I saw one in commuting traffic today and honestly had totally forgotten about these. I know it's a Ford underneath, but it's AWD, V6, available with 5MT (though I imagine those are unicorns), and a wagon. Sounds pretty sweet on paper. So, is it any good?
This is relevant to my interests. There is a nice one for sale local to me.
Good car. They have there own set of things to look for and keep maintained but nothing all that special.
Of course, in my head every cool wagon is a prospective stage rally car \m/
Because I really want to do a stage-rally wagon
In reply to irish44j :
Of course you do! Who wouldn't?
look at tear camber. If the rear wheels have to much it requires the entire sub from to be moved. You can also replace the upper suspension bar with one from a Volvo that is adjustable but that requires some minor mofs to the Volvo part.
inspect the transfer case carefully for leaks. There is only about three quarters of a quart of gear oil in it. Inspect this regularly and I would replace the oil in it with Ames oil product. If you even suspect a leak change the seals on the output shafts.
all the driveline fluids are supposed to be lifetime. Change them every 30k. If you read further in the manual after it sais they are lifetime it sais that under sever duty to change it. There definition of sever duty that is given is basically if you use the car at all.
headlight adjusters brake. You can fix them with a kit from eBay. I just wired them in place and adjusted the wires till they were aimed right. Electronic throttles ware out and need replacement.
get an alignment at least once a year. These things eat tires if they are even slightly out (also an issue if the rear camber is out).
interiors are grew and hold up well.
if you get the optional nav they tend to have issues with the computer I the trunk. There is a fix but I forget what it is.
get a 3.0l motor. The older ones with the 2.5 are way under powered.
My one time dealing with one: transfer case went bad. Not rebuildable. Used very hard to find because they are a known issue. Cost of transfer case about the same as what the car is worth.
Conclusion: avoid. Or, drive until it craps the bed, then junk.
Part of me would be surprised if the transfer box wasn't the same as a part from an Escape since the drivetrain is so similar, but the rest of me knows that it is Ford's MO to make things different just because.
Jag engines are different from Ford engines. The blocks are similar (cast just up the street from me here in Cleveland) but the top end is Jag specific. The rest of the car is pretty much a second generation Mondeo not otherwise sold in the US. Our second generation Contour is like our second generation Focus: a facelifted first-generation car.
See, there's two examples of "different just because". Three if you count Jaguar having different cylinder heads.
This seems like another example of when the FWD version is probably better to own, overall, vs. the AWD. I held this same belief when I went shopping for my Suzuki SX4.
In reply to pres589 :
All X-types are AWD. Jaguar made a corporate decision that every vehicle they sell will power the rear wheels.
I've seen a few posted for sale, but it's been years since I saw a manual wagon. Unicorn Status. Maybe if I owned a fleet...but I imagine parts are expensive, if you can find them. I suppose they're still new enough to be at a pick-and-pull
Parts are easy to get and no worse than any other non American car price wise.
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