I'm looking into a 2002 X-Type 3.0 AWD. It's an Automatic with 122,000 Miles. At first glance it's in immaculate shape. The body is perfect besides a headlight buffing. Drives straight and quiet, not a single concern after about a 30 mile test drive.

The interior is very clean minus a couple small things. I have noticed the headliner is starting to sag a bit, the center console seems a bit loose and there's a small chip or hole in the back bottom seat but nothing to worry about.

They are wanting $5000 for it. My questions after researching these forums is what common problems should I look/check for?

 

Kris, the big issues with that year car is the transfer case. YOu mentioned that you took it for a drive and didn't hear anything wrong. That is good. If the transfer case was having issues, it would kinda sound like it had rocks or metal chunks in it and would be banging and clinking on you.

After that, listen for knocking sounds from the rear and also take a cloverleaf at say about 20 mph and get on the gas a little bit (in a controlled manner, but like you were going to pass someone on the curve). Did the rear end feel like it was going to step out on you? If yes, then there are some worn parts in the rear suspension. If no, then things should be good. Along this same line of thinking, look at the inside edge of all the tires. If you are seeing excessive wear there, you are going to have some mechanical work in your near future. If the tires are brand new, that would be a warning sign too as they know the alignment is out and they found it cheaper to put new tires on it than to fix the suspension. If you can do it yourself, it is pretty cheap. You pay someone, it can add up pretty fast.

Does the car have NAV or a standard radio? While the NAV is nice, keep in mind that if the radio goes out, you also loose all your A/C and heat controls too. Its a pro and a con all in the same. Along those same lines, make sure the A/C blows cold. These cars are known for loosing their ability to cool (specifically the driver's side will be much warmer than the passenger side).

After that, you have the obvious checks. The other thing I would do is to check that when you roll the key to the RUN position (do not start the engine yet), that the check engine light comes on and then as you start the car, the light goes out. That way, you are proving that there shouldn't be anything hiding on you in the way of engine problems.

The last thing that I would check is if you open the hood, look in front of where the driver sits. You should see the coolant expansion tank there. If you look at the far left corner of the tank, you will see a coolant line coming in from the passenger side of the car. Grab where the line goes into the tank and give it a little wiggle. This nipple is known for getting damaged and it will end up cracking the plastic and you develop a small coolant leak that over time can lead to an overheat condition. If you look at the plastic, you may even notice a pronounce white line in the plastic. That white line is the crack.

Overall, $5000 may be a little high. They are going off of "It's a Jag". People who are looking at cars like that are going to spend more money. I bet you can get them down to around say $4500 easy.

If you have any additional questions, let me know. I know a thing or two about the cars.

 

Open the front doors and look VERY carefully at the bottom of the A-pillar and between the plastic rocker cover and the rocker panel itself. It is probably worth it to get down on the ground and look underneath at the rocker panels.


Some of them simply rot away...no real rhyme nor reason to it, I've seen cars driven in the salt and crud that are immaculate, and garage kept never-driven-in-the-winter cars with nothing left.


Easy fix as long as the rust doesn't make it back to the sub-frame mounts, but still...

 

Probably a simple thing, but have you checked the car history? CarFax, etc. - cost ya $6-$10 (or nothing if the dealer can run one for you) but may save ya tons.

I used to live outside KC in the 70's.

You are going to luv the AWD in a few months if you decide to buy.

 

Cannot speak to pricing on autos since I was only interested in stick...and that may explain the pricing I got on both of my X-Type's, but I can tell you that the pre-tax and other BS add-ons for the '04.5 we just got was ~$3500. It had ~117K miles and was an original owner vehicle. My '03 may as well have been an original owner since owner #1 only had it a few months and for as quick as they accepted my offer, I know I left money on the table...but I was still out the door for less than they are asking on the '02 you are looking at.