Following on from my earlier thread about Mazda RX-8s, I think I've maybe seen sense and have (almost) decided against one to replace my company car. Soooooo, to go completely in the opposite direction one of the few replacements that appeals is an X-Type estate, probably a 2.5 V6 petrol (Sport Premium if I can find one for the right money, i.e. ~£7k or so). Has anyone had to live with one, and if so what was it like?

Cheers,
Coose

i had a coming together with one, in my fiesta, slight dent just behind rear door cost the guy £4500 to have repaired, fiesta needed a new rear light and a scratch painting in on the bumper, must be made of tin foil

had a 2.1 petrol SE a couple of years back and was sorry to see it go. Very refined if a bit thirsty for its size & lots of kit as standard. I think that for the difference in purchase and running costs, you may be better looking for a 3.0 (extra 40 odd bhp) - lots of bargains to be had.

Have a trawl here for advice:

http://www.jaguarforum.co.uk/

forgot to add - you should check the condition of the transfer box on the 4wd models, some people have had problems.

next door has just sold his, drank fuel like it was going out of fashion (his words) , engine bay was already rusting too. Looked nice but built like a fiat

Had to chuckle when I saw this thread as I too had been looking at RX8s, but have now started to look at X-types instead. Great minds think alike and all that.
I'm yet to make my mind up, though, so am also interested in what comes up in this thread.

bit long in the tooth now, based on the old mondeo platform. I've heard they're not reliable too, which is odd, as the mondeo was.

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Originally posted by bilbo
Had to chuckle when I saw this thread as I too had been looking at RX8s, but have now started to look at X-types instead. Great minds think alike and all that.
I'm yet to make my mind up, though, so am also interested in what comes up in this thread.

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I very nearly bought an rx-8, then looked at x-type, finally bought a bmw 320d. Odd trip, but happy with where I ended up!

quote:

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Originally posted by Coose

quote:

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Originally posted by bilbo
Had to chuckle when I saw this thread as I too had been looking at RX8s, but have now started to look at X-types instead. Great minds think alike and all that.
I'm yet to make my mind up, though, so am also interested in what comes up in this thread.

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How bizarre! I was trying to think how I got from RX-8 to X-Type and I'm still not sure!?! The more I look at the Jag the more I like 'em, especially doing around 30k miles a year (including the odd trip to the south of France to the in-laws....).

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My advise, and this is based purely on me being the engineer for Ford and Jaguar...

The last Mondeo, pre 2007, was imo a great car, much better built than the X type.

X type shares a lot of components with the Mondeo right down to the floor plan. First Jag with a diesel? Remember the ads? Yes its straight out the Mondy.

Our steering column sits nice and tight in the Mondeo but shakes about like a runny jelly in the x type.

A 2006 Mondeo Ghia X 4x4 is nearly exactly the same as the 4x4 X type BUT much better built.

Save yourself the cash and buy the Ford.

[Edited on 23/4/09 by coozer]

might as well buy a top spec mondeo. best way ive heard to describe the x type is a mondeo in a posh frock

A Mondeo doesn't appear to be any cheaper than an equivalent X-Type, but what it does appear to be is 25bhp less (2.5 Jag - 195bhp, 2.5 Mondeo - 170bhp. 3.0 Jag - 230bhp, 3.0 Mondeo - 200bhp)! Plus, I don't think it would be such a nice place to be as I do spend a lot of my life on the M62/M1. And, it's a Mondeo.....

Taken from the book''The X Type..The inside story of the most
important Jaguar ever''
''In the end the percentage of donor parts from Mondeo to X Type is
actually no more than 20% and of this most are bits you don't see
like wiper mechanisms and air conditioning systems.The most
significant carry-overs are suspension,brakes and basic engine
block.But so much work has been done on each of these components by
Jaguar that it hardly seems fair or accurate to describe them as
Ford cast-offs.For example the Macpherson strut front suspension
has been so comprehensively redesigned** to maximise ride
refinement and eliminate torque steer that it would be barely
recognisable to a Ford engineer.The rear suspension is from the
Mondeo estate not the saloon as it uses a more compact version of
the multi-link setup which allows for a lower boot floor and
greater ride refinement.''
**The Mondeo uses single tube Macpherson struts and the X type
engineers redisigned these into a better twin tube strut.

My brother has had one for a few years. Loves it. He lives in Munich and all his mates were changing cars at about the same time. Being German (don't mention the war!) they all went for Audi's, BMW's and Merc's. They took the wee out of him for ordering a Jag but his is the only one not to have problems.

I touched the front of one with the back of the lorry

A scratch ended up costing over £3k

Driven one, and been driven in one..... dont like them would rather have a top spec mondeo or s-type... seats are uncomfortable and cant stand the ride. IMO of course.
Much prefer the s-type prefer the styling of the new shape ones but wouldnt grumble at the older shape.

