Hey Gang,
I'm looking at buying my first "luxury" car. I've been working my butt off and really want something nice. Nice and cheap also. Under 20k for a used car.
Right now I'm looking at a 02 Jag X-Type with the 2.5 V6. Also a few Stypes with 3.0 and 4.0 motors. How is the reliability of these cars?
Any other luxury cars that run good and get good gas mileage?
I've been a ford guy all my life, thats why I'm focusing mostly on the jags, hehe.
Thanks,
Justin
How Do the newer Jags Run?
- Thread starter JustinH
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Like most British cars, the reliability is below average per Consumer Reports.
What about the Toyota Avalon?
The 2.5 V6 is a smaller displacement version of the 3.0 V6 used in the Ford Escape.
I know of a 2.5 V6 that has 150,000 miles on it, and mine has 116,000 miles on it.
They're pretty reliable engines, although the early versions (this engine being 10 years old) suffered from water pump impeller failure which was fatal to the engine if you weren't paying attention to the temperature gauge.
I thought the S type Jag was based on the Taurus platform. Would that make for more reliability than a typical all-british Jag?
No they're based on the Contour/Mystique platform (which I think is a much better handling platform than the Taurus).
quote:Actually the S-Type is based on the same platform as the Lincoln LS and Ford Thunderbird. Brian is still thinking of the smaller X-Type for the above statement. I really love Jaguars and had to clear that up on here.
Originally posted by brianl703: No they're based on the Contour/Mystique platform (which I think is a much better handling platform than the Taurus).
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Oh, sorry--I missed that.
quote:Evidence ? Jag finished AHEAD of Mercedes, Lexus and BMW in the latest JD Power surveys. Seems like old fashioned bs reputations die hard
Originally posted by benjamming: Like most British cars, the reliability is below average per Consumer Reports.
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I've been looking at luxury cars too and the one I like the best is the Caddy CTS. My opinion but I would pay the extra bucks for a Cadillac. They depreciate like crazy too. I looked at a 1999 Deville with low miles and the asking price at the dealer was $11,000. Car looked like new too. Probably some old folks owned it. But anyway the thing I noticed about used luxury cars in general is that most seem to be very well cared for by the previous owners. ![[Cheers!]](/forums/graemlins/cheers.gif)
quote:When you ask for evidence you should provide some to back up your own statements. Consumer Reports April 2005 Auto Issue is my source. Which JD Power survey are you referring to? 90 day? BTW to finish ahead of Mercedes in quality in any survey says nothing. I know first hand about Mercedes quality.
Originally posted by Losiho:quote:Evidence ? Jag finished AHEAD of Mercedes, Lexus and BMW in the latest JD Power surveys. Seems like old fashioned bs reputations die hard
Originally posted by benjamming: Like most British cars, the reliability is below average per Consumer Reports.
quote:I think 85k on an OEM radiator is bad. 70k on OEM water pump is bad in my book too. Different choices for different folks. Tune-ups have nothing to do with reliability in my opinion.
Originally posted by JeepZJ4.0:quote:Consumer Reports is highly bias "reporting." If its American, you're reliability is automatically bad. If its Japanese, it's automatically good. If you had one bad year of reliability, they say all years are bad. Good example : Jeep Grand Cherokee. Um... I don't know but I think 85K on a OEM radiator, 70K on an OEM water pump and tune ups every 30K or so isn't unreliable.
Originally posted by benjamming: Like most British cars, the reliability is below average per Consumer Reports.
quote:The radiator in my '88 Mustang crapped out 2 years ago, when it had 145K on it. I do believe, based on the amount of crud in the bottom of it, as well as the exterior condition (some of the fins were just rusted away) that the 15-year-old radiator was the original. The waterpump crapped out at 130K but who knows if it had ever been replaced before. Probably was. I have no doubt that low-silicate antifreeze would make the waterpumps on those older Mustangs last longer, because they start leaking and apparently silicate has been implicated as causing wear of the seals.
Originally posted by JeepZJ4.0: Um... I don't know but I think 85K on a OEM radiator, 70K on an OEM water pump and tune ups every 30K or so isn't unreliable.
