Hey guys, my name is Jace I'm 18 and I'm from plymouth Minnesota. My family has always been really into cars, and I kind of got the itch because of it. Some background information, I always hear stories from my mom about my dad and how he loved his jaguar(my dad died when I was 5). However whenever I bring the name Jaguar up to my mom she flips out as she thought it was unreliable. However, while this may be true something about the Jag's really grabs my attention (Maybe I got it from my dad?).

I'm currently looking at the X type and the S type because it's all I can currently afford. I really like both, I like the S type because it appears to be a bit more sportier, and I like the front end alot better then the X type, However the X type has AWD and has that "Royalty" look to it.

I just wan't to know why you decided to get the car you have, and what are the ups and downs? I currently drive a Lifted F150, and it's starting to not be as much fun as I thought it would be, I find my self always too cautious when I drive and not to mention 9.7 MPG isn't the best!
Here's a picture of my truck and I!

 

Alo since I can't figure out how to edit posts, some concerns I have with Jag's, being that I am 18, most of my friends are 18 and under, most of them like me are also big into cars. A couple times while roaming the streets with them late at night, one friend in particular always suggests that we steal a jaguar hood ornament. Now I've never gotten in trouble and I don't plan on it so I always tell this particular frirend that it's not worth it. But I worry that if I had a Jag, kids would think it's funny to steal the hood ornament and to mee thats one of the best things about a Jag. (Stupid reason to be concerned I know but this is a real scenario I guess.)

Secondly, Jags appear hard to modify. Keep in mind I hate the ricey look. And it appears whenever you slightly modify a jag it appears to be ricey and thats not really my look, I'd go more for the sleek luxugry look as I believe thats what Jags are intended to be nice luxgurious cars with a hidden sporty aspect to them.

 

Ahoy! You can't edit posts before the privilege is bestowed upon you by a moderator.

To my knowledge, the Ford era made Jaguars much more reliable than before. Most people have no idea, and that keeps the second-hand prices low. Of course, as with any car, what affects the individual vehicle reliability is how well it has been taken care of. It's worth it to take your time and look around.

Regarding the hidden sport aspect; the X-Type AWD system transfer case (distributes power between front and rear) tends to flex under heavy use. More in the early models than later ones. There is some disagreement over that I believe, but even then the thought can be a bit of a "cloud over your parade".

The "leaper" hood ornaments get stolen sometimes. I don't have one, and I don't want one because then I'd just endlessly worry about parking it anywhere. Of course you could get the Arden leaper which is magnetically fastened, so that it can be removed easily, but that would seem like too much of a hassle. Also, you might forget it one day.
I'd imagine it would be seriously cool to arrive at the car, take a red velvet pouch from the glovebox, and proceed to mount the leaper before driving off.

I guess whether these are hard to modify or not depends massively on what you want to modify. Engine tuning isn't considered a good idea because any extra power would naturally put extra strain on the transfer case. If I could change things on my car, I'd want a wood/leather steering wheel, wooden gear knob, quilted leather inserts in seats and doors, and...chromed versions of the wheels I currently have. And perhaps I'd have the rear valance painted to match the body colour.
Then at the other end of the scale is this fellow, I guess ;D

 

I bought my X Type because I bought my first Jaguar 45 years ago.

The moderator edited my post because I was not nice, so let me be nice.

The X Type is a complex car that is not easily amenable to modification. Mechanically it is tight with non-standard parts and electrically it is complex and unforgiving. Many mechanics refuse to work on it. The supply of after-market parts is not large. Knowledgeable owners can do many things like changing fluids and basic repairs. Most people that are happy with it buy an X Type because they understand its history and provenance and they enjoy driving it as Jaguar built it. Yes they are cheap to buy but they can quickly become very expensive to run.

Admin - Thanks Tony, very informative and to the point

 

I should clarify, I would have to sell my truck to buy a Jag, I'd be using my own money that I've earned as well, which is why I wan't your insight, I worked a long time to be able to save up enough and don't want to blow it on something I am not happy with.

 

Jace, Tony gives good advice I guess based on such a young driver owing a "luxury car".

