Help! I’ve been reading reviews for hours. Some say Yes it’s a great car; others want to demolish them. I found one locally, and have to purchase another vehicle soon. Should I take this chance? It’s older, 2003, with 72K miles on it. So, how long does a Jag normally last in terms of miles? Can you use regular unleaded fuel on it? I know some folks spent a lot of money repairing theirs, but does that necessarily mean I’m in for trouble if I purchase this one? I did do a Carfax and found the first owner had it for 3 yrs, while the second owner only kept it for a year. Otherwise, the title is absolutely clean.
More info along these lines would be great.
Thanks.
You do understand that it’s a ford?
The Jaguar X-type is a small sedan that is built on the chassis of the Ford Mondeo, and it shares many mechanical parts with the Ford Mondeo. The Mondeo is the European equivalent of the late, unlamented Ford Contour. Just as the Contour (and its Mercury clone) were problem plagued designs, so was the X-type.
Yes, since it is a Jaguar the interior has beautiful leather and wood trim. However, it is not especially spacious, nor does it perform especially well for a “luxury” car. In Britain, the car never sold well, simply because its similarity to the much cheaper Mondeo was so obvious to the Brits. Even in the US, where most people didn’t know about the X-type’s very humble roots, it also sold poorly–especially once it became widely known that it was a very trouble-prone design.
If you are buying it for the All-Wheel Drive feature, you should be aware that you can buy other, much more reliable makes of cars with AWD for much less money. Personally, I would avoid all Jaguars in general, and an X-type in particular, but if it floats your boat, then by all means go ahead. However, you just might want to look at its reliability rating in Consumer Reports before making that decision.
I would certainly avoid any post-1989 jags.
I think the X-type is a very attractive-looking cars. The styling and coachwork are beautiful. Call me superficial, but I find that I am more likely to take good care of a car if it is good-looking.
When I was reading up in the X-type, I read that it is 70% parts interchangable with the the small Lincoln of the same model year, so you should not need to go to your Jaguar dealer for parts if the Ford dealer has more reasonable prices.
The handling is not what you would espect from a car with a cat on the hood. It is perfectly adequate for a car with a Ford chassis.
The ownership history is a warning sign, but many owners sell cars when they hit the end of the bumper-to-bumper warrantee, even if the car has had no problems at all. If the warrantee was 3 years and there is a logical reason why the second owner kept it only a year, it may be OK.
“When I was reading up in the X-type, I read that it is 70% parts interchangable with the the small Lincoln of the same model year.”
NO!!!
You are thinking of the S-type Jaguar, which was built on the same chassis as the Lincoln LS and the Ford Thunderbird. The S-type was a very attractive looking car, even if it was not particularly reliable. By contrast, the X-type looks very much like the family-oriented, non-luxury, fairly cheap Ford Mondeo, which it essentially is.
I honestly doubt you’ll be able to run regular fuel in the car, it most likely takes premium. Also, I wouldn’t put too much faith in Carfax reports, it’s mostly just a gimmick.
Oh well…I’ve been wrong before…
No! Just like a BMW, if you bring it to me to fix, it’s not the labor that kills you, it’s the parts. And you hope you can find them on the internet!
Tester
I’ve “known” an '03 X-type, it was a great little car.
On those posting the reliability is poor…according to Consumer Reports surveys the X-types have an average record which is my humble opinion decent. The one thing of Consumer Reports to pay attention to is “much worse than average” reliability record.
Its used so you can arrange for a few hour test drive and see if you really like it. Pay a mechanic for a checkover.
Don’t waste your time. It’s just a pig in lipstick. The X-Type is simply a gussied up Ford Mondeo. Which isn’t a bad car. But it’s no Jaguar. Save your money for the XJ.
As others have said, it’s a jazzed up mid range Ford now serviced by Tata, the Indian econmy car manufacturer. How Tata will handle service and parts supply is anyone’s guess, but they may manufacture them in India which will, at least mean lower prices.
Are you buying it from the second owner or a dealer? Why did the second owner only keep it for 1 year? It may be a good car, but it also might need lots of repairs. That’s one reason to sell a car after one year. Carfax does not tell you about the repairs on this particular car, only the owners and possibly any accidents it may have been in. If you really like it, it doesn’t matter what those who never owned one say.