hello All
First posting so bear with me if there are some dumb questions.
I live here in Southern Ireland so few Jag dealers near me in the back of beyond. I was looking at a Mondeo Estate but have now set my heart on an X Type, Right here come the dumb ones
1. Can a ford garage do the services
2. On the Mondo I have been told never to buy unless mass fly wheel and injectors have been replaced, is this the same for the X type
3. What are the main points to check on an old X Type
4. I am only looking at maximum £1500 can I get a reliable one for that.
4. Are there any advantages disadvantages between the cars, except for the obvious style and badge
5. I wanted a Ghia with bells and whistles on the ford, which X type would be available with similar spec


I have had a search of forums but cant find all my specific answers so help would be greatly appreciated before my trip to K next month to purchase


Gary

 

Hi Maddiesdad.
I have a 2004 2.0d estate and in the past I owned a Mondeo MK3 diesel
Is it a diesel or petrol you are looking at? as you mention the injectors I assume its diesel.
1. Only around 17% of the car has parts from the ford but that does include the brakes and the rear suspension is from the Mondeo estate. Any garage can service it but only a Jag dealer or good indy will be able to get into the on board diagnostics. any reader will give the basic fault codes but for any thing more I.E setting injector codes or resetting any functions a jaguar / land-rover set up is retired see this link for more info. (its from the uk jag forum). cheap mongoose
2. It is the same for any car now days fitted with a dual mass flywheel 100k and it will be on its way out. £400 for parts (flywheel and clutch) plus fitting total at independent garage around £1K. Injectors well they normally last 100 - 150k miles but some go on for ever just one of those things.
3. As with any older car suspension and running gear will wear, the jag also had a problem with rusting sills (there is a plastic outer sill so you have to get under the side of the car to inspect the metal sills behind) this was mainly pre 2004 but if its been jacked up incorrectly by the friendly tyre fitter he will of crushed the drain holes. It is mainly at the front and rear that is effected. New sills are available but not from jag and the cheap ones do not fit expect to pay £100+ for a pair + welding. Check for smoking on start up and under acceleration just as with any car from an old Skoda to a Bently.
Very few parts from a ford will fit I.E wishbones and drive shafts are very slightly different as the engine is fitted in a very slightly different position in the engine bay compared to the ford. some sensors and pick-ups on the engine are the same but the engine management computers are not (part of the reason a ford dealer will have trouble with the on-board diagnostics via the plug in reader)
4.£1500 well here in the UK one would have a long search unless its high mileage and / or petrol, having said that some guys here are on over 200k and still going strong. Check for any engine management light on the dash or the dreaded flashing glow plug light, it can be an easy fix or a very expensive one just the same as the ford. It could be any thing from a sooty EGR valve (easy fix) to new injectors or high pressure pump and the pump is just not worth it on an old car as it will have destroyed the injectors as well if it has broken up £2k to fix. Search the Mondeo forums as it is almost the same engine and has all the same faults whether its fitted in the ford or the jag
5 (or 4b). The ford is a ford and will go from A to B the jag is a jag and will go from A to B and you will have a smile on your face every time.
6. The classic is very basic then its there is the sport and sport premium and that one has rather hard suspension and depends on what options the first owner selected and paid for. I have the SE all leather all power windows heated front screen and seats auto head lights and wipers with optional touch screen sat nav. Top of the range is the sovereign but be aware a lot of SE models were registered by jag as sovereign but in fact were SE models due to an error by JAG UK giving the wrong information to the DVLA.

I know all this sounds bad but just remember you are looking at a 11 year old car and even a rolls Royce has been known to break down. Do I love mine YOU BET. I have owed it for 4 years and apart from normal servicing that I do myself its had 1 drive shaft and an offside wishbone again did it myself. at the last MOT no advisories has never let me down ( more than I can say for the Mondeo) and I enjoy driving it when I get a chance. We also tow a caravan so it gets to work for its living. The only major problem I have with my Jag is getting the keys off the wife she hides them in her handbag and always wants to drive it, ( the excuse is that the seat is set for her, hang on its electric) This is the only car we have owned with this problem with all the others from a brand new Seat Alhambra through to the ford I could drive whenever I wanted. She has even put the second set of keys in the safe!
Good luck with your search and hope all goes well what ever you get in the end.