Hey guys, the time has come where I'm finally selling my X300. She's a '95 with 162,000 on the clock. Runs like a top, but I'm at a time in my life where I should get rid of the older car and the toys (my beloved 2008 Ducati 848). The two vehicles I am debating are a 2010 Acura TSX...4 door sedan with 2.4 liter I4 and 6speed stick...or a certified used 2008 BMW 328xi..inline 6 with a 6speed stick and all wheel drive in a coupe. Neither car is fast by any means...both do 0-60 in approx 7 seconds. The BMW it noticeably more solid in feel and the all wheel drive is appealing for New England winters. However the BMW is 2-3 grand more, the stereo sucks, and is prone to funky computer glitches. However the steering feel is absolutely amazing and the bimmer is definitely more fun to drive. Conversely, the TSX comes with an amazing stereo standard...360 watts, 10 speakers, with ipod integration and mp3 cd capability, but it front wheel drive (not my preference), and is rather generic (I've never been a toyota/honda fan for this reason), though my first vehicle I ever owned was a Maxima in a 5speed stick which was quite fun. TSX also features a new electric steering system (no belt driven pwr steering pump) which makes it feel a bit unstable, especially on the highway.

In terms of overall driving experience the BMW wins hands down. In terms of value for your money the TSX is in a class all it's own. The choice is tough being that the prices are so close, but I can get the TSX brand new for the price of a 2008 BMW with 34,000 miles on it. A newer Jag is not being considered specifically because I want a manual tranny again, and rear wheel drive won't cut it anymore in the winters (and I wouldn't be caught dead in an X type) Which would you buy? Thanks!

 

Reading this, the whole time I was thinking about an X Type, so I'm glad you threw that in. Well, instead of trying to coarse you into a Jag, I'd go for the Acura. It's better looking, cheaper, more for value, new, and not a Bimmer. I'm not a big fan of BMW. Mostly the 3 series because I find they are too generic.

 

The newer XJs are VERY nice. They have their own idiosyncrasies as the older ones have had. But the build quality, performance, and ride are at a whole new level. We have owned several XJRs. An 04 in the past, and an 05 presently and LOVE them. They put anything on the road to shame. 0-60 in 4.4 seconds HELL YEAH! Nobody expects it to blast out of a stop light being as big as it is. When you put it in sport mode and punch it. You get this wonderful whining and growling sound followed by several Gs throwing you back in your seat with your eye ***** sucked back into their sockets! Sorry, getting excited... Now I have to go drive ours! That and they get an average of 19 to 20mpg And ours have been more reliable than any cars we have owned in the past. I like Acuras, but I love the class and personality of a European car, especially Jaguars and Rovers. BMW 3 series... EHH.... I like manuals, so I know where you are coming from, but I can live without them .

 

0-60 in 4.4? Is it chipped? The new 510 bhp engines in the Xk do 0-60 in 4.6.

Why an Acura or Bimmer? FWIW, I've heard people rave about Audi's quattro, of course, I don't know if Audi does a manual. I'm happy with my auto.

 

I like manual transmissions and that's one of the things I like about BMWs.

I have another possible candiate but you have to promise not to laugh.

Volvo.

I never realized it until recently but they actually have some sports-performance variants out there that I sorta like. I don't know much about them, though.

A few years ago a rented a Volvo for a week...an S70, I think. Utterly capable....and utterly boring and uninspiring. I never bothered looking at one ever again.

However, some of the sports models I've seen look pretty cool and I think they have around 300hp. Not supercar territory, I reckon, but you won't be accused of holding up traffic. Manual transmissions and AWD, too.

I dunno. Just a thought.

Cheers
DD

 

OK.... 5 seconds lol.
I really like Volvos. That would be one of the only cars I could see taking the place of a Jaguar in our garage. The only thing that scares me from them, is it seems like they don't make very good transmissions for some reason. A lot of the reviews from customers say, "I had to replace my transmission", or it slips, or jerks," etc. Which is the only reason I don't have one.

 

Thanks for the suggestions so far guys. And yes I normally would look straight at a newer XJ or an S-type if my climate allowed it; but heavy New England winters and a large rear-wheel drive car simply don't fit well. It's important for me to get through all weather conditions because I am going to be commuting over 40 minutes to school this year (switched schools), and simply can't worry about getting stuck. The ONLY way I could live with another Auto car is if it WAS a Jag!

However, since Jags are out of the question (as I refuse to drive an X-type), it came down to what was offered in a manual that was still somewhat fun to drive. The Acura fit the bill but the new electric steering is WAY too loose on the highway, making it feel unstable. I agree that BMW 3-series can be rather generic...but that's why I'm looking at the coupe. You see much less of the coupes on the road than the sedans...and having a coupe in a 6 speed in all-wheel drive is quite appealing.

I have looked at Audis, but based on my experience as a mechanic I am shying away from them. So many electrical problems up the wazoo and they love to leak every fluid known to man. Volvos aren't much better in my experience though their motors will run forever (we had an older one that used to come in with over 400K on the clock).

