Opinions and advice welcome...
2006 X-Type with about 70k miles on it.

We bought this car for my wife who just always wanted a Jaguar. Actually traded in her 2011 Fusion for it.

In April or May of next year, we'll be going to Florida for my nephew's graduation (from Niagara Falls, NY)... so about 1200 miles each way.

Obviously we have plenty of time to prepare. If we wanted to drive the Jag, is this something you'd do with a car that has 70k miles on it? Purchased from a dealer, it seems in pretty good condition.

What kinds of things would you look for to prepare for a road trip on this car? I mean... besides obviously looking at belts and hoses and monitoring fluid levels and normal stuff.

 

Mine's a 2003 with 130k on it - I'd drive it across the country tomorrow!

Can't believe I'm saying this, but as far as preparation, it is just a car.........
Just a car with a bit more class!!!

 

oil change, make sure fliuds are topped off, good air pressure, load up with some good tunes...you're good to go!!

 

The battery! Anything over 5 years old is suspect and when they fail, they tend to just give up without any notice, or start to throw lots of fault codes and generally wreck your day! In your situation, unless there's documentary evidence to prove its age is OK, I would change it as a matter of course. Spec calls for 80Ah and 680 cold crank amps

 

We just put 3k miles on a one week road trip earlier this month. Car ran fine and is now at 108k. You've got a winter to get through before your trip. I agree with astromorg - start with the battery. At minimum have your coolant checked now before the snow flies; if it's marginal have it changed. Change fuel filter. Inspect a spark plug or two, replace them if needed. Flush brake fluid and check brake pads. Change ATF, transfer case lube and differential lube.

 

We do lots of long-distance driving in both our X-Types (2002 and 2005). Preparation? Tire pressure check, coolant level check (never changes), oil condition and level (always seems clean and full), brake fluid check, fuel tank full of 91+ octane fuel, and that is it. In other words, these cars need nothing out of the normal for long trips.
They are excellent high-speed touring cars, but the AWD versions are not as economical in terms of fuel efficiency. My crazy-fast 2007 XK returns 8 litres per 100 kms on the highway (sometimes as low as 7.8 litres - which is nearing economy-car territory) while the X-Type automatic wagon 3 litre does 9.2 and the manual shift 2.5 does about 8.9 litres per 100 kms.

 

70,000 miles on a 10 year old car? That is only 7K per year. This car is barely broken in. Keep up with regular maintenance like everyone has said and address anything else that might come up promptly and I would think you would be good to go.

 

Wife is really good about oil changes and what's in it now looks like new. Any other fluid I have access to appears to be in like new condition (no darkening or smells of having been overheated, etc.)
I can't check the transmission. I'm 64. I can pay someone.
But having 70,000 miles on it and reading here.... should I be considering having the transmission flushed and refilled with fresh? I can see the procedure is not all that hard, but .. I'd either have it done at the dealer or maybe a tranny shop. If I'm going to dump it, I want to make sure it's refilled properly with "the good stuff" for peace of mind.

We have put 91+ octane in it since she got it. No real idea what was being used in it before, but her mileage is right around 22 miles per gallon (that's on 2 weeks or so of driving). We live out in the countryside so pull off of our road and the speeds are like highway speeds right away. It does cruise happily.

 

I support what everyone else has said. With emphasis on changing transmission fluid and transfer case fluid, along with making certain battery is up to snuff. You would probably want to do all those things on any other 10 yr. old car with 70K on the clock. But that's the main thing I think we are all saying -it's not like it's some exotic unusual car. X types are notoriously reliable, dependable cars. Any bad rep they may have gotten is from people who don't know what they are talking about - or else they've had some bad experience and blamed it all on the fact that it's a Jaguar. Any car can break down at any time, and modern, computerized cars can be expensive to fix. My '03 has 118K on it and I too would not hesitate to drive it across the country. Not only are these cars reliable, they are relatively easy to work on too. Don't listen to the naysayers, and yet thank them, as they are why these beautiful cars are so cheap.