If you don't work on your own vehicles, yes they can quickly become expensive when work ir required. If you do, with the help of this forum, parts suppliers info etc it is possible.

If you want to extensively modify the Jag X type for performance.....then no, look elsewhere as it will be prohibitvely expensive.

A standard car in good shape, well maintained, working on it mostly yourself or with good knowledgable help, and a few minor cosmetic mods in mind is doable

 

Hello and welcome. I like my jag because you can say "I have a jag" I like it when people think its worth a lot of money even though it is most likely worth less than any car that they drive. I like the uniqueness of it because there aren't many on the road. I don't like the reliability. Everybody says that they are surprisingly reliable but you just have to look at the forum and it is all threads about some problem that needs fixing. Go over to a Lexus forum and there are very few posts about fixing things. It is expensive and I hate being careful with it because I think it will break. As mods go, there are some. I have all of mine in my signature. The member "exexpat" has the best mods in my opinion.

 

The thing I like most about my X-Type is that no matter where I go people NOTICE when I arrive! People ALWAYS recognize a Jaguar (at least the classically styled ones...) when it drives up and you can't say that about BMW, Audi, or Mercedes.

People will be oo'ing and ah'ing over you car if you get one.
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Jaguar - it's not an automobile, it's a Motorcar

 

I was also surprised at the cost of these cars, I thought that the initial cost was really low, I was expecting 12kish. As far as working on cars go, I've done all the work to my F150 my self, (Besides lift I didn't have a spring compressor). I also do all the work on my moms BMW (E46) which isnt the easiest car to work on. I do all repairs myself beside's major engine work.

And to clarify, I'm not your average teenager, I'm not looking to achieve 500hp in a Jag, By mods I meant, small stuff, such as side-markers ect.

 

Jace, I am very much like you. I always looked at Jag's and I have no idea why. I just love them. I am also 18, however I was only looking at the xtype because I needed the awd for the snow. My mom constantly would tell me that jaguars are unreliable and I would be spending all of my money on fixing them! I have been fixing my Jag a bit more than a Honda would have to be fixed, but I only bought my car for $5700 with 104k miles on it. Actually, here is a log of all the service I did to the jag over the miles I've had it: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...VE&output=html

If you are going to be able to keep the whole value of your f150, I would look more at an stype r. They are way out of my price range because I only had around 6k to spend on a car after working for a couple summers and repairing laptops.

If you're concerned about your friends messing with your car, it will happen because you now drive a jaguar. I personally went to high school in an agricultural town which basically meant that whenever I would go to my car, I would have to turn my hood ornament back around (they swivel) and put my wipers back down. The nice part about it though is that people knew how much I loved my Jag and they knew if they did anything to seriously damage it, they would be hunted down.

So you're looking for a sporty jag, and you obviously want to modify your car as I can see from your f150 grill. Although there is only a small amount of aftermarket support, you can customize your jag to look sporty and classy at the same time. Mine is the sport and I threw some 18's on it (different rims for snow and summer,) painted the calipers, blacked out my corner markers, tinted it, threw on a small lip spoiler and now it looks much more sporty and even classier. If I wanted to make it look the way I want it to, I would add H&R's and the new style grill and it would look mean, classy, and sporty all in one.

 

^Hey thanks that was a real helpful post, I really like the sheet of all the costs as it helps alot. I'm from MN and we get snow just as bad as you guys. Thats why I'm looking at an X type. I'm pretty much ruling out the S type because of the RWD I tried driving the 3 series on a "average winter day" and it was freightening, not fun in a RWD car. And same here, I'm 18 and saved up for my truck and just don't want the money to go down the drain.. But like I said your post as been the most helpful thanks alot!

 

I had an X-Type before I sold it to get an XF. I certainly enjoyed driving it as my daily driver for a few years. It never left me on the side of the road or ever had an issue starting up. That said the aftermarket is small so although you can do some things it is nowhere near a tuner car. That said OEM parts are expensive so it wouldn't be a bad idea to locate a secondary mechanic to get a second opinion on repairs.

