I have a 2004 X Type 3.0 that I bought two years ago. It had been on an executive lease since it was new and all the maintenance had been kept up. I had no problems with it the first year but it's broken down four times since June. I've had to replace two sensors and a battery cable. It still has the original battery. My ex is a mechanic and he has done the repairs for me so far but he thinks I should trade it in before it gets too much older and I have to pay for a stupidly expensive repair. I don't want to trade her in unless I get another Jag; I love my car!

My question is, what major (or standard minor) repairs should I expect, considering her age?

Thank you so much. I love this website!

 

As in your other post I would do a drain and fill on all the fluids. I have an 04 too and have yet to replace anything expensive. It has been routine maintenance and some minor expenses like seals/gaskets. Most of which were replaced under select warranty.

I think I paid about $500 or less in repairs since I owned my car. This does not include routine maintenance like brakes,tires,oil changes, etc. I mean stuff not covered under warranty or non routine stuff.

It has been very reliable and I love it in the bad weather. Much better then most SUV's out there.

 

Jo, as for routine things that go wrong with the car, most of them are pretty minor. Here is a list of things that tend to give people heartaches:

1) Intake tuning valve o-rings (aka, IMT o-rings) rot/harden. These will start leaking and lead to P0171 and P0174 error codes (aka, vacuum leak leading to lean running condition of the car)
2) vacuum line running between the valve cover and the air box will split on the under side resulting in the P0171 and P0174 codes again. Requires a new hose for $15 from the dealership.
3) Rear suspension bushings wear, requiring replacement. If you look at the rear tires and they start leaning in on the top, the bushings back there are worn out. About $100 an arm (2 per side for a total of 4 arms). If this does not get corrected, it will lead to excessive tire wear on the inside edge of the rear tires.
4) front headlight support structure inside the headlight assembly breaks. This is normally caused when someone goes to change the headlight bulbs and tries to push the bulb into place. This will result in the headlight bouncing around as you are driving or pointing towards the ground. Unfortunately, about the only fix is to buy a new headlight assembly. But, if you are careful with the headlight assembly, it will last a life time.
5) engine cooling fan control module failure. This unit seems to be under built and through normal use will fail. This is normally seen when either you are sitting in traffic with the A/C on and you notice the A/C loosing its coolness or you are in stop/go traffic and the car will overheat (yet is fine on the highway when doing 50+ mph). This requires a new control module, but it can only be bought with the whole fan assembly in most cases.

This is a list of the common things. All of these are fairly simple fixes and also pretty cheap if you can do the work yourself. Now, I did not mention the big flaw with the X-Types which is the transfer case. You can go through a bunch of these or you can have 1 that will last forever. It all depends on how you drive. You drive the Jag likes a sports car (which the X-Type really is not a sports car), then you will be buying new transfer cases every 30K miles, if not more often. You drive sensibly, it will outlast the car. Unfortunately, there is no "upgrades" available for this to improve its strength without going custom. A new transfer case will run about $3000 if you get a new one.

If you ever have any questions, just ask. As you can see, I am not afraid to lay it all out. I see it this way, if you know what the problems are with the car, then you know what to pay attention to and what it takes to fix it.

 

Thanks so much! That's a big help.

I don't really drive it like a sports car. I used to have a lead foot but since I bought this car it seems as if everybody aims for it so I'm much more careful than I used to be and the lead in my foot has lightened up a bit. lol

3K for a transfer case. Ouch. But that's better than 2K for the rebuilt tranny for the Chrysler mini van I had and it only lasted a year.

Thanks again!