Re: [X] "Buh-Bye" to my Jaguar X-type (archive)

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Well, the ES300 does have a more powerful engine than the 2.5 Jag X I had. Sorry I didn't mention which one I had. And, yes, I chose the Lexus for it's reliability, build quality and repuation of the local dealership. As I mentioned, every Lexus owner I talked with raved about their cars and the local dealership here in Charlotte. Plus, I have had two Toyota Celicas in the past and they were very reliable, too. I actually had a lump in my throat when I traded the last one in. I had it for six years - longer than any other car I've ever had. I was lured away by the Audi A4 Quattro when they redesigned the Celica without adding the now-available more powerful engine and decreased the cockpit room - but that's another story (the Audi).

BTW, I did look at the BMW 325xi when I got the Jag, but was scared away by a co-worker who bought one with a defective drive train (sound familiar here?) and the way the dealership treated them, service-wise. Was further tipped off when the salesman called me back when I was walking away and told me that if I had heard anything negative about their serive dept. not to worry as they had cleaned up that problem at the dealership. Red flag there! The co-worker got their money back and went and bought a Lexus, too....

You realize, of course, that by not going the lemon law route you essentially paid Jaguar & your dealer to treat you like that. Had you used the lemon law, the financial lose would have been theirs instead of yours.

The ES300 does not actually have a more powerful engine than the X-Type 3.0:
ES300 - 210 HP, 0-60 in 8.2 sec
X-Type 3.0 - 231 HP, 0-60 in 7.9 sec

Some more cars for reference:
BMW 330xi - 225 HP, 0-60 in 7.5 sec
Lexus IS300 - 215 HP, 0-60 in 7.4 sec
Audi A4 Quattro - 220 HP, 0-60 in 7.0 sec
BMW 330i - 225 HP, 0-60 in 7.0 sec
Audi S4 (Quattro) - 250 HP, 0-60 in 6.5 sec
Acura TL Type-S - 260 HP, 0-60 in 6.3 sec
Infiniti G35 - 260 HP, ?

All figures for cars with automatic transmission. Except as noted below, the 0-60 times are from Motor Trend, some as reported online by Autosite The Audi S4 & the BMW's are the Manufacturer's claims (MT tested those with the manual tranny and got 0-60 in 5.5 sec for the S4, 6.1 sec for the 330i and 5.8 sec for the 330xi - auto usually increases 0-60 times by 0.5 or more). Magazine tests of the BMW 3er tend to report better times than BMW claims (those of of the X-Type tend to be worse than manufacturer claims). MT hasn't tested the G35, but Car & Driver got 0-60 in 6.2 and got the same for the Acura so I'd assume it would come out near the Acura in anybody's test.

For the AWD fans, the S4 is not all that much more expensive (i.e. not like the step up from a BMW 330i to an M3). With the equipment level I used for comparison, MSRP plus destination charge for an X-Type 3.0 would be $41,495, the S4 $42,545, so I'd call the S4 a viable alternative. However, AWD tends to hurt acceleration - I think there is more power loss between engine & wheels plus in weighs more. MT getting a faster time for the 330xi than the 330i is wierd (BMW claims to opposite).

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