Regional Car of the Month - April 2024 - Jim Collins X-Type Estate
Jim obtained his 2007 Jaguar X-Type Estate SE 2.5 litre petrol Auto AWD in Chilli Red in 2016 after a lot of searching.
The car has had just one previous Manchester based owner and had only been driven 37000 mile when he bought it.
Jim is keen to end the myth about the X-Type being a Ford Mondeo as Jaguar used only 20% of mechanical parts from the Ford parts bin and shares no bodywork panels for the Mondeo.
We all forget Ford used many similar components with Aston Martin, Land Rover, Jaguar, Lincoln as well as other marques that Ford owned at the time.
Jim has every one of the MOT Certificates for the X-Type and it has never once had an MOT advisory.
The car has been fully professionally Dinitrol rustproofed as Jim plans to keep it for a very long time in the excellent condition it is now.
As the AWD model it has a top speed of 135 mph with 0-60 in 8.8 seconds and complimented with Michelin cross-climate tyres it is a very reassuring ride in all weathers.
Jim preferred the estate version as it is rarer and has loads of space at the rear, he also tells us you can even sleep in it!
He has kept the car standard (as an SE model it doesn’t need much else) with only an ADAMESH exhaust system and K&N Air Filter being the only enhancements Jim has added.
Over the years it has been a regular winner in its class at our JEC North East Region Club members nights and has appeared in the JEC Club magazine on page 104 of the October 2022 edition.
Jim has had very few problems with the X-Type, the most annoyingly being door lock failures caused by a simple cheap but non-replaceable diode in the mechanisms.
His only real complaint about owning the car is that the Car Tax for his X-Type costs three times the annual rate of the knowingly more polluting diesel versions, yet petrol X-Types are London ULEZ rules compliant whilst the X-Type diesels are not!
The car is looked after by JEC’s Technical Expert’s garage, David Marks in Nottingham and Jim encourages other X-Type AWD owners to consult David as there are few garages that can change the AWD Gearbox oil correctly.
We look forward to hearing about Jim’s experience in making sure this important maintenance requirement to the AWD Gearbox was carried out.