I bought my 2006 3.0 X-Type back at the end of 2009 and sold it in May. You should be able to find ones for probably in the low $10K range with 60-80K miles. I've seen people driving them up to 140K miles without issues. The transmission and transfer case (AWD output after transmission) seems to be the weak point around 100K miles from what I've read.

I would still probably be driving it now if I never drove the XF back in 2010.

 

If you're looking at a 2004 or newer X-Type, make sure it has traction control. The traction control equipped ones have a switch in between the cup holders and the shifter used to disable TC when not needed/wanted. X-Types without traction control have three coin slots in that position instead of the switch.

If you want to know why, there are plenty of previous threads on the differences between 02 - 03 and 04 - 08 transfer cases and their ability to handle snow.

 

I love my jag because its british not german/french(crap) like everything ealse.

 

I love my Jag because it is a Jag.. lol.. there is something about the sound of, and the styling that I love that is unique to the manufacturer, and above all else it is British - far too many foreign built cars here in the UK. There is quite a few x-types on the road here in the UK, but nonetheless I love not losing it in a multistorey car park, that it is a classic design, and sounds gorgeous when you open it up. Mine is an early 2002 model (little leather, no climate control, back windows manually worked) but love it to bits. Somewhat worried if anything goes wrong, but when I had a 1998 XJ (which was my real love :-)) this forum was incredibly helpful and am hopeful I can tackle a lot of any minor issues that might appear with this one. The ride is lovely and smooth, I am looking forward to finally having 4 wheel drive in a winter here, and ever since my first Jag - nothing else makes me happy to drive it :-) Incidentally the purchase cost with 85,000 on the clock was £1900 so it also represents very good value compared to a lot of smaller cars here that you cant fit a family in, and sound nothing like a Jag :-) There is something about Jaguar - once driven nothing else feels the same any more :-)

 

If you can afford to purchase your dream machine I think it's worth it. Every car maker has some crappy models or problem engines you just need to do your research on the car and model you desire.

I have a 2002 jaguar x-type 2.5 manual. I love the crap out of this car. Does it cause me migranes YES. The secret is getting to know your car. sure you just drive and take it in for maintenance but some of these are simple pleasure of building a relationship and learning your car. learning what u can and can not do. what your car likes and what it doesn't like.

Jaguars are one of the most beautiful and prestige cars you can own. It's a car in the class just below the big boys like maserati, fiari, lambo, bently, maybach. I go as far to say it's in a class of it's own. I prefer the jag over audi, bmw, mercedes, infinity, lexus, acura, lincoln, and a lot more. simular specs but just not in the same class

 

great responses guys thanks

 

Jace, if you do your homework here to understand as much as you can about it before buying an X I really think you will be rewarded. I have had my car over 4 years now and it has almost 120K on it and it has been one of the most reliable cars I have ever owned. When I realized I wanted to buy one was when I saw a Sport model with the Aruba wheels and the carbon fiber/alcantara interior. When I saw that and the prices these cars go for I was hooked. I haven’t regretted it since. I live in virtually the same climate as you being in Wisconsin and it is great in the snow as long as you have proper tires.

Best advise I can give you is surf on here a LOT to understand not only the most common faults, but also the different options. Do that BEFORE you buy, not after. There was a member on here a while ago that was about your age and he bought an X for a cheap price. He loved the car, but had a lot of issues with it that might have been avoided had he known more about the car first (Disco Stu hope all is well with your new Jeep!)These cars do not all come loaded with everything, so knowing that will make it easier to make an apples to apples comparison when you see similar cars. And don’t be afraid to ask here. People are extremely friendly and accommodating here and always willing to help. If it has happened to an X most likely it was talked about and resolved here. Good luck and go for it! If you do your homework chances are you will be rewarded with a reliable car. Let us know how your search goes!

 

Alfa dude, Thanks for your response, while reading through it it sparked a question. Are there different models of the X jag, for example I know thers the 2.5, 3.0 and manual/auto option.. But what are the other options that are hit and miss..

 

Jace, some of the options are:
Sport package
Navigation system
Cold Climate Package
Backup sensors
HID headlights
Premium Sound

I'm sure there are a few more, but those are the ones that make the biggest change to your car in my book.