I'm looking at a 2004 X-type, 3.0l with sport package being sold by a family friend. It has 66k mostly-highway miles on it (quite low for its age) and seems to be in good shape (owner keeps it maintained, but does not go to the dealer for service, as I understand it). I took it for a test drive this afternoon, it started right up and all seemed right to me. Owner is asking $6500.

I've never owned a Jaguar before, and I'm considering purchasing this one if the price isn't out of line. I'm also curious to know what to expect in terms of maintenance. I've heard a lot of people talking about the transfer case, and if that fails it's apparently a very big job to fix. What other parts are known to cause issues?

 

Greetings!

Poke around the following site, maybe watch it for a week or so, to get a good idea of availability and prices of various models:

Jaguar For Sale Auctions | Jaguar AuctionWatch

Your questions about what to watch for and what to expect have been answered on the forum many times at length, so may I recommend you try the search function. There are many GREAT threads here on the subject!

At first blush, $6.5k is what I would hope for if I were selling, but not what I would be willing to pay if buying.

It all depends on the car.

(in any event, you found you simply MUST have that X-Type after you thought about it more than a couple of minutes, right? and doesn't the interior smell a little bit like you image Heaven does?)

Have fun, and welcome!

PS - it's only about THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLARS LESS than it was new. Maybe you can beat the seller up a bit more, eh?

 

Thanks for the link, I'll keep an eye on it.

I'm doing a lot of reading, probably should have researched a bit in depth before jumping straight to making a post.

The interior does smell nice! I certainly walked away leaning toward buying the car, but I'm trying not to be too impulsive. Thanks for your thoughts on the price.

 

You're thinking about getting a Jaguar.

You've already lost all sense of impulse control.

It's either the car, or likely some dopey tattoo.

Get the car.

People would stare at the tattoo, too - but they won't smile and wave at you like they will if you get the Jag.

 

Hahaha and a car is a lot less permanent than a tattoo!

 

At 66k miles I don't think you need to worry about the transfer case. Ask the seller if it's ever been serviced; if you get the car service it, the transmission fluid and the differential. There's postings about how to do them. If Jaguar had fitted drain plugs in TC and diff those jobs would be short work, but we're stuck with finding alternate methods. Jaguar's recommendation of "lifetime fluid" in all three doesn't jibe with most owners here. I think the price is not out of line for the relatively low miles.

 

If this is a one-owner car with 66k on it AND it's been regularly maintained.... jag dealer or not... then I don't think the price is bad. Do a pre-purchase inspection as you would with any used car. Take it to an auto parts place that will read codes for you for free and ask them to check it. All good? Get it up on a lift and have suspension checked for worn bushings, etc and look for any leaks or other stuff like road salt damage, struts, all that good stuff.
If all of that checks out AND if when you drive it, you don't hear anything unusual, I'd probably go for it.
Upon getting it home, I would start changing fluids. I did transfer case first because mine had a very slow leak i the rear seal and I had no idea how much fluid was actually in it. Have since had the seal replaced, but it only had half the fluid it was supposed to have and it was kinda ugly (we bought our '06 with 74k miles on it). I had to grease the driveshaft carrier bearing as it had the, apparently well known issue, with whining between about 35 and 50mph. Thermaline grease, 18 gauge grease needle, done...easy fix. Then transmission fluid. You'll find a nice how-to for that here in the list of how-tos. For what it's worth, most folks say they had to remove the battery to get at the little rubber plug to add fluid. I didn't have to. My next job, once the weather warms up, will be to change the differential fluid. That may be a bit more challenging in terms of access and getting the old fluid out, but again...there's a nice how-to here. I've also done a brake fluid flush and power steering flush so.... to the extent that I CAN, I'm replacing fluids. And I think that's key, not just with the jag, but with any car. Give it good fluids and you avoid a lot of problems.

If you buy it..... man.... what a sweet ride. They LOVE to cruise on the highway. The jag was on my wife's bucket list. So was a trip to Alaska. .....the jag is much cheaper (I know this because we've now done both!)