 

My '03 with 205k kilometers (about 126k miles for our American friends) has made the trip to Florida and back for the past 5 years running, without a hitch. All I do is change the fluids before I go, in the course of an annual check-up, and point the leaper south. Satellite radio to keep in touch with real news, and away you go.

 

I agree with Astromorg
Yardbird
Reminds me of a conversation in the UK with a guy from your area about servicing cars in the US and in the UK.
Batteries ? He had no problems and we in the UK tended to get problems.
The answer " He always changed his battery before 5 years as getting stuck in winter with a bad battery could be life threatening.
Also oil changes in the UK are often at 10 or 15K miles and brake fluid changed often every 2/3 years.

 

Make sure your jack and wrench is working and in good shape. Make sure your spare tire has air. Make sure you can actually remove all the lug nuts with no issues. Carry duct tape.

 

I've had a lot of Jaguars over the past forty five years and the one requirement for every one of them is to be ready to go anywhere at anytime. From the UK that involves crossing the sea and a few Countries - not just a few States.

The first thing I do with any new (to me) Jaguar is to go through the full list of scheduled maintenance items. This picks up on anything that may have been missed by the PO and gives me a baseline for future servicing. Even more important - it gives me peace of mind. You've already mentioned transmission fluid change. Missing from the Jaguar maintenance schedules but important for all models at around 70k miles.

Wheels off to check treads and sidewalls. This gives the opportunity to check brake pads and suspension. Check the spare and wheel changing tools are present and working - especially the locking wheelnut key.

Put a scantool on it to check for stored or pending codes.

Two problem areas common to all modern Jaguars - cooling system and electrics. Check hoses and battery condition.

Relax and enjoy the trip. One very important thing. When you get back - POST A WRITE-UP. I spend way too much time reading about repairs on this forum and thoroughly enjoy reading the too few trip reports that are posted.

Graham

 

( I suspect locking wheel nuts are not fitted in the USA especially as I have not seen threads about them from our US drivers. The UK forums are littered with moans about them))

I agree with checking lug nuts. NO lubricant on the threads and use a torque wrench when refitting.

 

Front pads and rotors are new. Rears measured as part of pre-purchase inspection and are not even half used up.
Good point about the jack and spare. I have roadside service and haven't had to change a tire on the road in years, but.....will check that today.
Battery comments all good, but also true that around here you'll know if your battery is marginal as it gets cold-soaked overnight at well below freezing a few times.

Right now I think the biggest thing is the fluids. Making them all fresh is probably the first thing I should plan to spend any money on. The post about having a baseline is spot on.

 

I always carry my small tool kit, a set of fan belts, tape, fuses, a flash light, folding camping water jug, gloves, hand cleaner, and most importantly my AAA card with 100 mile free towing!

Yes i carry a lot of crap but each time I have broken down I have fixed it my self and made it home.

 

Just had battery failure two days ago while traveling on highway at 70mph. Lost power and then I noticed that everything electrical was gone. Luckily we were near an exit and I had just enough speed to get off the road and into a gas station lot. Car was completely dead electrically, so I pondered how to access trunk for my tools while we waited for roadside assist. Long story short - we were able to jumpstart the engine so we could get it on the flatbed. Driver took us to an to an O'Reilly store where I purchased and installed a new battery. We were back on road two hours later. Glad it wasn't an alternator as finding mechanic in small town on a Sunday would've been very difficult. Still pondering how to access trunk and move shift lever out of Park with dead battery.

 

Access the boot - easy. I can do it any time within a minute with a modification that cost about 10 cents and a simple tool on my house keys, key ring. .
Details are on site. Basic mod by Astromorg.
X-Type (X400) 2001 - 2009
see - Non Functional Boot Lock & Boot Access


Shift lever out of Park.
Details are on site. I seem to recall it is lift the J gate cover and move a cam.
This is yet another poor feature that i miss that existed on my 1998 Ford Mondeo 9 US Contour ?) which had a hole by the lever, poke a rod in it and park is released.

 

I have not gotten to that mod yet so I unlocked my back seat. When it was open I locked the latch so that it would not lock when I put the seat back up. I did lock the seat belt so that it does not flop around.

Should someone sit in the back seat I would lock it in place.