IronCobra

Nothing special actually. I traded my 2500HD Silverado in for this 2003 X-type. It only has 20k miles and is under full warranty. Its AWD 5spd and a nice little 4-door that is MUCH more practical for me than the truck ever was. I already have some springs, rims, and tires coming in next week. I went with 18s

rai

5-speed Nice

curious if you don't mind about how much are they going for?

Seize

Congrats on your new ride, looks nice

Jewcano

iTrader: (4)

Hope all goes well for you with that ride. I havent heard many good things about the X-Type, but i hope it goes good for ya. She definately looks good.

LEXUS_KID

iTrader: (4)

ANY PLANS FOR IT

whoster

man...i've always been drawn to the X-Type despite it's obvious Ford-ness.


nice purchase!

IronCobra

They were asking $18k but I traded my truck. The price was low considering the EXTREMELY low miles.

I actually did quite a bit of research on the X-type. If you check it out it actually doen't rank bad at all in terms of reliability and fit and finish. The engine is Ford produced but tweeked in Britian. The tranny is German.

If you have been keeping up with JD Powers, they have ranked Jaguar very well over the past several years. After Ford invested $600mill into revamping their Quality and Control standards I think many of the problems have been resolved.

The car is great, it rides very nice and is much quieter than my SC. The shifting is smooth and strong and with the 5spd it is actually quite peppy.

The first mods I plan on doing is:
-18x8" rims and tires (installed next week)
-Exhaust...not sure what I will go with.. something quiet though.
-Springs... Again, not sure what I will go with.
-perhaps some minor engine mods.

I'm not really looking to do too much with this car. It still has quite a bit of warranty left (5/50)

These are the wheels I'm putting on next week. (18x8 with 235/40/18 tires) Non staggered.. I didn't want to run into problems in the future do the car being AWD.

ninous26

NICE CAR!!! lol I thought someone threw a tennis ball at your car right when u took that pic.

TwiBlueG35

Oh yeah, and finally I saw the string holding the ball.

lexusondubs

iTrader: (9)

very nice car but i dont like the 5 speed its a luxury car but anyways good luck with it

tmf2004

iTrader: (15)

Nice car. i actually like the front end of your car compared to the other model that has the round grill... All in all a great looking car. looking forward to the pics.. GL

mmarshall

Congragulations...nice car. Though, of course, you won't get much, if any, snow or ice in semi-tropical Corpus Christi, AWD is also very useful in the wet...and you can get get heavy rains there.
Be prepared for more maintenance and inspections on an AWD car, though...there are more CV and universal-joint boots to watch, and more differentials to replace the fluids in.
Also, on an AWD car, you have to be religious about maintaining recommended tire pressures. They are set that way by the engineers for a reason.....the front and rear wheels have to roll at exactly the same speed, or it placed a continual stress on the center differential, which will shorten its life.....and that is an expensive component.
The front and rear tire pressures are set to insure that ideal front-rear rotation speed. This becomes even more critical with aftermarket wheels and tires ( you say you plan to modify it ). Make sure, when you buy these wheels and tires, that they are compatable with the Jaguar AWD system.

IronCobra

You are the man! As always, great advice!

My father gave me much of the same advice also as he has owned many of AWD car.

This is one reason that I decided to go with the same size wheels and tires on all 4 end of the car.

What is your opinion on the quality of the X-type though? I've heard great things about Jags over the last several years, though I know they electical nightmares before 1996.

oh and BTW, you can drive on the beach here in Corpus, so the AWD could come in pretty handy.

IronCobra

It's more the equivalent to an IS300 5spd. It actually makes sense with this car. I would agree if we were talking about the S-type or an XJ model.

mmarshall

Drive on the beach? I wouldn't recommend it with a X-Class, unless the sand is very hard-packed and can support the weight of the car. The X-body's AWD system is not intended for off-roading. It was designed primarily for all-weather traction on hard surfaces, or very mild off-roading at most. This car simply doesn't have the ground clearance of SUV's, or even Subaru's Outback, and, from my memory, it doesn't have a lockable differential for tough surfaces either. Get it out on a beach in more than a couple of inches of soft sand, lose traction on all four wheels, and the car may sink down to the point where you can't move at all.....and need to be towed out. And getting a lot of sand jammed up in those underbody components won't do them a lot of good either.

What is my overall opinion of the car? Well, I just covered its AWD capabilities. I test-drove one a few years ago when it first came out, but that was before my days....and write-ups.....at CL. The car was derived, in an obvious effort to keep cost down, from Ford's mid-size 4-door Mondeo sedan and wagon....but doesn't really look like a Ford-derived car despite the common platform. So.....it is not a pure Jaguar, though the interior, like most Jags, is pretty impressive, with the traditional rich-looking Jag wood and leather, though obviously not as rich-looking as in the more expensive Jaguar S-Class and XJ models. I like just about all of the exterior styling except the headlights....the ones on the S-Class and XJ are better looking, IMO. The fit-and-finishon the X-Class is pretty good, hardware quite good despite the Ford origins of some of it, ......assembly quality fair-to-good. Consumer Reports, however, has a worse-than-average long-term repair record for it....it has not been one of the more reliable cars in their database.
You mention electrical problems in pre-1996 Jags. Actually, Jag's best years for reliability were probably in the mid-90's. They improved dramatically after Ford bought them out in 1999, and were better-then-average for several years in the 90's, but lately have slipped again to below average. Still, even with the recent slip in reliability, they are nothing like the awful Jaguars ( and British cars in general ) that were built decades ago, with those terrible Lucas electrical systems.
Want to see a mechanic laugh? Ask one of the old-time mechanic / technicians at your local Jag dealership's service shop about the old Lucas-equipped Jags....and watch the expression on his face.