TrueDelta has released the August results of its Vehicle Reliability Survey. Among the models surveyed: the 2009 Nissan Murano, 2009 Jaguar XF, 2008 smart fortwo (no caps) and 2008 Saturn ASTRA (all caps). The Murano follows the Rogue in requiring fewer repairs in its first few months than Nissan's previous redesigns. The smart requires more repairs than the average car, but not too many more. That would be the Jaguar. Though the sample size for the new XF was small, the reported repair rate was nearly four times the average of a nearly new car. Most commonly reported… wait for it… electrical glitches. Finally, the most reliable of the three European-sourced models, with a require rate about half the average, comes from… GM. GM designs often require far fewer repairs in their second year of production. Following what used to be a common practice with new Japanese designs, the ASTRA also spent its first year overseas. So it comes to the U.S. nearly glitch-free. Full results at the link below.
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Of course, the three mechanics shown in the picture make waiting for your XF to be repaired almost a pleasure.
As a former Alfa 164 owner, sometimes owners *almost* enjoy being able to tell war stories to their Honda-owning friends about how the steering rack failed on the interstate, or how the lights suddenly went out while night-blitzing The Tail Of The Dragon, or the joy of locating parts that aren’t being produced anymore.
It’s like a Car Guy Badge of Honor.
Then again, I drive an Acura now…
Oh dear!
(Prepares herself for the onslaught of jokes)
I still maintain that Jaguar is a phenominally reliable marque. My X-Type is as good as gold.
KatiePuckrik : I still maintain that Jaguar is a phenominally reliable marque. My X-Type is as good as gold.
Well of course, it has Mondeo guts!
@ Katie,
You know I LOVE the XF, but our testers had no shortage of problems if you remember ranging from headlights conking out, to “performance reduction errors”. Lets hope they get it sorted out and the XF realizes its complete potential.
That said…. an X-type? AN X-TYPE?!?
Sajeev Mehta,
Not quite, the guts were partially re-engineered by Jaguar. Its SKELETON (i.e chassis) is a Mondeo.
But again, Jaguar engineered a more reliable car out of that platform than Ford could.
Survey available on request…..
@ Mike Solowiow
Yes, an X-Type! There! I said it! I love her dearly and I wouldn’t change her for the world! She handles like a dream, extremely reliable and has an interior which Germans can only dream about (I’m looking at YOU BMW 3-Series!).
I have a Jaguar X-Type and a Toyota Yaris.
KatiePuckrik : Not quite, the guts were partially re-engineered by Jaguar. Its SKELETON (i.e chassis) is a Mondeo.
The skeleton includes the powertrain (V6 came from the 1996 Taurus), major electrical components and their associated wiring.
I’m not knocking the X-type in this regard, I’m just saying there’s a reason it does well and the unique components in the XF, the S-type and Lincoln LS (both are related to the new model) were sub-par on the reliability scale.
Oh, and thanks to Michael Karesh for compiling this data.
Katie, my parents have a few friends with Jags, and I can honestly say none of them have ever had any problems with them. I’m with you on this, as far as annecdotal experience goes, they are perfectly reliable.
Then again, I used to own a DSM. Its really hard to get less reliable than that. A friend of mine has a picture of his 2nd Gen Eclipse in his garage on jack stands, captioned “And now we capure the DSM in its natural habitat.”
I should clarify that the XF’s repair rate is nearly four times a LOW average. Most of the owners participating in the survey have yet to report a single repair, and few are reporting multiple repair trips.
Problem is, with the average car the vast majority of owners report no repairs in the first couple of months. So when even one-third do, as in this case, you end up with a score nearly four times the average.
It is also possible, even likely, that the reported repair rate will be lower in future updates, assuming that Jaguar quickly identifies and rectifies the car’s initial bugs. Many of the cars in the survey were produced early in the XF’s run.
KatiePuckrik – what year is that X-Type? Probably not from early in the first model year.
@ Michael Karesh,
Nope! One of the first 2001 models.
She’s been a good girl to me.
Here’s the obligatory Lucas joke that Katie is expecting. (Hey, I’m doubly allowed to make such jokes – I’ve lived in the UK and seen it all first hand!)
Everyone knows that on real British cars, there is a 3-position headlamp switch.
Flicker, Dim and Smoke.
Badum bump! Thank you, I’m here all week.
BTW the X-type is probably the most reliable Jaguar ever built simply BECAUSE the bones came from a mass production car which had been “sorted”.
On one hand, the X-type was a novel idea, and perfectly suited to the UK (where the vast majority were sold) to compete with the 3-series (which is immensely popular over there). On the other hand, it was seen as a cynical “Cadillac Cimmaron” rebadge (which truly is not the case).
I always thought the X-type actually looked pretty nice. The all wheel drive standard would not have gone amiss here in northwestern Michigan, either.
But the lack of ANY dealer within several hundred miles, and the upscale price-point here in the states kind of killed any chance of one ever being in my garage.
Even in the end, when they were a steal-deal bargain, the no-dealer-nearby gig was a deal killer.
A friend picked up a very low mileage year-old Jag X-Type for a song. The previous owner, a 60-something lady, couldn’t tolerate the too-frequent repairs. Though the warranty took care of all costs, she was disheartened and afraid to drive far from home. Three years later he has not had a single problem.
