Hello all;

I drove my Jaguar X-type for over a year before I bought myself a G. My wife always wanted a Jag, so when the opportunity arose, we bought an '03 X-type. I have and still do adore the car. Contrary to public conception, it is one of the most reliable and well made cars I have ever owned. So now my wife drives the Jag because we just could not bear to part with it.

In terms of refinement and comfort, the Jag wins hands down. It is not a real fast car off the line, but really shines on the two-lane and twisting highways of northern Idaho and eastern Washington. I drove the car just short of 30k in the first year, and had only one small prob in warping of the brake rotors which Jaguar replaced under warranty with no questions and at no charge. (I warped them slowing from 120 mph to 45 when my laser detector went off )

There were no suprises in acceleration, hesitancy, or hiccups in the ride quality of the Jag, it was simply smooth while still letting me feel the road. It sticks well in spirited cornering, and effortlessly passes on two-lanes.

I know I am gushing, but well, this Jag deserves it and more. I am under the impression on the Jag X-type that either you got a very good one, or you got a very bad one. Mine has been excellent. To sum up the car; I have a car that turns heads, is infinitely comfortable to drive, with power and performance when I need it. This is a luxury car with some performance added. Though just a touch pretentious for my personal sensibilities.

To the G. Granted, I have only been driving it for a week. But in that week have logged about 1500 miles. I bought the G because I had always been vaguely dissapointed with the lack of low-end power I had in my Jag. Having driven everything from the Crossfire and the 300C to the Porsche boxster in my search the perfect balanced car, it finally came down to the WRX Sti and the G. AWD is extremely important to me, so many of the other marques out there were disqualified immediately. I loved the Sti, but a supercharged 4 popper simply made me nervous even with my previous experience with Scoobies. (My daughter is now driving my previous impreza outback with 160k miles and it still runs and looks like the day I bought it).

So now we have the G. My Jag is the tea-sipping, napkin in-your lap, old-money, family name dropping son. (Albeit, the maverick son that does not always conform to family rules) Then my G is the alphabet belching, whiskey swilling, new money, fire tempered but loveably weird uncle.

In three words: Night and Day. You all know the virtues of even the stock G35x so I will not bore you with details. Suffice to say, that I have not stopped smiling since Wednesday last week. (Except briefly after peeling my 6'1" 210 lb frame out of the G after 490 non-stop miles. That hurt a little.) The G lacks a few of the creature comforts that I have become accustomed to; but more than makes up for it in fun to drive. It was pretty cool to have a twenty something kid in a tuner Eclipse run up next to me on the freeway and jiggle a bit. I simply hit the pedal and left him back choking on fumes.
The G is my new all time favorite car (that I have owned). This is a performance car with some luxury added. I could not be happier!

Didn't know if anyone would be interested, but thought I would post my opinion anyway.

Happy motoring!

 

Good comparo ... definitely 2 cars that aren't compared very often. Nice work on getting one of the "good ones". The X-type is a fantastic car, but because it so closely resembled the Ford Contour, the market basically rejected it. When the fiance's lease comes up in 18 months, we may definitely add a used 04 or 05 x-type to the family, since the resale value has made this a great used value (lots of lease returns sitting on lots too) Not that we need AWD in SoCal, but it truly is a great driving experience ... it compares very well to the Audi, Mercs, and BMWs - and I'm not sure many people realize this.

 

The x type underwent a vast improvement in build quality and reliability from 02 on they became great cars. It would be my recommendation for a nice used car especially since a year old car can be had for around 23k.

Handling is ok for a car in this class as is power but it shines in interior comfort and amenities. Overall a very good value when used new don`t think it is worth much of a look though. Options are quite pricey and can hit 40k+ for that price I would get fx35 or s60r.

All and all not a bad family vehicle situation, Jag old world class and refinement albeit not very fun. G Fast and fun younger and somewhat more versatile.

 

My wife also has the x type Jag and she has the 2.5 engine-not sure which one you have-. At first glance I really liked the car but as I got to drive it a lot I have a couple of negative comments regarding the door locks having to be hit twice to open the passenger door, and constantly hitting a some button when I hold the key in my hand. The response of the 2.5 is at the point of being dangerous with the automatic when you enter a highway and have to really hit it to merge-the car slows down and just makes noise until you let off the gas and then hit the gas again-almost got killed when I misjudgement the distance I had when I merged onto a highway cuz of this. Other than that the car has been totally reliable and the awd is great in the snow, but I would advise anyone in the market for a pre 05 model to get the 3.0 engine as the 2.5 was eliminated in 05.

My G will be a RWD stick so for me it is really an apples and oranges comparison.

 

Ours is the 2.5 as well, AT. It picks up well and merges nicely...not sure about the lock issue as it seems okay to me.

Maybe a fuel injector issue? I am no mechanic, but the double clutch on the gas pedal does sound dangerous.

 

I drove a 4.0 and it moves pretty well. Still lacked some low-end torque for an 8 but once it was spinning it could move pretty well. I would definitely want the 4.0 if I was comparing it to a G. The 3.0 is just not fast enough.

 

Wrong car-you are talking about the S type not the X type as the X type doesn't come with a 4.0 only a 3.0 or 2.5.

 

My brother just bought the 04 X-type 3.0 with sport pkg and other luxury pkg. The car look very nice, especially the 18 inch rims and the lower ride height. He did lots of research and find out the x-type is one of the best in reliability in the class...that certainly surprises me.
He bought it used with 9700 miles from Rusnak and got a killer deal on it. Because of the heavy depreciation, he bought it for 27k while a new one cost 40k+.
The drive and ride is very nice. The plastic in the interior is kind of low quality, similar to our G. When the doors slam shut, they don't have the "thump" sound of a luxury car.

 

oops. I don't know my JAG's... Obviously.

 

They panned the X-Type as something short of awful in the reliability department. Nonetheless, it's good to read some positive experiences with this car. Since we passed on a wagon this time around when we bought the G35, my wife will definitely want a wagon of some type next year when it's time to let the G20 go. The X-Type Wagon is on the list now, although the Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT Limited is still the hands-down front-runner.

That might change when we test-drive the Jag, though. It's a really good-looking "shooting brake," IMHO better designed than the sedan. The reliability issues have scared me away from anything non-Japanese for well over a decade, but I might be willing to try a premium Ford (ah, Jaguar) if the warranty and service are up to snuff.