Im looking at an 02 x with 130k seller wants $2k for it. Im carless rite now and need something asap. Ive never owned a jag before and im goin to look at it tomorrow and was curious as to what to concentrate on while looking it over and test driving it. So if anyone can give me somethings to look for and test it would b greatl appreciated. Im stuck without a car and kinda bent over a barrel and found this one in my price range. So any info will help. Is it a good price? Is it dependable? Thanx for any feedbak. Im in a bad spot and dont kno to much about the jaguar

 

Is it a good price and is it dependable. Impossible to say without knowing the specific car you are interested in. Does it have a record of regular service? If maintenance hasn't been kept up it could cost you some decent money to get everything up to snuff. Plus, this is a 13 year old car and even if it is in good mechanical shape things can just start to wear out because of age. These can be very reliable cars if you keep up with them, but can nickel and dime you to death if neglected. So without knowing more about the specific car you are looking at it is impossible to say. My guess is that it probably needs a few things that need to be done to it. Might be pretty cheap and easy to address and then again maybe not. All depends on how it was cared for by the previous owner.

Good luck! Hope it works out for you. Just go in with your eyes wide open.

 

cdab, the X-Type is as reliable as a person treats it. Because you don't state where you are from, this tosses in a few additional variables.

First off, is the car AWD or FWD? If you are in the US, then it is AWD. The FWD versions were mainly only over in England and a few other limited parts of the US. I bring this up due to a lot of talk about the transfer cases being weak. At this point in the car's life, if the transfer case is going to fail, it probably has already. Granted, I would not take this as an open invitation to go out and drive the car like you stole it. Like I mentioned, you treat the car hard, it is going to be hard on your wallet (new transfer case is $3000 installed).

Second thing is what motor is in it? Again, if you are in the US, then you only have the choice of a 2.5L motor or a 3.0L motor. Both are good motors and have proven to be reliable out to 300K miles. Both of these motors are essentially the same motor, just with a few internal changes. If you are in other parts of the world, then you may also have the choice of a 2.0L petrol engine or a 2.2L diesel engine. Both of these engines are also pretty reliable and will get you out to 300K miles/500K KM.

As for common issues, most problems stem around vacuum leaks which are easy to fix if you have any mechanical ability and most only take a few dollars to fix. The other issue that seems to be coming up with age on the car is the water pump/thermostat. Again, this is a very easy job (this car has probably the easiest water pump to replace that you can dream of) and doesn't cost a whole lot compared to the rest of the cars out there. The last thing I will say is a common problem is the rear suspension will get worn bushings and this will result in the rear tires leaning in at the top and/or excessive wear on the inside edge of the rear tires. This is another fairly easy fix, granted, you can expect to pay about $100 for a control arm (there are 4 of them back there). So, it isn't necessarily a cheap fix, but not something that you will be doing all that often. Another one of those fixes that with a little bit of mechanical ability, you can do it yourself.

As for things to look for when you are thinking about buying a car like this is to take it for a test drive. Get the car up to 60 mph/100kph and see if the steering wheel is wobbling back and forth. If so, this is normally associated with either a bad alignment (inside edge of tires will show excessive wear) or a bent rim (really, the only fix for this is new rims which can get expensive unless you know where to find rims cheap). Also listen for a hum that will sound like it is coming from under your seat. In a lot of cases, a little squirt with grease on the carrier bearing will fix things (only applies to AWD vehicles). The final thing will be to listen to the motor and see if it sounds like there are "nuts loose in the engine bay". There will be a metallic hum/tink sound. Odds are, this is a problem with the transfer case and will be an expensive fix unless you have a lot (and I mean a lot) of mechanical ability

The other checks I would do is to do a decent brake from 60 mph/100kph to 0 mph/kph. Does the steering wheel shake? If so, odds are the front rotors will need servicing soon (can be done for around $100 USD if you can do the work yourself). The final check is to park on a slight hill and put the car in neutral and engage the e-brake. Does the car roll when you pull your foot from the foot brake? If yes, then odds are, the rear e-brake lever(s) are frozen and you will be replacing a rear caliper (about $120 USD plus 2 hours of your time).

Where this car can get expensive is if you take it to a shop to have them work on it. They see the kitty on the hood and they think you have deep, deep pockets. If you can do the basics yourself, this car is not any more expensive to drive than say a Ford Focus or a Chevy Cobalt. We have found where to get parts for this car for cheap. But local shops may not be quite so unforgiving.

$2k sounds a bit cheap. So, I would say to expect a few minor things. The only show stoppers that I would say with a car like this for you is either the metal grinding/crunching sound coming from the front of the car when you drive (ie, transfer case is starting to come apart) or the motor is just making some really bad noises. If the check engine light is on, normally this is a vacuum issue and we can fix this cheap. This is where bringing a code reader with you may be a wise decision. If you see codes P0171/P0174/P030X (where X is any number between 0 and 6), then these are normally all easy fixes for the backyard mechanic and can be used to get the price even lower.

You be good to the car, it will be good to you. Please keep in mind that this car is not going to be your "sports car". Yes it is peppy, yes, it will accelerate better than most cars out there. But, you drive it hard, it will be hard on you. This car is happiest with the cruise set at 75/80 mph ticking off the miles.

Please don't take all the issues I have listed as this car is full of issues. Just stating the common issues we see. I owned my X-Type for 7 years and of the cars I have owned, I probably did the least amount of maintenance on the car of all the cars I have owned due to failures.

 

Thermo thank u very much for the info i will definitely use it while cheking out the car. Im in south florida and the car is a 3.0. Do these cars have problems with the head gaskets that i should look out for?

 

Only if it was run while overheated.

 

cdab, like Alfa said, only if the engine was run while it was overheating. Keep in mind that the 3.0L engine in our cars is very closely related to the 3.0L Duratec engine. Those are known for being almost bullet proof (as most of us can attest to). yes, there are quirks. But, we know the quirks and their solutions.