So the search continues... Believe it or not I really wish Infiniti would make the G37x available in a stick! But nope...you can only get it in an auto if you want the all-wheel drive. The Acura TSX becomes less and less appealing due to the fact that the 6 cylinder doesn't come in a stick so I'd have to get the 4...and I've never owned a 4 cylinder in my life and am not a fan of Honda's vtec BS. Some may think Subaru...but they're built like **** and the boxer engine loves eating head gaskets.

Still open to suggestions... At the rate I'm going I'm going to keep the old XJ6 and just live with it regardless of the high miles and the control arm bushings I need to find time to replace

 

I would buy an X300 with less miles...

 

You know, you can find X-types with manual trannies!

 

I was going to mention Audi, but you got to it already. They are surely not that bad a car, assuming you want a manual gearbox.

Nothing wrong with the BMW at all, except if you were in the UK, you'd soon see that everybody's got one ! Mercedes too are a good car. Isn't Acura really a Honda in disguise, we dont have these here in the UK ?

And why not a late AWD X-type with manual gearbox ?

 

The R model volvos are pretty impressive machines. The S60 R has 300 horsepower all wheel drive. You can get it with a stickshift. It also has 3 suspension settings, like CATS but better because of 3 choices. You can pick up an early one 2004-2005 with 70000-90000 miles for around $10,000

 

I was looking into buying a newer model jag. i seen a 2005 XJ8 with 60,000 miles for 12,000. I called my service rep at the local jag dealer and asked her opinion of what cars were more reliability since the x300's. She advised me not to purchase any XJ after model year 2004 because of Air Suppension shocks are standard and upward 1,500 a piece. And compressor failure is common and will leave you stranded if it fails. Front shocks share air pressure if i am not mistaken.

 

I really cannot believe what I read just there.

I suppose that is excellent customer-loyalty, but to me is rather disloyal to the marque and her employer. Perhaps you'd better ask her about all the other later models too, before you buy another Jaguar; the X308 which came after the X300 has certainly seen plenty of faults and some of these have proved very costly for owners to fix, like the cam tensioner failures if ignored. However, you can read about all the various models faults on this forum, despite this most people still seem to love their own Jaguars despite a few troubles.

Yes, correct, the 2004-on XJs are air suspended, I have one sitting outside on my driveway, and have done 9500 miles since May of this year when I bought it on 30k miles and 7 years old for £10,000. The suspension units are a combined spring and shock like Land Rovers have, (and I believe some Mercedes models also), but do not cost over $1500 if one uses the exchange ones from Arnott Industries, and they are very uncommon failures. Of course you will read on this forum of people who have had air springs replaced; that is why they have posted on here.

What is more common is the air compressors starting to lose efficiency and taking longer to charge the air reservoir tank than specified; this brings up a fault display, but the car remains driveable, in my case, I noticed no difference at all in the driveability of the car. However to remove the fault light, and also to prevent total failure at some point, I had a service exchange compressor (cost = £270) fitted by my local Jaguar main agent in 45 minute.

The service manager told me that a compressor failure does not strand you at the roadside; the system automatically will seal itself and the remaining air keeps the suspension "up". What is disabled is the automatic height mechanism because operation of this involves ocasional release of compressed air, so the compressor is then needed to re-charge the reservoir tank whilst on the run.

The shocks do not use the air supply, but are part of the air suspension assembly, they are not separate, so obviously, if they lose efficiency, one has to replace the whole unit, so clearly this will cost more than just a shock absorber. Arnot Industries have shown the way, and I have no doubt others in the after-market will follow to allow 2nd and 3rd owners to keep these cars on the road in the future at reasonable cost, just like the XJs going back to 1968.

 

Thanks Fraser for clarifying the problem I was told by the service rep.

I bought my first X300 from my step-father and he told me to call the service rep for any mechanical information and advise that i needed due to the fact that nobody ever touch the car except jaguar. He only drove it and never took a screwdriver to it or had anybody ever work on it besides them. After he owned it for ten years he wanted to trade in on another model and was told by the service rep that if the shocks did fail it would cost upward 6000 dollars. I do all the work on the car since ownership and wanted to see how reliable the newer cars had been.

 

Hi Bandre2

It is a fact of life that expensive upmarket cars have expensive parts !!

I suppose that is the risk we poor secondhand owners have to take. We pay a whole lot less than the new price, (in my case less than 25% for an absolutely immaculate car, looking as if it had been nowhere since 2003), but the parts don't go down in proportion.

Here in the UK, my local Jaguar main agent seem most willing to cater for us poverty stricken owners, as they have a special deal on parts and labour if your car is over 4 years old. I suppose they need us as the workshop would be empty, otherwise. I dont think the service exchange air compressor is a bad price at £299 (= £270 with my 10% discount), but new ones were nearly £600 until these came out, no doubt due to customers, (and I suspect the dealers too) making a fuss.

Suspension units are expensive new, but there is the Arnott Industries service exchange unit at a lot less, and now available in the UK too. Having said that, failures are very few, it is the compressors that are the main issue, but now not so expensive. My experience with a Jap car was excellent, but the parts for that, (a Mazda Xedos), were also eye-watering when one needed them, so it was off to the breakers then.

 

2002 and 2003 don't have the tensioner issue.

 

The best Jags IMO are 96/97 X300's and 02/03 X308's (also 01 if you get a non-Nikasil and replace the tensioner). Not that others a bad, but I feel a lot more comfortable driving these.