My 2p's worth

John

Engine bay access is bloody awful --- plug changes are a nightmare hence servicing costs are mucho high

Automatics use the dreaded JATCO JF506E box and it seems to give even more trouble on Jags than on other makes.
With the JATCO box regular partial fluid transmision fluid changes are essential --- must be the correct fluid and level must be checked follow the WSN procedure to the letter as even a slight over or under fill spells trouble.

quote:

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Originally posted by rsmith95uk
Taken from the book''The X Type..The inside story of the most
important Jaguar ever''
''In the end the percentage of donor parts from Mondeo to X Type is
actually no more than 20% and of this most are bits you don't see
like wiper mechanisms and air conditioning systems.The most
significant carry-overs are suspension,brakes and basic engine
block.But so much work has been done on each of these components by
Jaguar that it hardly seems fair or accurate to describe them as
Ford cast-offs.For example the Macpherson strut front suspension
has been so comprehensively redesigned** to maximise ride
refinement and eliminate torque steer that it would be barely
recognisable to a Ford engineer.The rear suspension is from the
Mondeo estate not the saloon as it uses a more compact version of
the multi-link setup which allows for a lower boot floor and
greater ride refinement.''
**The Mondeo uses single tube Macpherson struts and the X type
engineers redisigned these into a better twin tube strut.

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I've got an 04 2.0 diesel estate which I bought new and it now has 85k miles on it, biggest problem is dealer service costs but I expect you'll be doing your own servicing like I am now it's out of warranty. Because the machanicals are mondeo based, routine servicing is easy and cheap to do yourself.

Handling is better than the mondeo it's based on but ride can be a bit harsh on bumpy roads.

Tyre wear is quite heavy with 17k out of the front pair and 30k from the rear. Brake pads last about 40k on my usage and disks last 2 sets of pads.

Only problem so far has been a broken spring replace under warranty and a failed camshaft position sensor, £35 from a ford dealer and ten minutes to change.

Some of the plastic around the front grille feels a but flimsy when you are washing it but nothing has broken yet.

Still love the interior and the handling and performance and it regularly does over 50mpg on the run to work. Trying to keep it for at least 10 years to make up for the heavy depreciation. Only thing I would change is to put the 2.2 engine in.

Duncan

quote:

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Originally posted by rsmith95uk
Taken from the book''The X Type..The inside story of the most
important Jaguar ever''
''In the end the percentage of donor parts from Mondeo to X Type is
actually no more than 20% and of this most are bits you don't see
like wiper mechanisms and air conditioning systems.The most
significant carry-overs are suspension,brakes and basic engine
block.But so much work has been done on each of these components by
Jaguar that it hardly seems fair or accurate to describe them as
Ford cast-offs.For example the Macpherson strut front suspension
has been so comprehensively redesigned** to maximise ride
refinement and eliminate torque steer that it would be barely
recognisable to a Ford engineer.The rear suspension is from the
Mondeo estate not the saloon as it uses a more compact version of
the multi-link setup which allows for a lower boot floor and
greater ride refinement.''
**The Mondeo uses single tube Macpherson struts and the X type
engineers redisigned these into a better twin tube strut.

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I really don't understand all the negative comments regarding the use of Ford parts. I don't hear the same comments regarding Saab/GM, Alfa/Fiat & VW group cars (& probably a fair few others). Do I assume that my current tin top Audi A4 is a bad car because it uses major components utilised by Skoda, Seat & Volkswagon? I also hear that the new Lamborghini Estoque will be using an Audi floorpan - must be sh!t then.

That's part of my reasoning for going for an X-Type. Ford bits aren''t all that bad (how many 7-type cars don't use some Ford bits after all?) but they generally tend to be pretty cheap, which keeps the running costs low. But, I really don't fancy a Mondeo but I do fancy a Jag as I think that it would be a nicer place to be and they're not as common as the Ford.

So far, the positive comments have far-outweighed the negatives, and I would look at a 3l as well as a 2.5 if the right one came up, though even an extra 3mpg would start costing me money (13p/mile - a 2.5 would be pushing it! ).

I did start looking at Saab 9-3 Aero (175bhp) estates yesterday, but I do still think I'd rather have a Jag.

But, do keep your comments coming as I'm clearly not the only one interested in this thread!

For me its only because when I go to Halewood they detest the mention of the words 'Ford' and 'Mondeo'

I once had to present an 8D for a problem and I mentioned it only affected the X type and not the Mondeo. There was an eruption in the board and I was dragged out of the room.

I would just like to say that the X type wasn't designed to use the Mondy bits but was more saddled with it from the outset.

I currently have to deal with 6~7 warranty claims a month from Jag but haven't had a Ford column back since October last year. (6.5 million supplied)
Aston Martin have returned ONE part since we started supplying 5 years ago.

No one wants an X type Jag, if they did they would be selling more than 350 a week.