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Jaguar X-Type

2594 messages,  Last post on May 04, 2013 at 1:02 PM

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What is this discussion about? Jaguar X-Type, Sedan

Messages Page 164 of 260

#1626 of 2594 To Anyone Worried about Reliability and Quality by jagboyxtype

Jul 11, 2003 (11:46 am)

I know you've heard me say this before, and it's almost to the point of preaching, so I'll try to refrain from it in the future, but Jaguar's reliability - despite the tarnished reputation and some problematic cars at every new model launch - is actually very very good. Now that the X-type has been out for almost two years, the car is proving to be one of the better built Jaguars in years, and most 2003 models have had none of the early build problems that seemed to plague certain early cars.
 
You'll read some horror stories on the Internet, and stories about how great the cars are, and stories about how Jaguar fixed or replaced problematic cars. These kinds of forums have been created to help people with problems with their cars, or just to answer questios about certain models. Many times, an unhappy owner will use the net to flame a company or their car for problems they may have had, and then other people without problems or who had the same problem solved will try to help. But let's see, the largest single forum for Jaguars is the JagTalk site, which has about 5,168 members, a majority of which are X-type owners. The X-type sells anywhere from about 2,200 - 3,000 cars per month, making the entire membership of these Jaguar forum sites to be at most, equivalent to about two months of sales of the car. Yet Jaguar has sold over 100,000 units of the X-type (which is actually very exclusive compared to mass market competitors who sell into the half millions every year). So only about 5% at most of all X-type owners actually participate in these kinds of message boards. My theory is that with such a low number of people on these boards, it means that most people have been pretty happy with their cars and would just assume drive them than chat about them on the net. Those very few people with serious problems will flame and rant on the net, but they only make up at most half of the 5% of X-type owners who actually are on the net, about 2.5%. That says to me that most owners aren't having as much trouble as a few loud unhappy people have.
 
Then, there is the issue of what I call bogus problems. One list of problems an owner posted somewhere included items such as a seatbelt that had become slightly twisted in the clip of the buckle (well then use your hand and untwist the darn thing!) and too much brake dust on the font wheels (ever wash the car?) - and that was why he had to try and file a lemon suit with the car company! There was a certain person here who was angered by Jag and his dealer that they didn't manage his insurrance for him! How dare they! I guess some people's idea of Jaguar ownership differ from my own, but my perspective is that you get a sleek, stylish car that has Olde World British luxury and character mixed in with some of the most cutting edge technology of today, and the very best balance of performance handling and a luxurious ride out there, and with the X-type, actual useable interior space and a huge trunk to boot! Have any problems? Well, Jaguar takes care of them under the 4-year 50,000 mile warranty which includes free services. Well, I don't see much to complain about right there.
 
I've had my X-type since March 9th 2002 - I remember the exact date - and since then there have been no problems with my car - period. With such an early build, I've experienced the evolution of the car first hand, as Jaguar constantly refits every car that comes in for service with the latest computer coding for the engine, transmission, lighting, and every other system on the car you can think of. This essentially keeps all the cars up to date, so 2002 cars get the codes from the 2003 cars and beyond, thereby allowing every car to perform to the standards of the new ones.
 
Finally, there have been some reviews that scream of horrible quality, such as the Automobile long-term review - and if the car needed two transmissions, etc. under my watch - I would have given it even lower ratings myself. However, I find that usually such results can be attributed to the drivers of the car. In another review I read, the idiot drivers plowed their X-type into a high curb at a high speed, and ended up breaking some pieces under the car. Jaguar replaced the broken parts for free under the warranty, yet the reviewers gave the car a bad writeup because without the warranty, the car might have been very expensive to repair (I love speculation, but the facts and reality of the matter are they got their car repaired for free and it didn't cast them a dime, despite all the damage being their fault). In Edmunds' own long term review of a Vanden Plas, they nearly totalled the car once, and then crashed it again, finally giving the car a bad review because it was "never the same again" after the two devastating crashes. My gosh! These are the people writing the "professional" reviews for the cars, and yet they still need to learn how to drive! I suspect in many cases that more is going on and the fault of the reviewers when their cars have failings than they write in their reviews - wouldn't want the world to know you can barely drive the car with out hitting curbs or other cars. Another example: the so-called professional reviewers of Car and Driver recently did a review of their CVT transmission Audi. The CVT normally would have no engine "creep," but Audi programmed one into their CVT equipped cars to make them more like traditional automatic transmissions. You can easily find this information in a brochure for the cars - I have one of the brochures to prove it. Yet somehow this escaped the auspicious eyes of the C&D reviewers, and they said that the Audi had some horrible problem that must be inspected, since a CVT car should not have an "odd creep"! They sure are knowlegible about the cars they review - time to get more edumacated!
 