Another acquaintance dumped a year-old top of the line Mercedes E-Class for the same reason.
Perhaps if you hang in there the issues eventually get sorted out.
The skeleton includes the powertrain (V6 came from the 1996 Taurus), major electrical components and their associated wiring.
Now your just being cruel.
I owned a 1996 Ford Contour SE. Loved the car until a known design flaw severely damaged the engine at 66,000 miles.
I can attest that the X-Type looked and drove nothing like the Contour. The “rebadge” badge was undeserved.
Obligatory: Lucas replacement wiring harness smoke kit
Nice clean lines and sensual curves. What are they leaning on?
X-Types are wonderful little cars. I wouldn’t mind picking up an AWD one on the cheap…maybe replace the Volvo.
Oh, but I trust an American car more than a Brit. And I only own Japanese-made American cars.
William C Montgomery : Now your just being cruel.
You should hear me when I meet some guy with a $550,000 Saleen S7!
Michael Karesh : I owned a 1996 Ford Contour SE. Loved the car until a known design flaw severely damaged the engine at 66,000 miles.
I can attest that the X-Type looked and drove nothing like the Contour. The “rebadge” badge was undeserved.
Haven’t driven an X-type, but I’m sure the suspension and pricier materials (probably a fair assumption that there’s a lot less stamped steel parts in the suspension) make it not a rebadge.
Michael, speaking of that design flaw: its happened twice to people I know locally…not cool at all.
When I was young and single I owned an XKE. I got married and later owned a Volvo 142. The XKE was way more reliable. The Volvo experience has kept me from ever considering another car from the European mainland. I’ve had all I can use of Bosch, Marschall, VDO, etc. In all fairness, the only thing Volvo produced that failed was the paint.
In case anyone’s wondering about the dead link…the server went down an hour ago, and has not come back up. Nor has any page at the host. And a call to their support line gets “this number is no longer in service.”
So you can say I’m not having a good morning.
Clearly time for a new host. It’s possible that the site won’t be back up until I find one and get everything set up there.
Any strong recommendations?
Update: back up now. But definitely time to move…
Contact me Michael, I run a hosting company. (I’m on your list, likely the only Goolsbee on it… or any list!)
As for Lucas, I’d be shocked if an XF, or any Jaguar for that matter, has ANY Lucas parts in it anymore, as IIRC Lucas was merged out of existence a decade ago. Blame Delco, or Bosch, or whoever Ford sources their electrical bits from.
BTW: My old E-type has been pretty reliable over the years, with most of the issues caused my the inept mechanic of the previous owner. How many 43 year old Toyondassans are still on the road? Or Fords for that matter? ;)
–chuck
http://chuck.goolsbee.org
MK: I can attest that the X-Type looked and drove nothing like the Contour. The “rebadge” badge was undeserved.
That’s because the X-Type wasn’t based on the generation of Mondeo that included the Contour, but was based on the new one after that.
I have worked in the aftermarket parts industry for 25 years, I am a British car specialist. I bought my first home with money made from selling series 3 XJ6 parts. That being said, all I really sell for the X types and the 3.0 S types is brakes, water pumps, expansion tanks (all late model Jag tanks are junk), and ignition coils. All the early V-8′ suffered catastrophic timing chain tensioner failures. But the aluminum car seems to be very good. Perhaps there is good news for me if the F really stays true to its roots!
I think what RF might have meant by the title is that, while Lucas might be dead, it’s spirit lives on.
Most owners love these cars. So hopefully Jaguar will sort out the problems soon, if they haven’t already.
An advantage of updating results four times a year, as I do but no one else does, is that we won’t have to wait a whole year for signs of improvement. Instead, an improvement might be apparent as early as November (and even October, since participants will get a preview then).
Michael Karesh : I owned a 1996 Ford Contour SE. Loved the car until a known design flaw severely damaged the engine at 66,000 miles.
I am the current owner of a ’96 Contour SE. Let me guess: The plastic impeller wheel in the water pump shattered and the engine overheated?
I have a 2000 Vanden Plas sedan and it has been a great car. Smooth as silk.
Comparing notes with friends and neighbors, it seems newer sedans have had more problems. One friend with a 2004 sedan is considering trading in for a Lexus, he’s so upset with the reliability.
Verbal: the V6 models wind up sucking catalytic converter material back into the engine and the motor throws a rod or loses compression.
Gutting the pup cats or going with aftermarket headers is the “fix”. Fun.
Michael, what was the design flaw? I read at the time ford spent a BILLION dollars designing the contour/mercury mistake. Thats a lot of scratch for a car design in the 90’s. Especially when it hit the market and they realized it had no rear seat roon. Oops…
Sajeev Mehta : the V6 models wind up sucking catalytic converter material back into the engine and the motor throws a rod or loses compression.
Fascinating. There’s actually a Contour design flaw of which I was unaware. So this is in addition to the car’s early wheel bearing failures, early alternator failures, early starter motor failures, chronic Check Engine light illumination, etc. etc. etc.
Oh how the mighty have fallen. They’re getting their fingerprints all over it!