Hello fellow Jaguar enthusiasts,

My name is Nathan and I am looking to become a Jag owner. A little bit of my automotive background; I've had an 86 BMW 528i, 2002 Audi A4, 2004 Saab 9-5, 2001 BMW 330i, and now a 1999 Lexus LS400. All of them have been expensive to maintain but the Audi and Saab needed repairs more frequently than the others (mostly stupid sensor issues).

Anyway, I would ultimately like to end up with a 2006-2008 Super V8 or XJR but I believe the X-Type would be a better move for me right now. At least, that is what I'm here to verify.

Most everyone I've asked about buying a Jag said they are disgustingly unreliable but I think they're basing their opinion on Jags history (I don't believe most of them even had a Jag). I've done some research already and it's apparent that the 2004+ model years are the ones to get. I've read numerous threads concerning the $3000 transfer case repair and that the automatic transmissions are brittle if you are enthusiastic driver.

My purpose in writing this thread is to get feedback from those who have owned or do own both an X-Type AND some of the X-Types competitors. I want to know how your X-Type ownership has compared with the ownership of the other makes.

*Specifically, I want to know if Jag parts are more expensive than parts for Mercedes, BMW, Audi, etc.? And if so, by how much?

*On average, how much would I save by going to an independent mechanic?

*How much should I expect to spend per year in maintaining an X-Type 3.0 Manual?

*Which of the major issues which plagued the early X-Types were solved by the 2004 model year?

 

Nathan, I have a 2005 3.0 manual and my personal experience from a maintenance standpoint is I have had the car about four years now.

It had 42K when I bought it and now has almost 116K on it. During that time other than the usual fluid changes, brake pads and tires I have replaced the water pump, rear lower control arms and a wheel bearing. That’s it.

None of the parts seemed out of line price-wise, at least compared to the cars listed. I take my car to an independent shop that I love and I know that has saved me a lot of money.

The car still feels as solid and rattle free as a new car and the engine and transmission feel perfect. This has overall been one of the most reliable cars I have ever owned. I would suggest you do a lot of surfing on this site to get a feel for the most common problems of these cars.

There is a WEALTH of info here if you take the time to take advantage of it. The manual cars seem to overall have less problems, but that might be because there are a lot fewer of them and 2005 was the last year they offered a manual.

They are great cars if you take care of them. Do your homework up-front as to what to look for and I think you will be rewarded.

They are a lot cheaper to buy than an Audi or BMW. And if you end up buying one and run into a problem I promise you there is not a better forum around with FRIENDLY people willing to help you out. If something has happened to an X-Type it has more than likely been discussed, diagnosed and resolved on here.

 

Welcome Nathan.
I have owned a 07 X Type 3.0 auto for 3 yrs now. I have found it to be a reliable car with maintenance costs no more than other comparable class cars. I am a conservative driver.
I do as much work on the car myself. This forum has been extremely helpful.
Due diligence is important when looking for any car. Get as much history as you can.
Good luck in your search.

 

Hello and welcome. I am a Lexus sales consultant and i drive a 2002 x type with over 111,000 miles on it. The 99 LS400 is an excellent car and i hope you have been happy with it. I got my car used about 5 or 6 years ago. I have only replaced the tires once, same brakes that it had, did a transfer case fluid change, spark plugs, all myself.

The biggest things that i had to fix was a coolant leak which resulted in about $300 and an oxygen sensor replacement.

There was a squeaky wheel that was fixed easily and the door handle latch was adjusted. Right now i have the notorious oil pan gasket leak which costs 9 labor hours to fix, but i chose to just live with it for right now.

The car is fun to drive but you cant hammer it. It is a cruiser and you wont have that lexus quality ride. I have saved a lot of money just replacing things myself by using this forum for help.

Everybody at work talks trash about my car but i really havent had too many problems other than normal issues. Definitely not lexus/toyota reliability but it hasnt been bad

 

Thanks guys, your responses are very reassuring. I have spent a lot of time trying to find evidence which supports the opinion that the X-Type is unreliable but so far, except for the 2001-2003s, the X's seem to have far fewer problems than any Audi, BMW, VW, or Volvo of comparable size.

I switched from European makes to Asian when I bought my Lexus just because everyone said they are dead-on reliable, but I have not found that to be the case.

My car has only 105k miles on it and I have had to do numerous fixes on it already. I think the Toyota=reliability idea is WAAAY over-hyped.

When I had my Audi, the parts were VERY expensive but the labor was three times worse and that was all due to how the car was engineered. A dozen parts completely unrelated to the problematic component had to be removed before the real issue could be addressed so labor charges were outrageous.

Both BMWs had slightly more expensive parts but they didn't break down as often and were much easier to work on.

As for the Saab, well the electrical system on that car was about as stable as a house of cards and no one could do anything to it except the Saab dealer.

Now you guys didn't mention any issues with your transfer case. Does that mean Jaguar found a permanent fix for that issue?

 

Nathan, I haven't had a problem with the transfer case but it is a weak link on the car. With 56,000 miles on the clock, I am going to do a drain & refill on mine soon.

 

As long as it holds up with regular maintenance, I'm not too worried. How often are you supposed to replace the fluid? And how many miles could I expect to get out of the car? With a maintained BMW or Lexus I know 300k miles is pretty common.

 

According to Jaguar handbook: "The rear axle (final drive unit),transfer box and automatic transmission unit (gearbox) will not normally require to be checked or replenished." I would say many members of the forum do change these fluids at regular intervals.
Many members have well over 100K. I haven't heard of anyone with 300K.

 

Read below.....
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct...u29ZW8NIBo7U8A

Of course I'm not saying this is the norm, but it shows what a well maintained car can achieve.

The Transfer case is the weakpoint on these as mentioned.
Jaguar say filled for life........we say change it out and keep it fresh. I'm sure some / most members here do it regularly, maybe every 20k miles or so, but they'll chime in perhaps

 

I have owned BMW, MB and Acura in addition to my Jag. Compared to others I'd say the Acura was somewhat cheaper to maintain. The BMW slightly more. The best thing about the Jag is definitely the design. The fit and finish in my opinion is better than the C Class.

 

Hello, Cody here. New to this forum. Seen a reply on a post from you and was wondering how would I know when the lower control arms start to go. Maybe I should ask, about what all should I do to a X Type 3.0 auto with 71,000 miles without knowing the history of the vehicle. Thank you!

 

Oh...shoot I think I messages wrong haha my bad.

 

When assessing a car's reliability by reading Forums, always remember that most threads are of people's problems - not their successes, that in reality, outnumber the problems by many times to one!!! I've had my MY2005 2.5 Auto from new and its reliability has been next to perfect. It's been maintained by me meticulously, including transfer box oil changes - proper maintenance is the open secret to reliability in any machine.

 

Did you change the transfer box out at the dealer? What mile? I've had my 07 X from new as well. It has 35K miles on it now.

 

The transfer box is original - just clocked up 60k miles two days ago! It's the oil I change. Every year, but that's probably excessive! The trouble is you can only measure how much oil is in there by draining it! At £15/litre, it's just sensible to change it while it's out.

550mls for a complete change, 300 mls if you drain only by the fitted drain plug which leaves 250mls in the lower recesses.