I realize that "luxury" and "under $20k" don't quite go together, but recognise the desire as stated even though the "baby" cars really aren't the same as the "senior" models when they give up wheelbase/road weight/big power.
Cost of maintenance/repairs/insurance is what I would be looking at over the projected second-owner lifespan. Edmunds (see their site map) has an excellent feature for helping with this and I recommend starting from there.
"Luxury" cars are only that . . . if the owner can afford to keep them up. Nothing so sorry to see as a once-nice car on ragged tires, sagging suspension, dirty undercarriage, or with poorly-done body repairs. It shouts, "I'm too dumb to be trusted with money", and achieves only the impression on others exactly opposite the one intended.
With that said, I used to love to pull up to any of the baby "name cars" in my old Chevy or Chrysler and challenge them to any kind of race they chose. Win, [rarely] lose or draw, none of them could come close to matching the little money I had invested (did my own work except body/interior), nor did their cars have any features I could have added if I'd wanted to. Shoot, once you've got PS, PDB, AC, AT, cruise, power locks and windows . . what is there? You can't add wheelbase, etc.
Running away from them, especially in that Chrysler, was always a pleasent way to "shorten" the commute.
Find the one you'll enjoy spending money and time on, for any "luxury" car always needs both to be at its best.
No problems with the new Jags. The X-Type is based upon the second generation Ford Mondeo, known to us as theFord Contour/Mercury Mystique, that the US never saw. It is the first jag that is not rear wheel drive, hence the standard all-wheel-drive. If I remember correctly, the X-type's allwheeldrive has rear wheel bias. 40/60 split. It makes it feel more like a RWD car supposedly. They are nice cars and the 2.5L V6 is a great engine, along with the 3.0L, which are based off the Durtec V6s found on the Taurus/Escape/500/Freestyle. The 2.5L is just a smaller version. Get it with a 5 speed, I hear it is more enjoyable.
Toyota Avalon is a good alternative, although it is a lot bigger. Even the outgoing model is fantastic. The new Avalon touring model with sport suspension appeals to me. My mother's 02 Avalon gets about 30mpg getting to Baton Rouge. When I drove it to orientation, We filled up (with premium... it gets the best milage on premium) before we hit the road and drove 300 miles to Baton Rouge and had over half a tank left. It has a 18 gallon tank. If orientation was only one day and we just had to drive there and back, we could have made a round trip and still have gas to spare.
quote:Consumer Reports is highly bias "reporting." If its American, you're reliability is automatically bad. If its Japanese, it's automatically good. If you had one bad year of reliability, they say all years are bad. Good example : Jeep Grand Cherokee. Um... I don't know but I think 85K on a OEM radiator, 70K on an OEM water pump and tune ups every 30K or so isn't unreliable.
Originally posted by benjamming: Like most British cars, the reliability is below average per Consumer Reports.
quote:Get a Saab. Excellent values on the used market. I'd suggest checking out the 9-5 Aero's and SE's. My 2001 9-5 wagon (base, auto) was $13k with 54k miles. Perhaps not as 'luxury' as a Jag, but quite nice nonetheless.
Originally posted by JustinH: I'm looking at buying my first "luxury" car. I've been working my butt off and really want something nice. Nice and cheap also. Under 20k for a used car.
quote:And I have first hand experience of Merc, BMW and Jaguar quality and reliability - that's why I still think your statement is absolute bogus.
Originally posted by benjamming: BTW to finish ahead of Mercedes in quality in any survey says nothing. I know first hand about Mercedes quality.
quote:2004 JD Power Associates Sales Satisfaction Index Nov 2004. The JD quality and reliability survey was taken in early 2004.
Originally posted by benjamming: When you ask for evidence you should provide some to back up your own statements.
quote:Was this a survey based on ownership of 90 days, 1 year, or some other duration?
Originally posted by Losiho:quote:2004 JD Power Associates Sales Satisfaction Index Nov 2004. The JD quality and reliability survey was taken in early 2004.
Originally posted by benjamming: When you ask for evidence you should provide some to back up your own statements.
If it's the one I saw, it was based on 3-year quality.
The 2001 Chevrolet Malibu came out tops in the entry midsize segment.
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