Going to buy an OBDII code reader.
B) Hook up the code reader and go on a minimum 20-mile test drive.
C) Willing to jack up the car and able to get under the car for a good 20 minutes.
D) Pre-disposed to learn how to do some basic maintenance (even if you have no previous knowledge).

For me, since I am no longer a student and no longer have student loan money to put into my X-Type, so I can't pay $400 to fix a $40 problem at the dealership anymore. I've learned to do quite a lot (note: I never changed my own oil until 3 months ago) and have learned just how expensive these can be for a non-DIY-er.

The bottom line of all this is you want to be reasonably sure the major components are in good shape (as sure as one can be, anyway) by inferring from all the various relevant factors, so that anything that may go wrong down the road are small things that I've personally found these forums extremely useful for (even for those w/o automative experience, such as my self!).

Personally, if the seller was religious about dealer maintenance, nothing questionable turns up in your inspection/code reader/thorough test drive, and the seller is willing to go down to $6k then I'd for sure take the plunge. Short of that, you'll definitely have to weigh things accordingly.

 

OBD2 never knew about it before did some reading to know, that is a very valuable advice thank you

 

ramsey, do you own an android based phone (does not need to have service, just function)? If yes, then check into the bluetooth OBD code readers. They can be had on e-bay for fairly cheap. Just a side note about how these work with Jaguar. In early 2004, jaguar changed the way the car communicates between the computers. How this affects you is that the cheaper "ELM 327 units" no longer work (atleast from my experience) and will only work on the early 2004 and older cars. You will need to get one of the units that will work for say a 2010 car or something of the like. But the app is free and if you spend the $5, you can upgrade it to the unlimited version and that will give you a few more toys to play with (like a real time dyno). The newer units can be had for around $40. I am getting ready to upgrade to one of the new units myself. I leave my ELM 327 in the car all the time and it will not affect the car. that way, if I think something goofey is going on, I can fire up my phone and see what the car is doing.

 

My 2004 has been great for me. Decent on gas, great in snow, nice room. I paid about 6K for it with 100K miles. Great alternative to a Subaru for AWD stuff and still looks modern. NEVER TAKE IT TO A JAG DEALER!!!!! NEVER EVER EVER!!!!!!!!!!!