So more on topic here, Jaguar has been exceedingly reliable despite the bad reputation that arose back in the 70's and has haunted them ever since. Yes, there are some problem cars in every batch, but the overwhelming majority are problem free, and the 2003 cars and the surveys are showing it. The average age of a Jaguar on the road in 2000 was just under 20 years old - the cars last a long time and are very solid (X-type has the most rigid structure in its class, in fact) when not driven off cliffs like some reviewers seem to be doing to them. Latest reviews (three that I know of and have saved copies of) have even been saying things about the "Lexus-like" build quality of the X-types they've tested, so I think it's a pretty sure thing that the cars are just as reliable (or better according to the big surveys) than anything else out there.
 
From the JDP survey results:
"'Conventional wisdom said that dependability was the property of the Japanese and Europeans,' said Joe Ivers, partner and executive director of quality/customer satisfaction at J.D. Power and Associates. ->

#1627 of 2594 part 2 by jagboyxtype

Jul 11, 2003 (12:07 pm)

'While that’s still true for automakers like Toyota and Honda, it’s no longer the case for many of the Europeans. Porsche, Jaguar, Saab and BMW perform well above the industry average in dependability, but many other European brands are bought based on a reputation for long-term quality and fall far short of even the average. This is in stark contrast to the results of the first VDS, conducted in 1990, when Mercedes-Benz led the industry...'
 
Other notable performances in the 2003 results include Subaru and GMC, which both performed considerably better when measured at three years in VDS than when they were measured at 90 days of ownership. At the other end of the spectrum is Mercedes-Benz, which experiences the largest quality gap between initial quality and long-term quality measurements. Also deteriorating more rapidly than the average vehicle are Audi and Volvo."
 
You see, Jaguar has the bad reputation, but performs "well above the industry average" in quality and long-term dependability. However, marques known for being solid with vault-like build quality, such as Mercedes and Volvo, have been deteriorating faster than most anything else on the road. Look at the facts, and Jaguar has more good qualitites than most anything else out there.
 
P.S. - I drive my car pretty hard, racing around everywhere I go, and the car takes it easily. They are not fragile or delicate and can pretty much take whatever gets thrown at them.

#1628 of 2594 jagboyxtype by timbesq

Jul 11, 2003 (12:12 pm)

You ought to consider a cross linked index of your essays. You could save yourself a tremendous amount of time by citing to them when you post. Nonetheless, impressive zeal.

#1629 of 2594 by jagboyxtype

Jul 11, 2003 (12:20 pm)

Eh, it's just a little cut 'n paste! Goes pretty fast using ctrl+x and ctrl+v keyboard commands

#1630 of 2594 jagboyxtype by timbesq

Jul 11, 2003 (12:22 pm)

You ought to consider a cross linked index of your essays. You could save yourself a tremendous amount of time by citing to them when you post. Nonetheless, impressive zeal.

#1631 of 2594 Repeat by timbesq

Jul 11, 2003 (12:23 pm)

Sorry about the repeat. I seem to have stuttered somehow.

#1632 of 2594 by jagboyxtype

Jul 11, 2003 (12:26 pm)

Don't worry about it; there's a "DELETE" button available to you if you want to remove doubled posts, etc. I usually use the edit button a lot too, finding all kinds of spelling and gramatical mistakes, with which my posts are usually replete.

#1633 of 2594 Repeat by pat

Jul 11, 2003 (12:56 pm)

happens when you hit "refresh" as the next action after you have posted. The software here just foolishly reposts the message. The solution is to go somewhere else and come back before you hit refresh.

#1634 of 2594 2004 X-type video and original X-type ad by jagboyxtype

Jul 13, 2003 (9:57 am)

This is a video of the new 2004 X-type diesel in higher and lower bandwidths, that another Jaguar owner found and posted on another board (so give him credit for finding these; I just steal the stuff ;-P ). You can either click them to have them open in your media player, or right click and save them for better performance if your bandwidth is not great. They are Windows Media format and 2:39 minutes long, so you're getting your click's worth.
 
low:
 
http://www.jaguarcars.com/video/xtype/xtype_source_wm_low.wmv
 
high:
 
http://www.jaguarcars.com/video/xtype/xtype_source_wm_high.wmv
 
Note the subtle changes to the look of the car, including the clear indicator lights, new trunk release - I like it - (the 2004 S-type, which also gets a diesel, had its rear restyled in the same fashion), etc. The wheels are the "R" wheels. The car is absolutely stunning. I used to think it was just a good looking Jaguar, but now, having seen it moving around on the road for almost three minutes, I'm convinced that it's the best looking car in its class and that its style even outclasses most everything else on the road too.
 
Also for your viewing pleasure, the same person who found the video above also found one of the original X-type advertisments. I don't personally care for this one very much, as it's a bit abstract and the car is shown through some weird lenses, skewing its proportions. It's only 59 seconds long. Not bad, but it is more of a "lifestyle" ad than one that shows the car.
 
http://home.hawaii.rr.com/jconawa/xtype_winhigh.asf

#1635 of 2594 GO JAGBOY by libertycat

Jul 13, 2003 (11:50 am)

I love Jaguars and am happy to know there are others who LOVE their luxury and styling.

Messages Page 164 of 260

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